You're the Hope That Ends Disaster

Just in case you were wondering, here is an update on the kitchen situation:
We called our insurance company yesterday (Wednesday), and this morning (Thursday) a claims adjuster called us. He said that the insurance wouldn't cover the cost of fixing the refrigerator ($2), but they will cover the cost of restoring the floor and the clean up.  Woo hoo!  I also asked about our roof, and he said they will not be covering that.  They would only cover the cost of repairing it, and one of the quotes we were given was $985.  Our deductible is $1000, and Kurtis and my dad were able to fix it for about $35, so we'll be paying for our new roof in the spring out of pocket.  The house needed it anyway, so it's not a surprise to us.
The agent told me to call a place called Servepro.  They came out after lunch and checked where the water in the walls and floor and ceiling is.  They found several spots in Zachary's room as well as in the computer room downstairs.  They also came in and started ripping up the kitchen floor.  It was a bit shocking.  I knew they had to, but I don't think I was quite ready for it even though our insurance adjuster had warned me they would.  It's a bit weird when someone comes in your home, says, "Hey!  I'm Joe," and then immediately starts destroying your property.  It had to be done, though.  They had to find how bad the damage was.  They also cut a hole in the ceiling in the computer room and made a vent for the industrial strength fans to blow air directly into the ceiling and the wall between Zach's room and the computer room.  The pulled back the carpet and cut out the section of the carpet pad that was still wet and put fans down.  Right now, that's the goal.  Dry the place out.  One of the men told us the good thing about wood is that it takes a long time to soak up water, but the bad thing about wood is that it takes a long time to dry it out.  We'll probably have these fans going all day tomorrow and Christmas eve as well.  All these fans are making it quite loud in my home.  It's not really all that bothersome, but I just want you to know that if you ring my doorbell, and I don't answer, it really isn't because I am hiding in my house waiting for you to go away.  I probably just didn't hear it.
I asked if they could tell how long our fridge had been leaking, and the boss man told me, not too long because there was no mold.  That's a very, very good thing.  Later, he said, "It smells like two days."  Apparently, if it did have mold, that would have meant that it had been leaking for four or more days.  Once we get all dried out, they can assess the cost of the damage and we can pick out a new floor.  I told Kurtis this morning, "This would be fun if it was something I actually wanted to do!"  And something we were financially ready for.  I guess I will just get my dream kitchen piece by piece with long gaps where it's not really very pretty because nothing will match or coordinate yet.

 Here are some of the pictures I took after they left.  They were really great guys, and I'm glad I called them.  That's my pantry.

 The previous owners had a vinyl floor before they put in the laminate.  The boys want me to put in the old vinyl floor.  They really like it.  But it's not to my tastes so much.  So I told Zach that when he buys his own house he can buy whatever kitchen floor he wants.  Kurtis only said that I couldn't pick purple or blue for the floor color.  He's such a dictator!

 My kitchen really isn't that big, and moving the fridge out and away from the wall makes things even tighter.

 Front room.  We had to move two of our bookshelves yesterday.  We might just keep them where we moved them, but now we  need a couple more.  A trip to IKEA may be in order in the future.  What I really want to do is remove the carpet all together and just put the same floor in the kitchen and the front room.  I don't know how much that will cost us yet, though and Kurtis didn't seem to want to pay them any extra money right now.  Maybe later next year we can just do it ourselves.

This setup is actually pretty cool.  That circle in the ceiling is where the light fixture that was dripping was.  My dad took it out Tuesday.