The good news is; we are just renting. The bad news? There is a 6' by 9' hole in the laundry room/office floor.

The plumber came to install the new water heater today and found out that he could not drain the old one (40 gallon tank) because the fire had melted the drain valve. So the hubby and the plumber were attempting to move the thing when it fell through the rotted floor. So now we have a huge hole and mold and mildew galore. We did get a new water heater and the plumber installed it in another part of the office/laundry room so that we could use it.

On Monday they will put a new floor in and we can move the washer, dryer and Mark's office back in. The landlord has been great. He is doing everything he can to fix the problem. It's just a huge problem. Since the prior renters did everything they could to hide the damage no one, not us or the landlord (who happens to be 85-years-old), knew there had been a fire (self-started) or that the water heater leaked.

I felt sorry for the old guy. He just kept saying, "why didn't they tell me so I could have prevented this kind of damage?" The fact that they spoke no English and the six-year-old daughter translated for them could have been one factor.

Can't make this sh*t up.