# I'm underwater **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 8, 2001, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203 "2001-11-08T15:52:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/1 "2001-11-08T15:52:05Z")
**11.30pm last night** : everything fine. Time for bed. **1.30am** : heavy rain, so I clear the drain grilles outside the flat to be on the safe side. **1.31am** : notice power is out. **1.35am** : London Electricity inform me it’s my problem, not a power cut. Fusebox trip-switch won’t set back to on, even with each switch checked individually. Approximately one hour of sleep later… **6am** : get up. Notice mat behind front door is under a centimetre of water. Mild panic. **6.01am** : Notice carpet is soaking wet in several places in the living room. **6.10am** : Notice wet patches are getting bigger and wetter. Also notice that the floorboards are moving as I walk over the carpet, and that something is sloshing underneath them. **6.11am** : Moving floorboards/sloshing sound now in every room of the flat. Water seeping up all over the living room. Frantic movement to clear everything off the floor. **7am** : Futile search for stopcock abandoned. It’s outside somewhere. Is this rain, sewage or a burst water main? **7.10am** : Informed by Thames Water that it isn’t their problem. No leaks reported, and chances are its a burst water main under the flat floor. **7.11am** : landlord’s phone number produces “I’m sorry, but the number you have dialled has not been recognised” message. Repeatedly. Plumber’s number not answered. Floorboards now _undulating_ slightly with watery noise. Panic. And there we have my morning. Exhausting. I had no phone or electricity (both back now, but for how long?), no plumber, no idea. Since then the water’s subsided a bit, but the landlord (when he arrived) hasn’t been able to find any broken pipes. What price on another wet night tonight? ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/2 "2001-11-08T15:57:43Z")
Nothing really to contribute here except to say that a post titled “I’m underwater” from a guy(?) named Crusoe made me smile. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/3 "2001-11-08T15:59:41Z")
I hadn’t really thought of that … good call ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/4 "2001-11-08T16:00:04Z")
_Who lives in a pineapple under the sea…?"_ ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/5 "2001-11-08T23:12:31Z")
When I first read this thread title, I thought it said **I’m Underwear**. Sorry to hear about your livivg room. ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/6 "2001-11-08T23:20:21Z")
“Like… Crusoe, as primitive as can be…” ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2001, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/7 "2001-11-08T23:41:32Z")
Damn **Crusoe** , sounds bad. It snowed here today - here’s hoping this nasty cold snap doesn’t last too long. Hope it all gets sorted out soon - you’re insured? ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/8 "2001-11-09T00:12:02Z")
And the worst part is he’s on the 4th floor…This is just so much hassle Matt. If there’s anything I can help with drop me a mail. Seriously. Otherwise, you just have my very great sympathy. What a bloody nightmare… And we’re 11 minutes into Friday so I could be… ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/9 "2001-11-09T00:30:28Z")
Holy crap! Hey **Crusoe** mate, hope you’re doing okay. What’s the status? Are you still sinking? Did they find what was causing it? Did they bloody well **stop it**? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > **Mild panic.** Yeah, sure. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/10 "2001-11-09T11:07:29Z")
Mostly okay now. The carpet is drying out, although it has an interesting rippled effect now where the boards have warped. The power and phone came back on later in the afternoon. The landlord hasn’t got a clue what caused it – the pipes are all fairly new and properly installed. The only thing we can think of is that heavy rain that night (which isn’t normally a problem) came down an overflow from a nearby council estate and flooded the drains. Nothing I can do to prevent that really, so I’ll just start worrying next time it rains. Still, I’m glad it doesn’t rain much in Britain. Oh, wait. Thanks for the thoughts everyone and cheers for the offer **L\_C**. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/11 "2001-11-09T11:40:08Z")
Bloody hell! I hope there are at least some preventative measures your landlord can take. Is any of your stuff damaged, or was it just the structure and fixtures of the flat? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/12 "2001-11-09T12:00:47Z")
Fortunately the damage was restricted to some files and folders, and the structure is more or less sound. The landlord is going to try to check that the drains are clear, but widening them would mean digging up several feet of concrete. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/13 "2001-11-09T12:53:34Z")
If you can get tot he lowert point and it happened again run over to your nearest tool rental store and get a pump - if electricity is out get a gas powered one or a generator. ---
**Author:** ![Chickenhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Chickenhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenhead)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-underwater/92203/14 "2001-11-09T13:51:39Z")
Maybe it was a lot of condensation or a manifestation of the demonic spirit of Satan or something like that.