Dad managed to get the tarp pulled back relatively easy using my push broom that was downstairs. He almost blew chunks, but it only took him a minute or two to get it pulled back. I snapped a few pictures in case my furnace and water heater are damaged. Mom said it might help me to get a low interest loan if I need to replace them.
Here is the furnace.
The side the furnace and water heater are on are higher than the other side.
Here is the water heater. The debris line is higher than what the water line is, so I'm wondering if water was draining even with the tarp covering the drain.
This is the first step from the ground - you can see it's completely submerged in water.
All that water drained in about 30 minutes. Dad had thought it was going to be a slow drain, but when we went back and checked the progress about 30 minutes later (it may have even been about 20 minutes), it was gone.
The bad news is that I had sewage back up in there, which is why dad almost blew chunks. So, I had to go down there this afternoon with a bleach and water solution and spray it down (I used my mom's deck sprayer to do it). I told myself it was mud that was on the floor, but I was all decked out in my new rubber boots, rubber gloves, face mask (and I even put some Vicks VapoRub under my nose) and goggles. It really only took me about 5 minutes to give the basement a good spray down (it's a really small area - probably 10x10 or 12x12 at most. I didn't gag once, but I also didn't breathe through my nose once. I sprayed about half the container of bleach (so almost a gallon of the solution) and tomorrow I'll have to go back down and do it again. After that, I'll probablyh have to hose it down to clean off whatever shit (both figuratively and literally) is on the floor.
The only thing left is to see if the pilot light will light on my water heater. I'm guessing that will have to wait until Monday, unless for some reason my dad wants to come over tomorrow and do it. But, I won't ask him to do it on Father's Day, but I'll see if he'll come over after he's done with work on Monday to give it a shot. And, to see if my furnace still works. My dad thinks the heating whatever will be fine, but he doesn't know about the blower motor. We'll have to see once that dries out. I turned the circuit breaker for the furnace off, so I don't have to worry about that.
I'm relieved that it was just the tarp that was causing the backup and not that the drain was clogged. For once, something went right. Now, please keep your fingers crossed that the appliances down there were not damaged. *prays to the furnace and water heater gods*
I think tonight I will have to bust out some JD movies (or maybe Season 3 of Jump Street) to take my mind off my basement.
Peace out, yo.
5 comments:
Hi Cranky! FINALLY!!! I've clicked on your profile soooo many times and now finally success, there is a BLOG! = )
LOL to find out you are also Sarcasticheese!! LOVE that name too = )
Now I'm gonna have to go back to JMB pics (if I ever get my other computer fixed, grrr, and see if I can find you)
I'm so glad you got your basement pumped out and SANITIZED... whew! We have been so lucky down here so far!
oh you poor thing...that is what my basement looked like in 2001...thank goodness we didn't have it so bad this time, no poop water, just rain and mud from the yard.
My basement is SORT of sanitized. Round one of sanitation is finished - I still need to go back down there again tomorrow. *shudders*
If you can get to your JMB pics you will find me. :)
Osh - I told myself it wasn't poop water, that it was just mud. That's the only way I could get through it. :) And it could have been a lot worse than what it was, and I thank my lucky stars for that.
Hey Cranky....as a veteran of two serious floods, I feel your pain. I, too, keep saying, it's not poop, it's not poop, it's not poop. We still have to tackle the basement. Our friend who owned a cleaning business was supposed to come over today and take care of the basement, but, alas, he threw out his back and can barely move.
My friendly flood/sewage cleanup tip: After everything dries for a few days, mix a 50/50 water & bleach solution in a spray bottle. Spray down everything and let it evaporate. That should kill anything that is missed in the cleaning process.
Sorry you have to go through all this crap, literally.
Yep, I did the 50/50 solution and went down there late Saturday afternoon with mom's deck spray thing and sprayed it down. I've had the fan blowing down the steps with the hatch door on top of it since Saturday and when I looked this morning, it looked like it had dried out, at least by the stairs. It stinks down there though. I'm calling the plumber at 8am (I'm not sure when they open) and seeing if he can come and try and get the pilot light lit this afternoon. When I get home, I guess I'm hauling the hose in and hosing it down to try and clean it up, and then I'll do another round of bleach.
I just hope he can get the pilot light relit and it doesn't overheat like it did on Wednesday.
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