Surviving the Great Flood
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:54 pm
Hello all,
I returned from Europe on Saturday to discover that a pipe had frozen and burst, inundating my recently renovated kitchen and pouring down into the basement space where all of my gaming stuff was stored from my move.
Here are a few things that I learned.
1. Bagging and boarding makes a huge difference.
Not everything I had was bagged and boarded; 100% of the stuff that was came through unscathed.
2. Pallets make a huge difference.
When I moved in, everything was stacked and stored on pallets. However, as we unpacked, some stuff got moved around, onto the floor, including a box containing 6 pristine copies of Heroquest. They're not going to make it.
3. A space between the stacks and the walls makes a huge difference.
It's tempting to stack right up against the walls, but this is a primary channel for water to come down. My worst-hit boxes were against a wall, backing a window--water pooled on the window ledge and saturated those boxes. If there had been a pallet standing vertically between the wall and the stack, this damage would have been considerably reduced.
4. Most cardboard boxes will resist SOME water.
Many boxes got spattered or damp-ish, but the contents came through ok. Cardboard is highly absorbent, which means that long term exposure or standing in water is no good, but I was impressed with how much protection the boxes themselves provided.
5. There is a process of remediation in which boxes can be freeze-dried--but this is very time sensitive and should be initiated immediately.
I was unaware of this process, and so I unpacked the soaked boxes and tried to dry a lot of the contents with fans. Had I instead sent them away right away, less damage may have resulted.
6. Insurance will cover frozen pipes (typically) but will not protect most other sources of slow or gradual water leaks ("wear and tear").
I'm covered, but there are cases (even ones no one could really prevent--how do you inspect your whole plumbing system for maintenance?) that are not. Review your policy!
7. There are important exclusions to coverage, including vacant properties, or ones that you are vacationing from that may not be covered.
Again, check your policy.
So these are my initial impressions. I'll update the OP as more come to mind.
I returned from Europe on Saturday to discover that a pipe had frozen and burst, inundating my recently renovated kitchen and pouring down into the basement space where all of my gaming stuff was stored from my move.
Here are a few things that I learned.
1. Bagging and boarding makes a huge difference.
Not everything I had was bagged and boarded; 100% of the stuff that was came through unscathed.
2. Pallets make a huge difference.
When I moved in, everything was stacked and stored on pallets. However, as we unpacked, some stuff got moved around, onto the floor, including a box containing 6 pristine copies of Heroquest. They're not going to make it.
3. A space between the stacks and the walls makes a huge difference.
It's tempting to stack right up against the walls, but this is a primary channel for water to come down. My worst-hit boxes were against a wall, backing a window--water pooled on the window ledge and saturated those boxes. If there had been a pallet standing vertically between the wall and the stack, this damage would have been considerably reduced.
4. Most cardboard boxes will resist SOME water.
Many boxes got spattered or damp-ish, but the contents came through ok. Cardboard is highly absorbent, which means that long term exposure or standing in water is no good, but I was impressed with how much protection the boxes themselves provided.
5. There is a process of remediation in which boxes can be freeze-dried--but this is very time sensitive and should be initiated immediately.
I was unaware of this process, and so I unpacked the soaked boxes and tried to dry a lot of the contents with fans. Had I instead sent them away right away, less damage may have resulted.
6. Insurance will cover frozen pipes (typically) but will not protect most other sources of slow or gradual water leaks ("wear and tear").
I'm covered, but there are cases (even ones no one could really prevent--how do you inspect your whole plumbing system for maintenance?) that are not. Review your policy!
7. There are important exclusions to coverage, including vacant properties, or ones that you are vacationing from that may not be covered.
Again, check your policy.
So these are my initial impressions. I'll update the OP as more come to mind.