Friday, January 30, 2015

BURST PIPE FLOODS HISTORIC WOODCOCK GARRISON HOUSE IN NORTH ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS



BURST PIPE FLOODS HISTORIC WOODCOCK GARRISON HOUSE IN NORTH ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS


  January 29, 2015






NORTH ATTLEBORO - The historic Woodcock Garrison House was dealt a modern-day calamity earlier this month when a water pipe burst during subzero weather, sending water gushing throughout.




Walls, ceilings, floors and some of the building's historic furnishings were soaked after a radiator pipe burst on Jan. 8, when the temperature bottomed out at minus-1 degree.



The pipes burst after the building's furnace stopped working either on that brutally cold day or the night before.




Cost of the damage hasn't been assessed yet, but could have been much worse.



No one from the North Attleboro Historical Society had planned to visit the building that day, but member Muriel Crockett made an impromptu stop there at the northerly junction of routes 1 and 1A.




"I had been out to do some errands, and there was something at the back of my mind that said go to the Garrison House," she said. "I drove into the parking lot, and it was just scary and overpowering.



"I saw a 3-foot thick sheet of ice from the top of the first floor window going right over the bulkhead and into the driveway. I could also see a tiny bit of water on the inside of the house, too."



The unplanned stop at the house meant Crockett didn't have her key with her, so she raced home and called other historical society members, hoping someone could get into the house to see what was happening.




Ron L'Herault, a member of the society's board of trustees, lives nearby and was able to get to the Garrison House within a couple of minutes.



"I got out of the car and looked at the house and saw this one window in the southerly corner was covered in ice, and I could see water cascading down the window inside," he said. "When we went in, it was raining in the parlor. Upstairs, in the room above it, water was coming out of one end of the radiator."




It was a heart-breaking sight in the house named for John Woodcock, the first settler in what was then known as the "Attleborough Territory."



According to the town's website, Woodcock's home, built in 1669, was one of several garrison houses built to protect against Indian attacks.




The house currently on the site is not the original, but an addition built between 1730 and 1740.



After shutting off water to the house, Crockett and L'Herault made calls to local plumbers, hoping they could take a look at the pipes. Bill Schofield agreed to assess and fix the damage.



Meanwhile, L'Herault got a fire going in the fireplace and began rescuing items from the parlor, removing tea cups filled with water, sopping wet dolls and a waterlogged chair.



They rolled up the carpet and tried to mop up as much water as they could.



Schofield recommended getting in touch J. Brian Day, which provides emergency restoration and cleanup services, to assist with the cleanup.




L'Herault said both Schofield and J. Brian Day were a huge help.



No one is sure why the furnace stopped working - the burner turned back on without a problem and a few parts were later replaced, just in case they caused the problem.



Two new radiators were installed, along with new shut-off valves.



"There's nothing obviously wrong with the furnace, so we're not sure why it died. It was just serviced in August," L'Herault said.




While the non-profit North Attleboro Historical Society has insurance on the Garrison House, it covers the building, itself, not the items inside it.