Hugs to you justmakeit! Hope everything works out for you and I can't wait to see your pics!

OMG, I am sorry to hear you have to go through that!

Why doesn't the insurance cover possessions???

But I know what you mean. I have been wanting to move ever since we came here. I have waited for 10 years to re-do the kitchen. And now, that I (mostly) have, I'd feel sorry to leave - not till I had some time to enjoy it, at least.

However, if I got a dream job in a dream city, I'd move in a "NY minute" and have no regrets. After this remodel, I know I can create another good kitchen anywhere, LOL.

Oy. What a mess, huh? I pray our sump pumps never quit for just that reason. Hang in there!

Sorry about your flood! I've been there and it isn't fun or pretty. Hope you dry out soon!

We are still working on our remodel, and DH continues to say "I'll never do this again" so I guess I can't ever move or I have to move into a house with a perfect kitchen!!! I sure would like to be on the other side soon.

So sorry! I can sympathize, having lived in a home with a flooding basement years ago. Fortunately, we didn't experience a major $$ loss, and learned to live with it. It forced us to keep the basement cleaned up, no clutter or junk on the floor, everything up on shelves, etc. Glad to see you are keeping a positive attitude, and hope that you will now get to go TWO Hundred years without another flood!

Thanks, everyone! It is so much better than it could have been. I had a little notice and took it seriously enough to go and get things off the floor. (Normally I might not have bothered.) Also, since the basement was where we lived during the renovation, I'm really lucky this happened 2 weeks after we moved back into the kitchen instead of before.

holly-kay -- thanks for the hugs. Photos coming!

eleena -- unlike you, I don't think I could ever manage another remodel I like as much as this one! About the insurance -- it doesn't cover sewer backup, and even though the massive rains caused the flood, the insurance company calls it a sewer backup because the water entered the house through the basement toilet.

deedles -- I'll keep my fingers crossed for your sump pump if you'll keep yours crossed for mine!

cathy725 -- you'll get there! There was a point in the middle where I felt as though we'd NEVER be done, but done we are, and so worth it. I think my DH feels the same as yours.

legallin -- thanks! I'm going to take a page from your book: no more clutter in the basement and definitely nothing on the floor. You'd think I'd have figured that out by now...

And special treasures in the rafters. :)

Since climate change means more extreme fluctuations of weather, I suspect many should reconsider what their real potential flood zone might be. Friends of friends in central Florida were very badly flooded even though they were nowhere near a river or lake, were not on low ground in their county, and such a thing was never recorded there before. Simply that wildly heavy rainfall on saturated ground left the water falling a whole region nowhere to go but up.

Looking forward to seeing your next post, Justmakeit.

rosie -- "And special treasures in the rafters." Exactly! DD and I hauled all the paintings and sculptures up to the attic today. I'm not risking those treasures again :-)

And you're also right about the changing weather patterns. The amount of rain that fell last week was astonishing! (It's raining right now, and I'm keeping an anxious ear out for the tell-tale splashing of the water flowing out of the basement toilet. We could get socked again!)

justmakeit - so sorry about the flooding.

Please be careful about paintings and photos in the attic if it isn't a climate controlled area - the temperature fluctuations won't play kindly with them.

andreak100 -- oh no, I hadn't thought about the climate in the attic. Good grief, there's no place to keep anything in my house! Thanks for the heads up.

So sorry to hear about your flood. It's great that you're pitting a positive spin on things. Best of luck on more sewer backups!

Oh no! Sorry to hear that!

Just to make you smile:
Several years ago I woke up to a high pitched whine in the house. Had no idea what it was. Sent DH to investigate. About 20 minutes later I wake up again and realize he's still gone. I head downstairs only to find him in the kitchen dumping water in the sink. Turns out the whine was the water alarm at the top if the sump hole. Our pump failed overnight after a storm! DH went down in the basement, saw the water creeping accross the floor, and instead of getting me to help, he immediately started running buckets of water up the stairs to the kitchen! It was hilarious! He goes into panic mode, so he was quite aggitated. After I stopped laughing, it only took me about 10 minutes to line up borrowing my Dad's wet/dry shop vac, my Mom's heavy duty emergency pump, and head out for our own replacement pump. He just thought he didn't have time to get me. What a nut!

rkb21 -- aw, thanks. I'm trying to keep a positive spin on things -- it got me through the reno, it'll probably get me through this :-)

williamsem -- funny story! I did smile, but then I started wondering what life would be like with a father with a shop vac and a mom with a heavy duty emergency pump! My parents would have offered me lots of towels, or maybe, if I was very lucky, a book on handy home repairs.

For more warning, you could look into getting some type of water alert system. I've heard the 'Leak Frog' works well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Leak Frog on Amazon

TexasPenny -- I'd never even heard of a water alert system until a few days ago. I'll definitely look into that! Thanks.

Oh, wow! The things I learn on this site...a water leak Alarm! That sounds awesome. Do they work?

We also had our air conditioner condenser overflow recently, and a leak under the kitchen sink. Now I have those sensor paddles all over the place - under each sink, behind each toilet, washer, fridge, hot water tank, condensers and DW. Most are one alarm with two paddles, so I can use one unit for two nearby areas. Lucky for me no leaks recently, so can't vouch for how they work! Got them on Amazon.

Both my parents are decently handy DIY types. Not fancy stuff, but functional. And we lived with a "wet" basement growing up so we have always had a good backup pump around.

I'm also pretty stubborn. If I get it in my head I can do something, I read up and plunge in, knowing I have "tech support" on call. Mom generally comes over to supervise and be entertained by my efforts, Dad comes over to "show me" (meaning I don't have to do the work!). You should have seen Mom and I laughing almost on the floor when I finally got the new bathroom doorknob installed. I was so excited after all the door planing (needed because i convinced myself i could just paint it, change the hinges, and hang it back up...nope!) and install that I promptly stuck the mechanism in and slammed it shut....without the handle installed! I think we both realized we might be locked in about 0.00001 seconds after I pushed it closed. We just looked at each other, just like in the movies, and completely lost it.

Williamsem: just curious, what brand did you buy? Our basement is mostly finished so I'm definitely going to look into these sensor/alarms.

Rkb21, they were sonin 00702 water alarm with dual sensor.

Williamsem: thanks!