My mobile home flooded!!

Jackie · #1 11/12/10, 09:00 PM

Oh man oh man! If its not one thing, its another.

Our sewer didn't really work all summer (we live in town, hooked to town system, responsible for sewer line on our property). It finally totally quit and we discovered that 25 feet down the line is broken. Okay. So we finally scraped up enough cash to get someone to come in and fix it. Going to cost around $1000. They are supposed to be here anytime so when we insulated the skirting for the trailer last week we left most of it off....well...because the guys are coming and we want to make it easy.

So this morning my water lines were frozen. I tried the taps. Nothing. Basically in tears because I couldn't have a shower (I have a bizarre method for having a shower even though I have no sewer line).

Well...my three year old son must have tried the taps after I did. I KNOW they were shut off all the way.

Since the water doesn't drain when the lines thawed in the afternoon my bathtub filled with water and the whole back half of the trailer filled with water (thank goodness its not level). There was so much water that when I got home I noticed water in the street! My first thought was OMG NO! I ran down the side of the trailer hoping it was just a busted line under there. Nope. Water was coming from inside. Sigh.

So I got a wet vac and I have been trying to vacuum up all the water...but even though my shop vac is almost half filled with water the rug seems the same. Would running a heater help?? I have no idea what to do.

I talked to my insurance company right away and they told me to call them back on Monday when I had an idea of if I wanted to make a claim. Well....I think I do! The trailer is going to rot for sure.

I am here by myself with a three year old and I just don't know what to do.

Kmac15 · #2 11/12/10, 09:10 PM

Take up any wet carpet and padding....its ruined. Call the insurance company to start the ball rolling because the drywall is going to need to be replace or repaired. Sorry this happened.

Jackie · #3 11/12/10, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kmac15

Take up any wet carpet and padding....its ruined. Call the insurance company to start the ball rolling because the drywall is going to need to be replace or repaired. Sorry this happened.

Well there is no padding. I can only get half of it up. I can't move my bed myself, but I at least got the wet part lifted (hoping it can dry and be put back down). There is no drywall...just wood paneling. And it doesn't seem wet. :S

I did talk to the insurance company like I said and they said come in monday. They are closed for the weekend. I got in there just five min before close today.

Common Tator · #4 11/12/10, 10:34 PM

See if you can rent a dehumidifier at your local Home Depot or Lowes. when you run it, make sure that the drain tubing is in a drain, and can't just fall out. If you have any fans, aim them at the wet area and let them run. If you don't have any fans, borrow some if you can.

This will make your trailer very very cold. Is there anyone you can stay with for a few days?

Jackie · #5 11/12/10, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Common Tator

See if you can rent a dehumidifier at your local Home Depot or Lowes. when you run it, make sure that the drain tubing is in a drain, and can't just fall out. If you have any fans, aim them at the wet area and let them run. If you don't have any fans, borrow some if you can.

This will make your trailer very very cold. Is there anyone you can stay with for a few days?

K unfortunately I live way up in the middle of no where.

Shouldn't I have hot fans blowing on the rug? And keep the heat in the house turned way up?

Honestly, if there was somewhere I could stay I would have stayed there a long time ago when we lost the toilet.

next1 · #6 11/12/10, 10:50 PM

Oh man.... I am sorry. Try to ventilate as much as possible, it will help with evaporation. Keep using the Shop-Vac.
Good luck with the insurance co.

rambler · #7 11/12/10, 10:56 PM

I'm assuming you are not in a good $$$ situation from your message, so we can say all sorts of $$$ things for you to do, but that won't happen right....

What you need is air moving over or through anything wet to dry out as fast as possible.

Fans and dehumidifiers do that.

Warmed air, and dry air will really help with that. Being in a cold climate & needing a furnace on now will really help that. Your furnace might dry air more than the dehumidifier will. The fan is _always_ a good idea.

As water changes from water into vapor in the air moving past it, this will use up heat. So, your house will feel very cool while it is drying out.

As well, that wet air will want to condense back into water - especially in a cold climate. Your windows will really want to ice up, or at least sweat terribly.

You might do best with the fans right by the wet spots, and a dehumidifier in the other part of the house, to take the water back out of the air.

