Well, here it is almost All Hallows Eve and I figured now was as good a time as any to start writing. I have been working on a couple of different angles for my latest blog, but, I couldn’t decide between A) My bout of Kidney Stones and how that has really been an annoying pain in my side – literally or B) Our escapades with the appliance store where we bought our washer and dryer.
Hmmm, what to blog about first? What to do? What to do? So, I did the only logical thing I could – I tossed a coin. And, the appliance debacle won!!!!
So, sit right back and make yourself a cup of tea, coffee or whatever your poison is…. I can wait……
It all began on a sunny Saturday. October 5th to be precise. We started the day off by doing some light housework and then some erranding. Alex set some clothes in the washer and set it for “heavy duty” (apparently, I am a bit of a slob….). The washer ran for about 35 minutes when it hit the final spin. Upon attaining full velocity in the spin cycle, our washer (who I have decided to name “Regan” after Linda Blair’s character in “The Exorcist”, decided it wasn’t happy spinning and would rather rinse the clothes… again…. So, it began a rinse cycle and then upon reaching the spin cycle….. reset itself and began another rinse cycle…. Eventually, I caught on to what was happening. It only took 5 cycles for me to grasp the situation. *sigh*. Apparently, I am a bit of a dolt and somewhat slow these days….
So, I turned Regan off and pulled all the sopping wet clothes out and wrung them out. I then put them in the dryer and waited. I told Alex of the problem when he got home and he promptly got on the phone to the appliance store where we purchased Regan and, well, let’s just call the dryer “Rush” after Rush Limbaugh (he does spin marvelously and is certainly full of hot air). The appliance company was semi-sympathetic and offered to send out a repairman on the following Thursday as they only had one repairman who could come out to Surrey, *sigh*. So, we waited.
On the Thursday, a gentleman showed up who spent the next 3 1/2 HOURS trying to make sense of what was going on with Regan. Not only did he not have a clue as to what the problem was, he couldn’t speak a word of English and spent the entire time reading the manual and talking to a translator on the phone. After puttering around for 3.5 hours, he told Alex that the machine was working and he set it to run through a cycle and everything should be fine. By this point, Nykie needed to do his business, so Alex took him for his afternoon constitutional.
When Alex came back after about 30 minutes, he walked into the kitchen and stepped in about 1 1/2 inches of water! There was water everywhere. Alex ran into the laundry room and after a quick assessment discovered that the dolt of a repairman forgot to hook up the drain hose and Regan was still not fixed! So, for 30 minutes or longer, water was pouring onto the floor of our home.
Alex called the appliance store who, after he finished telling them what happened was promptly asked by the person on the other end, “What do you expect us to do about it?” SERIOUSLY????? Well, rightfully so, Alex lost it on them. He hung up on them and immediately called our insurance company. They were so quick! They sent a restoration company out that very afternoon and the clean up started….. They brought in huge fans, dehumidifiers and a variety of other equipment.
The next day, the restoration company was back and began to inspect the damage.
Now, I don’t know if you know about manufactured homes, but, rarely do they use standard building materials like 2 x 4’s, sheetrock, and the like. Nope, they use wood paneling and thinner studs. Wood paneling, when wet, swells and bows but, never, ever returns back to it’s original shape after drying. Not only that, but, you cannot patch wood paneling as you will ALWAYS see the patch. So, the laundry room, hallway between the kitchen and laundry room, the guest bathroom and part of our dining room all have paneling which is water logged up to about a foot off the floor. All the floors in those rooms were soaked. The wall behind the bathtub in the guest bathroom is soaked. The wall behind the toilet is soaked. AUGH!!!
Below are some of the pictures of the restoration process…. It makes me sad to see our beautiful home in disarray, but, I am also happy that it is going to better than ever…. I just hope that we can survive the mess.
The Laundry Room
The temporary home of Regan and Rush along with our dining room table and chairs….
One of the areas that needs to be cleared….
The hallway between the kitchen and the laundry room. Note that the lino still needs to be pulled up from the kitchen…..
Another view of the hallway along with one of the biggest dehumidifiers known to man…
All the stuff from our pantry and laundry room needed to go somewhere…. *sigh*. So, we get to look at it in the living room. Hooray!
And yet more stuff…..
So, needless to say, Alex is somewhat forlorn. But, he has been amazing through this whole process. He has been in communication with the insurance company, the restoration company, the appliance company, the manufacturer of the appliances, the Better Business Bureau and has been calm, cool and collected throughout. I am so proud of him…..
We have been reassured by the restoration company that all will be well and that it will get worse before it gets better. The turnaround time is approximately 3 – 4 weeks. Here’s hoping it is done before Christmas…… Because I have absolutely no desire to have Christmas Dinner with Regan and Rush!!! Would you???
Al Zylstra 
all I can say is holy fudgesicles….
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