What's that dripping noise?

[chumprock]

So I wake up, do my morning routine, and head to the basement to check my fermenters and swap out a couple ice packs in the water bath. I'm kneeling down, tranced by airlock activity when I hear a *drip* from the other side of the basement.
Knowing that nothing on that side should ever drip, I flipped on the lights to a rather large puddle in the middle of the floor (less than a foot from my data rack no less!). I look up, and give a tought to what on that side of the house would cause a leak and suddenly realized exactly what was going on.

I ran upstairs, into the corner of the living room where I've been squatting with my brewing supplies until I get my section of the basement finished and yep... there's the bucket of StarSan, slowly leaking out of the valve I never closed all the way the night before...

The entire living room was a puddle, save for the area rug which was now an over-sized sponge. I cleaned it all up right-quick and tossed the de-humidifier in the room to try and get as much moisture out of the hardwoods as I could.

Thank God that we re-finished our floors with Poly last year.

Especially thanking God that SWMBO barely even reacted to my room-clearing mess! I dont think she was awake enough to rage.. heh.

 

[Mike M]

Another brewing related tragedy narrowly averted.

 

[chumprock]

It almost took out about $3k in computer and whole-home audio equipment, too!

My main concern is the subfloor, or what might happen to the hardwoods if they stayed wet. And the rug? I put it out on the deck to dry but it looks like its about to get a lot wetter....

 

[Boondoggie]

At least mold shouldn't be a problem, since it was star san, right?

 

[springer]

you might have a problem with both the sub floor and the hard wood if there was a puddle in the basement then for sure the wood soaked up a lot water. Is the subfloor plywood or tongue and groove wood ? Interior plywood and water isn't a good mix

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

you might have a problem with both the sub floor and the hard wood if there was a puddle in the basement then for sure the wood soaked up a lot water. Is the subfloor plywood or tongue and groove wood ? Interior plywood and water isn't a good mix

but, at least you could literally eat off the floor and the rugs are cleaner now than they've been in years.

My condolences on you loss(es). I do hope you floors survive the chaos. this does serve as a reminder to me tho', I REALLY need to find a better place for my 3 gallons of stored Nitric/Phos Acid. [Shudder to think]

 

[chumprock]

I'ts old-school (1929) tongue and groove...

It looked like (at least I'm hoping) the majority of the water made it downstairs once it found the wall. But with a dehumidifier full-time in the basement, and now one in the living room, my house is probably going to be like... 20% humidity when I get home.. heh.

At least it wasn't beer.

 

[menschmaschine]

If the subflooring was old-timey solid wood (not plywood) it should be fine when you dry it out. Even plywood would be OK as long as it didn't delaminate. If it were modern-day Advantech, I would worry even less since that is infused with wax and can take getting wet a few times.

Dry it out as quickly as possible... get some fans on there if you haven't already. The important thing is to prevent mold-growth (although the Star-San may help prevent it) and wood decay. The hardwood will likely buckle at the seams as it dries. Unless it's laminate hardwood floor, you might be able to sand and re-finish it.

 

[springer]

keep both dehumidifiers going . Wood tends to bow when one side is wet and the other dry. The old school subfloor should weather it well you may get some swelling but it should subside as it dries out. My house is the same not one piece of Plywood in it.

Approx. How much leaked before you caught it

 

[Thumper]

As menschmachine said get some fans running on it as well. I learned this from a house fire. Running fans will speed up the drying time.

 

[chumprock]

Everything looks ok as far as I can tell. There's a little curling on some of the planks, but I doubt it will even be enough to sand...