Even Mutant Enemies Need a Hug
(Thanks for that, Joss.)
Oh, we are having so much fun here. It kills us how much fun we are having.
So the bathroom floor went squoosh, and part of the bedroom floor. So I knew there was a water leak. Then the propane tank emptied untimely. As I discovered last Monday after the company offices had closed for the day.
Tuesday the propane man came, checked all attachments, and noted that it was all shipshape and Bristol-fashion.
Except the water heater. Which was leaking propane, and which was sitting on a rather heroically rotted floor.
Heater was red-tagged and disconnected. Goodbye, hot water.
The plumber came on Wednesday, and decreed that the faulty propane valve was not fixable and the heater was a goner. This triggered a call to the reclamation company, which came and looked and went OY! And that triggered a call to the homeowners' insurance. And lo, there were adjusters, and there were inspectors, and there were oys and good god!s and yowches. But! my great fear, that none of it was covered, appeared to be assuaged. They would/will rebuild the gutted quadrant, including closet for the heater.
So Thursday the brawny young men came and started ripping. And sawing. And tearing. Bathroom, half of bedroom, most of dining room. Down to the studs.
I moved into the other end of the house. Which was its own drama. Guest toilet had overflowed last yoga day, and I had shut it off. Plumber decreed it dead. But! he was able to take the much newer unit from the gutted master bath and pop it into the guest bath. And that gave me a functional facility.
Friday the new water heater arrived--approved by the appliance insurance. Much bigger and nicer than the old one. But in order to install it to code, I had to pay a hefty chunk of nonexistent cash, because codes are stricter than they were ca. 1980, or even ca. 2000. Much.
Having had his palm crossed with promises, the plumber rigged the heater outside with an adorable vent for a hat, where it blinks to itself and provides Water Hot Such A Noble Thing while the renovations go on. I resist the urge to paint it blue and silver and call it "R2."
And the brawny young men ascertained meanwhile that my other paralyzing fear, of mold and rot (not covered), was also Not A Problem. Once the pulped flooring and soaked insulation were out and the walls and fixtures dismembered and sent flying out the window, all was clean, and the only rot was in the heater closet, where we had all seen it. Yog Bless our desert climate.
They had installed dehumidifiers on Thursday. Friday and Saturday, fans went in. And it was all contained in plastic, which at night would...breathe. Much fun while watching "When Ghosts Attack" because seriously, braindead.
Yesterday being Saturday, the last of the debris was cleared and the fans continued. And I was slowly starting to find a rhythm in it all. Sort of.
And then when I went to turn the lights on at horse-feeding time, no lights. Also no lights in the guest room. No power to most of the north half of the house, except, weirdly, for the library, where Camp workshops happen.
The other half of the house--where the one working cooler (the lines are part of the heater closet, so plumber could only hook up one) and all the major appliances were, was still suitably electrified. I ran extension cords for the couple of small things I needed (lights, tv) and decided to crawl into bed and forget it till morning.
Especially the part where the DSL modem, despite being on a surge protector in the powered half of the house, managed to fry itself. It powers up, connects, shuts off. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nothing from the help pages applies to this situation, and support does not do weekends.
Lucky for me one of my must-haves when I upped the ante to a real smartphone last year was the ability to serve as a hotspot. This morning I paid my $5 and got my month of service. So I'm OK till we get the router sorted out. I dare to hope the insurance will replace it.
This morning the nice young man came back to check the equipment. Now we are waiting for his superior to talk to the adjuster to get an electrician out to figure out why part of the house has no power. NYM checked all he could check, and was baffled. Ancient wiring is ancient. And idiosyncratic.
Meanwhile he rigged a power box for all the fans and such, which is its own triple-warded spell of protection. And I am without a clothes dryer because that's the industrial-strength outlet, but it's temporary and I don't need it for a few days.
I have not mentioned, have I, that there's a smallish hole in the kitchen floor? Where one of the brawny young men put a foot through? And another, entirely separate water leak that must be dealt with? Leak fixage is covered. Damage is not. Since I am well past Stress Max and into What The Ever-Living HELL, I am la-la-la-ing that one for the time being.
The aminals are handling it much better than I am. Some confusion, but mostly keeping chill.
I am trying to focus on the bright side. Ancient, barely functional bathroom with broken faucets and hole where the toilet installation did not go well last time around is gone. I get a new bathroom, and part of a new bedroom, and part of a new dining room. Electrical wiring will get at least inspected, and one hopes fixed. Forced renovations: just lie back and think of walk-in showers.
But oh, I am tired. So very tired.
There are pictures here; scroll down a bit:
https://www.facebook.com/dancinghorse
I've set them public so everyone can see them.
