Life as a Landlord

As I write this, I am reminded of my Keep Calm and Carry On poster - it will be my guiding force the next few days.

It all started yesterday- Saturday. The day after our Nations Independence celebrations. Enjoying my first day off (truly off - no second jobs, no commitments, nothing). Just working in my yard, pulling weeds and loving every minute of it. I get a call from the woman who lives next door to my old house, one of our current rental homes.

"Brooke, I have been trying to get a hold of you. The water department is here and I have water in my basement, they think it is coming from your house and that you may have some too."

Right. Small problem. I will be right there.

Hal from the Water Dept left a funeral to get into my house and see what was going on. As I walk down my basement stairs I get to the third step from the bottom and I am completely submerged in water up to my knee. Yep. There's a bit of water.

Luckily there is no power to my house... (not a good thing that there is no power really, but good that I am not electrocuted when I stick my leg in 3 feet of water).

Hal determines that the water came from the water heater. Not a leak. No broken pipes. No, that would not dump hundreds of gallons of water. No, the valve to my water heater had been TURNED TO OPEN. Not bumped, not broken. The valve was OPEN! Who opens a water heater valve? The water then proceeded to back up and move through an OLD (1900's old) water line that is not longer used, but has not been blocked to my neighbors house. That is why their house filled with water as well.

My renter left exactly 1 week ago. NO ONE has been in the house since she left, including me. More of that later. You can stew on that thought just as I did.

So, first of the problems. Get water out. I go to the rental shop and get a small sump pump, garden hoses from my house and extension cord so I can use my sweet neighbors power to get this thing running. And, start pumping. I decide to not waste all this water that I will likely be charged for so I hook up a sprinkler head to the end of the hose and water the neighbors yard - the least I can do for my house causing their basement to flood too.

Next, call insurance company. Thank goodness I have landlord insurance on the house. They make it clear that I will likely be going over my $1,000 deductible on this one (sarcasm), so call the professionals and have them get the water out and do the clean up.

I tally the damage in my head -- washer and dryer? Probably not good to have that in standing water for very long. Heating unit - yeah, the old unit from 1960 probably isn't going to do well with 3 feet of water in it's insides either. Water heater - meant to hold water, not bath in it. Shelving, misc rugs that were floating like Aladin's carpets all over the basement. Floating paint cans, weed eaters, tools, buckets. I suddenly have empathy for Katrina victims.

This is the first time my procrastination in not finishing the basement has paid off. There is no dry wall or real walls to speak of - just old concrete walls and floors and major appliances. Lucky?

There is a moment when you see 3 feet of water in your HOME that you float out of your body and imagine yourself swimming in it and then you start laughing. I know. I did. It was too unbelievable to cry about. It was too hot outside to not actually enjoy the cool water up to my knees. There is just not a whole lot you can do besides wait to hear how bad the damage is and then bend over as you know the insurance company is NOT going to be easy to deal with and they will probably fight every bit of the claim.

So, back to HOW and WHY there is 3 feet of water in the basement? Still a mystery. Can't prove that anyone turned the hard to turn valve to open, but pissed anyways b/c you know it didn't happen by itself.

Not much more to report on this story... yet. I will keep you updated. Tomorrow I meet with the insurance adjuster, call my agent, meet the power company man to get power back into the house (hoping things don't explode), and meet with the emergency water draining people and do a tally of all the damage for their reports. FUN!