Flood!!!

HeidiHeidi

Or rather, no flood......

OK, I'm off out after this to buy myself a blonde wig (with apologies to all blondes out there who would never in a million years do what I just did :eek:)

I went to change the filter cartridge on my filter tap, and forgot to turn off the shutoff tap. DUH! Water, water everywhere, and it took me about a minute to move the shelf and get at the bloody tap.

That's an awful lot of water..... and none of it is visible......

Now I don't know what to do!!!

I've mopped up the bit that's on the (tiled) floor outside the cupboards, but clearly the most of it has gone in the back and under all the other cupboards. As far as I know the carcasses are just chipboard. The shelf dividing the under-sink cupboard has swollen a lot now, and can't be fitted back into place. I assume the same will happen with all the raw edges under the cupboards.....

How long would it take for a minutes-worth of water to evaporate in this warm weather? I can't get the kickboard off without possibly doing damage to mop underneath.

I also have underfloor heating in the kitchen, which as far as I know is a sealed "radiator" linked to the overall gas system, not a separate electric mat. And it's presumably buried in concrete. Will this be affected by having a small lake sitting on it for a few days???

I cannot BELIEVE I just did that, so please, no slagging

I'm just wondering what, if anything I can/should do next......

paddy147

One chipboard or mdf swells up from water ingress.....its basicly fecked and needs to be replaced.

HeidiHeidi

paddy147 wrote: »

One chipboard or mdf swells up from water ingress.....its basicly fecked and needs to be replaced.

Marvellous.

I may have to scrap the shelf in the cupboard on that basis - but if I just leave the water which is clearly trapped on the concrete floor behind the tiles and kickboard and hope it evaporates, then as long as the carcass doesn't actually collapse, surely that'll be ok eventually???

eirator

Open up all the doors on the unit open a window and point a fan heater where the worst of the damp is and switch it on. No need for full power half heat will do you just want to move as much warm air around the area until its all dried up.

HeidiHeidi

Cheers for that (and thanks to Paddy as well for the quick response!)

I don't have a fan heater, and don't know where I'd get my hands on one. Would I be mad to turn on the underfloor heating??? If it's sealed in the concrete floor, surely it must be safe to put on.......

Oh how I wish I'd paid more attention when the builder was doing all this stuff!!!

paddy147

Personally Id lever off/break the kickboard (if you cant take it off easily) and get in there with a mop and as many towels as you have to hand.

Hopefully there are no sockets lying on the ground under the carcasses and behind the kickboards.

The more water you soak up and get out of there then the better things will be.

HeidiHeidi

OK, I've got the long section of kickboard off, there's no water under that bit of things. The short section, where the sink is, is jammed tight, I presume all the water has collected there. Thankfully that's the other end of things from all the electrical stuff! Well, bar the dishwasher, but I'll just have to hope that's OK.

I've turned on the underfloor heating (and haven't blown up the house - yet), left the kickboard off, opened doors and windows.

I anticipate a damp-wood/concrete aroma in my kitchen for some time to come......

eirator

Still worth seeing if you can get any sort of fan to move some air around the area, air can only hold so much moisture but if you move it around then there is more air to hold moisture so it dries quicker.

HeidiHeidi

eirator wrote: »

Still worth seeing if you can get any sort of fan to move some air around the area, air can only hold so much moisture but if you move it around then there is more air to hold moisture so it dries quicker.

I see what you mean!

Might plug in the hairdryer for an hour or two and point it in that general direction.... don't know where I'd even start looking for a fan heater on a Saturday night, and I'm working tomorrow....

Why do these things never happen on a Tuesday morning :mad:

martinn123

Newspapers, no don't ring them, it's too late for Sunday exclusive...

...but stuff the areas with newspaper, it will soak up the water quick, leave in wet patches about 10 mins, then discard,

and repeat till they don't soak so much.

HeidiHeidi

martinn123 wrote: »

Newspapers, no don't ring them, it's too late for Sunday exclusive...

...but stuff the areas with newspaper, it will soak up the water quick, leave in wet patches about 10 mins, then discard,

and repeat till they don't soak so much.

Cheers for that, but problem is I can't get at the water! It's in behind/underneath cupboards, and the kickboard is immovable (without wrecking it, which I don't want to do unless absolutely necessary).

But thanks for the advice