F is for Flooring and Flooding

We're into our sixth day of the A to Z Challenge. I hope you'll check out the other bloggers and leave comments on their sites. As much fun as this is, it also takes work and commitment, but comments make it worthwhile to us. We love to know what our readers are thinking!

My A to Z Challenge theme is Renovation. Hubby and I went through "renovation hell" and I'm sharing it with you. Today is F day and it stands for Flooring and Flooding. You can imagine where this is going, can't you?

Yep, we got our new floors down all through the house, and then a pipe burst and flooded them. Water gushed in our bedroom and down the hall. What a disaster. Our floors were beautiful. We had to turn the water off because, of course, this all happened right before bedtime. The plumbers came out the next morning and it took awhile to find the source of the break. The floor was pulled up and four large squares were cut in my beautifully painted walls, searching. Finally, they determined it was in the slab. I don't know the correct lingo, but they had to do some rerouting to be able to give us water again.  What a mess! It didn't just affect the bedroom and hallways. It affected the kitchen because it's on the other side of the bedroom. Soooo, this is what my new kitchen looked like for more than a week with loud fans blowing, to dry the water. Yep, had to cut holes there too. In Louisiana, wetness can cause black mold to grow. We took every precaution.

If you ever have a pipe burst in your house, don't waste time, turn off water, take pictures of clean up and call a plumber, of course. And then, it's in your best interest to hire a remediation company to help you identify wet spots and deal with your insurance company. Your homeowners policy does not insure you against mold damage, and mold begins growing within 36 hours. Remember, you as the homeowner are responsible for limiting the damage to the property. That's why YOU start the clean up immediately and take pics to prove it! Your agent will not be concerned with mold in your house since he doesn't provide coverage.  Regardless of how your agent resists, get him out there to VIEW the damage as soon as you can--not a day later, not two days later, as soon as possible. This renovation project has been one year long head-ache but we've learned a lot. The main thing is ... you've got to look out for yourself. Many (most?) people out there had rather lie to you than tell you the truth. Some people are just lazy workers. Others just don't know what they're doing and bluffing their way through life. Do I sound pessimistic about the human race? More every day! That's why my E word was Educate yourself!

I can't wait to tell you what the plumber found, but that's on down the A to Z road.  Hey, got any questions for me?