Water damage - Help. Desperate and Urgent.

Woodie, I'm so sorry to hear about this - a disaster of major proportions. And you're right, it's not so much about the money (although it would be if you weren't covered!) but all that cleanup, and your poor layout. I feel for you.

:( Val
 
Thanks again, guys, for your support and ideas. Tis ironic... parts of the country are getting burnt to the ground, and I get flooded out!!

Suppose it just goes to show I'm a true RR modeller, though...... Stuff the house, what about my train set!!!! I must have my priorities right.

The carpet mob have been and sucked up the water, and left behind 3 huge air blowers to dry the carpet out. 3 days, they said it would take. Insurance Co notified, and not slept all night. Tis 11am, so i'll just go and................ and.................. and............. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
:eek: :eek: :eek: YIKES:eek: :eek: :eek:

Sorry to hear about your downturn in luck! I don't have time to read through right now, but water won't harm electrIC stuff like motors and such, except for the possibility for corrosion and for washing away of lubricants. Water won't hurt electrONIC stuff unless it in energized while it's still wet. For the most part. Alchohol dries up water faster that air, warm air helps. I spray black wash all over my loco's fully assembled and it has no effect.

Inspect for wetness, corrosion and contamination. Use alcohol to get the moisture out of the nooks anbd crannies. Hair dryer, heat lamp and/or warm oven (NOT HOT! :D ) will help.

Good luck on getting back to normal... you can, and you will...
 
Oh Woodie...
Man, I am so sorry to hear about this run of bad luck!:( :( :(
The Garabara was such a cool little RR!
I'm hoping that everything is looking up for you now, & that maybr there will be some silver lining to this cloud...
 
holy sh...

Woodie: Man oh man oh man.........just wanted to add my condolences as well to all the fine posts above.. Don't have any more advice as all that could be offered to you seems to have been written already.

Keep your chin up! If you believe in fates everything happens for a Reason and this could be the beginning of something even better. Please keep us informed!!!

Matt--Hershey, Pa.
 
Woodie - Can't offer any advise, never having been through it, but looks like you have plenty already. Hang in there buddy, there's got to be a bright side somewhere.
 
Woodie,

Sorry to hear about what happened. Perhaps the people on the layout got too mean at each other and God said "There shall be 40 days and nights of rain." Of course it was only 5 days, but with a busted pipe who knows.

Was it just like Noah's flood?

Hope all your locos run! Good luck!!
 
Thanks again, guys, for the support. Things are a bit better. Got these three huge wind blowers going in the house blowing over the carpet to dry it out. Talk about a racket!!! They gotta go for three days apparently. (So the carpet fixit man said).

As for Garahbara, The locos seem fine, if a little "tarnished". Some of the card structures, that hadn't had the ink smudge or run, have dried out quite straight (after being all buckled and bent) ther were balsa framed and strengthed. One of the plastic ones just lifted straight off the layout. I had stuck it there, pushed solidy into the groundcover glue mix and plaster. It was firmly stuck down, and was gunna leave it and chuck it with the rest of Garahbara, due to me moving. I've been able to salvage my double slip too. I had ballasted two of the lead in tracks, and it too,was stuck fast, until the water disolved and wash away all the ballast glue. Was gunna chuck that as well, cause I would have had to nearly destroy it to get it out. So, wanna get anything off you layout? Just put the garden hose on it for 3 days, and VOILA!! every skeric of glue gets washed and disolved away!!!

You learn something new every day. :)
 
Woodie, my sincerest feelings are with you.

I can imagine how you felt at first (SHOCK! :eek: ), and how you feel now (after rage :mad: back to sadness :( and then slowly rising optism :)...) I'm surely glad to see that your humour already is coming back.

I made a similar experience a few years back. Only that not a RR layout was inundated, but my library with quite a few antique books (some of them printed in 1790 or so). As you surely saw with your own magazine/book collection, soaked books are in most cases a complete write-off. The culprit in this case was a burst hose of a washing machine, too! :mad:

Concerning the salvation of your model RR stuff, I can't add any new advice. Almost everything has been said by many of our friends at The Gauge.

But ONE additional viewpoint I'd like to add to the discussion. I learned it by my own experience:

- Of course (hopefully! :rolleyes: ) the hoses to all your washing-machines and dishwashers connect to a FAUCET at the end of the metal water pipe, and not to the pipe itself. If not - HAVE ONE INSTALLED!
- And when you don't use that machine for more than a day, or when you are away for some time: TURN THE WATER OFF! Otherwise the hose is under constant pressure - and that simply calls for bad luck! :(

You'll never know how many flash floods you prevent this way - but surely the first you would experience (after forgetting to close the faucet) is just one too many!

Woodie, I wish that your life returns to normal again as fast as possible!

Ron
 
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