Two days ago, we got an email from daughter Jennifer who is staying in our house. Even before opening her email, the subject didn’t look good. Can you call? Hummpph. I wonder what’s up? The first line didn’t help me feel better. hey dad and mom! I woke up this morning to the downstairs bathroom toilet flooding.
This is definitely not how I envision starting a new day in Thailand! Have you ever tried to fix a plumbing problem from 10,000 miles away? I’m pretty new at this kind of home repair.
So we called and learned that we had 2 inches of water in the bathroom and a soggy carpet in the living room and bedroom. Well, not all of it was soggy, just 2 feet or so around the door, and under the wall into the next room, and into the bedroom… You get the picture. Not terrible. But not good either!
Jennifer had turned off the water to the toilet and begun using towels and fans. I asked our next-door neighbor Scott to take a look. Also, my friend and colleague Doug came by to see what he could do to help. Everyone agreed that we could probably avoid hiring a professional. So Jennifer has fans going, the air conditioner on 68 or so to keep it dehumidifying the house, and we’re monitoring it for mold or any other problems. We’ve called Jennifer daily to keep updated. It seems to be drying.
This is a first – dealing with a soggy carpet from 13 timezones away. I hope it is also a last!
Being an expert in flooding, (3 this year so far) and dealing with flood technicians has taught me that you’ll want to be very careful with this. If it is fecal there is a major problem and you’ll want to go through the insurance claim.
All of our floods were not fecal but mold will start to grow within a couple days and it grows on the inside of the drywall pretty quickly.
Call me at home if you want more information.
Thanks, Sheldon. There was no fecal matter in this. Jennifer has it drying. I’ll evaluate when I arrive home tonight. (We’re currently in JFK in New York trying to stay awake for our last flight to Orlando!). Thanks for offering to advise. I’ll let you know after I see the situation.