Surprise Homeowner Costs

My husband went down into the basement this last week for something or another, and I went down after him and immediately began coughing.

Which, I might note, is not normal for my basement.

A quick look around revealed water on the floor in one corner, a leaking water softener… and SO MANY things with mildew on them!  I’m hoping I can rescue most of it, but I am SO VERY allergic to mold of any sort.

So, off to the store we go to get a dehumidifier.  I would normally order things online and have it shipped, but this is large enough that if it breaks I don’t want to have to pay to ship it back.

It was not cheap.

We got it sitting upright for 24 hours, turned it on… 79% humidity.

It has done nothing but run for days with my husband periodically emptying it into the floor drain.  We’re hoping to get an extension for the hose.

And today… 56%!  So we’re improving.

But my pocketbook and budget are in tears.  That’s what we have a slush fund for, I guess?  It doesn’t qualify for our emergency fund, but still needed to happen… so I pulled from my content editor savings.

I know.  I’m crying too.  It had to happen though.  And we still have to have a plumber come in and fix our pipes, so that’s hanging over our head.

Anyway, it seems to be working!  Have you had to deal with this sort of problem?  What did you do to fix it?  How do you get mildew out of clothing?!?  Inquiring minds want to know!