Mancave Rebuild after Sewer Flood

[Old Guy8]

So I was not on top of it. Water alarm. Saw it advancing through basement. Closed manual sewer backup valve . 75% carpet wet.
First stuff moved from basement was audio gear to living room and garage. 10+ sets speakers etc. stacked upstairs.
Looks like, be the summer on bedroom system while basement overhauled. Won't be carpet next time. Thanks for flood insurance. Can always be worse. Minimal posessions lost. After seeing gear stacked to ceiling, time to cull it.

 

[Bonkers60]

Sorry to hear of your issues. The storm went just north of us, we could see quite a bit of lightning. My system is in the basement also, hope I never have an issue. Hope your records are OK. Best of luck to you in getting your basement back together again.

 

[tonyk]

I have a little water in my basement from the rain Wednesday, but no gear down there. I heard we had a little over 4 inches rain that afternoon. Some places had even more.

 

[ConradH]

Ten years ago we had a water backup problem that insurance covered. Actual flooding they wouldn't have. The water was clean and it was still a painful and expensive event. Now, nothing gets stored directly on the floor- up on Harbor Freight dollys or in big plastic containers (ha, BPC). Even after fixing the drainage system for the gutters and foundation (hint- never combine them), we can still have a problem with heavy rain. The trick here is to never let the gutters overflow and I spent part of this morning cleaning them in preparation for expected rain. Sewage? I can't even imagine.

 

[FONSguy]

Yikes! Water damage is the WORST! I came home on August 1st of 2011 to find the main level of my house flooded from a broken cold water supply hose to the washing machine. All carpet and drywall up to 2 feet above floor was removed. Luckily all my gear was on stands or tables. Thanks to Service Master and insurance $ as well as insurance money from my mom's recent passing allowed me to upgrade and flip the house.

 

[Old Guy8]

Restoration folks are removing drywall up two feet. Then the wet carpet. Then a few days with dehumidifiers.

 

[Dr. Morbius]

Sorry to hear about the mess.

 

[onwardjames]

So dang sorry old guy8. I had a water line burst on my washer 10 years ago. Floor had 2'' of water standing. Bitch of it was, I had spotted the bulge in the hose, and decided I could tackle that project "this weekend". Lol.

Hang in there, bud.

 

[bob777]

Bad situation but could have been worse. I stopped to check on our new house (had not moved in yet) but had furniture already there. Stepped in the door and slosh-slosh, water covering the whole house. Could hear it running in the fridge, grabbed the door and almost got electrocuted! Icemaker, will never have another one. Insurance covered it but shook me up for a while. Got that wiring fixed also.

 

[Old Guy8]

Bad situation but could have been worse. I stopped to check on our new house (had not moved in yet) but had furniture already there. Stepped in the door and slosh-slosh, water covering the whole house. Could hear it running in the fridge, grabbed the door and almost got electrocuted! Icemaker, will never have another one. Insurance covered it but shook me up for a while. Got that wiring fixed also.

Bob,
Your right. It could have been worse. Trading storys with neighbors, landscaping decisions can effect water issues. My manual sewer shutoff may have limited water depth, saving water heater, furnace and furniture. All my audio gear was off the floor.
Next time, instead of carpet may go with tile or vinyl planks.

 

[bob777]

Tile is really nice but like a ice skating rink when wet. And yes, most of us are bad about putting things off, waiting on the neighbors to complain about the lawn.........do it tomorrow!

 

[Leebob]

Old Guy8 really sorry to hear about your flooding. I hope the repairs happen quickly and you'll be back enjoying tunes in the basement. One good thing about this is you get to remodel. Something to think about while the walls are open you can add or move your electrical outlets and add or move the TV coax for that Big Screen. Wishing you the best and this soon is a distant memory.

 

[AdamAnt316]

Sorry to hear about that. Eight years ago, our water heater (almost literally) blew its top while we were away at a relative's house. Came home, heard the sound of water hitting the drumset in the basement, ran downstairs, waded through the two or so inches of water, and shut off the main. Not sure how long it'd been like that; there probably would've been more water, but we had an open hole in part of the basement, so some of the water drained into there.

A fair amount of the gear I had down there ended up waterlogged; mostly reel-to-reel decks, as well as my Empire 598 turntable. Fortunately, my keyboard gear was spared. Dragged the affected stuff out of the basement, mopped up as much as we could, then called in Servicemaster (or somesuch) to take care of the rest. The water heater in question was around 25 years old at the time; definitely a good idea to replace them every so often... Anyway, here are some pictures of the carnage:

(fortunately, I've since had it refinished)
-Adam

 

[Old Guy8]

Old Guy8 really sorry to hear about your flooding. I hope the repairs happen quickly and you'll be back enjoying tunes in the basement. One good thing about this is you get to remodel. Something to think about while the walls are open you can add or move your electrical outlets and add or move the TV coax for that Big Screen. Wishing you the best and this soon is a distant memory.

Been thinking of adding a 20 amp circuit for audio. But no route to desired location without holes in drywal ceiling. It is a good idea to add an outlet by the TV where should have been.

 

[Ohighway]

Whenever I read stories about flooding combined with audio equipment I immediately think of this foolishness......

 

[HTWillie]

Nearly two years ago our basement flooded, caused by a sewer blockage nearly a mile downstream. It was spurting up through a floor drain and both shower drains, but slow enough to get most things off the floor or upstairs, so nothing much was lost. I felt lucky to only get only ~1 inch of other people's wastewater. A neighbor's basement was waist deep.

 

[Old Guy8]

Whenever I read stories about flooding combined with audio equipment I immediately think of this foolishness......

View attachment 959475

This is close to how one of three basement systems looked. Was able to move little bit of gear on floor up and out of way. One set speakers were on 2" stands that just saved them. Got newer NAD cdp up off floor in time.
I humped all the stereo gear upstairs. Stacked up, see need to lighten collection.After few days work, all cleaned and ssanitized, 1900 sf.
I got day off yesterday, just watching, while restoration people worked. Four worked nine hours on it.
Not posting pics what the bath and shower before cleanup looked like.

 

[Old Guy8]

Sorry to hear about that. Eight years ago, our water heater (almost literally) blew its top while we were away at a relative's house. Came home, heard the sound of water hitting the drumset in the basement, ran downstairs, waded through the two or so inches of water, and shut off the main. Not sure how long it'd been like that; there probably would've been more water, but we had an open hole in part of the basement, so some of the water drained into there.

A fair amount of the gear I had down there ended up waterlogged; mostly reel-to-reel decks, as well as my Empire 598 turntable. Fortunately, my keyboard gear was spared. Dragged the affected stuff out of the basement, mopped up as much as we could, then called in Servicemaster (or somesuch) to take care of the rest. The water heater in question was around 25 years old at the time; definitely a good idea to replace them every so often... Anyway, here are some pictures of the carnage:

(fortunately, I've since had it refinished)
-Adam

Nice turntable. Definitely worth the effort to refinish.
The sense of panic during such events. It's just stuff. But what do you try to save in first minutes? I did some thought ahead, keeping records up. Financial and family photos in plastic lockers etc.

 

[bob777]

Do you need special rider for insurance for vintage equipment. Wonder what they would do if all that was damaged, thank god it was not.

 

[Old Guy8]

Do you need special rider for insurance for vintage equipment. Wonder what they would do if all that was damaged, thank god it was not.

All my gear is just midfi. I'm covered on this event. Not sure what riders I have. Followed agents recommendations. My FEMA backed flood insurance policy does not come into play here.