Bathroom Floor, More to be Replaced at SAU Office

A full damage assessment is yet to be completed following a broken pipe a week ago that flooded the lower level of the Merrimack school superintendent's office.

Business Administrator Matt Shevenell said Thursday afternoon that they are definitely going to have to replace the floor in the men's room and the carpet in the human resources office on the main floor.

In the basement, a moisture test still needed to be done on the carpet to determine whether or not they needed to be ripped up, too.

Shevenell said the remediation company that came in last weekend was there all weekend with fans and dehumidifiers trying to dry out the rugs. Conceding that he is indeed no expert on post-flooding rug conditions, “it seems like things have dried up pretty well,” Shevenell said.

The computer, two printers and fax machine in the payroll office were all destroyed when the water came in through the ceiling – the men's bathroom is located right above the payroll office. Shevenell said last week they picked up the computer and about a gallon of water poured out.

Shevenell said the moisture test will tell them if carpets need to be replaced in the basement, and he expects that information shortly.

“I think because we hopped on in real early and got the remediation company in real early, it may have saved a lot,” Shevenell said.

Shevenell was the one who discovered last week's flooded office building when he arrived at 7:30 a.m.

He described hearing a “torrent of water” coming from somewhere in the building and discovered water pouring out of the men's bathroom. The braid pipe at the base of the toilet has burst and the tank in the toilet just kept filling and filling spilling over for hours overnight Thursday into Friday.

The water seeped through the floor and then the ceiling in the basement flooding the lower level with about an inch and a half to two inches of water.

The lower level was vacated while industrial fans and dehumidifiers ran amidst a pile of furniture moved out of water zone. Read the full story of what Shevenell found when he arrive d to work last Friday.