Ugh House Flooded!!!

I get a call from Tikihag about 1am (I wasn't home) and she tells me the the dishwasher is making a funny sound and water is gushing all over the kitchen floor. Soon she runs out out towels and the buckets are filling up so she goes downstairs to toss the wate r out and to her horror the water is coming throught the kitchen floor into the Ugh Tiki bar ceiling light fixtures and flooding the tiki bar! The water is dumping all over my Tiki book collection so she grabs the soaked books and moves them out of the way to prevent further damage. Then she has to start moving all my darn tikis that are in the way so she can get the buckets under the gushing water (it was like a garden hose coming out of the ceiling).
All the years we lived here we never really had the emergency walk around to find the gas and water shutoffs-important in earthquake country (bad move on our part).
As I arrive to the house (oops-I'm still parked half on the sidewalk!) , she is talking to an all night plumber who tells her the valve should be in front of the house. (it was). I grab a flashlight and turn the water off.
Most of the water leaked through the floor to the tiki bar below. I go down stairs and notice that 15 of my Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman records are wet. The water is moving towards piles of other Hawaiian records! We start grabbing and moving whatever we can to get them off the floor. I have to lift my Tiki, "Dong Ho" so I can rearrange the bucckets because the water is now dripping through the tapa clothes on the ceiling.
As the water stops we have time to access the damage-record albums, flooring, about 25 tiki books(including a signed Trader Vics), and who knows what else because I am so hot, sweaty and tired at 3:30 in the morning. Some of the books are worse of than others, but they are all fcked up. Goodnight for know-what a fckin mess!! And we are going to be short 4-5 people (about 25% staff) at work tommorrow. Joy joy.

That blows. I too have suffered tiki record damage at the hands of a leaking washing machine. I hope everything dries out fairly nice and you can return to normal quickly!!!

You could have always stopped the flood with a sandbag style wall of sock monkeys!

Oh man! That sucks! I recently heard on NPR about a library in Baltimore that had some water leak– on their rare book collection. They had a reclamation/restoration company come try to save the books, which they did successfully. The first thing they did that I thought was interesting was they put the books in a freezer. I guess this stops the water from doing any more damage and keeps mold spores from begining to grow.

If it's not to late already, maybe you'd want to put your books in the freezer and then research how best to dry them in order to minimize the damage. Seems like it's worth a shot.

I can suggest that you not leave your records in a stack when wet. I had some get wet (leeking roof in crappy old apartment) and was so put out I didn't want to deal with it. By the time I sat down to go through them, the covers had melded into one another forming a thick record caserole. In the middle was the very rare Les Baxter/Yma Sumac "Miracles" record. I don't even like to think about it.

Sorry, Smiley...what a nightmare. I know a tiki man's bar bears the stamp of his heart and soul.... I have a plumber coming today to look at some very iffy upstairs pipes under the sinks I found the other day.

Good grief!!!

tHANKS ALL- Basement Kahuna glad you noticed you pipes in time!--bruce

well put, BK "> Sorry, Smiley...what a nightmare. I know a tiki

man's bar bears the stamp of his heart and soul...."

My HEART is definately FLOODED right now.

thanks for the info--i fanned the pages of the books (they are damp-not soaked--but they will dry with warpage and water spots) and the records are are spread out too.

Posted by tikifish on 2003-09-09 06:14

That blows.

You could have always stopped the flood with a sandbag style wall of
sock monkeys"

---maybe that would have drowned the dust mites!

oh, PUMPKIN! I am so sorry that happened to you (two)!! Of all the houses in the universe, why did it happen to the one with the highest STPSY (STUFF per square yard!) factor!?!

You have my deepest Texan sympathies.

That's got to be one of the worst feelings in the world. Sorry guys.

That Sucks! From past experience. Use floor heaters and fans to air things out. Blow dryers for immediate drying. If you have a clothes dryer with removal drying racks use them for the books on low heat.

Dude, that bites ! Good luck in salvaging your collection.

The Ugh House is a unique gem, a true temple of tiki. I hope it works out OK.
Mahalo,
Al

Sorry to hear about the flood--what a nightmare!

In case this is of any use (or might be to somebody else for later), here are a couple links to pages from conservation sites I know of:

Northeast Document Conservation Center
http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf37.htm

Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/emerg/dry.html

Ugh indeed!

I had a small flood last year too. You might have to go outside & yell real loud...it won't dry anything, but it might make you feel good. Then go back inside to find peace & tranquility by looking at the smiley collection...then maybe punch the biggest, softest smiley you own. Then have a drink. Oh, and then get back to drying.

What a disaster! Good thing one of you was home or it may have done much more damage.

Sorry about that last post Bruce. I was having a flashback to my own flood situation. Punching a smiley never solved anything so just forget that last comment.

Good luck!

