Sunday, December 4, 2011

Damaged Floors, Why I can't Decorate for Christmas

I have been talking about this for months now but I have never shown pictures, so I thought I should do just that. Before my mom left to join my sister for a while, her toilet overflowed and she did not tell us. Well, she is 93 years so I don't really blame her. I blame myself more because I did not check on her sooner, which I usually do. John just felt water in the hall which is behind ma's bathroom wall, so he called and asked me why. At first we were worried that the pipes under the house might have burst, which scared us, because we thought they had to break the floor to get to the pipes. We called Mitch, our maintenance guy and a plumber. Mitch went to my ma's bathroom and sure enough, it was flooded. We were actually relieved that it wasn't the pipes underneath the house.



Well, that was in August. I called in the insurance copany and they told me to have a mitigation guy come to clean it up and assess the situation which I did.


The mitigation guy came with this powerful wet vacuum and big fans to dry up the floor and carpets, cleaned and shampooed all the affected floors and carpets. Damaged were carpets in ma's bedroom, in the home office and back hall and the hardwood floor in the big hallway, hall powder room and closet.




We have a $1000 deductible so we paid the guy and he would submit the balance to the insurance company. I worked with the guy and the guys he sent for months to find a matching floor with no success. Our floors are hardwook oak in 3 plank sizes, 3, 5 and 7 inches wide and they have deep grooves but unfortunately, the pattern has been discontinued. After several months of searching with no success, I settled with something close enough.


Below is my mom's bedroom and her bathroom is on the other side of the right wall accessible only from inside her bedroom. The water seeped through this wall to the hall and all the way to the other carpeted hallway on the left side leading to 2 guest bedrooms and another bathroom or at least Luckily, we discovered the water before it entered those rooms.



The wood is warped and looks really disgusting. Some of the planks could just easily be pulled out.



The floors looked good after the guy cleaned them while still wet, but not after they dried.


This happened in August and I just found something I would be happy with in Nov. just before I left for Florida. But even before we ordered the floors, I got busy emptying the cabinets so the workers could move them without breaking anything, particularly my gazillion dishes, lol. Because we could not find a perfect match, the insurance company agreed to have the family room, which is adjoining to the hallway, get sanded and stained to match the new wood. We also decided, at our expense, to get the dining room done at the same time. We decided to upgrade the affected carpeted areas to the same same hardwood floors and we would just pay the difference.
All these furniture below have been moved to the other parts of the house, except for the treadmill. The bookcases in the hallway have been emptied too so you can just imagine the books being all over the place.



Right now, I am working on emptying cabinets in the dining room and there are 5 of them there, all full of dishes. As you can see, the small mahogany cabinet against the back wall is already empty except for the top. The French buffet server is already empty inside but I still have to box up the stemware.


This French provincial cabinet is all empty now except on top of it. I need to bring the ladder in and John has to help me cause on top is a huge very heavy hunt scene Victorian figurine.



This corner china cabinet is almost empty underneath but there are still a lot of dishes on the top shelves. I ran out of plastic bins. John has been buying out the bins from Office Depot but they could not keep up with the demand, but we were able to buy more today.



This one's empty except for the top.

This is my mom's bathroom. We had her toilet replaced.


There's the new one.




We added some extra flooding protection.

Sorry for being too graphic but I promise you, the toilet is brand new and has not been used yet. Mama is not even staying with us now. I just wanted to show you the overyflow protection. See those 3 holes on top?


We also had some mouldings added on top for cosmetic reason and the bottom sides sealed tightly so that water cannot seep through the walls again. I am having the mirror framed also.


Someday, I will repaint the cabinet. The mouldings are too white.



For now, I will just store the big pieces on top of the kitchen table. Can't have any dinner parties for a while.

You see I have been busy packing lots of dishes, figurines and other tableware. The living room is getting overcrowded that is why I cannot even put a Christmas tree up. See the boxes on the left? Those will get higher after I am done.


More boxes all over!



The wood was finally delivered on Friday, not a perfect match but it will do. Coincidentally, the wood came from a company where my other residence is in Florida. I tried to buy it locally but it would have cost me $3000 more for the exact same hardwood floor, the same product number and manufacturer..
I cannot wait for the floors to be installed and get the house in order again. I am begging my 2 pregnant daughters in FL not to deliver yet cause I still have a lot of work to be done here, lol.
I will share more pictures as it progresses.


Thanks for coming by. I hope I did not bore you. I am linking with


Susan's Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/


Sally's Blue Monday at http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/


Sherry's Home Sweet Home Fri at http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com

Thanks for hosting, ladies!

20 comments:

Teresa@1800 Farmhouse Rd said...

Oh Christine, how awful that you cannot decorate for Christmas, or put up a Christmas tree! I know you have a table setting for every occasion/holiday that exist, so I know you are disappointed. On a lighter note, I cannot wait to see your new wood floors! I know they will be beautiful!

Chubby Chieque said...

OMG! What a huge job. But, be patience, Ate Xine, after that, you will have a great floor.

