Last Updated on November 11, 2021
Yep, you read that right. Maybe you’ve already caught a few glimpses of the chaos on my Instagram Stories, but in case you haven’t heard, The Boy flooded the basement in the new house. Yep, the one we JUST bought. He filled the sink in our laundry room and walked away to get coffee with the water running. I love a man who likes whites bright, and God bless him for being one of those guys who can do their own laundry, but he made one giant mistake. After filling his coffee cup, the sink wasn’t totally full, so he decided to check his work email…just really quick. I mean, how many times have you done that, right? Fast forward 30 minutes later, and my phone was ringing.
How I Learned About Our Flooded Basement
It was early morning and I was half asleep, sitting on a Metra train bound for Chicago:
“Please don’t hate me; it was an accident.” Oh crap, the last time I heard this is was followed up with, “I totaled the truck.” I immediately woke up.
“Are you okay?!?! Are the kids okay?!?!”
“I’m okay, but I broke the basement.”
“Huh? What do you mean you broke the basement? Oh shit…how bad?”
He explained what happened, and in my head, I was like, well how horrible could it be? It’s a sink, not a bathtub. He said probably some new drywall. Meh, that’s totally doable. No big deal. I quickly did the math and thought under a grand for sure.
He said, “Momma, it presently sounds like it’s raining in our basement,” and he was waiting for Serv-Pro (whoever that was) to assess the damage.
“Ummmm, okay? Can you send me a picture?”
Not too bad, right? Lots of orange buckets, but it didn’t look like it was pouring in like a waterfall with huge gaping holes or anything. I felt a sigh of relief and the feeling of sheer panic left my body. He had this under control. My train was pulling into the station which meant I was about to lose cell reception…besides the disaster clean-up guys were at the door. He had to go too.
When I got to my office, The Boy had texted me a few more pictures. Hmmmmm.
There were 2 guys in my basement ripping open the ceiling…well shit, that’s not good. Wonder if they’d have to rip out that really ugly fake fireplace? PLEASE LORD say they have to rip out that really ugly fireplace. The ’70s called and it REALLY wants its fireplace back. Besides the stinky, dirty carpet, the fireplace was like the numero uno thing I wanted outta there. It’s unvented, and the home inspector scared us silly by telling us how dangerous it was. But no dice. The sucka was bone dry. It wasn’t going anywhere.
A couple of hours later I received a few more pictures. Wow, the ceiling was completely gutted…pot light strung out on conduit hanging from wood beams…wait, where’s my stinky carpet? All this damage was from a sink that overflowed? How could the damage be this bad? What is happening over there? I went to lunch, and silently stewed.
BTDubs, scroll back up and tell me if you think the one guy in the back is enjoying ripping my basement to shreds by the looks of his smile. LOL. Seriously though, I got to meet these two guys and they were sincere and super helpful. They might have had a group hug with The Boy.
Once I got home, I got to see the damage up close and personal, and that’s when everything sunk in. OOOF. This was bad…like really, really bad. Imma get me a big ol’ glass of wine. The Boy apologized over and over again, but I was too stunned to think. We just sat there hoping our insurance covered the immense damage. I mean, we just bought this house, and at the time we hadn’t even sold the old house. Two mortgages and renovating a basement were NOT in the cards.
Read More About The Flooded Basement And Renovation Process
Basement Bathroom Design Makeover
Darcel
Praying that the insurance covers ALL of the damage. Thankful that it wasn’t something life-threatening. Chin up and be blessed.
kyla
DarcelYes! Insurance covered it and now that the inital shock it over…I think it will be a fun makeover project. =)
kyla
DarcelTotally blessed for sure Darcel! We are going to think of it as a fun new project…albeit a bit sooner then expected, but it will be fun all the same =)
Tracey B
Oops! I hope you managed to get it all sorted and repaired. We have just bought a house with a basement (a very rare feature in homes here in Australia) and I hadn’t even thought about flooding from the inside. I did get things checked to be sure we were waterproof from the outside though!
We don’t move in until the week before Christmas and fortunately we’re about to head into Summer here, so things will hopefully be nice and dry for the move. Our basement is going to be the teenager’s retreat where they can hang out with their friends, have their PlayStation games and keep their musical instruments (including drums). The first thing we need to do is paint, as the room is currently a jarring lime green color .
kyla
Tracey BWhat color will you be painting? Jarring lime green sounds like it should be changed =) LOL! Good luck with the drums. If you saw, we have those too. The basement is a good place for them =)
Mary
Insurance may have covered it but what about your out-of-pocket deductible? That sucks!
kyla
MaryIt’s not an awesome situation, that’s for sure, but hopefully we can make it a fun project to work on.
Maggie @ Maggie Overby Studios
Oh man, These kinds of things are the worst. I’m sure your husband felt terrible and hopefully learned his lesson but I have to say my dad is notorious for this. He loves to “Soak” things and for 45 years my mom has been going behind him to turn off the water. Hope there are no more floods in your future.
Another Bathroom Renovation? - House Of Hipsters
[…] for the added destruction. You already know we are in the process of fixing the basement after The Great Flood of 2016, but there was one small problem. The bathroom down there wasn’t destroyed by water. Well, […]
Basement Bathroom Makeover Update - House Of Hipsters -
[…] overdue. Like waaaaaaay long overdue. Here’s a quick walk down memory lane. Remember when the basement flooded and we decided since we were forced to renovate, why not gut the bathroom? Well, everything came to […]
Basement Update — Drywall and Karndean Flooring - House Of Hipsters
[…] The space was wide open, and the flooring hadn’t been installed, so Tom was able to get straight to work. He knocked the place out licketty split, and now it looks so bright and spacious! No longer dark and dingy. It also thankfully no longer smells like a frat house. […]
Bathroom Makeover - Clé Tile Cubicon - House Of Hipsters
[…] in the smallest amount of time mind frame”…oh, and hey Gerry, I also need you to fix a basement and yet another bathroom makeover. Can we all take a pause and give Gerry and his crew a hug? Poor […]
Modern Kitchen Makeover On A Budget - House Of Hipsters
[…] in general, was not top of mind. We had just unexpectedly refinished the basement since the great basement flood in addition to Potty Paradise and were completely over construction dust. But after returning home, […]