I'm a first time home buyer (Sept. 2009) and my biggest headaches have been water related.
When I lived in Chicago, my basement would flood every hard rain.
Here in 'Vegas, it's been defective fittings on the toilet (woke at 2 a.m. to the sound of a giant fuel injector and stepped into two inches of water -Surprise!).
Also, a lawn sprinkler head fell off and was shooting water on my wall daily for weeks.
I'd suggest purchasing some water alarms (usually placed next to a washing machine or under a sink).
This way you'll at least have a fighting chance to save that beautiful floor.
A final tragedy: My friend loaned me his Tandberg reel-to-reel so I could listen to master tapes he'd made (Church Organ) and make copies of my old R2R recordings.
When returned, he put it in (you guessed it) his basement.
After a nasty Chicago downpour, he found his basement flooded. I think the R2R was submerged and I don't think he ever tried to play it again.
Good luck.
