Our house hates us!!!

We have two places since the second week of January. We had to leave home because it is being repaired after some sewer problems - the house smells to sewage!. Our home has the nickname 'stinky house' and then we have the apartment. The names are important so that the kids don't get confused. When they expect to go home and end-up at the apartment, they get quite disappointed.

This weekend, we were planning to move back to the 'stinky house', which was expected not to stink anymore. After the plumbers made a 2 meter deep, 2 meter wide hole in the garden, cleaned the footing tiles and... I think I should start from the beginning. As being an unofficial plumber, these all makes sense to me, but not to many other people probably.

A basement is, as you know, under the ground. If there is no kind of system, the ground water would get straight into the basement, so it would more likely look like a swimming pool. The footing tiles are pipes full with little holes and the ground water gets into the pipes. The pipes end at the good old sump pit, a little basin in the basement floor. In the pit, you see the sump pump, which is pumping the water to the city sewing system or to ones of those pits you see on the road the rain water disappear.

So, now I go back to the footing tiles. The smell in the house appears to be coming from the sump pit. The footing tiles were full of sewage after years of leakage (when we moved in, we got the sewer fixed, but it was leaking for years before that!) and a part of the tiles was smashed. Although the water in the sump pit was clear, it was just because of the filtering on the way to the pit, the water was smelling. So, the plumbers dug a hole in the garden, replaced the broken piece of the footing tile, cleaned the footing tile pipes with high pressure water and left a big bill to the homeowners. Don't misunderstand me, they got a bottle of wine from us, they were very nice guys.

The cause was helped, but the smell doesn't leave the house just by itself. So we contacted the landlord and asked to get a restoration company. The restoration company arrived with 2 big machines that filters/cleans the air and 2 others that circulate the air in the house. The machines were supposed to be there for 3-4 days. They set it up and left. It was Thursday, January 29. We wanted to be back in the house before the end of the month - the apartment was rented till then - we decided to clean the house on Friday, move back on Saturday and live with the loud machines for 2 days. We were determined. But the house was determined not to have us back....

On Friday, I arrived to the stinky house. It was cold, like very cold. It was actually under zero degrees Celsius. The heating was broken in the night and the machines that filter the air blow cold air, so in one night, the house was freezing! I tried to figure out why the heating was broken. I looked at the book of the heating system. It says: 'check this and check that and then call the plumber'. As much as didn't want it, I had to call the plumber and the guy fixed the machine in 2 minutes. Some kind of security switch had turned itself on. Why? Who knows.... It was 11:30

I still couldn't get the house warm, the machines slowed it down. So I turned everything off and started some cleaning and realized.... the pipes were frozen. On one side of the house, the pipes were totally frozen: one bathroom on the second floor and the watching room at the first floor. Tita, the lady who cleans the house, came after 12:00. With her, we turned water on in the washing room and it started running. Only upstairs bathroom was hopeless. Tita started cleaning the house. Before 1.00 pm, the restoration company arrived. They were going to clean the carpet in the basement because it got a little wet when the plumbers were fixing the sewer smell problem. Five minutes after they arrived, we heard a loud sound, like.... shower. We ran to the family room and water was pouring from the ceiling. What are the chances the water pipes breaks when a restoration company is in your house. Well, they usually arrive after the damage is done.

In the next couple of minutes, between my "oh my goodness"s, we ran downstairs to turn off the main water pipe - yes I knew where it was -, the guys got their equipment from their truck and started to suck the water out of the couch, the carpet and the wooden floor. It all happened so fast, I can't even recall everything. I remember asking at a certain moment if there wasn't a carpet on the floor before and the guy said they already had it in the truck for cleaning. I never saw anyone walking outside with a carpet in the hand but on the other hand, I was in shock. I called P at his work and said that the house was flooding, that there was water all over the place. He hung up before I was done speaking and arrived 15 minutes later. In the short time that the water was pouring from the broken pipe, there was 2 finger high water in the room.

The aftermath: a hole in the ceiling, the water had so much pressure!; a wet couch (sectional) that looks OK to me after two days; wooden floor that was wet for not more than 10 minutes, the guys suck the water with their special machines; a wet carpet that will come back home clean. I thought the walls were all wet but no, just a bit from the outside, the TV that was just half meter from the 'shower' was totally dry. The water went through the wooden floor to the basement, right at the storage space (=no carpet) and in the middle of the room where there was nothing! When we reached the landlord, we had contacted his and our insurance, the restoration company was already setting up the equipment and the broken pipes were fixed. He had our reaction, he laughed! How on earth can one house have so much bad luck? How?

