I was packing and getting ready for my mom's birthday cabin trip. I had the day planned out on how I could get Miss Spud's laundry done and then pack for Tank, Miss Spud, and myself. I gave her some lunch solids, a bath, then used the restroom before I was going to give her a lunch bottle and her snuggle nap. When I flushed I heard some water sounds from somewhere else in the house and smelled a bad smell. I found the main floor hallway with some water (and other stuff) in it.
I cleaned that up and was going to wash the towels I used and get back to what I was doing. Before I headed up I saw more water. I stopped the washer and cleaned some more. I got Cardinal Plumbing out and Willie took a look around.
It was a soft block somewhere between the house and the sewage system. He could get his camera through it, but it would close back up behind him. He called Stephen to bring what was needed to clear it out. Stephen tried but was unable to get it cleaned. He said a bit of the pipe was holding onto sewage, which he hasn't seen before. So he said that someone would be out the next morning between 8-9am to work on it.
Day 2: Wednesday
They showed up a bit later than planned because they were having problems with the truck. Since they had to get to the pipe out front of our house, Bill used this as a good excuse to do some landscaping he's been meaning to get to.
The mold remediator came and found a lot of moisture. We all moved things out of the way and they got to work. I know we had talked about redoing the floors, but that wasn't high on the list.
We started trying to do laundry again, but we had to call the plumber back out because it started to back up again.
The ServicePros Cleaning & Restoration were the ones doing the demolition. I feel like that could be a fun job, you just get to show up to people's houses and take them apart.
They ended up having to take out more than I was hoping. I'm getting flashbacks to when the whole basement flooded before we moved in and a few feet of drywall was missing from every wall. Luckily it wasn't that bad this time, but now there is missing wall bits in the main floor and the basement.
Day 3: Thursday
They had to get someone else out with different equipment to get the clog out. What they used before went through the pipe in front of our house, this one goes through a toilet.
We heard from our insurance adjuster and it looks like we are getting a lot more coverage than we first thought. It turns out there are so many clauses that some of the people who first help you might not know the extent of the coverage.
The mold remediator brought some bad news. He found some moisture in the reading room, which means we'll have to move a whole lot more stuff to get the carpets replaced. They just pulled the wet stuff for now, but we will have to work on getting the room clear. We'll have to rent a storage unit again, but at least we have the strange lock that fits into the door. The carpet in all three rooms is just one big piece, which is very impressive, but inconvenient for us.
Our insurance adjuster is going to try and get me some money for the three hours I spend mitigating the gross water. He was also talking about getting us covered for the towels that got ruined. It was mentioned that some people don't do anything until they can get someone out. I can't imagine just letting all that sit for an unknown amount of time.
He was mentioning all the things that are covered, like a storage unit and packing supplies. He also mentioned that because of Miss Spud there are more things that are covered, like a hotel and food that wouldn't be covered otherwise because we have electricity and running water.
Day 4: Monday (4/28)
Jonathan told us the story about how his house used to have pipes from WWII where they used tar. They had to make them that way since all the metal was being used for planes and tanks. When he went to take them out, they just crumbled to dust in his hands.
Orangeburg pipes, also known as bituminous fiber pipes, were widely used as sewer pipes in the United States during and after World War II, especially from the 1940s to the early 1970s. These pipes were made from layers of wood pulp impregnated with coal tar pitch.
They are having to excavate more than I thought they would have. I would have assumed that the people laying the pipes would have taken the shortest distance, but I was wrong. Luckily their saw didn't die cutting our driveway. It sometimes does that, or so I've been told.
Day 5: Tuesday
We all started with a not-best day. Miss Spud was awake and fussing before she usually does, and Jonathan accidentally bumped our mailbox with his truck because of a glare from the sun.
At one point their excavator broke and they had to wait on a repair technician. Jonathan wanted to let us know that they weren't just being lazy. I mentioned to him that it makes sense for this project. I had been hoping they would miss my irises, but the drain cleanout is right in the middle of them.
