The Good, The Bad and The Soggy

WOW!


What a week.

Everything is coming together and in some cases falling apart.
This week found the plumbing rough in, electrical rough in and siding complete not to mention the framing of new doorways to the bathroom, bar area, kitchen etc.
While we await insulation we thought how fortunate we were given the nice weather that is until Old Man Winter visited a bit earlier than expected delivering lows in the 30's and 40's. Given that the heater is going to be replaced to handle the increased size of the house we tried to avoid turning it on as we did not want to watch the precious heat and money flow out the roof of the addition.
With determination to not turn on the heat I found my down quilt and several flannel blankets and hunkered down in the bedroom. After about 5 minutes I found that despite the warmth the blankets provided along with the flannel PJs my nose was extremely cold breathing in the arctic air. Remembering something my Mother told me about putting a hat on to go out as you will lose all of the heat from your body I summoned or bribed Scott to venture out of the warmth and procure a hat from the coat closet in the deep freezer downstairs. While I waited, I invited Maggie the Shih Tzu to join me on my pillow. Her nose was cold but I was getting warmer as the furry furnace on my head curled up to sleep. Note to self: Must make grooming appointment as the dog was a bit stinky. Scott returned like Nanook of the North sporting hats scarves and gloves. My hero. Bundled up like Ralphie's brother in a Christmas Story I drifted off to sleep.
4AM . . .What the Hell? Why is my head soaking wet? Please tell me Maggie did not decide to use my head for her relief. Wait a second, me feet are wet too. I look over at Scott who now has the covers tossed back. With my groggy powers of deduction and the fact that we do not have a water bed I pride myself in knowing that I have created a sweat lodge. I remove my hat, scarf and place Maggie on her doggy bed and return to slumber as it is too cold in the bathroom to take a shower.
As the rain came down on Friday and no sun was available to heat the house we requested that the plastic sheeting go up in all the openings to the addition so that we may delight in having the heat turned on and to sleep like normal people.
As we reflect on the week we are amazed at the progress even though according to the schedule provided we look like we are a week behind but we feel like this project is moving at lightning speed or more appropriate a tsunami wave.
You see the real story this week is about the tsunami under the stairs. As we slumbered we heard the battle between the heater as it kicks on and off vs. the patter of the rain in a white noise symphony.

Bang.

"Did you hear that?" 8AM Saturday I awoke. "What was that noise? Hey Scott did anybody say they were going to work here today?" I look at the dogs, they are asleep. I must have dreamt it as their sonic hearing did not pick up the Earthquake in the basement. No tsunami warning was issued so we began our day and despite the weather were going to venture out to the non-construction world to the Home Show.

Scott headed down the basement to just check our sump pump as it was disconnected due to the rerouting of pipes this past week.

I heard the thundering footsteps running up from the basement followed by my name and a few words hastily put together with much urgency. Flooded, leaving, pumps, help.

Thinking that our sump pump has flooded the basement I put on my sensible red leather clogs as I cannot find my boots. Running down the basement I see a little puddle by the sump pump. What's the big deal.

That is until I walked into the basement through the newly framed opening to find 4-6 inches of water depending on where you are standing covering the entire basement floor.

Sitting proudly in the middle of the floor are all of our earthly possessions packed in hardy cardboard boxes.

Up the steps I go with my own thundering footsteps. We need help.

I call Mingioni's office knowing that on Saturday I would be just leaving a message.

This was followed by emails, a page to Joe's cell phone and a message to the cell as well.

I hope I was able to sound coherent as I left messages as all I kept thinking about was which box contained our Wedding Album and family photos.

I also did what any responsible adult would do. I called my Mommy. Hearing the crackle of my voice she headed right over with her more functional footwear (snow boots).

I see Scott pull up outside as he leaps from the car with hoses and pumps in hand.

Off to the dark basement.

We string extension cords over the rafters and hang lights where we can so that we can see (remember no lights are installed yet in the new basement and no windows to let the dim light in from outside.)

Mom shows up and we begin to survey the damage.

The loud bang was a tower of cardboard boxes that lost their footing as the bottom box disintegrated from the rippling water. Using the only sharp tool I had I began to feverously cut through the tape on waterlogged boxes. This tool was a yellow ice scraper. After a frantic and nail biting search we found the pictures and wedding album. They were dry.

We were pleased that the liquor bottle box was the most damaged - but the contents were just fine and much needed :)

We lost a few items. Scott's bass sound effect peddle, a punch bowl base, and stuff I should have tossed long ago. I guess this was God's way of saying why are you saving this crap. This was evident when my Mom said "You just celebrated your 18th wedding anniversary on the 14th, just wait till you see how much crap you'll have by your 40th." This was followed by the realization that her snow boots were not the best footwear as she was feeling her socks getting soggy.

I hear a distant ring.

As I splash through the now 2-4 inches of water and see the cause of the water problem I run to the phone before voicemail kicks in.


"Hello Kim?  This is Joe Mingioni."

With an expression of shock and awe I am delighted to hear the voice on the other end of the phone asking what do you need, I am on my way.

Joe and Ray arrived to help discard the wet boxes and neatly stack the remaining boxes on pallets they have brought with them.

By 3PM the floor was dry and the cause of this tsunami (the new sump pump pit) was fighting against the two pumps lowered 2 feet below the surface of the floor. This battle raged on until 7-8PM when the temporary sump pump was winning the battle.

I cannot tell you how thankful we are to Joe and Ray. When I joked about should I mention this in the blog. Joe responded with "Of course you should"

He proceeded to tell me that despite any best efforts in construction everything cannot be perfect.

While this is true in life as well we are thankful for the imperfection as it is a great teaching tool.

While the water receded we were very happy that we chose the right construction company for us (one that shows up shortly after you call on a Saturday with an emergency); that the French drain and sump pit that were newly installed did their job and that the new foundation seams connecting it to the house were water tight.

As the heat kicked on we settled in for a warm dry night.