Welcome to the Funhouse

Load-O-Fun here at the Dan O Estate this weekend.  While at work on Thursday, Lori called me to report the living room rug was wet.  What? How would the living room rug get wet?  While on the phone, she looked behind the 'fridge and other possible spots - nothing.  We then got a reference for a plumber from our real estate pal, Tony Meier. Gave 'em a call - earliest time would be 7:30 AM the next day.  Okay - come on out.

When I get home from work on Thursday, crawled into the crawl space under the house - always a pleasant experience - and looked for a leak.  Pretty easy to find, water dripping from various places - off the beams and insulation - with a nice puddle under it all.  To me, looked like the drain for the kitchen sink and dishwasher was leaking - right next to where the cable guy ran cable last week.  Comcastic.  Thought maybe he somehow drilled or punctured something while drilling a hole into the house for cable.

Plumbers arrive exactly at 7:30 AM as planned and dive into the proceedings.  Doesn't take them long to figure out the dishwasher pump was failing and dripping water into the floor.  Nice.  They offer to haul the dishwasher away and give us a reference for some water damage repair folks - who show up in one hour.  In no time, wall unit is pulled away from the wall and several loud fans and dehumidifier are drying out the place - carpet, wall unit, sections of wall, under floor of kitchen and behind cabinets.  Another set of gear in the crawl space scaring the spiders and whatever else lives under there.  Fans are supposed to run for 3 - 5 days.  Joy.  Water Damage Dude (says so right on his card) recommends abandoning ship and getting a hotel room for a few days.  Call to Allstate confirms all festivities should be covered by our home owners coverage.

On top of all this, we had plans to spend two days in Mazama for Ian to compete in Indie Series race # 5 in Winthrop.  After, uh, much debate - we elected to stay close to home and bag the trip.  Much disappointment from Ian and I.

We skipped the local hotel idea and stayed home for the night, all of us in one bedroom to escape the fan noise and heat.  Downstairs now hovered around 85 degrees and super stuffy from windows being shut. Very comfy.  In the morning, we escape the house for the day.  While playing mini-golf (Amy's choice), Allstate calls to inform us they may not cover this little shindig.  They also want to see the dishwasher pump - already hauled away.  Very different tune from the day before. Calls to plumber to dig up the pump and Water Damage Dude to let him know insurance company may not cover his service.

It's now Sunday - night number 3 of loud fans and sealed bedroom door.  Also, 3 days of all meals eaten out.  Water Damage Dude stopped by to check progress - things are drying out as expected - should be good by Tuesday.  We all escaped the house for the day once again.  The fun continues.

On Tuesday, Allstate guy is scheduled to stop by and look things over.  If they deny our claim, I won't be a happy camper - especially after we were given the green light initially.  Oh yeah - we've also been Allstate customers for home and car insurance for over 20 years now. I'd hope that accounts for something.

We'll see what happens.