Monday! A diary in which I ramble on about my basement, in the aftermath of a flood. Because I don't have time for anything else :(
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, earthquakes, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, earthquakes etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
Ok, we do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday:
BadKitties
Tuesday:
ejoanna
Wednesday:
Caedy
Thursday:
art ah zen
Friday:
FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:
Most Awesome Nana
Sunday:
loggersbrat
A little over three weeks ago, we discovered that there was a flood in our basement. On Friday afternoon. We called a company called ServePro, which specializes in clean-ups and restorations. We thought it was the water heater (again), so no biggie.
Nope. ServePro thought it was a sewage problem. Ack. We had had very heavy rains recently, quite unusual for Colorado, and there were some yucchy clumps of icky stuff on the floor. But...there was no stinky smell. ServePro decided to go full-on hazmat, anyway, until the guy with the plumbing camera showed up and determined that, actually, the flood was a result of condensation from the air conditioner.
But because of the extent of the water damage, they removed 2' of drywall from the walls on both sides of the hallway and storage room. Oddly, they took out the vinyl accordion doors to the storage rooms, as well as the door frame to DH's office. Two cherry bookcases were ruined, a couple of suitcases, assorted bedding stored in plastic but not leakproof bags, and some furniture. They also took away all the carpeting in the hallway, and cut away some from the area in front of the storage rooms.
So...we have to get new drywall, flooring, and paint. Aieee. On a strict budget, because the insurance company is covering the cost of replacing the whole carpet, but only the damaged part of the pad; the paint, the drywall, the doors, and, eventually, the bookcases and other items.
When we bought the house, it was painted mauve and pinkish plum. Yes. it was yucchy. Every room was also painted mauve, plum, greyish, or pale greyish pinkish. Every room also had icky beige wall-to wall carpeting, except for the main floor, which had a peculiar swirl of carpeting and 12 x 12 white tiles in the living room, and just white tiles in the kitchen. Gross. The carpet was covered with woozle wee, too.
So, before we moved in, we had the entire main floor (except, weirdly, my office) done in hardwood. We left the main floor and our bathroom carpeted. (When DS began potty training, we hastily tiled the floors in travertine.) We also painted our bedroom, DS' bedroom, the kitchen, the main floor and upstairs bathrooms, and the laundry room. We never did anything with the basement. The walls are an icky puttyish-pink, and the gross beige carpet is covered with dead spiders and fruit punch Gatorade.
We furnished the two big rooms: One has a giant TV, a console, two leather couches, a coffee table (that I have to refinish) a club chair with a reading lamp, a 10' x 13' oriental rug, and two walls (one long, one short) of tall bookcases. There is a strange middle section that had bookcases on one wall, and the other wall was lined with cubeicals holding bins of toys and shelves for Sorry, Candyland, etc. There was also the puppet theater and play tables.
The second big room was pretty empty for years, except for a giant air-hockey table and a pinball machine. Then, a few years ago, I bought a red converting sofa, two swiveling leopard chairs, a rug, a coffee table, a tiger-pattern cube that holds the sheets for the bed, and a custom-made hammered stainless steel and wood bar that I found on Craiglist. Also a very tall table and two red very modern leather bar chairs. And some fun stainless lamps for the end tables. We installed some crappy mismatched cabinets (I think I'll paint them black), a small dishwasher that i bought on Craiglist for $35, and a bar sink, plus a hanging rack for glasses. Bad idea, since children shooting Nerf guns broke several glasses.
DH's office is small and pretty basic, with one window, a bathroom and a closet (in the bathroom), that we use for out-of-season and formal clothes. The two storage rooms have concrete floors and no drywall. One is also the HVAC room.
But NOW...it's all getting done. After a lot of research, we decided on vinyl plank click flooring. I got four estimates from four companies, and went to six stores. We decided to go with Lumber Liquidators, which was having a sale. NO MORE CARPET! I have always hated wall-to-wall carpeting, anyway. I like wood floors and oriental rugs. The walls are being painted cream, except for DH's office, which will be yellow. And all the dead spiders in the carpet, behind the bookcases, will be GONE. Here's the flooring that we picked.
The Drywall Diva showed up on Monday, had a fit because he wanted to patch the hole in the corner, but there were two chests there, and he left. I cannot understand why he couldn't start in the hallway, or do the crack on the stairway. But then we found Carlos, and he was awesome. Also, half the price of the Diva. Ha.
The painter was supposed to start tomorrow at 7 am, but he texted me about 2 hours ago and said he'll be there at 1 pm instead. He's leaving for a week in Seattle on Wednesday. Sigh.
The flooring is being delivered on Tuesday between 3 and 6 pm. I texted Juan the floor guy six hours ago. No response. I found him on Craigslist. Lumber Liquidators wanted $2.25 a sq ft to install the floor, which DD could do. It snaps together. No glue, and it can be cut with shears or an Exacto knife. $2.25 a sq ft, my ass. The guy at Home Depot ($2 a sq ft) admitted they make "a buttload of money" installing those floors. How nice for them, but we can't afford that. There's 1425 sq feet to be covered in the basement.
The Diva was going to provide and install the doors and baseboards. Carlos only does drywall. Need a door guy, or I will have to do them myself. Bought the baseboards on Amazon, but they only had 1 set of 4 96" pieces, and I need two. Will have to go to Home Depot and have them cut the other pieces. Sigh.
I am getting rid of tons of outgrown toys, clothes, skis, and kids' furniture by donating or selling on Craigslist and two Facebook online Mommy garage sales.
It's going to be amazing, but right now, it's a disaster and I'm exhausted. Bleah.
Wishing everyone a peaceful and mess-free Monday! I will host when I can. Very busy in the basement.