Their repair technician couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, so they said they would just send out a new excavator.
Day 6: Wednesday
It was just supposed to be a packing day, but poor Jonathan had to come out again. They were supposed to get him a new excavator yesterday, but now it won't show up until after 11am today.
They spent all day working on it and have now finished the excavating. We got a call from Cardinal saying that we owed the second half of the payment for the job that was finished today. We mentioned that there were no jobs finished today. The guy on the phone then corrected himself that it was the job that was happening today. Bill told them that he would pay once the job was actually done.
Day 7: Thursday
Jonathan showed up about 8am and told us he was going to cut the pipe. He said he's been covered in stuff before and doesn't want to repeat it. I don't blame him.
Our insurance adjuster, Matt, said that because of the extent of the damage we are his only inspection of the day. He said he planned on being there for hours to make sure he can see what all was needed.
He had a app that mapped the house, which he said was nice as long as he didn't loose signal and it deleted everything. It apparently made some of my walls diagonal, so he had a hard time with it anyway.
Finally I can say; out with the cast iron pipes from the 70s and in with new PVC pipes. I really like the teal color of the new ones, though it turns out they aren't the best quality, but it's what the county wants.
They had us test it a few different times by flushing some toilets. It seems they are happy with how it turned out.
Day 8: Friday
We got a whole new crew out today to work. Turns out that Jonathan quit last night! I hope he finds something good to go to from here. I was relying on him to be nice to my plants, but they will hopefully be fine.
They were still working when we left for dinner, but they got all the trenches filled and the cold pressed asphalt done. I was joking that our driveway now has a racing stripe.
We now have three cleanouts instead of two. Not sure why they decided to do that. They also didn't make the one closest to the house taller than normal. Bill had mentioned that he wanted to put in an elevated planter, so the plan had been to make the first point out of the house taller.
Day 9: Saturday
Two guys showed up to start working on the drywall before we even talked with the Foreman. I thought we were going to form a game plan before any work on the inside got started, but maybe I misunderstood something.
I was worried that Tank was going to be scared because of all the strange sounds of them screwing in the drywall. I went down and found him asleep in his hammock.
Day 10: Monday (5/5)
Tank let us know the workers were here in the morning by growling at them through the window.
The Foreman showed up and we were asking some questions, like trying to get an idea of a timeline. He said that they would get the floor in by Thursday or Friday. I was a bit confused because we hadn't been able to make our requests yet. We looked at some carpet samples and he gave us an estimate on how much it would be to change most of the flooring to wood instead of new carpet.
One of the workers asked if he could use our microwave. I told him that he could, but when I came down for my own lunch I had slight regrets because the smell of his food was so good.
Day 11: Tuesday
The Foreman said he was going to come back with more samples. I hoped that he would show up before Bill had to leave for work, but no luck. Bill said he would trust my choices. Turns out it didn't matter because he never showed up.
They were mostly working in the basement this time. They got the bottom wall trim in the basement and main floor done. There was so much plastic everywhere to keep the dust off of our things.
Day 12: Wednesday
More of the same, painting and sanding. The Foreman brought the samples, of course it was about 10 minutes after I got Miss Spud down for a snuggle nap. From the way they were working today, it seems they are done with painting the main floor and are now just working on the basement.
We decided on the Bruce Dundee Solid Hardwood-Dak in Seashell with a 3.25" width. We went with a slightly different carpet for the second half of the basement, Shaw Foundations Well Played II 12 E0563 Residential Carpet in 500 Sheer Silver because we liked the color and couldn't find anywhere that told us what the other carpeting was.
Day 13: Thursday
Someone new from ServicePros came in to finish the demolition on our floors. I had tried to get as much packed as I could, I hope it was enough. Bill mentioned moving the computers ourselves, but we ran out of time for that.
