On Saturday night, after a lovely evening meal, Rob helped me wash the dishes. As we stood there, the water in the sink drained slower and slower. Not thrilled with the prospect of having the drain snaked (mostly because of the miniscule digits staring back at me in our bank account), I did what we almost always do: called my dad.
Sunday afternoon, my parents came over to lend a hand. My dad asked Rob to run some water and came back in to the kitchen. “Well, it’s not good.” Gulp. Ok, so we call Roto Rooter? “No, call homeowner’s insurance.” WHAT? See, there’s this pipe that runs down the wall, through the floor and meets up with the main sewer line. And ours is broken. Water is flowing back into the house via that broken pipe.
This morning, I called our homeowner’s agency and within 3 hours, the water mitigation service was here. They checked moisture content in the floor and wall. Sub-floor? Soaked. Wall behind the sink? Soaked. All of these things are complicated by a few things, namely living in old house.
1) Asbestos! Woot! We don’t know yet if there’s asbestos in the wall. They come back tomorrow to test it. If there is, removal is a bit more complicated. We can still stay here but the kitchen will be locked up in the biohazard containment unit (last seen in ET, the Extra-Terrestrial when we all thought ET was dead and Elliot brought him back to life).
2. Original Tile on the floor! See above: Asbestos. Under the laminate floor lies the original tile installed in 1940 when our house was built. Cutting into this tile will release asbestos fibers into the air, requiring the ET biohazard unit again.
So here’s what we know. If the tile has to be cut to get at the water-logged subfloor, they will take out the entire floor. The good news for that is OMG I have wanted to rip out that laminate since I bought this house and never had the money or time or know-how to do it. The bad news.. we will be without our kitchen during this entire process. We may have cabinets ripped out to get the wet lath/plaster out and since they are original to the house, they are solid. The counter top tile will probably be ripped out as well and again, it’s original. I wish there was a way to keep it because I love it. If the floor comes out, the fridge and stove will have to be relocated, as will our chef’s table.
Can anyone come over and help us pack food and dishes and maybe feed us? We won’t be able to cook and I’m really not looking forward to washing dishes in the bathroom sink.
And for your viewing pleasure:
If you don’t cry, you have no soul.