That's how we come to the title of this piece: our house hates us (read 'me')! At the beginning, I was a bit reluctant of the house. Not that it is not beautiful, but it is a bit remote for a city girl. Then there was the raccoon and skunks living under the deck. Boy, I lost some sleep because of that. After that, we found out that the sewer was broken. It got fixed but you see the trouble it caused months after that. Then we had a flood. The basement flooded after heavy rains which the sump pump couldn't handle. Then we had mouse. The guy who came to help said he never saw such a tough mouse problem before, he had to call in his manager. Hopefully the mouse problem is fixed, we will see it. Then the smell and the broken pipe.... Has anyone ever hear one house having so many problems? It just knows I hate it and hates me back. And it is stronger than me, I can only leave! The bigger problem is, I don't only hate it, but I also love it. This house is just a bad relationship. (I remember writing this before). So doctor Phil, what do I do???

(Go back to your apartment doctor Phil says, well we are back, we are renting it for another month.)

Busyyyyy

When you live in an apartment... no, I should say, when you are condemned to live in an apartment, because your house is stinking and being repaired, you don't want to spend your weekend between four walls. When it is minus 10ish Celsius outside, it is actually comforting to have some walls around. Still, as long as those have nothing to do with the apartment...
That's how we started our last weekend.

Friday: after school, we were at Annemiek's house. The kids played, mothers chatted and father (only P was in town) came later to join the chat. Did I say we started the wine at 3:30? No baby, yes wine! We were probably at the apartment after 9.
Saturday: Started the day with sporting. While the kids were at the daycare service, we were on the treadmills etc. I went with F wall climbing. We went all together swimming. After a late lunch, we met Tena and her son Beck for a little bowling. Kids loved it. The balls were actually too heavy for A, but with some help, she actually won their game! After bowling, we got stopped by the police for speeding in a military complex. We knew the name of the commandant which helped us enormously. We didn't get a ticket, but got an escort to the exit. We were lost and looking for the exit, so it was more like a service. We met Tena & Dave for dinner - mmmm sushi. It was after 9 that we came back to the apartment. Go parents go, aren't we just so irresponsible...

Sunday: We brought P and F to the church and went to her first real party. Her classmate Wyatt turned 3 and his b-day was at a gym. The kids parties here are not more than 1,5 hours. A spent 1 hour hanging from my leg. At the end, she didn't want to leave. So typical... We met P and F at the ice rink in our little village. F was for the first time on the ice and she did quite well. It was very cold though. Then we went to Leo and Carla's. Their younger son Alex plays soccer with F, that's how we know them. Fun fun fun.... We left, as responsible parents, around 6 p.m. and ended our weekend marathon at the apartment, exhausted but happy. Than the four walls of the apartment were very welcome!

The curious case of Benjamin Button

I just came home from after watching the movie 'The curious case of Benjamin Button'. It is about a man who born old and dies as a baby. It's the clock ticking backwards. Very peculiar, I think that would be a good word. I found it ironic that today, I got the watch the movie. There is a lot about birth, dead and babies in the story of Benjamin Button. I thought there was really some kind of an irony, although now I doubt. Well, you see, I walk around with a dead baby in the womb. Just 2 months old, so it really shouldn't look like anything yet, but I just keep on thinking about this little poor thing.

Do you know the story of the death angel. I don't exactly remember how it goes, but something like this: There is a guy who somehow gets to talk to the death angel. They go together to the house of a poor peasant's house. The death angel takes away his only cow. Then they go to the rich man's house. The angel fixes a hole in his walls. The guy is confused. He asks why the angel took away the only cow of the poor man. The angel says: 'I came to his house to take the peasant's wife, instead I took the cow'. 'And the rich man?' the guy asked. 'There was a fortune behind the wall and if I didn't fix the hole, he would get even richer'.

There is a reason for all this happening, that's what I think. The problems with the house, the baby, all kinds of other little things that are going on... I think we are being spared of something really bad. I am just thankful, especially for those two little angels sleeping as I am writing. And I just hope... Tomorrow is a new day and I have strong feeling that it will be a very nice one.

What's wrong with us?

We had great 2 weeks in Holland and Belgium. Visited family, friends, did stuff with kids, without kids - good babysitters in Holland!! -... Then we came home...

The first thing we noticed - how could you miss it! - was the horrible smell in the house. It hit our faces when we opened the door. Oh no, the sewer is broken, we thought. We opened the windows a bit, and let some fresh air come inside. It was Sunday january 4th and the situation was just bearable. At the basement, we discovered a dead mouse, a huge dead mouse. It was not the cause of the smell though, the storage was about the only place that did not smell bad.

