11th May 2010. Why did we have a temporary connection to the mains supply, that flooded the house? Because the water from Well 2, which was to have been supplying all our domestic water, was cloudy and tasted very odd. The well company men came to investigate and found the front of the well shaft (below where Scott is standing, at the well head) had collapsed into the well, causing a landslide of rubble and clay.
This clay was completely unexpected. The trial pits, dug nearer the house to establish the sub-soil and rock formation had shown only a very small trace of clay here and there, certainly not large deposits of stuff that could have been used to throw pots. I was tempted to throw something even more substantial when this collapse was revealed. Steve and Scott dug out a huge quantity and bucketed it down the bank, a gruelling process and ultimately deemed to be ineffective. We discussed shoring up the shaft and re-building it with sound stone or tipping in several tons of clean, non-calcareous stone to act as a filter. The temporary mains pipe burst a couple of days later, before the well could be sorted out, so work was shelved.
Nathan dropped everything and came to the house next day, to remove the beautiful burr oak kitchen he had fitted just two weeks previously. It was unharmed and was taken to a temperature-controlled storage unit in Barnstaple for the duration. I think I was on automatic pilot at this stage; numb. Peter hadn't yet seen the devastation and we drove back down together the following weekend
The swelling of the wet oak boards raised them up in long ridges and ripped the tongue and groove apart. Astonishing and terribly sad. This shaft of sunlight across the ridge shows it up very clearly. It was obvious that the floor would all have to be removed. Our neighbours were delighted with yet more hardwood firewood but very sympathetic: it turns out that they had a similar inundation when they built their house across the lane. A council of war was arranged, with the loss adjuster, the contractors and the architects.
A rather sorry fibreboard carcase from under the island unit. The adjustable feet meant the carcases themselves didn't get wet and all these units were stacked up on the gallery...Little did we know. When Nathan came to fit the kitchen again (in mid December!), each unit had swollen by a couple of millimetres in the damp atmosphere and wouldn't fit under the burr oak worktops. They'll all have to be re-made and should be ready by the end of January 2011. The burr oak is completely unscathed, thank goodness.
It was all too much for Peter. I did what I usually do and walked around taking photos.
By the time we met for the council of war, in early June, we could see how far the water had reached, as the screed was exposed. We asked whether the contractors would use a de-humidifier to dry it all out but the architects vetoed that. They were concerned that the timber frame would dry out and twist, so no artificial heating or drying...What a good thing it was shaping up to be a really hot summer, we thought. However, we hadn't reckoned on the effects of the house's super-insulation. The passive ventilation system couldn't deal quickly with such high levels of humidity so a man was employed to come and open doors and windows for several hours every day. On our next visit, we could see clearly the areas that the sunshine could reach-they were drying out really well.
Unfortunately, deeper inside the house, where the sunshine couldn't reach, the screed took much, much longer to dry out, like here in the shower room. Peter and I commissioned an independent timber/damp specialist to inspect the damage throughout the ground floor and to write us a report. That took a further 6 weeks, during which time, without waiting for our go-ahead, the contractors replaced much of the sub-floor, while softwood timber supports such as this for the shower remained in place. These had all been absolutely soaked and we were afraid they would quietly rot if sealed up under the floor again. We dug our heels in and insisted that all such timberwork be replaced, even where the floor had been put down again.
To take our minds off the struggle inside and because Well 2 was almost certainly scuppered, we debated sinking a borehole. OK, maybe having our own water supply was a dream too far. It would've cost about twenty times times more than using the mains. It was fun learning how to dowse, though and Peter, with his eyes shut, could un-failingly show the spot where the young dowser had said there was a good supply, some 60 feet down. You can just about make out the blurring as the wand oscillated. Fascinating.
There was a bit of a stand-off before the unauthorised sub-floor and all the supporting timberwork was removed. All rather uncomfortable as the chain of command wasn't clear: who was actually in charge of this reparation work?
Just before New Year, we visited and were much heartened. The screed had dried out, eventually and the flooring had been put down again, with our authority this time. It'll be the end of January before the kitchen can be re-installed, so we'll be visiting frequently to fit cupboards and shelves but not able to move in or to stay in the house yet.It seems incredible that the repair work after the flood can really have taken 9 months so far and it isn't finished yet.