I am tempted to add levity to your most certainly foul mood by making some sort of crack about tropical monsoons adding authenticity to the Ugh Tiki Room... but this is no laughing matter. Good luck rescuing and restoring. The Tiki Room at Ugh house will rise again!

†

I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune! Again, its lucky that someone was there to deal with it while it was happening. A friend's pressure-assisted toilet burst, flooding their home while they were gone for the weekend.... pretty much ruined everything in the house that was on the floor!

To help aid in drying rooms out, fans are very helpful, although avoid the use of space heaters. More than one house fire has started by using space heaters to dry up flood damage. You can pick up dehumidifying kits from boating supply stores. They work really well, and aren't too pricey.

I wish you the best of success in preserving your damp collectibles!

Main Discussion Area: Ugh House Flooded!!!
Posted by tikibars on 2003-09-09 11:51

I am tempted to add levity to your most certainly foul mood by making
some sort of crack about tropical monsoons adding authenticity to the
Ugh Tiki Room... but this is no laughing matter. Good luck rescuing and
restoring. The Tiki Room at Ugh house will rise again"

James, that's the best thing I heard all day--I love it!! Mr. Smiley laughs in the face of tragedy (sometimes between tears). keep 'em coming.

Years ago an appliance repairman said "NEVER run a dishwasher when you aren't home". So Enid always followed that advice. I often thought she was being too cautious with me thinking "come on, what are the chances of anything bas happening". I still don't know the chances, but I certainly will NEVER run the washer when no one is around!
Secondly-if the top floor is flooding, maybe it is leaking to the lower floor(S).

Words of wisdom from Mr Smiley--always trust what I say!

I couldn't -the biggest one floated away down the hill! :)

Noooooo!!

If you haven't done so already, call your insurance company. NOW. You could have damage to the house itself, in addition to the contents!

Let me know if you want me to stop by and help with cleanup...

--cindy

When you file a water damage claim with your insurance company you are now red flagged. You run the risk of cancellation. I know of someone who was cancelled after filing a water damage claim despite being a 20 year customer with 1 claim. The mold lawsuits are the cause. For major damage you do not have much choice. Talk to your agent....

I'm hoping the damage is not bad enough to justify filing a claim. But I should check out the ceiling under the Tapa cloths. Thanks again for everyone's concern and input.

Absolutely horrifying! I'll be on the corner of Wilshire & Figueroa today and the rest of the week collecting dimes. When my can (of dimes) is full, it'll go to the Ugh house restoration fund. So sorry to hear about this.

-Weird Unc

Argh- came late to this terrible thread!

So sorry- let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

Weekend clean up party? I'll make drinks afterwards....

I'll bet you anything that a few of those Smiley faces that were in the next room over turned into frowns while all of this 'fake hurricane to match the fake tropical paradise' water damage was occuring.

But by the time you got home and walked downstairs, they had turned back to smiley faces once again, cause they knew that you were a die-hard world class tiki collector at heart, and any damage that occured would eventually be replaced with even cooler tiki stuff.

Physical tiki things may come and go, but a good and proper tiki attitude will stay with you and comfort you always.

Vern

Main Discussion Area: Ugh House Flooded!!!
Posted by ikitnrev on 2003-09-09 18:24

Physical tiki things may come and go, but a good and proper tiki
attitude will stay with you and comfort you always"

-----I'll SING to that!

We are having a Saturday fundraising garage sale instead of clean-up. For those who have never been to our place , we are in Oakland , CA. Email me at for more info.

On 2003-09-09 18:24, ikitnrev wrote:
Physical tiki things may come and go, but a good and proper tiki attitude will stay with you and comfort you always.
Vern

That's a nice quote! A good tiki thought.
Good luck mrsmiley!

YIPES!!
Sorry Bruce. F*in' dishwashers! Bad mojo.
Aloha,
:tiki:

"Argh- came late to this terrible thread!

So sorry- let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

Weekend clean up party? I'll make drinks afterwards"---- come to the garage sale--or show up at 3:30 to help us clean the sale up.
I plan on tearing out sheetrock sunday at noon so the ceiling can dry out.

No! What an absolute nightmare...
Though I've never had the good fortune to visit the Ugh House, it's legend resonates far beyond the US border.

Hope the cleanup goes ok & just be glad that mugs tend to be flood-proof!

Trader Woody

"No! What an absolute nightmare...
Though I've never had the good fortune to visit the Ugh House, it's
legend resonates far beyond the US border.

Hope the cleanup goes ok & just be glad that mugs tend to be
flood-proof!

Trader Woody"

My Sven-Tiki mug was half-full with nasty water---or was it HALF-EMPTY?

Thanks all for your concern and suggestions.
Now I get to start dismantling that section to tear out the sheetrock.

[ Edited by: mrsmiley on 2003-09-12 10:58 ]