torontodesignguy Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 uggg.... I feel for you - glad it's sounding better than I feared when reading the first page. the rains here have been torrential here in Toronto. I live a block up from Lake Ontario and the water has been at the top of the 6ft high break wall all summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Maul Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I'm sorry for your loss. Beyond that, when I hear something like this, it makes me reflect on the stress of having anything fragile in really nice condition. Every time I handle a really high grade book, or carry a box of high grade books, there's that sense of dread that something will go wrong. At times like this, it almost feels like it would be liberating to just sell it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Sometimes getting the boxes off the floor doesn't help. I had a friend who had a water pipe leak in his basement. Yes it flooded the floor, his comics were up on shelves a foot off the floor. The bottom shelf was still touched by the water, and the pipe was ABOVE his boxes so the water got into all of the boxes from above. The collection was about 12 long boxes all bagged and boarded in poly bags. Going through it the front half of each long was pretty water soaked, and the bottoms of 4 longs were badly soaked from the bottom. We managed to save about half of the books, the rest were garbage. Drove my friend from comic collecting and I bought the rest of it. Kept some of it in my personal collection, the rest I sold as dollar books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 26 minutes ago, Paul_Maul said: I'm sorry for your loss. Beyond that, when I hear something like this, it makes me reflect on the stress of having anything fragile in really nice condition. Every time I handle a really high grade book, or carry a box of high grade books, there's that sense of dread that something will go wrong. At times like this, it almost feels like it would be liberating to just sell it all. My collection, my horse collar..., porcupine48 and Azkaban 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopKulture Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I really feel for you. I went through a similar situation a few years back. Sump pump failed AND the back up sump failed and we got a few inches of water. We never had any in forty years prior, so I got lazy. It happens. Everything was up a few inches to be safe, but the water rose to a "few inches" and an 1/8. Well, cardboard acts like a sponge so it soaked and soaked up all the water it could. Some of the bags held. others didn't. I lost random stuff I hated to lose like Vogue magazines from the 40's (pretty pricey today) and some posters, books, comics, etc. were damaged beyond salvage. Picking up a long box and listening to the water pour out like you're holding a sprinkling can is a sinking feeling. Good luck saving what you can. From that group shot it looks like you have a great collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adampasz Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I'm sorry to hear this too. I appreciate your sharing the experience and the photos. It's a good lesson for all of us. Donut has awesome advice. I would just add, try to keep things in perspective and take the opportunity to think about what is most important to you in your life. Paul_Maul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Architecht Posted July 12, 2017 Administrator Share Posted July 12, 2017 Sorry to the hear that. For the future, and for others, this is a pretty good product: (You need the hub, and internet connection, and the water sensor --- but you can also hook up a bunch of other sensors and controls). https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SmartThings-Water-Leak-Sensor/dp/B00MOIYIN6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopKulture Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 (edited) 53 minutes ago, Buzzetta said: However, things like this makes me nervous and drives me to sell off even more stuff to keep as small and as manageable collection as possible. Downsizing is likewise appealing to me for the same reasons - that larger collections are increasingly unwieldy. I've had pinball machines stolen and damaged by leaky rooks, stuff ruined by water and insects or rodents - all manner of losses. Yes, I've got a lot of junk. It's a yoke around a collector's neck, no doubt, but we wouldn't do it if we didn't love the stuff in the first place. All we can do is try to minimize our exposure to losses and enjoy our artifacts while we can. Edited July 12, 2017 by PopKulture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badback83 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 28 minutes ago, Architecht said: Sorry to the hear that. For the future, and for others, this is a pretty good product: (You need the hub, and internet connection, and the water sensor --- but you can also hook up a bunch of other sensors and controls). https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SmartThings-Water-Leak-Sensor/dp/B00MOIYIN6 To the OP...I am so sorry for your loss. I am glad that not everything was ruined. Thanks Arch! I wasn't aware that such a thing existed. I'll have to pass this info along to friends that have their collections in their basements. Thank you again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Mentallo Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 16 hours ago, sacentaur said: Jason, really sorry to hear this (hope the actual damage is minimal). Absolutely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsgrumble Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 What a nightmare! I have an older home in Toronto and it's a battle to maintain a dry basement. Despite taking a lot of precautions, water has managed to seep in a few times during heavy rainfall - but *knock on wood* just very minor leaks. Because of this, I've purchased shelving and pallets to keep stuff off the floor. Still, I'm always worried that some catastrophe will strike somehow, somewhere. Makes me think that selling off my books might be the smart choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grib Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 16 hours ago, jhutton2 said: Would separating the books and take them out of the bags, laying them flat with weight on them and put them in a small room with a humidifier if you can press before they dry 100 % help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhutton2 Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 1 hour ago, torontodesignguy said: uggg.... I feel for you - glad it's sounding better than I feared when reading the first page. the rains here have been torrential here in Toronto. I live a block up from Lake Ontario and the water has been at the top of the 6ft high break wall all summer. I am up in Markham/Thornhill. Its the same rain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber-Bob Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 (edited) This makes me cringe, scares the heck out of me but I am glad he shared this experience. Some lessons to be learned. I like to spread my collection out. I have a couple Bank safety deposit boxes(at different locations), some books upstairs in a closet, but most in the basement. The stuff in the basement is spread out to different locations of the basement. This could happen to any of us. Stuff happens and all you can do is try and minimize the impact. I am very sorry this happened to the OP. Edited July 12, 2017 by Bomber-Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhutton2 Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 (edited) Yeah it's a bit painful Edited July 12, 2017 by jhutton2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azkaban Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 4 hours ago, Comics-n-ERB said: Had this happen a few years ago. Very depressing time. I lost 5 boxes of Golden age, 10 boxes of Silver, and 40 long boxes of 80's and up books. Not fun at all. Get them out of the bags asap or they will stick to them. A few pic's from then: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azkaban Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 10 minutes ago, jhutton2 said: Yeah it's abut painful heartbreaking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeypost Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 13 minutes ago, jhutton2 said: Yeah it's abut painful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badback83 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I don't have any words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 18 minutes ago, jhutton2 said: Yeah it's a bit painful so sorry. That is just so sad. I know you have always bought quality books, so I know those are likely great condition books no longer so. Thanks for sharing though, I am sure some good will come from this for others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
