Friday, October 1, 2010

Send Ark!

We knew before we moved here that the basement had "moisture problems." Unfortunately for us it is not only often wet, but the musty smell is so bad that we cannot store much of anything down there. This means I had to give us the finished attic to storage. The attic was supposed to be my artist's room for escaping, blogging, crafts. Not that I'm bitter. It is a rental and Lord willing we will buy our own house next spring or summer.

Since moving here three months ago (yep it has been that long already) we have experienced one major flood where the water was higher than the blocks that the washer and dryer are on. The sump pump couldn't keep up with the downpour. The streets were flooded as the sewers couldn't keep up either. The basement floor isn't flat which means you have to mop the water over the hump in the middle to the sump pump. Mark and I spent hours cleaning up the mess mainly because we didn't know it would flood that badly and we had stuff in storage down there. We did not receive compensation for our work or time (not that we asked) or discount on rent.

So, we wised up and moved almost all of our stuff to the attic except for items that are really high and won't absorb the musty smell. Since our landlord is a bit of a pack rat, the basement is still full of his crap, such as an extra (broken) washing machine, 2 (working?) refrigerators, a Christmas wreath, tables, and all manner of other junk. Seriously.

Last night we continued to get torrential rains from the hurricane (or tropical storm, whatever). This morning we looked downstairs to discover that the sump pump was broken and there is standing water. We called our landlord at 8 and again at 9. He finally called us back to report that he had been trying to find help but that everyone is booked because everyone is flooded. I've heard that flooding basements are a real problem here, even in the insanely expensive homes, so I believe him.

This time, however, Mark and I will not be working in the basement once a new (or fixed) sump pump arrives. The landlord assures me that his guy will be here "by the end of the day" to try and fix the pump. I was very clear in stating that he needs to understand that he cannot just fix it and leave. We won't be cleaning this up and he agreed. Such is the benefit of renting I suppose.

In the meantime it is still raining. As the water continues to rise I will go about my day. I'll be making a batch of chili for dinner. If I didn't laugh, I would cry.

embedded video below. if you don't see it, refresh the page or click HERE

5 comments:

Becca said...

Oh. Gross. And did you seriously STAND in that muck? Ewwwww. So sorry you got stuck with that the first time - I hope your landlord comes through for you. If he can't get his guy out there, tell him he needs to get some buckets and get in there and do it himself.

JRS said...

Had to stand in it to see if we could fix the pump. Ya, I scrubbed afterwards. Cold & gross! Our last landlord stiffed us on all the times that we worked to save her basement (it was finished) when it flooded and then charged us outrageous amounts for bogus charges from our security deposit. So ya, we've learned. Not our problem (except when it wrecks our own stuff).
---JRS

Anonymous said...

Glad to see that you found my sweeping panorama shot. Not easy to get, since I don't think that was the kind of picture it was intended to take.
-Mark

Amy Flege said...

oh man Jen, that sucks and yes gross!! I hope you have a dry basement soon!

My name is Sarah said...

This is Joyce. I am so sorry that I am laughing, more like roaring, at your expense. That video is hilarious - but seriously this does suck. Hope relief finally showed up.