Damp Management

I lived at my last address for thirty years. In that time, there was water in the basement twice. Once because a supply hose for the washing machine broke, the second time because the dehumidifier failed to shut off when we were on vacation. In just under a year here, there is water in the basement for the fourth, yes, fourth time! Which means drying out the dampness has become a trusty tool in my skill set. At thirty hours into the current water disaster, we are in the final stages of wet-vaccing and have moved on to cranking up the heat, closing all the upstairs furnace vents, and running fans to circulate the air. The wet doggish smell is mostly gone and soon we can get to putting furniture back where it belongs. This isn't something I expected to be good at. To be perfectly honest, I hope it never happens again. The good news is that the new egress window surrounded by its much deeper well drained like a champ and is dry as can be even though there was no cover on it. Last fall I was thinking that third time is the charm thing. Now I'll settle for the fourth being with me. If the fifth comes to pass, I'll take that as a cue to start drinking heavily. Or maybe start building a boat.