Footballjoe Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 The Hampton Roads area got hit hard by a Northeaster the past three days. Heavy rains, wind and major flooding. One of the tunnels was shut down due to the flooding. Although the interstates were fine many of the off ramps were impassable. A few nights ago my mother called me about 8:00 PM and said the pilot light was out to her floor furnace and she smelled gas. Since I only live 3 miles away I went right over to relit the furnace. After a few attempts I noticed there was no spark from the igniter. It was kinda dark in area of the furnace so I got my flashlight. When I looked inside I found what appeared to be 6-8 inches of water in the furnace. My first thought was water was coming down the chimney since we got heavy rains although that has never happened before. She has been living in the house for 45 years. Anyhow, it was not cold so I cut the gas off and decided to come back in the morning with my wet vac. So the next morning I start vaccumming out the water. I emptied the container 3-4 times and noticed the water level had not dropped. I know the furnance is sitting in a little valley under the house so I continued to pump. After a short while and still not making any progress I go to the back and look under the house. There must be 6 inches of water under there. The house has never had water under it before. Right away I decided to call the insurance company. Of course it not covered because she does not have flood insurance. BTW she does not live in a flood area. So I borrow a pump from a friend and start pumping. Progress is slow but I am making headway. I have a feeling the controls of the furnace are shot. Once I get the water pumped out I will let the let things dry out a bit before I try to relit it. The furnace was installed in 2002. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Raining/flooding in Richmond too. fn rain. On the upside, it's another football weekend.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Major suckage Joe. Is there any way to raise the furnace up off the floor to prevent this from happening again? And you just know that flood insurance is now part of the necesities for your mom. If flooding happens once, it will happen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 When they built my house, the plumber drilled a 4 inch hole through the wrong side of my foundation below grade and didn't patch it. It rained like crazy the first weekend I moved in and the crawl space was filled with a foot of water on the other side (I live on a hill). My well pump's control box was underwater and they suggested that be replaced. Hopefully they can fix any electronics underwater instead of replacing the whole thing! I remember spending my whole first weekend in the house pumping water. Major suckage there. I've been considering flood insurance even though I don't live in a flood plain. I don't think it's THAT expensive and it seems insurance companies use that out to not pay claims alot. It finally stopped raining here last night. I'm west of Richmond and we got it pretty good. Not as bad as you guys though. We were supposed to play in a poker tourney last night in Portsmouth...exit right before the tunnel....but no way were we going to head down there with all the roads closed. Went to UVA-Longwood in Charlottesville instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keggerz Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 sorry to hear that Joe..we got hit extremely hard here too...park lost a 300' fishing pier that made it thru Isabel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted November 15, 2009 Author Share Posted November 15, 2009 I think it snowed in hell yesterday. I got to my mothers house in the afternoon to continue pumping water. To my surprise the water had drained out and the furnace was dry. The igniter worked and I was able to light the pilot but it would not stay lit. Maybe I have water or trash in the line. I will wait another day or two and see if it dries out. If not I will have to go under the house and clean out the line and check the thermocoupling. I felt real good after leaving there yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I think it snowed in hell yesterday. I got to my mothers house in the afternoon to continue pumping water. To my surprise the water had drained out and the furnace was dry. The igniter worked and I was able to light the pilot but it would not stay lit. Maybe I have water or trash in the line. I will wait another day or two and see if it dries out. If not I will have to go under the house and clean out the line and check the thermocoupling. I felt real good after leaving there yesterday. Glad to hear that it wisn't a bad as it first looked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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