We have had a HARD freeze in Missouri. A couple days ago the water line in our laundry room froze.
I resigned myself to not doing laundry for a couple days,
but some things like dirty clothes cannot be put off from washing indefinitely.
So yesterday I bought a space heater and set it up
in the laundry room.
Almost 18 hours later, the dam broke.
Water gushed from under the wall and
across the floor of the back porch
and cascaded down the foundation wall in the basement.
My husband said, "I was afraid this might happen".
I don't know how we could have avoided it.
If it didn't happen today, it would have happened next Wednesday
when the temperature is expected to go above freezing.
And we might not have been home to catch the flood before our water meter spun itself silly.
Being that our house is almost 100 years old and the plumbing is cobbled together by a successive line of both professional and amateur plumbers, there is no shut off valve in the basement to the laundry room plumbing.
My husband had to shut the water off at the street.
The whole house was without water.
My husband said it might take 3 hours to repair.
I caught myself several times washing my hands at a dry sink.
Fortunately, Rebecca was getting a midday bath when the laundry room pipe started gushing,
so we had a tub full of water for flushing the toilet while repairs were being made.
Using the toilet is also something you can't put off indefinitely.
The repair took less than 3 hours (a relief),
but made a big mess.
Drywall dust spewed into the air as the wall was cut
(with a power saw)
to access the broken pipe.
The price I pay for having working plumbing!
Good thing I hadn't done any cleaning in the laundry or (ajoining) kitchen recently.
I would be recleaning.
While out for replacement pipe,
my husband stopped at the grocery store, at my request,
for a botte of wine.
He didn't question it.
Just bought the wine.
He thinks he's getting lucky later.
:)
All this fuss over a plug of ice in a half inch copper pipe!
9 comments:
Terrible isn't it? We Southerners just aren't built for ice and such silly stuff. We were without water for two days...but so far so good! Keeping my fingers crossed!
Oh, Nathalie! You are too funny! Getting wine and getting lucky don't always go together, but you never know. I am glad you were home when it happened. Turning the water off at the street is no fun, especially when it's cold and your fingers are panicking as the room fills with water. Glad to hear you got back to "usual" so quickly. (I'm still chuckling.) - Jeanne
Chuckling here - over the wine, husbands, but definitely NOT over the plumbing.
Hope things have dried out. I also hope you enjoyed your wine. If my children don't go back to school soon, I am going to take up drinking as a hobby. So not kidding.
should have got two bottles !
So sorry - poor you
Erica - mine tried to go back today & the school bus didn't come to their stop so they've gone to catch the public one....so hope it comesas...
they simply must GET BACK TO SCHOOL !!!!!!
YIKES, it is one of those situations where you think how it could have been worse...altho it's quite bad enough...thank you very much!
Glad it's behind you now, hoping things warm up for you ... winter has really just begun!
oxo
What a story dear heart ~ If I'd known I would have came and rescued you! You know you are not that far away. We did get to experience the deep freeze along with you. I am so sorry you had to live through all of that but I really enjoyed your story ~ especially the ending ;)
Thank goodness for DH and his more than many talents! Sometimes it's the smallest of things than can cause the greatest problems! Good luck with the thaw!
LOL and not over your plumbing problems. Great Post! hugs,
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