We woke up Thanksgiving morning to the sound of running water. Wondering what could be the cause of the noise, we checked the water meter to discover a quickly spinning leak detection dial. The spinning dial confirmed there was a leak, especially since we had all faucets turned off. To find out whether the leak was under the slab of our home or in the yard, we tried turning the water off to the house. Since the house shut off valve was old it broke and caused a second leak at the valve. The only option from that point on was to shut off the water at the meter. For the majority of Thanksgiving day we went without running water but we still managed to complete the Turkey, stuffing, and pies.
The following day a plumber came out and replaced our shut off valve. Once we could properly turn the water to the house off, the leak detection dial at the meter stopped spinning, which confirmed that the leak was under our home’s foundation. (The lack of the running water noise helped confirm that as well.) Now we’re waiting for a leak detection company to come out and pinpoint the exact location of the leak. To fix such a leak, a plumber either needs to break through our foundation (and consequently through the terrazzo floor) or re-pipe the house through the attic. After digging through the foundation, patching the pipe, and repairing the floors, it’s likely another leak could pop up somewhere else. That’s why re-piping makes the most since, especially with terrazzo floors which would be costly to repair. We considered bypassing the leak detection company altogether but it may be helpful if we want to file a claim with our homeowners insurance.
Re-piping requires feeding pipes down the wall through the attic, then cutting into the drywall behind all of the fixtures (kitchen sink, washing machine, bathrooms sinks, showers, and toilets) to connect the new pipes to the existing fixtures. So that bathroom I just finished painting? It’ll need to be touched-up. The shelves I was planning on hanging in there will have to wait, too. This also means the kitchen remodel that seemed to be just around the corner last Wednesday will be pushed back for a undetermined amount of time.
It’s pretty crazy how quickly plans change, especially since there was no way of knowing that a pipe would sprout a leak the day before purchasing kitchen cabinets. Although it’s fairly upsetting to have our plans changed at the last minute, we’re thankful this came to light now, before making those big purchases.
