An experience no one wants to have (long winded post)

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Been a while since I have logged on, its good to be back to have the capability to log on , heres why. Left the house on an errand and came home an hour later to find it was wet outside my front door. Then I noticed the water was flowing out of the house , over the threshold /sill plate of the door. Expletives commenced. Entered my house to find 1.5 inches of water all throughout due to the toilet supply hose in the main bath being ruptured and spraying water in a very strong stream half way down the hall. (spoke to a neighbor later who told me he noticed unusually high water pressure that morning, a plumber friend who lives a block away guages his water in pressure at 119 psi or so lbs fairly regularly. I'm told residential supply should never exceed 80 lbs......)Long story short, I secured the water supply and 2 friends and I sqeegied the water out of the house, brought in the industrial fans I use in my shop , tore off the baseboards and proceeded to dry things out. Everything was well under control.I rent the house from my father, so I called him to let him know what happened , he called Farmers Ins and heres where everything went to *&$%^% or maybe %$% &^%$#$ @#. Insurance guy says call Service Master (flood remediation compaqny) I had already experienced the nighmare these companies can cause, but it is not my house so I had to go wikth my Dad's decision to comply with the ins companies suggestion. In comes service master and they daisy chain 17 fans off three outlets and plug in 2 huge dehumidifiers and the power meter in my circuit breaker box catches fire that night. Luckily we caught the fire immediately, cuase things went dark and you could smell the insulated wire burning / melting and the meter flaming was clearly visible from across the yard. I should add that they also had a job site power breakout box plugged in in the laundry for their dryer machines. This box breaks the 220v down to several 110v outlets. My roomate had unplugged it to plug the drier back in , used the drier, and neglected to tell me the plug was sparking when it was plugged back in...........Anyway, the insurance co called this a separate event from the flood  and required an extra 1000 dollar deductable. Two months later I'm back in my house , everything is all paid for and my electric stuff is all state of the art and up to the most modern codes. I draw a couple of conclusions from this. As I have no carpet in my home, just stained concrete, there really was no justifyable reason to install 17 fans, I had the house mostly dry anyway. I learned these remediation businesses charge by the number of fans installed. 3800 dollars Service Master billed to Farmers ins for lighting up my house and drying out an already dried out house. Secondly, Service Master wanted me to sign a hold harmless agreement before they would pull their machines out of my house. After they %^&^* near burned me out of a home. Told them I would remove them and their machines if they did not get busy immediately. They got out in a hurry. Last, the Farmers Insurance Guys are too willing to pay out for subcontracted services which , imho, caused more damage than the initiial event. To Farmers credit, they paid all the bills for the repairs promptly and they reembursed my father for the two months rent he lost while I was out of the house. Luckily my mother had a rental property vacant at the time and I was able to stay there for the duration. Almost no income this summer cause my shop had no power and my band had to cancel gigs because our news drummer needed the rehearsal time and we rehearse at my house. Luckily I was able to get by  with side jobs and help from my family. Just thought I would relate this story becuase I dont want someone else going through the same crap. Service Master is apparantly the only ones coming out unscathed in this . I have even seen them doing more remediation jobs in my neighborhood. Sheesh.
Reply:That sucks. I'm not usually one for suggesting anyone go see a blood sucking lawyer, but in your case it sounds like it might be justified. I'd be looking at taking Service Master to court myself, especially if I ran my business from my house and I couldn't run it due to their negligence. I will say if you are self employed it's not easy to make a claim for lost work and prove it..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Bummer dude.Good news is nobody was hurt and you still have a home.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:PS,You suck for not posting up any pictures of the great story. This is  "Projects and Pictures"hehe, just kidding broLincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:I am curious as to why the main electrical service melted. If they were plugged into the dryer circuit, it should have been 10 gauge wire protected by a 30 amp breaker. The branch circuits should all have been protected by the appropriate size breaker or fuse, and the mains should have been protected with the proper size breaker/fuses. If your equipment was old or improper, or had bad connection points I can see a meltdown, in which case it would be hard to blame the restoration company. We see several meltdowns a year on residential equipment, usually during the hottest months. It is always caused by a bad bus connection at a clip on breaker, and the breaker is almost always for the AC. For some reason Siemans panels seem to be the worst for this. The bus can get damaged by water and small critters like lizards that will drip onto the stabs after they are electrocuted. The enzymes in their guts does a number on a tin plated bus.The reason the plug sparked when plugged/unplugged is because there was a load on it. Any load will arc when broken, and the size of the arc will be proportional to the load.Anyway the important thing is everything is back to normal and no one got hurt.Miller Challenger 172Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC 225/150Miller Maxstar 150 STLVictor 100CVictor JourneymanOxweld OAHarris O/ASmith O/A little torchNo, that's not my car.
Reply:allfluxedup Out of curiosity sake was or is the electrical panel inside or outside your house? I'm glad no one was hurt. The thing that you need to remember is no one cares about your crap like you do. Also they ( the remediation company) see this stuff all the time so they get de sensitized to the stuff you had to go thru, it's just another job.Miller thunderbolt 250Decastar 135ERecovering tool-o-holic ESAB OAI have been interested or involved in Electrical, Fire Alarm, Auto, Marine, Welding, Electronics ETC to name a just a few. So YES you can own too many tools.
Reply:You (or your dad, the landowner) might want to look into installing a pressure reducing valve to help prevent this from happening again:http://www.watts.com/pages/learnabou...cingvalves.aspThe most popular plumbing codes in the US (the International Residential Code and the Universal Plumbing Code) require them when the water pressure at the building exceeds 80 psi.
