Oh Fudgesicles

[calmloki]

So we, being of discerning minds, opted to spend some time in green Oregon vs.125 degree La Quinta California. So now Oregon lakes and rivers are way low, the fields are about a month early in dryness, the state has been visited by 117 degree (whaaaat? - Oregon?) days..

and

we just got word our La Quinta house in the desert flooded. Seems that the plastic nut holding the stainless braided flex line to one of the toilets split. Good neighbors doing a checkup found about an even 1/2" of standing water in the house as well as water evidence at the outside of the garage door and at the door sills. Have to leave the water on to be able to return to live outdoor plants.

The disaster response team is hot to remove all cabinets and 2 feet of drywall throughout the house as well as all carpet and BTW, the Saltillo tile may well get screwed up. Didn't OK full scale destruction right off the bat - destruction is easy, construction is hard - haste makes waste.
didn't really plan on home renovations by remote this summer, but there you go!

 

[ProspectiveBum]

Ugh, sorry to hear it, Loki! With it being so hot there, maybe things will dry out quickly?

 

[audreyh1]

Crud!

 

[RobbieB]

Bummer dude.

 

[aja8888]

Ouch! Hopefully, insurance will make the rehab pain easier.

 

[lordjust]

So we, being of discerning minds, opted to spend some time in green Oregon vs.125 degree La Quinta California. So now Oregon lakes and rivers are way low, the fields are about a month early in dryness, the state has been visited by 117 degree (whaaaat? - Oregon?) days..

and

we just got word our La Quinta house in the desert flooded. Seems that the plastic nut holding the stainless braided flex line to one of the toilets split. Good neighbors doing a checkup found about an even 1/2" of standing water in the house as well as water evidence at the outside of the garage door and at the door sills. Have to leave the water on to be able to return to live outdoor plants.

The disaster response team is hot to remove all cabinets and 2 feet of drywall throughout the house as well as all carpet and BTW, the Saltillo tile may well get screwed up. Didn't OK full scale destruction right off the bat - destruction is easy, construction is hard - haste makes waste.
didn't really plan on home renovations by remote this summer, but there you go!

Neighbor above me had same thing break and flood my apt. I put cameras in the apt to watch for water when I am away. Admittedly by the time I see it, the flood is well on its way. I also shut off most water valves if possible. The repairs suck, sorry it happened to you.

 

[Sunset]

How terrible.
After our water leak by toilet (never call it a flood), we shut off the house water for trips, even if it means the garden dies. It's a tough call, but 1 [-]flood[/-] water leak was enough.

Ours was not as serious as yours , just due to lucky flow of the water and a floor drain.

Just for fun, let us know the extra large water bill you get (and remember to include that for insurance).

 

[calmloki]

Crew just called - all carpet & pad pulled,extractors run over the floors, a couple dozen oriental & Navajo rugs going with the crew for passive drying at their warehouse, then probably pro handwoven/knotted rug cleaning. A dozen fans and the AC and 3 dehumidifiers going... guess the meter is spinning like mad and the disaster guy mentioned we should note increased electric bill with insurance company. Most of the furniture is real wood and real old - some water damage would just be extra character - sure not going to find replacements at Macy's that we would be happy with, so I'm working on attitude adjustment.

Sunset, water is stupid cheap in the desert, which makes no sense, but I'll be curious to see how many gallons we wasted. Know how long it takes to fill our 9500 gallon pool with extra hoses running, it will be interesting to see though what that broken fitting flowed.

First contact with USAA was very good, fingers crossed for when the adjuster contacts us - have rarely used insurance, mostly decades of paying in for the houses and apartments.

Our $3000 deductible is going/has gone poof.

 

[Scuba]

So sorry this happened to you. Good thing a neighbor noticed! We live in Palm Springs and when we left for 2 months, we shut off our water. Luckily our landscaping irrigation is on the HOA’s water system so it wasn’t affected.

 

[Amethyst]

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Removing Saltillo tile is quite a job. Depending on how badly the water penetrated the sealer, it may be possible to have the surface refinished (diamond grinding). We had that done at our current house before moving in.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

We’re going through this same scenario, calmloki, as our big leak occurred just this past Wednesday.

All cabinets shot, all wood floors shot, 2 feet of drywall to be replaced, lots of wood furniture that didn’t make it, and stone floors that may or may not be saved.

