(Let me interrupt myself and tell you that Josh believes every good story begins with those 4 words...)
Monday night I returned to our house after being gone for about 10 hours. I unlocked the front door and before I had a chance to turn on the light I knew something was wrong. I heard running water.
This is what I saw when I flipped on the lights...
The water line to the ice maker in our refrigerator disconnected sometime during the day and had been spilling water into the kitchen for an undetermined amount of time. There was standing water in the kitchen and breakfast area and water had seeped through the carpet in most of the living room, hallway and master bedroom. Even in places where the carpet appeared dry, water lurked beneath the surface and would appear with a small amount of pressure. We called Servepro and they showed up around 9:00pm. By 12:30am, the carpets had been pulled back, soaked carpet padding thrown away, and an army of industrial strength fans and dehumidifiers set up throughout our house.
It is now two days later and progress has been made. The carpets and the tile in the kitchen are dry. The fans are still blowing, but only on the walls in areas that got particularly damp.
It kind of sounds like you are on an airplane when you walk around the house because of the fan noise... it is almost impossible to hear the doorbell or phone ring and you have to be right next to a person to hear what they are saying.
It could have been worse. Aside from the padding and potentially the carpet, nothing appears to be damaged permanently. Our furniture, for the most part, remained dry and none of the electronics in the house were affected. Kim and Bill, our landlords, have been wonderfully understanding.
However, I am now morally opposed to automatic ice makers in refrigerators.
