At first we thought it would only take a few hours and made it into a fun adventure. Aurora blew bubbles in the driveway, and we headed out into the yard to do a little digging of our own. We pulled weeds and worked in the yard for quite some time, thinking we'd be able to take showers afterwards.
What seemed like it would only take a few hours ended up taking 3 full days!!! The plumber did turn the water back on when he left, which was a little wasteful but at least we could shower and do laundry and dishes. By the time I came home today ALL the ground behind that retaining wall had been dug up and he'd fixed 3 additional smaller leaks caused by tree roots. Luckily, he was finally able to find and fix the main leak this afternoon, and tonight we were back to our normal bathtime routine.
It was a bit of an inconvenience having this happen during Kate's visit. Can you imagine staying at a friend's house and not being able to flush, wash your hands, or shower for days? Not exactly 5-star service. We all survived, and at least he only had to dig up the dirt (not the cement, not the retaining wall, and nothing inside our house) to get to the pipes. It certainly could've been worse.
3 comments:
Yes, repairs can stretch out for a much longer time than expected.
When we lived in Illinois, John over-tightened a toilet bowl bolt following the installation of a "Silent" toilet flush mechanism on our 2nd floor. It broke and flooded our house all day while we were at work. It caused $35,000 worth of damage to ceilings, wall boards, furniture, etc. on our 2 year old home. We had to stay in a hotel for a month while the repairs were made. Fortunately, our home insurance paid for everything!
I'm glad it's finally fixed - whew! But you know, when you have a house, it's always something. Tonight we turned on the AC for the first time and a little while later we noticed water had run down the walls from the attic where the AC handler is, past where the microwave is, and all over the counter. (Now we know why the microwave doesn't work and the drywall was buckled near it.) We've already contacted a repairman - hopefully we won't have to replace the entire system. Well, congrats on being able to wash hands and flush again! Always something...
Basic functionality is a real blessing, so glad you can all get clean! love, susanna
Post a Comment