Reply:That really sucks!  Sorry to hear about it.  And thanks for the heads up on guys like that.However ... is this a "project" or an "off topic"?     Mods?
Reply:After reading the original post again it sounds like the meter base had a loose stab or a loose connection on one of the lugsMiller Challenger 172Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC 225/150Miller Maxstar 150 STLVictor 100CVictor JourneymanOxweld OAHarris O/ASmith O/A little torchNo, that's not my car.
Reply:As some pointed out, noone was hurt and that was the really important thing. I remember feel almost euphoric when I realized that inb the thick of things. A couple friends have speculated as to why none of the breaker tripped and the main did not trip either. Noone seems sure though, one friend was thinking there was voltage being drawn down the nuetral so the current didnt trip the breaker. I dont know, I'm no electrician . It was odd that the first thing to burn was the wire between the meter and the main. The wire was over a half inch thick and it melterd and ran like water, dripping into the box and its insulatiuon was smoking , this is what got the fire noticed. The APS (AZ Public Service) meter completely burned up, the plastic cover melted and smoked and one of its contacts was partly vaporized. The backing the contacts were mounted to was fiberglass and its missing 25% or more of its mass. On the bright side, I have have a brand new box  on the back of the house, a new 2 1/2 inch conduit running from the box to the weather head. All new breakers in the box. Looks industrial as can be.The guy we bought the house from was apparantly a licensed electrical  and licensed plumbing contractor back in the day in Oklahoma. I was told by my neighbor that we he moved here he tested for both trades and AZ would only let him have the plumbing license. Probably a good thing . I have noit been too impressed with the stuff he did around the house  and I think he probably was the guy who replaced the original fuse box with the breaker panel. A female friend was the only one who was injured , albeit only slightly(pride mostly). She ran back in the house to grab her purse and was shoving her things in and closing it when her pepper spray went off and caught her indirectly in the face. She doesnt carry pepper spray any more, and I think she will pass up running into any fires for her nick nacks .
Reply:I read this thread with great interest, I sure hope things are back to normal for you as best can be.As for the pressure reducing valve, I did not know there was such a thing, good information on that for sure.How about a shut off valve of some sort, is there such a thing for a house that can detect a serious leak taking place (and shut off the main water line)?Working on cars and bikes is my hobby, learning to weld the pieces together is my quest.
Reply:I found this shutoff valve example:http://www.gizmosforgeeks.com/elk-em...-shutoff-valveAnd this one:http://watercop.com/overview.aspxThey seem to need remote devices to detect water, I would prefer something that detects a big change in pressure instead (without the need for sensors around the house).Regards to all.Working on cars and bikes is my hobby, learning to weld the pieces together is my quest.
Reply:Service Master charging per fan is one thing.  But, blaming them for burning up your meterbase is whole 'nother.  It's simply not their fault your electrical system doesn't work properly!Either way, I'm glad the ordeal is over for you.  I was going to call it a nightmare, but that doesn't even come close to describing it!
Reply:Originally Posted by DavidSimI read this thread with great interest, I sure hope things are back to normal for you as best can be.As for the pressure reducing valve, I did not know there was such a thing, good information on that for sure.How about a shut off valve of some sort, is there such a thing for a house that can detect a serious leak taking place (and shut off the main water line)?
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWI installed an electric valve on my parents washer after they had a partial flood while they were away. It's keyed to the power for the washer. When the washer turns on, it opens the valves and lets in the water. As soon as the washer shuts off, the valves close,
Reply:I have heard that one of the most frequent causes of flooding in homes is the water line to the fridge's  icemaker. That what happened at my mom's years ago. It did not occur to me to think of the toilet line bursting. Iknow they make the flow sensitive supplies for toilets and sinks and they make pressure regulators, but I did not know about the solenoid valves for washing machines. Thats a great idea, cause if it fails , it fails closed. An elctronic level sensor for a toilet could employ the same type of valve and fail closed also.Short of that I like my fathers house. He has all tile and four inch tile baseboards throughout. His house floods and it should flow out the threshholds of the doors and not do much else.Two things about service master causeing this. I have been welding , plasma cutting etc in my shop, whichg is on the back of the house, and my band has been practicing here , with a 5000 watt pa and a slew of tube amps, for seven years and not a problerm. Service master comes in , daisy chains 17 fans and three dehumidifiers off three outlets supplied by the a phase of the electrical and I have a fire.  I think this would stand the legal'but for" test, meaning , but for service masters operations the event would not have occurred. Scientific ? Not really, but I think it shows causality. Am I gonna sue? Probably not worth my time and I would be limited to the 1 k deductable as far as damages go because the insurance company paid them, not me.The other reason I think service master caused this was one of the electricians I had bid the rewire job said he used to contract with service master to wire in a dedicated line into breaker boxes to supply their fans on older houses. This seemed believable because when they pulled up to check their equipment the day after the fire he got all chatty with them about it and it was obvious that he new the techs driving their panel truck. Thasts when they came up with the crazy idea of me signing a hold harmless agreement before they would remove their equiupment. Needless to say, I did not sign and their equipment was immediately removed, aftrer photo documentation  and examination by my electrician. I dont really care to sue but I would like to insure that others do not have the same ordeal I did.MLM
Reply:You might also look into the water company's liability, if any, for providing service at substantial overpressure.  Missing the target by 50% might subject the utility to some liability as well.
Reply:glad no one got hurt but having major events and insurance coverage sometimes comes as a financial blessing in disguise but in this case its not your house that got all the updates. no matter how you slice it, you got double or triple screwed, cant keep count. Sorry to hear all the drama.