| Author | Message | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5352 Registered: 7-2004 |
So I was supposed to be in Washington DC yesterday for a NORML Board of Directors meeting, and then on to New York today to visit my mom and friends. Late Thursday evening I go down to the finished basement/music studio to get my suitcase and pack for my flight from San Francisco to Washington DC early Friday morning. A I step on the carpet, I notice I'm leaving dark footprints. Further inspection reveals it is water and the carpet is wet to fully soaked at one end of the room! Sitting on the ground at this end are about 15 guitars standing up in their cases, several speakers, amps, PA equipment, etc. Yikes!!!!! All 15 guitars are moist to wet inside the case at the bottom. Ouch! Luckily, it appears I caught it early and in seems maybe only one guitar was damaged and, thankfully, not an Alembic. Moved everything away from the flood and was up to 4:00 a.m. vacuuming water with my little home carpet cleaner. East Coast trip cancelled - hundreds of dollars to the airlines and hotel for nada. Had the disaster people in here all day on Friday - walls torn away, carpet removed, water turned off to the house. Plumber here all day yesterday - it might be a leak at the foundation, but won't know for sure until they come back on Monday. Water still turned off. Now I've got two huge dehumidifiers and a bunch of fans going in the basement until tomorrow. Can't use the toaster or microwave without unplugging all the stuff downstairs or we blow the circuit. I have to go out to the sidewalk and turn the water on and off at the meter for showers. Filled up the bathtubs and use bucketfuls of water to flush toilets. It's like camping out without leaving home. Hitting up my emergency earthquake stash for drinking water. Just as I start to relax Friday night, it occurs to me that I've got lots of guitars in a room that is being brought down to 45% humidity - not the best for instruments, especially the acoustics! So back to work Friday night carrying guitars upstairs. First shower in two days today. NO FUN!!!! Bill, tgo | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 2796 Registered: 5-2009 |
Bill, OH NO !__________ I am sorry to hear of this terrible occurrence. If here is anything that I can help with please let me know . Wolf | ||
| senmen
Senior Member Username: senmen Post Number: 1072 Registered: 7-2003 |
Bill, I am really sorry to hear that. Keep fingers crossed..... Oliver (Spyderman) | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 11020 Registered: 5-2002 |
Bill; wish I could help. Hoping the plumbers get it fixed on Monday for you. | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1411 Registered: 10-2006 |
I hate when that happens; got 2 1/2 feet of rainwater & raw sewage in a finished basement in '96. Lost my stereo speakers, all my vinyl, ~350 books, 2 Gibson amps, etc, etc. Got all the instruments out in time but one; it got, as you say, moist inside the case at the bottom. Am currently waiting for my neighbor to remember to bring DeOxit home from work (the CRC didn't work) to give the pots another cleaning (1st one was ~'99); may end up replacing them. Hope yours are all OK, and I stand with Dave - if I were near, I'd help carry. Peter | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1433 Registered: 5-2002 |
Glad to hear everything came out OK and you didn't have to go through what Michael did with Katrina! Reminds me of the day we finally made it home from the NICU last June with Xander. He still had oxygen tubes, etc., and as soon as we got home, our sink clogged. The plumber then proceeded to bust a hole in the drain pipe, which had not been angled on installation resulting in gallons of what was essentially sewage, years of festering whatnot ground up by the disposal, through the walls of the basement. We're lucky that the only things that got in contact with the foul effluent was years of back taxes and other records, the instruments live in an adjacent room. Still, hazmat crews had to come and mitigate. The next morning a forest fire started a couple miles away, blanketing our neighborhood with thick smoke. We had to evacuate for the better part of a week. Xander really went through it all in his first month. It's been a while, so here's a somewhat recent shot:  | ||
| oddmetersam
Advanced Member Username: oddmetersam Post Number: 242 Registered: 7-2008 |
Bill, sorry to hear about all this. Glad it appears there's minimal damage to your guitars and I hope the longterm effects on your basement are the same. -Sam | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 2064 Registered: 11-2004 |
The UK being a wet country on the average(and last year our summer was spent underwater!) there are very few homes with basements, the only ones which have basements are very old ones usually victorian era. | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 780 Registered: 2-2011 |
I'm so sorry to hear this Bill! I hope your life gets back to normal soon & there is no lasting damage to any of your guitars! | ||
| artswork99
Moderator Username: artswork99 Post Number: 1832 Registered: 7-2007 |
Ouch... may it be repaired quickly! | ||
| mario_farufyno
Senior Member Username: mario_farufyno Post Number: 884 Registered: 9-2008 |
Oh, Bill it was surely no fun at all, hope everything gets back normal quickly. Glad to hear it was just minor material damage... | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 11021 Registered: 5-2002 |
Nice picture of Xander! | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1412 Registered: 10-2006 |
Man, does he look like Dad! At the risk of a highjack, I'll counter with the latest of Oliver (apparently soon to be Cozmik like his Granddude):  Peter | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1435 Registered: 5-2002 |
These smiling faces always rectify the basement disasters! | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 11023 Registered: 5-2002 |
Cool picture Peter! | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5354 Registered: 7-2004 |
Oooops, 2X post. (Message edited by Lbpesq on February 25, 2013) | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5355 Registered: 7-2004 |
