house update #3

As we enter week #9 of our house drama it has taken yet another drastic turn. A turn I wish was for the better but as our luck would have it we have entered what our adjuster has stated is, “the worst he has even seen in thirteen years in the business.” Sweetness. Let me back up a little. A week ago last Friday we had an abatement company coming out to prep the house for the removal of our acoustic ceilings and to create the pathways for our re-piping. Since they began on the Friday before the holiday weekend they could only E.T. up our house and then they began their work on Tuesday. Fast forward to Wednesday. I spent the morning at my girlfriend, Janelle’s house for a play date with our kids. On my way home literally 1/3 of a mile from my house I reached for Payton’s milk bottle and seconds later she had projectile throw-up all over herself. In total panic mode I stopped by my house only to find clothing in my car to wipe her clean, strip her and then the diarrhea started. Even better, right? I got her all clean and I noticed that the thugs scrapping my ceiling had the meter cover off and my garden hose was stretched across my near-dead grass. Already in panic mode of my daughter who just ran into the middle of the street I totally screamed, “why the F is my water turned on?!” I drove away and erased this from my mind until I received a phone call Friday morning from my plumber who I thought was calling to me alert me he was already at my house, which in fact he was but he was already inside. I was there in a minute and he had bad news, my bedroom and office were flooded for a third, yes, a third time! How can this be? My mind went immediately back to my stressful Wednesday afternoon and I put everything back together. I slowly started to pace the floors, panicking, calling Jim, calling the adjuster. The plumber’s assistant came in and he was joking for him to stay away from me since I was in his words, “pregnant and ready to strangle someone”. I laughed because this situation is surreal and I just want to wake the hell up! As I paced the empty house I started to notice careless gouges taken out of my new flooring, scrapes inches long and as the sun reflected off of my porch onto my flooring I noticed the boards bubbling. Not only in one place but in several places throughout the house. The adjuster called me back and he agreed to send Service Master back out to investigate and check the water damage. As luck would have it, the controlled area we originally had was now spread all the way onto the other side of the house into my dining room, which equates to all of my new flooring that Jim slaved laying will be pulled up. It is ruined. My carpet heavily stained, yet according to the professionals, “salvageable”. The abatement company of course is denying any liability but luckily for some throw-up and our adjuster who saw the cover off of the meter we damn well know who did the damage. The drying process has begun for the third time to stop any mold from growing in my walls and carpet, the plumbing process that would have been finished by this Wednesday is now being put off and it looks like we’ll be out for another month, placing us out of our house for three months. Can we say time to sell?