The Muhlestein Family

When it rains, it pours.

December 23rd, 2007

I was too tired to write much last week. That is because we had a pretty late Saturday night. We had originally planned to relax, watch a movie, and get some sleep after a long week of preparing for my thesis defense and finally finishing my Masters Degree. Well, about the time we were finishing dinner, our plans changed for the worse.

My first chore after we finished eating was to give Tim a bath. He and I went up stairs to get that done and I promptly discovered that there was no hot water coming out out of the faucet. Hm :/ Next, I went back downstairs and checked the kitchen. Sure enough, no hot water. Next, I decided I better go down to the basement and check the water heater. I didn’t make it that far though. As I approached the basement door, I found a large wet area outside our laundry room door. Upon further investigation, I found that our Laundry room had about an inch of standing water in it.

It turned out that the drain hose on the washing machine had come undone. Gayla had been doing laundry all day. When the washer got to the rinse cycle and started filling up with hot water, the water just went out the back of the machine and onto the floor. There is a drain on the floor behind the washer and dryer but it isn’t meant to have that much water running down it and didn’t appear to be adequate to handle the flood coming from the washing machine.

After a few seconds of shock and wondering what I ought to do, I put my head back on straight and turned the shutoff values to the washing machine off. The water continued to drain for a minute or so but then at least the source was turned off. Next, I went downstairs to see the damage.

This is where it was raining and pouring. We had drips all over our basement. We had standing water in a couple places but luckily, since nothing is finished down there, it was only on the cement. The water had been running down the heater vent in the laundry room too. That made it so our heater didn’t light until I took it apart and dried things out. I had to replace the furnace filter too. (That part needed done anyway.) Also, the water heater either shut itself off or the pilot area got wet. I had to re-light the water heater’s pilot light. I also had to remove some of the insulation from the ceiling. We spend the rest of the evening mopping up water out of the laundry room and the basement.

1/2 of the laundry was on the floor in the laundry room so that had to be rewashed or dried. We also had to put a fan in the hall for a few days to dry out the carpet. I’m glad we don’t live in an area that is particularly susceptible to mold.

Entry Filed under: Family