DOn't mind the Christmas, you'll be out & stay with the preggy daughter's soon be mum's again, that matters.

Hugs to you & to one and all.
/chie

Anonymous said...

Oh, my goodness! Chrsitine, I'm so sorry this happened! I'm glad you found the leak before it could do even more damage! Glad you found a solution to your floors. Now, I covet all of your dishes but don't envy you having to empty all of your cabinets and pack them up for now! That must be a job! But, your floors will be so beautiful when it's all finished! Now go take a break! ;)
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Gloria said...

Greetings, Christine. Oh my, all the work with the floors! I remember when you told me about the water overflow from your Mom's toilet and the hard time you were having matching the wood. Well, at least you are getting it all resolved now. I am sure it will all look lovely when it's done and you can put all of this behind you in the new year! To put a positive spin on things: Don't feel badly for not being able to put up a tree or anything this year. Next Christmas will REALLY be exciting and something to look forward to.
Best,
Gloria

Susan said...

Christine, I am so sorry for all the problems you have endure with your floors!! God Bless you! Things will get back to normal really soon!! You have so many beautiful things. Just think how pretty they are going to be with your new floors installed!

ℳartina @ Northern Nesting said...

Oh Christine I am so sorry your going thru all this! It will be fixed soon and all will be back to normal!

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Oh honey, it's a shame you have to go thru this specially now with the hollidays coming along...but, we looked like this too with our ceilings and later all the painting, the window treatments, etc., just horroble! You will have a wonderful brand new floors and you'll forget about it! I feel so bad because I can imagine how you'd love to be decking the halls and tablescaping. Lots of hugs and take it light hon.
FABBY

Babs said...

Christine, bless your heart. What a mess you're having to deal with. Hopefully, all will be done soon and you can decorate a little bit. I know you'll be glad to get the floors installed and everything put back to normal.

Sue said...

You are definitely in a state of chaos, but I know things always look horrible before they get better! Case in point, my house full of boxes and "stuff" waiting to find a home for Christmas decorating. LOL I decided this morning that not everything has to be put out every darn year! I own waaaay too much! Hang in there, Christine. It will look wonderful before you know it! :-)

Dolores said...

Oh Christine, I feel for you!!! What a huge job to move all your dishes...etc.
It's amazing the damage water can do.

So good to hear you found some flooring that you're pleased with. I know it will be beautiful when you have everything back in its place again.
Take care!

SmilingSally said...

Aw, poor Christine. I can only guess how awful this feels. It's so much work, and you can't decorate--you, who lives to decorate!

I suppose the best thing to do is to take a deep breath and thank God that you have a mom to hug and so many beautiful things to move.

I'll look forward to seeing those floors when it's all done.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Awwww pupwede pa naman sigurong humabol, I hope. I can't just imagine all those hard work you have to do to empty your precious collections.

Unknown said...

How you will be thrilled when complete with new floors, Christmas is of the heart.

Have a great week ~
TTFN ~
Hugs,
Marydon

PS Pop over for our GIVEAWAY

Kim, USA said...

One leak could damage the whole house. Good thing you found it this early. Happy weekdays!

TableSetting

cassandrasminicorner said...

That is a big problem:(

Visiting for BM! Hope you can visit mine too..

http://www.heavenly-dreams.com/toy-story-toddler-bed/

Beth said...

Hi Christine, I am so sorry this happened. What a lot of work! On another note, I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading about your daughter's baby showers. You have a lot to look forward to!
Blessings, Beth

Kathleen said...

Hey, I have an idea! Since you have to pack everything up, you might as well move to a bigger house! You need more room for all your dishes, etc!
I don't envy you. I thought it was bad with the painters here last week.
I guess you are not having Cmas at you house! Please don't leave John home alone again!

Traci said...

I can't imagine what it's like to have to pack all of that stuff up! Then to have to unpack it all. I feel for you & hope those babies stay put!

Unknown said...

Sorry to about your leak, glad you are getting new floors soon. I know you will love them.
Joann

Queenie's Vintage Finds said...

Oh Christine, that is awful that this happened...I am so sorry that you all had to go through this water damage...It's not you or your mama's fault...it looks like that new toilet is a good one and will help prevent any future problems...I'll tell you that I can understand what you've went through because many years ago, we went through water damage in our kitchen, living room and hallway. We were out of town evacuating because of a hurricane (cannot even remember which one) and the waterline blew off of the icemaker line and water went everywhere....I never in a million years thought I'd come home to ankle deep water and a water line shooting clear across the ktichen with so much pressure. It was a mess and took months and months to get back to normal, and we didn't even have near as much of the furniture and such as you have had to move. Everything was ruined though...kitchen cabinets, floors, carpets, insulation even walls at the bottom. I didn't ever think we'd get back to normal, but we did. It taught me a lot about patience, I know that...because it felt like everything took forever, including the insurance company. I can understand what you all had to deal with....God Bless you all and I pray that everything is getting somewhat back to normal now for you all. You are always in my thoughts, even when I don't stop by your blog as often. Love ya girl!
Big hugs,
Queenie

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