Blowers and dehumidifiers all over the place.

I wish you the best going forward.

 

[sengsational]

Based on how bad the remediation is for a busted fresh water source, you'd think insurance companies would give you a break if you had water detectors, especially "monitored" versions, where an alert goes out to a monitoring company when triggered. We had the toilet connector go while on vacation once, and the plank T&G oak I'd put down a year prior was a goner. We were vacationing in Alaska, so would have needed the monitoring, or maybe an alert on my phone, and call a friend to cut the water off. We used to cut off the water before leaving, but now, with DW's miriad plants and drip irrigation, can't do that easy fix.

 

[googily]

Fudgesicles indeed! So sorry this happened.

 

[pacergal]

What a bummer! Hard to do remodel from afar.
Good Luck in the drying aspect, hopefully, everything will do well.

 

[Chuckanut]

Ugh. I am sorry that happened to you. I turn off my water. If the plants die, they die.

 

[ivinsfan]

Outside landscaping is expensive..I wonder if you can get a hookup that allows Outside water but has a shutoff valve going into the house...

 

[MichaelB]

Our home in Florida has the water shutoff outside, and if we close it the irrigation system won’t work. When we’re absent for an extended period we now shut off the water for every toilet.

We started doing this after a toilet failed and spent a couple of weeks running, and the extra water cost a bit over $500.

 

[ivinsfan]

Our home in Florida has the water shutoff outside, and if we close it the irrigation system won’t work. When we’re absent for an extended period we now shut off the water for every toilet.

We started doing this after a toilet failed and spent a couple of weeks running, and the extra water cost a bit over $500.

You got off cheap..do you shutoff the dishwasher and washer as well

 

[Souschef]

We have a shutoff for the water in the house. Unfortunately, when our home was new, the outlet pipe for the HW heater leaked because of sloppy installation.
We had them replace the kitchen floor and repaint.


Had some other strange things happen, though.
The condensate line from the Central air was a flex hose for some reason. After time, it sagged in 3 places, forming 3 P-traps, so the water in the pan overflowed. We had it replaced with rigid PVC piping.

We had someone in the crawl space doing some work, when he yelled,"shut off the water". Turns out we had a leak in the drip irrigation line under the house. That was an easy fix, fortunately.

 

[MichaelB]

You got off cheap..do you shutoff the dishwasher and washer as well

Well, yes, there was no damage to the floor or structure, so it could have been worse, like calmloki describes in the OP. We don’t shut off the valves for the washer, dishwasher or kitchen sink.

 

[audreyh1]

Fortunately our pretty outside yard watering system is separate from the house and we always turn off the house water when we leave. I always worry about something bursting otherwise and unlimited water coming in.

 

[NW-Bound]

What a mess!

My niece's home also got flooded when a toilet water connection broke. They were not home for one weekend, and came home to total devastation. It cost their insurance mucho money. Had to live in a rental for 6 months, while the home got remodeled.

My home has the exterior plumbing line teed off before the pipe enters the home. Both circuits have their own shut off.

we just got word our La Quinta house in the desert flooded. Seems that the plastic nut holding the stainless braided flex line to one of the toilets split. Good neighbors doing a checkup found about an even 1/2" of standing water in the house as well as water evidence at the outside of the garage door and at the door sills. Have to leave the water on to be able to return to live outdoor plants.

The disaster response team is hot to remove all cabinets and 2 feet of drywall throughout the house as well as all carpet and BTW, the Saltillo tile may well get screwed up. Didn't OK full scale destruction right off the bat - destruction is easy, construction is hard - haste makes waste.
didn't really plan on home renovations by remote this summer, but there you go!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Oh man...I am so sorry to hear about this. We are quite fortunate that the outdoor spigots/irrigation system has a separate shut off valve from the house. I am pretty religious about turning off the interior water when we are away for more than a day or so.

 

[Souschef]

Oh man...I am so sorry to hear about this. We are quite fortunate that the outdoor spigots/irrigation system has a separate shut off valve from the house. I am pretty religious about turning off the interior water when we are away for more than a day or so.

When we bought our home there was no shutoff for the irrigation water. I took out the piece of 3/4 inch pipe and replaced it with a ball valve, 2 close nipples and a union.