Monday... the smell got worse. Tuesday... we got the first plumber. He checked things, did dye tests and said 'I think it is a dead animal'. I should have never have mentioned the dead mouse to him. Wednesday...I started getting worried. The smell was getting worse and I couldn't stand it. Thursday...second plumber came. He went down to the basement and walked straight to the door leading to the hairdresser. (we have a little one chair saloon at he basement). He said that he was here before. Brrrr, in a different life? Of course, it's not ghost story I am telling, it's a plumbing nightmare. He said he was at our house before, when the owners were still living in it. They had a bad smell in the house and after hours of searching, he couldn't figure it out. The owners were not very happy because of the amount of hours spent. You would understand them if you knew what those guys charge for every minute spent in the house.

So years ago, the owners had a bad smell. When we moved in almost a year ago, there was a bad smell. We did find out that the sewer was broken and got it fixed. Since that time, there was always a bit smell in the basement, but well, we innocently thought that basement could smell, because it was under the ground. Silly us! Now, it was obvious it us that the smell was always there, coming in little bits inside the house and every once in a while, it decided to explode and fill the whole place. We had to find out where it came from.

After the second plumber left the house without any results, we started to feel desperate. Think think think... Was it really a dead animal, or a whole animal family, or a horse trapped somewhere between the walls? Was it the sulfur from the grounds around? Was the sewer of the neighbors leaking and coming into our house? Was there something wrong with the heating system - result of the Internet search - ?

Friday...I decided I hated this house, but I also loved it. What do you do then. It is like a bad relationship.

Saturday, we left the house. We decided to go to a hotel and have a nice un-smelly night sleep. We had a nice suite with one bathroom and one sleeping room. The kids enjoyed the swimming pool.

Sunday... we came back home and left for another hotel, a water park hotel. That was great for the kids. The spent hours playing and swimming. We had 2 beds in one room and a living area. In the middle of the night F got sick and we had a big mess in the girls' bed. We took everything off and called the front desk for clean stuff. Sad end of the night.

Monday, the kids went to school and I went to the house. The owner called with two competitor plumbing companies in the weekend. They were both coming. But I started with the 'Mouse man'. He did close 2 holes and I hope we are done with the disgusting 4 leggeds. Then the first plumber came. He did the usual stuff, but he did something new too. The showed me the pipes in the basement going to the pipe that carries water to the sump pit. Against all my thoughts, The water was coming from the front of the house, not back of it. And there went the sulfur theory. The water was not coming from the swamp behind our garden. Then the other plumber came. There were the two of them actually. Oh, they were so happy to see each other. But, thanks to the first plumber, we could focus where the water was coming from. The first plumber, outnumbered by the first one, left the scene...but I am thankful to him, he did a good job. The two plumbers worked hours and finally found out...well, it is still a guess... that the sewer leakage that was repaired was going on probably for years and the ground got full of ....yes, sorry, shit. This sewage was pushed by the melting snow last week and got in the sump pit and the pipe going to that. The only way to know for sure is to dig half a wall length around the house.

I wasn't happy Monday, why do I have to sit there with the plumbers, arrange other people to pick up my kids? I was hoping our contact person would be there and I would be cooking for the evening and picking up the kids and taking care of them. Anyway, sometimes things work differently. After the plumbers left, I went - with the dinner I just made in a bag - to pick up the girls. We went back to the water hotel. Dinner, pool, sleeping and no sick kids... The next morning packed the stuff again, brought the kids to school and waited at the stinking home.

Tuesday evening... I am writing from our final destination before we go back to a non-smelling home sweet home. The irony is just about the reveal itself. Just read further.

We got the news from P's company that we may use an apartment they rented for some colleagues and although the people were gone, the rent was paid till the end of the month. A nice apartment in a nice little town to south of our house. These kind of apartments are actually a mixture of an apartment and a hotel. You have everything in it: furniture, nicely folded cloth napkins on the dinner table, little soaps in the bathroom, a dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, the apartment gets cleaned every week, you get clean towels and beds are changed... It is super. The kids loved it, the started playing in the clean looking spacious living room while I was cooking in the decent kitchen. P came and we had a lovely dinner. The kids went to bed and... we didn't have hot water. OK, we came from a house smelling to sewer and ended up in a house without hot water. And guess who was here at 9 pm in the evening? A neighbour who is also working like a handyman for these apartments, a plumber! The good thing is, he could fix the problem in half an hour and he also fixed a door that was not working properly and he left. The feeling he left us with behind is that there is nothing wrong with all those houses, there is something wrong with us!