Unexpected Flooding on the Volga, Stalingrad Progress Delayed

 

It seems our water heater decided that Friday afternoon was quitting time and when I say quit I mean flood.  The tank ruptured and proceeded to flood our basement.  Actually we were very lucky as I think we caught it maybe a few minutes after the leak started and were able to minimize the water flow.  Well limit the flow water flow after a three stooges like episode of trying to remember were all the water cut-off valves were.  

I was wander down to the basement to do a little more work on the Stalingrad table so, in a way, miniature gaming "saved-the-day".

The Heater is located under the stairwell into the basement so all of the flooding was limited to a 10-15 foot circle around it (300 to 450 cm for you free range hipster metric types).  We had a berber carpet in the basement that's pretty well shot.  That carpet was also close to 20 years old and the wife wanted to replace it - looks like that's going to happen now!

I removed all the soaked carpet and padding (to be honest any type of demo work is kinda of fun) and then rented some fans and dehumidifiers to try and dry up the space.  I'm told these need to run for 3 days - at least that's what the rental place tells me.

You can see that true disaster was narrowly averted as the water came within 8 inches of my troop cabinet.  Some minis and terrain were damaged in the flood but nothing of any importance and stuff that I should have gotten rid of years ago.

We do have a brand new shiny hot water heater, complete with a drain pan that's linked to the sump pump.  A feature that would have been most useful 24 hours ago.

In all honesty, this is my fault as the water heater was from 2003 and should have been replaced years ago.  I just forgot about it and have now paid the price for my negligence!  

The REAL issue is can I find creative ways to delay the wife's selection of a new carpet so that installation occurs AFTER the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is finished (March 20)?  My current plan is to throw money at the problem and wrap the new carpet installation with some other renovation projects she wants to do. That way, maybe, I can delay the project until the late Spring / early Summer under the guise of moving out to our place on the Eastern Shore while the renovations are completed.

I will need to check the whereabouts of a certain Martin C or Noel W who are chasing me on the leader board of the challenge - maybe there is more afoot here than mere happenstance.......