One person asked where we wanted the stuff that was left put. I said that we were told that they would bring something to store them in that would sit in the driveway. He said he hasn't heard anything about that and would have to call his boss. I said that if they needed to, they could just shuffle things around.
I feel like all the things that would be really handy to have two homeowners around for all wait until Bill is at work and until Miss Spud is taking a snuggle nap.
He cut into the flooring to make it easier to pull the sections up. My old flooring had what seemed to me to be random lengths of board. He then had a crowbar and a hammer to get under them.
When I went down to the main floor to make Miss Spud's lunch, he helped move the plastic out of the way for me to be able to get things. He called in some help to get the old flooring out and they also got up the rest of the carpet out from the reading room.
Day 14: Friday
The painters showed up on time. Seems our basement walls have already faded some, so they are doing a lot of painting down there, way more than I thought. I was not expecting them to paint the stairwell to the upstairs and the rest of the main floor hallway.
The other crew showed up and got right to work. They were making so much noise that Miss Spud didn't want to nap. I kept trying until she succumbed.
They have moved so much stuff around in places I didn't think they needed to get to. I assumed they were going to paint until a corner in the basement, but it looks like they are repainting the whole thing. This means that DVDs are out of order and/or backwards. The games have been moved off and back, so things aren't where they are supposed to go. I had some knitting on the couch and they broke the knitting needles by placing random things on top of it. I had some teacups on there too, luckily those aren't broken.
Day 15: Saturday
The workers showed up after 10am. I think they are finally done painting, because those guys usually showed up around 8am. They got to work on the computer room, the hallway, and the bathroom. From what we can tell, they worked until they ran out of wood.
They had to unplug our Internet router but he was nice enough to try and plug it back in before they left. He called up to me to ask if it was working and woke up Miss Spud. He exclaimed "Oh no!" when she started crying.
Day 16: Monday (5/12)
They got more supplies in to keep working. Since we are upgrading some of the floors, we had to give them a deposit. I don't know how Miss Spud can nap through them sawing, hammering, and nailing, but I'm glad she can.
I was worried about them having to move the refrigerator. When it was installed there was a stiff copper pipe for the water hookup. It looks like the guy who installed the refrigerator put on a flexible tube, so they moved it out of the way with no problem.
The one guy would tap the next piece into place with his hammer, then use the hammer on the nail gun to secure it in place. It is shaking the whole house some, I don't know how they do it without any ear protection.
They got the hall closet, bathroom, reading room, and computer room done. They are almost done with the hallway and the dining room. They are about half done with the kitchen. The basement still needs the light put back in and the carpeting.
Day 17: Tuesday
A white van stopped by around 10:40 am and just dropped off Felipe. They then drove away, leaving him here to work by himself. They stopped by again around lunchtime, and some more people came to help him after 4pm.
They stayed late, after 6:40pm to get it all done. He thought painters were coming the next day, but I thought they were already done since they have done so much painting, so I'm not sure.
Day 18: Friday
We had to text the Foreman to ask when the carpet would be done. He then told us Friday. They showed up around 10:30am. Carlos kept trying to open Bill's workshop and finally came and asked if I could unlock it for them. I was just confused why you would keep trying after the second time it didn't open.
It took them only a little over an hour to lay everything down. Apparently the carpet wasn't quite big enough because they had to use glue strips to attach a small strip of flooring by my craft room. They then spent some time cleaning up, but left the hot glue drips.
I did get to hear him on the phone mentioning to someone that they were having ceviche at his house. He also mentioned someone named Yolanda. I hope the ceviche was good and everyone was happy with the level of involvement Yolanda had in the whole matter.
We finally got our mailbox fixed, but not in the way I wanted. We talked about them replacing the stand, which was the only broken part. I was playing the part of a bed for Miss Spud when he was fixing it, so I wasn't able to check on it until much later. The guy put in a new stand and a whole new cheap feeling plastic box. I contacted the plumbing company who were going to get the contractor to contact me so I could see if they could bring my old mailbox back. I really loved that mailbox.
