The house was supposed to be done in 120 days. That meant February 1st which slipped to March, April and finally closed on May 3rd. That was the beginning. Then we gutted the house and turned cheap builder cabinets and other features into an upscale house I love. Fortunately I'm a blogger, so I was photographing house contents before the flood happened …
There were a few things to finish. The dishwasher and ice maker needed to be hooked up. There were 6 to 8 boxes left to unpack and some clothes in suitcases. Waiting to be organized – master bedroom closet, laundry room and my quilt room with a craft tower for extra storage. So I felt comfortable flying north to help my sister who couldn't walk following a motorcycle accident.
Always photograph a house after improvements.
The phone call you never want to get …
Water was gushing out the front door and garage. My house was flooded!
I've done quite a few renovations over the years, along with running a handyman business for eight years. But honestly, I was looking forward to finally enjoying the house I'd spent a year building. For now photos of what the house looked like the day before the flood will have to suffice, oh my.
Great Room the Heart of the House
We often say the kitchen is the heart of a home. The kitchen is one of four rooms making up the great room which is roughly 28 ft by 28 ft. The four rooms include a nice size kitchen (above and see kitchen transformation here), a dining room, home office and family room. The great room felt big and overwhelming until the first rug was delivered.
This was my first experience where the family room rug transformed a large space into a cozy room. It truly felt magical. I was disappointed that the dining room rug was back ordered … but now I'm happy it wasn't there to get submerged.
Photographing House Contents in the Bathrooms
While the toilets in both bathrooms were reinstalled by the end of July, the guest bathroom got most of the use … as bathroom and kitchen. That's because the master bath shower tile was done wrong. More work is needed before this bathroom is truly usable.
Photographing What's in the Bedrooms?
While we spend all day in the living areas of our homes, we have bedrooms for sleeping and storing our clothes. Here are the latest photos I have of the various bedrooms, mostly done although I'm still unpacking clothes in the master bedroom closet.
Fortunately most wall hangings were on the walls and didn't get soaked in the flood. The only places we hadn't gotten to yet were the guest bedroom (see below) and the hallway wall hangings.
As I unpacked boxes, I moved things into the rooms where I thought they belonged. This included wall hangings which you can see sitting along the outside wall … waiting to be hung. Fortunately only this bedroom didn't get hung so photographing house contents early turned out to be really helpful.
Of course we can't forget my quilt room. My fabrics are organized into wonderful plastic boxes which makes them easy to move from California to Portsmouth and then Hampton, both in New Hampshire. Next was Fountain Hills in Arizona and now Champions Gate, Florida.
When the flood damage is all taken care of … I hope to start on the quilt for my bed. The fabric was in a laundry basket on the floor so it will have to get washed again, LOL!
Tips for Photographing Your Home
While not the topic of this article, I wanted to share some other websites that offer good tips on home photography.
- Selling your home – is when you need great photos as most people start their search online. Ideally your realtor will hire a professional photographer (some won't). Read … How to Photograph Your Home Like a Professional, if you're going to do this yourself but understand you'll need to take at least 10 photos to get one usable one. And here are my tips for staging your home before you take those photos.
- Photographing house contents – so you're prepared for any emergency. Here's an article from an insurance company, Creating a Home Photo and Video Inventory … to help you with this task, or there are professionals that specialize in documenting your home inventory.
- Photographing family and friends – reminds me of an article I wrote on capturing family memories. Take a peek and you'll be glad you did … Holidays Capture Special Memories.
I was searching for stuff to decorate my home and found this blog. This blog has a lot of interesting and fascinating ideas. Waiting for future posts.
Thanks for sharing this detail. Your information is helpful..!!
Nisha, Have you photographed your house? Learned yesterday that insurance adjusters photograph all 4 sides of a room, top – middle – bottom near floor.
I would have cried a river if that happened to me. You’re good to take this much water damage in stride Tina!
Cindy, You can cry but that will only increase the water level … so better to sort through everything that has to be done, prioritize & get to work.
Glad too your dining room rug is back-ordered. Did the pictures on the floor of the other bedroom get damaged too? Good that a lot of your art was already hung. Thanks for being here in Maine to help me during this too long recovery.
Thank you Tina for sharing and posting the details for all of us to learn from. I’m very sorry that you have to deal with this major clean up and repair after finally being on your path of almost settled in your new nest. Remember, the mold is always a major concern. Aim to be as proactive as possible by trying to bleach every area you possibly can that become wet. I’m glad your electronics were not damaged.
Stefanie, Guess I left out the photo showing the electronics were on the floor & now dead!
Did get water mitigation team there fast & they’ve sprayed chemicals to retard mold growth. As things got moved to garage & mold did start to grow, I’m focused on that for now … as insurance company just sitting until they get field adjuster’s report.
Very useful and informative post. Thanks for sharing helpful information.
Varun, How are flooded houses handled in India?