Sunday, May 06, 2007

calgon take me away

cuz god knows i need a bath. as many of you may know, we had torrential rains in omaha last night. i was a little worried about my basement because 2 1/2 years ago, i did end up with some water in it, although it all ran to the sump, and we ended up having to sweep the rest of the water into it. i was worried this time because the sump was disconnected because the pipe broke. that part of the basement is fine.

what is going to be my bedroom is flooded. it sits about 8 inches lower than the rest of the basement, and as of right now, there is 3 inches of water in it. i tried to use the wet vac, but it's too heavy for me to haul up the stairs full (it holds 16 gallons (do the math. a gallon weighs 8#. that means, when it's full it weighs 128#. not happening). and it fills up in 25 seconds. literally. so, i filled it half full, and for 15 seconds of sucking, it's 10 minutes to haul it up the stairs, out the door, and dumping it. it took me an hour to do 4 loads. i gave up. mark is over there now, and i'm thinking we need to buy a pump we can hook a hose to, and get the water out that way.

mark thinks it may have gotten in through the window wells. i can't get at the walls to check for dampness, cuz i'm damned well not wading through that crap.

the really bad part? we're supposed to be moving into that house in 3 1/2 weeks. and my grandma's dresser is in that room. sigh.

Edit: It just started raining again. sigh. At least, we bought a pump, and it is doing it's level best, considering it's pumping through a 3/4" hose. maybe i'll be able to figure where the water came in from now. i'm pretty sure it's the window wells, at this point, because while the carpet by the bulkhead is slightly damp, it's not soggy like it should have been if that's where the rain came in. oh shit! i'd better shut the bulkhead!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Minnie that totally sucks! Especially your grandmother's dresser

fillyjonk said...

Is there a sump pump in the basement? I think they can be retrofitted if there isn't one.

My parents have a sump pump in their basement - it still floods if the power goes out, though, and the pump stops pumping.

We used to keep a little hand-cranked pump on hand for times like that.

Unknown said...

Hi Minnie

I hope all the rain stops and your basement dries up.

Maryellen

Anonymous said...

Hey girl, hope things are getting better. I'll try to do a little anti-rain dance for ya! The turtle pattern is at http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=40998