Day 19: Saturday
The painters showed up a little after 8am. When I looked at what they had put painters tape on, I'm pretty sure the guy from Day 14 already painted some of those areas. At one point I walked by the stairs and saw that someone was painting our front door. There were also sounds of sawing, but not sure what that was about.
They did similarly to Bill what other workers did to me. They somehow can sense the worst time to need you and then ask you things. I know they don't actually know when the worst time is, but it seems to be a trend.
I had gone off to knitting and right when Bill started giving Miss Spud her lunch they asked where we wanted all of the furniture. They also broke the glass wind chime I kept indoors because I was afraid it was going to break if I kept it outside.
The guy told Bill that cleaners will be over at some point to finish, but he wasn't sure when. I'm also still waiting to hear from the contractor about my mailbox, the plumbing company has reached out to them multiple times.
Day 20: Tuesday (5/20)
Not a lot happened with the powder room or any of the small things that need to get done. However, I got my mailbox back!
Bill contacted the Foreman and he said they could come by on Saturday. I was thinking "What do you mean, 'can'? When were they scheduled to come back?" To me, it sounds like they were acting like they were done and never coming back.
Day 21: Saturday
The cleaners showed up and asked what we wanted to get cleaned. We said that we weren't sure, just whatever they would normally clean on a job like this. Bill showed them all the things their company had done. I'm more concerned with getting the fixing job done over some cleaning, but the Foreman also showed up, so we were able to show him everything we found.
I picked the Glacier Bay 19" Single Sink White Bath Vanity with White Cultured Marble Top from Home Depot because it looked exactly like what we had. I was so proud of that find since I got it used at ReStore and I felt it fit the space pretty well.
Day 22: Friday (5/30)
We had to contact the Foreman again because we were told that they were going to be back to finish on Tuesday. They never showed up. We were told that they could come on Saturday morning, which really makes us think that they have moved on to another job before they actually finished ours. We told them that we weren't available and got told they can come out on Friday instead.
We were so tired of waiting for them to make time in their schedule to finish the job that we moved a few of the items from their Punch List to our To Fix list. They were things that we were confident we could do, like putty the chips in the floor like they already did in another spot.
Bill had to show the painter what needed to be done when he showed up. He was confused that the floor people hadn't showed up yet. When he was done working he said that the floor people may show up later the same day.
We were then told that the hardwood flooring people would be here around 3pm. Felipe didn't show up until after 4:30pm, which had made me nervous that no one was going to show up.
He got the corner by the living room fixed quickly, but said no one told him about the gashes, so he would have to come back for that. We have told the Foreman about it multiple times. He asked if Monday morning would work and I said it would.
Around 5:50pm we got a call from the carpet guy. He offered to stop by that night when we said we couldn't make Saturday morning work. He stapled the carpet to the tack strip after asking us if we had vacuumed the carpet.
Day 23: Thursday (6/5)
While waiting for them we put the anti-tip bracket back onto the stove. We made a note to replace the screw in the shelves on the wet bar that somehow went missing on our own. I haven't gotten to it yet, but we will scrape off the extra hot glue on the floor of my craft room. There are two boards that flex more than I think they should when we step on them, but we think it'll be okay in the end. We also haven't yet fixed the fact that the door to the mudroom no longer closes.
It looks like, at some point, someone from the flooring group came in and added putty to the claw hammer marks in the floor. We aren't sure when that happened.
It also sounds like there is a disagreement between our insurance and ServicePros Cleaning & Restoration. Our insurance says that the cost of the job should be around XY, but they are claiming it is more. When our insurance asks why, they say it is because they had to paint so much. We didn't tell them to paint as much as they did, and for some of it I wish they hadn't. The insurance is telling them that they didn't need to paint as much as they did.
We are counting this as done. We are tired of having to keep contacting the Foreman about things and not being kept in the loop.
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