The sooner you get the water out, the better.

Fans and dehumidifiers. Turning the heat up will help too, if you can afford all that.

The carpet will be hard to save. You need it up off the floor, and air moving through it if you intend to somehow save it. Leaving it on the floor, it will be shot & the floor itself will be soon too. It's gotta come up.

So sorry that happened. Living on the edge as you have all summer - just too bad, we all let things hang for a bit, but we really should get our things worked out as soon as we can. Kinda hard to expect others (insurance) to pay for something that shoulda been prevented some time ago.

If you think I'm railing on you with that last paragraph, no - I'm thinking of myself, and something I've let hang all summer long, and need to do now, not when I get around to it.....

--->Paul

PhilJohnson · #8 11/12/10, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kmac15

Take up any wet carpet and padding....its ruined. Call the insurance company to start the ball rolling because the drywall is going to need to be replace or repaired. Sorry this happened.

Yup. I work for a company that repairs the very type of disaster you just experienced. The carpet has to go otherwise it will mold. No amount of trying to dry it out will work

If you have a hard time pulling it out take a utility knife and cut it into very small strips. It will be much easier to manage than trying to take out large chunks at a time.

Jackie · #9 11/12/10, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rambler

I'm assuming you are not in a good $$$ situation from your message, so we can say all sorts of $$$ things for you to do, but that won't happen right....

What you need is air moving over or through anything wet to dry out as fast as possible.

Fans and dehumidifiers do that.

Warmed air, and dry air will really help with that. Being in a cold climate & needing a furnace on now will really help that. Your furnace might dry air more than the dehumidifier will. The fan is _always_ a good idea.

As water changes from water into vapor in the air moving past it, this will use up heat. So, your house will feel very cool while it is drying out.

As well, that wet air will want to condense back into water - especially in a cold climate. Your windows will really want to ice up, or at least sweat terribly.

You might do best with the fans right by the wet spots, and a dehumidifier in the other part of the house, to take the water back out of the air.

The sooner you get the water out, the better.

Fans and dehumidifiers. Turning the heat up will help too, if you can afford all that.

The carpet will be hard to save. You need it up off the floor, and air moving through it if you intend to somehow save it. Leaving it on the floor, it will be shot & the floor itself will be soon too. It's gotta come up.

So sorry that happened. Living on the edge as you have all summer - just too bad, we all let things hang for a bit, but we really should get our things worked out as soon as we can. Kinda hard to expect others (insurance) to pay for something that shoulda been prevented some time ago.

If you think I'm railing on you with that last paragraph, no - I'm thinking of myself, and something I've let hang all summer long, and need to do now, not when I get around to it.....

--->Paul

Thanks. We thought the line was just blocked. We rented a snake. Got a plumber out. Got another plumber out. Hired roto-router (cost $280), talked to the town, tried blowing out the line ourselves with a water pump, tried gallons of draino, tried everything! We spent the whole summer trying to fix it. We only very recently found out that we can't fix it and that the line is broken. Called this guy and that guy. Had to wait a weekend to for the town office to open. Got some real phone numbers. Hired a guy to put in a new line. Now waiting. I wouldn't really say that we ever once just let it hang. We were told the line was good when we moved the trailer here in April. That was apparently not true.

I have paid thousands into SGI in the past 15 years. I deserve to get some of it back to fix this. Well, thats my opinion anyway.

Your post makes a lot of sense. Thanks a lot.

Jackie · #10 11/12/10, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilJohnson

Yup. I work for a company that repairs the very type of disaster you just experienced. The carpet has to go otherwise it will mold. No amount of trying to dry it out will work

If you have a hard time pulling it out take a utility knife and cut it into very small strips. It will be much easier to manage than trying to take out large chunks at a time.

I am confused. If it will rot and mold then how do people use carpet shampooers? I have soaked more than a few carpets in my day and they turned out fine. I am just asking, because I don't know. The part of the carpet that is wet is about 10 feet by 3 feet. Just down the one wall (I apparently got really lucky). And half of that is a closet were the carpet wasn't even attached. I just pulled it out. I have the other section lifted with a heater blowing under it.

fishhead · #11 11/13/10, 12:07 AM

I don't understand why a temporary wetting would guarantee mold either????

