Disaster

Well, we are temporarily in the middle of a small disaster here. Two weeks ago, we were having dinner when we looked up and noticed what looked like water marks on our ceiling - fun, fun! That night, after the kids had baths and showers, water was actually dripping from the ceiling to the floor of the kitchen. I wondered if it might be a problem with the kids bathroom, so we put an "out of order" sign on the bathroom and didn't use it. That night, Jon also noticed a wet spot on his carpet in his closet and the carpet in our bedroom felt a little damp as well. Anyway, I called around to find a good plumber and finally a friend told me of her neighbor who was a contractor. He called me that night (Thursday) and as we talked he asked me if we'd checked in the attack. Jon checked that night and sure enough there was a huge puddle. The plumber came Friday morning and fixed the problem - our air-conditioner had a clog in it and the condensation was backing up. Meanwhile the damage was already done. The water had dripped down the walls of our bedroom, closet and the girl's bedroom closet. The girl's room was the worst. When we pulled toy boxes and book shelves out of their closet, there was mold around the baseboards. Friday afternoon, the contractor came over to poke some holes in the walls near the girl's baseboards to help dry it out and we'd have some one test the mold inside the walls the following week. Well, when some of the wall crumbled as he tried to poke holes, he knew this could be a much bigger problem than just drying out carpets and fixing the air -conditioner. We decided we better get our home owners insurance involved. They came out yesterday and hopefully the renovation will begin next week. They are going to open up the walls and check for mold and damage - the girls will for sure need some new dry wall and probably downstairs will too. They will replace the carpet in our room and the girls' room. Meanwhile, we have moved into the other half of the upstairs. Jon, and I and Kate have been sleeping in the loft and we moved the girls' bunkbeds into the boys room. Crowded but cozy. Every night is a sleepover in this room!

Messy but comfortable. This is where we've been sleeping along with all of Jon's closet belongings.
Water damage in the kitchen.
Water damage in the girls' closet ceiling.
This is a sideways picture of the girl's closet floor.
Girls' room. It smells the worst in here.
Our bedroom.
Jon's closet.