Nooooo!! Bad day :(

[nick7764]

Well...today should be a good day. It was my last day of high school, and I was in a pretty good mood. I mean, it had been raining incessantly, but I was ok. Not much could bring me down. I was wrong. Of all things to happen on the last day of school, I come home to a completely flooded basement. A completely flooded basement where all my vacs and everything are .


First coming downstairs...

 

[nick7764]

doesn't look good...

 

[nick7764]

The vac room

Luckily all the vacs on the shelving unit themselves were ok cuz the base of the shelf was juust below the water, but not enough to hurt the vacs. The diamond Jubilee on the side wasn't so lucky :*(. As for the vacs on the carpet, (btw Logan that's the eureka i picked up at the vac shop for u), the eureka was ok, the two convertibles were wet but they were future projects, and I hope my restored Kirby is ok .

 

[nick7764]

The original box to my 50's Homart window fan got soaked :**(. Luckily the fan was upstairs.

 

[nick7764]

The diamond jubilee...

I thought the jubilee was ok, but I picked it up and water just poured out... and there was still more slushing around inside . Its up on the desk now.

 

[nick7764]

the lux power nozzles

Its a bad pic, but both power nozzles were absolutely soaked..

 

[nick7764]

The cardboard box holding up the vacs on top collapsed- luckily they didnt fall forward onto the floor, where the bags and the vacs would have been soaked. Im really lucky the hoover display box didnt fall over- its cardboard and would have gotten ruined. Luckily the dial-a-matic saved its fall-the original manual also came close to death, but was saved by the dial-a-matic as well.

 

[nick7764]

[No message]

 

[arh1953]

You have my sympathy

I know what you're going through, I had that in this house at least 4 times, but not in a basement. It's a rotten deal.

 

[nick7764]

"Get me out!" cried the last kirby on the carpet.

 

[nick7764]

"Help, I'm sinking!"

I had put the old hoover on this box for a min, the next second I turn around and the box was collapsing, so it got moved again.

 

[nick7764]

"Ah, much better..." the Hoover says.

Hoover on higher ground (btw, that chair is a recent aquisition for $8- I love it! Being a chair, it fared ok..)

 

[nick7764]

Getting the vacs to higher ground...

 

[nick7764]

Homart box was soaked .

 

[riccarlover]

hope everything turns out ok!

 

[nick7764]

Homart box emptying out...

 

[crevicetool]

You just finished that room too!!!!

That is such a shame!!! If you act quickly, though, and get the water out of everything right now, you really shouldn't have too much damage. After you thoroughly dry all the wheels, motors, cords etc., get 'em running as soon as you can. They'll be alright. Congratulations on the last day of school! Sorry about the water...

Rick

 

[nick7764]

Thx, I hope so too. Ugh, I havent even thought about how much work its gonna be to clean out that basement...and of course, in addition to vacs, a ton of other stuff was soaked as well...old toys, clothes, home documents, everything. ugh. But u know, it could have been worse, only a few vacs were really wet, and im sure the others will pull through-gawd if that had happened before I organized the vacs on the shelves everything wouldve been soaked. so thats good.


Big Momma was concerned too. She faithfully waited at the top of the basement stairs as we went squishing up and down

 

[logan]

Nick thank you for continuing to hold that Eureka for me. The next time we have a mini meet in the DC area maybe you can come hang out. We would love to meet you.

I think your Diamond Jubilee will be ok. Just don't try to turn it on. Take the motor out and let the whole machine dry out. It should be fine. The same thing goes for the Lux power nozzles. Take the brush rolls out and let them dry out. They should be ok too. When we finally get to meet, I have a mint condition Diamond Jubilee power nozzle that you can have if you still need one to match your machine.

On a good note...you can use your Rainbow to suck the water out of your area rug! Just make sure you empty the water basin frequently, you don't want to overfill it!

 

[filterqueen83]

oh no

Someone needs a back up sump my friend. I remember a couple of years back when I lived in the richmond area during hurricance something or another.. Been in florida too long we tend to forget the names. But the same thing happened and had I not had a battery back up pump everything would have been floating.

