Eddie and Anne Silva hoped by now to be decorating the finished basement of their Hamlet Road home for Christmas.

Instead, they’re picking through it, figuring out what’s ruined and what’s not. And then they’re driving somewhere else with their two kids to get some sleep.

A collection of grease clogged a sewer pipe near the Silvas’ home Nov. 27, the Monday after Thanksgiving. Sewage shot up a thin pipe and filled the family’s basement 8 inches deep, Eddie says.

Environmental Management Corp., New Albany’s sewer contractor, was called and came to dislodge the clog. The bulk of the sewage drained from the basement, but the residue and stench remained. The Floyd County Health Department told the Silvas to clear out for their own safety.

Since then, the family has bounced “from friend to family to friend to family,” Eddie lamented. As of Wednesday, Eddie, Anne, Ean and Terri were staying with a friend of Anne’s in an apartment off State Street.

On Tuesday, the Silvas approached the Sewer Board at its meeting. They hoped the city would pay to clean the basement so they can move back home.

“We’re trying to do the best we can,” Anne said, sobbing. “I just want to get back in my house.”

The board’s five members were sympathetic, but spoke in measured words. Installing a backflow preventer on their line could have saved the Silvas a lot of trouble, officials said.

The device has been required on new construction for several years, but the Silvas moved into their home in 1998 and said they were never told to install one.

“The issues are precedent and liability,” said board member Mark Seabrook.

Normally, the board will consider paying part or all of the first claim from a customer who lacks a backflow preventer, but installation of the device is a requirement to qualify for future claims consideration.

The board voted unanimously to pay for cleaning to allow the family to move home, but did not approve any payment to restore the basement’s furnishing or replace ruined property, which Eddie estimated mounted to a several-thousand-dollar loss.

Three cost estimates are necessary before the utility taps a company to clean the basement, and by Wednesday, Eddie said EMC’s Brian Dixon had acquired one and was waiting to hear about two more.

Eddie said one company at first guessed the cost could be about $8,000 or $9,000. Dixon could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The Silvas’ insurance company told them that a policy covering sewage backup would cost $100 a month with a $1,000 deductible, covering exclusively carpeting and drywall, not property. Among the ruined items in the basement include a large television and toys belonging to Ean, 7, and Terri, 5.

Sewer Board attorney Greg Fifer said he recommended insurance coverage of some kind for all sewer customers. He also said members have been considering an ordinance to require proof of city negligence for the payment of any claim.

Board member Larry Kochert said Wednesday that the Silvas “have to assume some responsibility, too.

“There’s just no guarantee that those lines won’t block up, through our fault or a freak of nature or someone else throwing stuff in the lines,” Kochert said. “There’s no way we can be held liable for that.”

When Eddie restores his basement and itemizes his lost property he’ll make his case to the Sewer Board again and see if any costs can be covered, he said.

In the meantime, his garage is crowded with salvaged goods and the basement is still home to things that can only be thrown away. More than a week after the accident, the odor indoors is distinctly unpleasant, if not overpowering.

As two visitors left Wednesday, a smiling Eddie chased his son in the yard on a sunny, crisp afternoon. Though tainted for now, home was still home, and outdoors no one could smell the difference.