Heat and air movement should pull the moisture out pretty fast. Maybe open the doors to let the humidity out every hour or so. The furnace and fan should do the rest.

Jackie · #12 11/13/10, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishhead

I don't understand why a temporary wetting would guarantee mold either????

Heat and air movement should pull the moisture out pretty fast. Maybe open the doors to let the humidity out every hour or so. The furnace and fan should do the rest.

I have the furnace up as high as it will go. Right now I am so hot I can hardly breathe! lol! I have a HUGE fan blowing in the back room and my window is open a couple inches.

My other concern is the laminate flooring in the hallway. I know it got wet under there. Should I really start yanking it up? Or should I wait for the insurance company to see that its damaged first?

FarmerGreen · #13 11/13/10, 07:48 AM

You also need to see what kind of underlayment you have under the carpet. If it's plywood or Advantech you may be OK. If it's particle board and it got soaked it will disintegrate in a year or so if not sooner. Even if you get it totally dried out.

Wolf mom · #14 11/13/10, 08:34 AM

What a terrible position to be in over the weekend. Is it possible to take any pictures (disposable camera?) before you rip up any carpeting, laminate flooring? You may have to substanciate what's going on.

You sound like you're strong in the face of adversity! Good going.

An empty house I was watching deeply flooded years ago. After doing what you're doing (along with literally sweeping the water out the door) no wall board or carpeting had to be replaced.

GoldenCityMuse · #15 11/13/10, 08:37 AM

A carpet shampooer only uses a couple gallons of water, and is quickly pulled back out. You have 50 or 100 gallons of water that is soaked into the carpet. Big difference. It will buckle the floor.

Cyngbaeld · #16 11/13/10, 09:05 AM

Sorry you're having so much trouble.
Do check the insulation under the floor. It is probably wet too and will have to come out. Mine got soaked in the flood and though the water didn't come over the floor, it still ruined the subfloor (particle board) because of all the damp under the floor.

If you have to replace insulation, try to get foamed on insulation. That is what I have now and I really like it so much better than the batts.

Harry Chickpea · #17 11/13/10, 10:58 AM

Carpets CAN mold from improper extraction when being cleaned. OTOH, not all carpet will mold when soaked. It USED to be the case 99% of the time because carpets were backed with jute, and sat over a felted underpad. Many carpets now have polypropylene or polyester backing and fibers, and underlayment is non-organic foam.

Pulling the carpet, intact if possible, is a great idea, because it allows more air to get to the underlayment and floor. As an alternative, rental centers often have squirrel cage fans that exhaust close to floor level. Unseal one end of the carpet, open the other end, and stick the exhaust of the fan between carpet and floor.

Not only do you need pictures of EVERYTHING, you would do well to at least find a couple of companies to give you a written estimate. When you file a claim, remember two things - 1. your deductible. Some people forget that. 2. once you file a claim, you rates WILL go up. This is the way insurance companies now work. Back in the day when people acted responsibly and insurance companies had a modicum of decency, it would take three claims before the insurance company would suspect someone abusing the system. These days, it can be cheaper over the long run to do the equivalent of SSS. I know it goes against the grain, but insurance these days is nasty.

melissa78 · #18 11/13/10, 12:07 PM

It might also help if you could use use a hair dryer on affected areas. Really powering the hot, dry air to it could help some if you are able to keep the plug away from the water.

texican · #19 11/13/10, 01:03 PM

My condolences on your troubles...

I wouldn't pay 1k for a broken line. A shovel, a short joint of pipe, a couple of fittings, a can of beans and an afternoon of digging (and appropriate cursing) and it's fixed.

Jackie · #20 11/13/10, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texican

My condolences on your troubles...

I wouldn't pay 1k for a broken line. A shovel, a short joint of pipe, a couple of fittings, a can of beans and an afternoon of digging (and appropriate cursing) and it's fixed.

Unfortunately its 8 feet down and needs to run at least 50 feet, maybe longer. i also have no idea how a person would connect onto the main line and where a person could connect onto the main line. That's unfortunately why I need a professional.