Thread: cardio workout and shower

So I'm in the crawlspace about as far from the door as possible looking at the main plumbing line where it connects to the valve. I reach up to peel back the insulation to confirm the pipe material and , BAMMMM! The water line busts loose and water starts shooting out.

I high tail it to the access, run to my truck to get my meter tool, then run to find the meter. No, not there. Maybe under THOSE bushes. No, maybe under THOSE bushes. Lookin, lookin, yep, go it under a big shrub. Turn off the meter and head back to the crawl.

Get to the access and can still hear water pouring out. RUN, back to the meter, and turn the neighbors water back on, then start looking for the right meter. OK, got it, under 8" of leaves and under another shrub. Turn it off.
Go back into the crawl to see what happened.
Of course this all took about 8 minutes. LOTS of water!

Turns out a pipe popped out of an elbow, and by the looks of it, it was never soldered properly. There was only a small dab of solder on the bottom.

Call the listing agent, who calls the owner, who calls me. I tell him what happened, and he heads home. I hear "its a 20 year old house, how come it never leaked before", and "I have to pay for a plumber?".

He shows up and I show him the photo and it is very clear it wasn't properly soldered. I offer to call my regular handyman/contractor. He can get it repaired in an hour and he's happy. It could have been so much worse.

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That's the type of excitement you can do without Jack.

Picturing what happened gave me a good chuckle this morning. -- thanks.

I thought that kind of stuff only happened to me.... Note to self: Locate water meter prior to entering crawlspace.

Funny story. Glad you didn't knock yourself out and drown under there.

Hey, I don't got no meter wrench. I guess I'd be slamming the pipes back together and holding them till somebody comes looking for me. My cell phone would be out by the hatch door, bad practice.

Note to myself - Cell phone and Duct tape!

I'm thinking of putting some Gator Grips and some pipe in the truck for some quick repairs if needed. You can use those things even with water flowing.

hmmm

That was awful nice of you Jack. Seeing how you man handled the hell out of that pipe just to see if it would leak and all . So much for the cost of the inspection For the fault of someone else.

I know. The nice thing to do to save face. You were obviously not the one to turn the water on. You obviously did not turn a valve at that spot and the valve broke.

I am thinking I may have paid for it but I am doubting that thought very heavily. I guess I would have to have been there. It's not like you did anything to the pipe and maybe saved them a fortune in water bills damaged to the home from the crawl slowly flooding and a few hours for a plumber crawling under there through the muck and mud only for the plumber that the pipe joint failed do to improper soldering.

Again, I guess I would have to have been there.

Ted,
Make no mistake. I did not pay or even offer to pay for the repair. All I did was put the home owner in touch with my regular handyman (after making sure he was available and could get there in a hurry).

It wasn't the valve that broke, it was a pipe that went to a hose faucet just before the main valve. An elbow wasn't soldered properly.

Originally Posted by Jack Feldmann

Ted,
Make no mistake. I did not pay or even offer to pay for the repair. All I did was put the home owner in touch with my regular handyman (after making sure he was available and could get there in a hurry).

It wasn't the valve that broke, it was a pipe that went to a hose faucet just before the main valve. An elbow wasn't soldered properly.

I understand you did nothing. I was kind of mocking the fact that you may have paid for it. I am certainly glad you did not. I know folks that would have.