Pickett Schools Approve Repairs After Summer Central Office Flooding

Pickett County School Board approved emergency renovations following a pipe leak that exposed unknown asbestos.

A pipe burst in the School Board Conference room in July, which cause an entire wing of the office space to flood. Pickett County Director of Schools Diane Elder said an estimated $22,000 in sheetrock, baseboard, and flooring damage occurred.

“It will be an obstruction from the day-to-day because we’ll have to move out of our offices while they’re putting the flooring down but we’ll make it work in order to have the nice and new floor,” Elder said. “We’ve done a lot of painting and renovation in the building since it never had been done and we’ve been in the building since 2002 I think.”

Elder said asbestos was discovered in the tile floor that the building had since its original construction. While the flood damage will be covered by insurance, the board will have to pay for the asbestos removal.

“We don’t have to worry about the asbestos, it will all be covered up,” Elder said. “But our floors will all look the same going from one end of the hall to the other the floors are quite old and we’ve done some remodeling.”

Elder said that the cause of the leak that flooded the wing looks like a one-time event rather than something requiring preventative measures.

“It was just a change in the water pressure and the pipes are so old it was just a broken gasket I guess on a pipe,” Elder said. “It didn’t take long to have it repair but it cause quite a bit of damage.”

Elder said the repairs are estimated to take a week to complete.