[zowie]

I have never had a drop of water in my basement in the five years I've had this house and got three inches worth in like an hour. The water table just got to high and there was a stream flowing from the foundation and out the garage. My back is killing me from a night of wet vaccing.

As it happens, the basement is my main listening room. I generally don't permanently keep stuff on the floor because, after all, it is a basement, but I still had some stuff lying around since it's always been dry that I couldn't save on time.

I haven't fully inventoried the damage yet but in addition to the carpet it seems to include a cheap but beloved classical guitar, a power conditioner that was mostly submerged (unplugged!) for hours, and 50-75 records -- mostly recent jazz reissues, classical audiophile pressings from the 80s including the now very expensive Mobile Fidelity Carmen boxed set, and 78 rpm albums of pre-war violinists (these things act like sponges).

Still TBD is what became of the cables snaking around the floor and whether the water rose high enough on a Magnepan to cause any damage aside from staining the cloth.

If we weren't home it could have been a lot worse. No one was shot. Of course it also could have been a lot better.

 

[mofonyx]

Aren't vinyls waterproof? I thought only heat damages them (I've seen it happen to mine).

Sorry to hear, I hope the damage was minimal!

 

[Dimitris]

Sucks!I hope you recover soon. I have seen many flooded basements in my area too and I think its one of the worst things that can happen to your house.

 

[zowie]

The vinyl discs themselves aren't harmed by water, at least not if you clean and dry them. The labels could be, but its the jackets and sleeves that are the problem. They react by becoming some combination of wrinkled, stained brown, and/or fuzzy and disgusting, depending on how the were manufactured. Has to be pretty rare disc to put up with that kind of shmootz.

Shellac records have a proclivity to grow mold and are harder to save, and the old classical album jackets are like sponges. I was just looking for a replacement -- in any format -- of the second Kreisler Brahms Concerto (the '36, not '27) which I had on a 78 album and it appears it's never been officially re-issued in the U.S.

At the end of the day, there are some items I won't miss and I can replace most of the rest in some format or another.

I keep reminding myself of all the worse things that could have come to pass.

 

[feh1325]

 

[Chiliman]

your power conditioner should be fine, just open it up and let it air out. if you feel like it you can clean the pcb with some rubbing alcohol

 

[rb67]

I hope everything comes out alright. Does your homeowners insurance cover floods? (This is more of a question for myself as these things are always good to learn for the future.)

 

[Duggeh]

Sorry to hear about this unfortunate event, but as youve said. Many worse things can happen.

Hope you don't get any crap from they insurance.

 

[mrarroyo]

Something is not right, you should consider hiring a civil engineer or a geologist to look at your house location and its construction.

 

[Brewmaster]

There is a lot of good information on the web about flooding and what you can do to help prevent it, if it's something more serious though better get somebody in as the mold that can arrise from repeated wetness can be a real problem.

The first step is good drainage from your roof. My downspouts got plugged with leafs last year and I had a minor flood.

 

[Samgotit]

Getting flooded sucks. I hope it works out for you.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Something is not right, you should consider hiring a civil engineer or a geologist to look at your house location and its construction.

Depending on where the OP lives, it might be a one time event. The northeast got a lot of rain over the weekend. I think I heard 8 inches in Central Park. With that much rain, even houses that never have flooded, can flood.

 

[zowie]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm hoping this is an extraordinary event, because other neighbors who never get water did too, including one guy who lives uphill from us and has been there for 52 years. If it starts recurring then, yeah, I'll have to get someone in to take a look.

The main thing now is whether to rip up and throw out the carpet. I wet vac'd it and have the windows open and fans on, but it's thickly padded so I'm not that optimistic. You're not supposed to put padded carpet in basements for just this reason but it was there when I moved in. Under the carpet is very old and ugly tile, so I'd have to put something down if the carpet has to go.

No insurance coverage for this. NYC metro policies usually have flood exclusions. You have to buy an extra rider that is very non-economical because the risk is high.

 

[Pars]

I'd pull the carpet up and try to save it if it has only been a couple of days or so. The pad is fubar'd. With both down, you will never get it dry enough not to have mold, etc. Regarding insurance... I think an agency of the federal government sells it (FEMA? can't recall which agency). Any electronics can be saved, as mentioned. Hope the Maggies are OK.

Our basement got around a foot of water about a decade ago (17" of rain in < 24 hours). Again, a house that had never flooded. It sucks, and you have my sympathy.