Ahhhhh The smell of SEWER GAS in the morning

Well I am venting have been meaning to blog about stuff but too busy now insomnia urges me forward. The house flooded yesterday what fun I thank God Kara was with me or I am pretty sure the men with the exciting long armed white jackets would have come for a visit.

The first time this house flooded was the night I moved in. The sewer baked up and the hot water heater broke. I didn’t even have a mop and only had the cloths on my back and a towel and pj’s from Mega-Mart. Actually it was putting the cloths on my back in the washing machine that started the flood. Someone from mom’s church had left me sheets and a blanket on the rented bed so I used the blanket to clean up the best I could. I remember crying hard trying to figure out how to deal with the water how to prevent mold growth and air out the house at midnight (and no one to call and help due to the late hour) in February and in the aftermath of a huge blizzard with nothing but a broom and rental furniture in the house.

This neighborhood is notorious for cheaply made houses and we are a plumbers dream come true ~ old farm land near a creak and on a rock and sand bed depending on which side of the street you live on. Yesterdays flood by far the worse then the other three times at this house. The other two were cleaned up with minimal effort and a handy dandy electric snake borrowed from an old friend.

Although there was less water this time then at mom’s house when it flooded ~ the sewer gas was new. The smell was unbelievable the water backed up through a drain pipe in the laundry room and into the back shower. The seepage went behind all the appliances through the walls and into the garage. We moped and bleached the best we could but the next couple of days will be fun. Everything (all our losses) must be removed from the garage and the water damage must be cleaned up.

Ginger borrowed the eclectic snake again (and a manual one) but after hours of working on it with the snakes and chemicals we couldn’t get the clog loose. We just didn’t have the upper body strength even with the electric on and kept hitting a Y pipe. The landlord said he would try to get someone out if he could but they never called me back.

~ humm how much clearer can you be to the enormity of the situation when you tell them toxic sewer gas and water is flooding your house and we cant get it under control and we need help! Now I battle thoughts that our rent will go up if the clean up is extensive and he does send someone out. He needs to see it anyway the damages are pretty bad I think the linoleum and drywall needs to be replaced lord knows it has needed it since we moved in now it is just worse pealing up and with water underneath it.

I coughed a lot Kara and I had to keep going outside to breath I still feel tightness in my chest this morning and have a light burning sensation in my lungs. The pulmonologist is gonna LOVE this! My lips tong and nose still tingle but its better then the burning sensation yesterday! I am betting we should not be here but the budget does not include a hotel stay and we don’t have renters insurance.

Unfortunately that means all the documentation must continue on the losses I gave up with the soaring heat this summer. Thankfully the water in the garage is under our refrigerator and freezer and a utility shelf. The water traveled away from our losses and out the path through the front of the garage.

We had mom stay at the Sr citizens until it closed and my Dr said we should not be in the house when I went for tests results on a cat scan of my sinuses etc. So we tried to talk mom into going to the library after a little picnic outside but she bailed. The sewer gas smell had subsided by that time but the smell still lingered a little bit mixed with an overwhelming chemical smell that made my face burn.

I was going to give in to the hotel especially since we can’t use the plumbing I thought I would use all the money had had saved up for our gas bill so far but I realized even with Kara’s help we could not lift the oxygen machine for mom. So we put a sheet over mom’s door (the door was removed for her wheelchair) made her put on her oxygen and stay out of the main part of the house we cant flush the toilets or use water so this really sux!

If we can’t get this cleaned up in the next 72 hours we have to move out due to the mold which could be life threatening for both of us. Even if we do get it cleaned I am sure extensive reconstruction will need to be done. I am at my wits end tired angry and emotionally exhausted.

Although I realize it could be worse I am tired of being displaced for our home and property for the last 5 years and wish we had never heard of CDBG for rehabbing houses for the handicapped! It’s hard not to think if we were home at least…… it may not have been much by today’s standards but it was ours. I suppose I should say it still IS ours its just not usable for now I pray we are not doomed to the same fate here!

The courts are slow no ruling yet I pray we here good news soon I just want to move on out of the season of never ending losses and frustration. we will just have to learn a few more life lessons…..