Oh, we are having so much fun here. It kills us how much fun we are having.
So the bathroom floor went squoosh, and part of the bedroom floor. So I knew there was a water leak. Then the propane tank emptied untimely. As I discovered last Monday after the company offices had closed for the day.
Tuesday the propane man came, checked all attachments, and noted that it was all shipshape and Bristol-fashion.
Except the water heater. Which was leaking propane, and which was sitting on a rather heroically rotted floor.
Heater was red-tagged and disconnected. Goodbye, hot water.
The plumber came on Wednesday, and decreed that the faulty propane valve was not fixable and the heater was a goner. This triggered a call to the reclamation company, which came and looked and went OY! And that triggered a call to the homeowners' insurance. And lo, there were adjusters, and there were inspectors, and there were oys and good god!s and yowches. But! my great fear, that none of it was covered, appeared to be assuaged. They would/will rebuild the gutted quadrant, including closet for the heater.
So Thursday the brawny young men came and started ripping. And sawing. And tearing. Bathroom, half of bedroom, most of dining room. Down to the studs.
I moved into the other end of the house. Which was its own drama. Guest toilet had overflowed last yoga day, and I had shut it off. Plumber decreed it dead. But! he was able to take the much newer unit from the gutted master bath and pop it into the guest bath. And that gave me a functional facility.
Friday the new water heater arrived--approved by the appliance insurance. Much bigger and nicer than the old one. But in order to install it to code, I had to pay a hefty chunk of nonexistent cash, because codes are stricter than they were ca. 1980, or even ca. 2000. Much.
Having had his palm crossed with promises, the plumber rigged the heater outside with an adorable vent for a hat, where it blinks to itself and provides Water Hot Such A Noble Thing while the renovations go on. I resist the urge to paint it blue and silver and call it "R2."
And the brawny young men ascertained meanwhile that my other paralyzing fear, of mold and rot (not covered), was also Not A Problem. Once the pulped flooring and soaked insulation were out and the walls and fixtures dismembered and sent flying out the window, all was clean, and the only rot was in the heater closet, where we had all seen it. Yog Bless our desert climate.
They had installed dehumidifiers on Thursday. Friday and Saturday, fans went in. And it was all contained in plastic, which at night would...breathe. Much fun while watching "When Ghosts Attack" because seriously, braindead.
Yesterday being Saturday, the last of the debris was cleared and the fans continued. And I was slowly starting to find a rhythm in it all. Sort of.
And then when I went to turn the lights on at horse-feeding time, no lights. Also no lights in the guest room. No power to most of the north half of the house, except, weirdly, for the library, where Camp workshops happen.
The other half of the house--where the one working cooler (the lines are part of the heater closet, so plumber could only hook up one) and all the major appliances were, was still suitably electrified. I ran extension cords for the couple of small things I needed (lights, tv) and decided to crawl into bed and forget it till morning.
Especially the part where the DSL modem, despite being on a surge protector in the powered half of the house, managed to fry itself. It powers up, connects, shuts off. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nothing from the help pages applies to this situation, and support does not do weekends.
Lucky for me one of my must-haves when I upped the ante to a real smartphone last year was the ability to serve as a hotspot. This morning I paid my $5 and got my month of service. So I'm OK till we get the router sorted out. I dare to hope the insurance will replace it.
This morning the nice young man came back to check the equipment. Now we are waiting for his superior to talk to the adjuster to get an electrician out to figure out why part of the house has no power. NYM checked all he could check, and was baffled. Ancient wiring is ancient. And idiosyncratic.
Meanwhile he rigged a power box for all the fans and such, which is its own triple-warded spell of protection. And I am without a clothes dryer because that's the industrial-strength outlet, but it's temporary and I don't need it for a few days.
I have not mentioned, have I, that there's a smallish hole in the kitchen floor? Where one of the brawny young men put a foot through? And another, entirely separate water leak that must be dealt with? Leak fixage is covered. Damage is not. Since I am well past Stress Max and into What The Ever-Living HELL, I am la-la-la-ing that one for the time being.
The aminals are handling it much better than I am. Some confusion, but mostly keeping chill.
I am trying to focus on the bright side. Ancient, barely functional bathroom with broken faucets and hole where the toilet installation did not go well last time around is gone. I get a new bathroom, and part of a new bedroom, and part of a new dining room. Electrical wiring will get at least inspected, and one hopes fixed. Forced renovations: just lie back and think of walk-in showers.
But oh, I am tired. So very tired.
There are pictures here; scroll down a bit:
https://www.facebook.com/dancinghorse
I've set them public so everyone can see them.