Senior management says: "oooooooooohhhhhh, they're VERY cute". And indeed they are! Ours turned 18 last week. And yes, those smiles do help to soften the blow. Leak found and fixed. We have running water again! Dehumidifiers and fans still running downstairs. Yard all torn up. This is going to take some time, but it could have been a lot worse. Thanks for all the good thoughts. If anyone could understand the whole guitar/water/humidity thing, it would be here. Bill, tgo | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 3331 Registered: 10-2002 |
really sorry to hear about your problems Bill. if you need somewhere to store your instruments I have space :-) Graeme | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5360 Registered: 7-2004 |
Thanks to all of you for your good vibes. Water all back on, trenches in yard all filled back in, and I have two thirds of my studio back - I'll be hosting a jam this weekend. The guy who will replace the dry wall and carpet also comes this weekend. I suspect this is going to take some time, but it could have been much worse. If it had happened one day later, I wouldn't have caught it for a week during which much of my equipment and instruments would probably have been sitting in a few inches of water! The insurance company has been contacted about the one damaged guitar - we'll see how that goes. The picture below is my Martin 00-18C which, when I pulled it from its case to wipe down the damp bottom, I found one of the strings had broken. Our cat, "Cattabis Indica", ("Indy" for short), loves guitar strings! She's always hanging around swatting at loose strings whenever I do a string change. Bill, tgo  | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1416 Registered: 10-2006 |
So, which one took the hit? (Inquiring minds and all, you know) Peter | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5361 Registered: 7-2004 |
My Farren Scroll. I know nothing about the builder other than it was apparently built in '79 and appears to be his second instrument. Alembic style hippie sandwich construction with some seriously flamed maple on top. It has started to delaminate at the bottom where it got wet. Bill, tgo | ||
| dela217
Senior Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 1130 Registered: 6-2002 |
Bill When I saw the title of this thread, I thought that it was some link to a new band on You Tube. This is a shame. I am glad you got it mostly resolved and cleaned up. Please post a pic of that Farren Scroll!! I would love to see it. As far as it's delamination goes, it seems that it will never be the same. But as the wood dries out it does get a little better and the delamination isn't as drastic. I have a Hyak that this happened to. I was able to glue the body wings back, but the neck is still delaminated in the body from the pickups to past the tailpiece. Michael | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1417 Registered: 10-2006 |
Ouch. Here's hoping Michael is too pessimistic (BTW, Michael, any progress on the hurricane Alembic's resuurection?). And, yes, I'd like to see the Farron, too. Peter | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 3355 Registered: 6-2002 |
I just got this story Bill, sorry to hear about your flood, that's certainly a very unwelcome situation with that great collection you have going on there. I initially thought it was that reservoir near your home. I hope it all gets sorted with the guitars and they survive in tact. Say hi to senior & Junior management. :-) Jazzyvee | ||
| peoplechipper
Advanced Member Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 335 Registered: 2-2009 |
at least the cat gets some fun from it... | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5369 Registered: 7-2004 |
Here's a picture of the Farren:  Here is the bottom showing where the wood has just started to separate:  Bill, tgo | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5370 Registered: 7-2004 |
Oooops! Double post. Bill, tgo (Message edited by lbpesq on March 12, 2013) | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1426 Registered: 10-2006 |
Oh my, my! That is freaking spectaular! If the poor baby is too traumatized by the experience and needs to get away for awhile, she's always welcome to come visit Uncle Peter. Do my eyes deceive me, or are the maple neck lams themselves laminated diagonally? And is that the jack protruding from the lower treble bout? Peter | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5373 Registered: 7-2004 |
Peter: The Farren is deep in a pile of guitars filling up my downstairs bathroom at the moment while the closets where they usually live are having walls and carpet replaced. I'll take a closer look when I can dig it out and let you know. I never noticed this before, but the pic does look like the lams have lams! On another note, heard from the insurance company yesterday. They not only quickly agreed to pay the full stated value, the agent then asked me "how much is the case worth?" (it got damaged too). I figured a wood form fitting (Les Paul type) case is worth about $150. She said they would send me a check right away for the declared guitar value + $150 for the case. The company is Heritage which I found out about through this forum. This is the first time I've had to make a claim. I'm VERY impressed and strongly recommend them for instrument insurance. Bill, tgo (Message edited by lbpesq on March 15, 2013) | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1472 Registered: 5-2002 |
I've been using Heritage for years, although I've never had to make a claim. I did the switch from State Farm about 14 years ago when I made a claim, and against the assurances of their agent, they informed me that because I was a professional they would not cover my gear, however, they did cover the one thing I did claim, which only a $50 MIDI pedal. Glad to know the Heritage lives up to their reputation. My feeling about insurance, though, is that it's a great way to keep Murphy's law on your side. | ||
| peoplechipper
Advanced Member Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 343 Registered: 2-2009 |
I hate insurance companies...I tried to insure my old jewellery studio, but since it was shared the costs were crazy; better to save money to replace anything that got stolen...which is just what happened after I had the studio to myself...after I moved the studio to my house, as soon as I tell insurance companies what I do they hang up... |