 

[electroluxxxx]

Nick everything will be fine just make sure that the machines are open and drying out. the Diamond Jubilee should also be fine. just remember it is an electrolux and indestructable. when I was younger I used an electrolux model R on a soaked carpet unfortuneately I did not know that it was wet. but it was kind of dirty and needed to be vacuumed so I started to vacuum it and heard this wierd sound and I looked at the machine and water was coming out of the side vents on the vac. but not to worry that machine still works to this very day and still has the same parts. just dry it out and put it back together and it'll be fine. as for the powerheads I have one that was in the big flood to hit NY last year and it is still ok. I just cleaned it out and greased the bearings and good as new.

Mike

 

[normvac]

Nick, congrats on School. All will be well with the vacs.
Work at getting them dried out.
Wish a group of us could come help you out!
Take care
Norm

 

[camelotshadow]

hope they dry ok

the rainbow will come in handy on times like that but keeping dumping.
all that carnage from 2 inches
had that much in my kitchen not too long ago
luckily no real damage

My grandma's house in NY was real low as is was built in 1900 & they kept raising the street over the years til the first floor was below it...

sump pump n all
a hurricane & flooded storm drains
& it poured in
filling the basemnent to the ceiling & over 3 foot on first floor

dresser were floating

So take a deep breath...

it could be worse...

LOL

 

[nick7764]

Lol thx for that perspective camelotshadow. Oh the thought of the poor vacuums in your grandma's basement! That would be awful. And thx for all the nice words everybody . Well, our neighbor has one of those shop vacs that we were using to suck the water out. He said it looked like the sump pump needed to be replaced, but even the poor little shop vac he had could only do so much. We finally got the area around the vac display down a little, not dry, but pretty close-its a high area. Still, other areas look like nothings changed... Its going to be a looong day tomorrow. Everything on the floor's going to have to be taken out and dried-which is a lot...In the big old trunk alone, its filled to the brim with a collection of encyclopedias, among other stuff shoved on top. Even worse- the people who finished the basement were supposed to build the drywall up from the floor a little to prevent them from absorbing moisture-they didnt, or it wasnt enuf, cause we felt definate moisture towards the bottom of the walls. Our neighbor suggested we rent a heavy duty dehumidifier after we pump all the water out to try and fix that before it gets really serious.. We're gonna stop for tonight- and I still have to get to all the vacs! Ugh. It is going to be a long week. On a plus note lol, prom's friday..

 

[luxg]

Nick I am sorry that this had to happen. Like others have said I am sure that once the machines dry out all will be fine.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

ditto

Like Mrs Templton's vac 28 they'll withstand

 

[hygiene903]

Nick,

So sorry to hear about the flood. As everyone else has said, once you get everything dried out it should be OK. But as Rick said, it needs to be done ASAP!! Main reason is to prevent rust. Good luck with the project.
Jeff

 

[kirbysthebest]

You have my sympathy

I went through the same thing last week. We had 5 inches of rain in 30 minutes, which is not a good time to find out the plumbers who put in the new water line didn't seal the wall where the pipe comes through.

I had about two inches of water on the south side of my basement. I saved the Kirbys but the little Riccar got slightly wet. I took a hair dryer to the underside and it was fine. Luckily I got it moved before the water reached the motor.

To add insult to the injury, the washer had gone out just about an hour before the flood happened. Nothing worse than having a pile of really wet clothes on the floor and a washer out of commission.

 

[nick7764]

The Lux...

Yea, we have a closet full of clothes and things we havent even had time to think about yet. We have made a dent now with the shop vac, and its only splashy in some areas. I think the diamond jubilee got it the worst-all the other vacs look like they're ok, though I gotta take the brush rolls and all out of the vacs on the carpet to get them dry. The lux still had water, and my pants are all wet as a result lol. But maybe its good in a way- cuz I've been putting off working on this lux, so at least it can get my attention now. I do have some questions, though.


I've never worked on one of these before, so I'm not sure where to begin with taking it apart. I unscrewed a screw at the bottom and began taking the back off, but its doesn't want to come out of one of the corners. Should I just pull harder, or is there something else I'm supposed to do first? Her's a pic of the lux in question: