Happy Birthday to my niece Anna! Woo hoo!
Friday night I got up to go to the bathroom and was sure I heard the sound of pipes with running water. I went all over the inside of the house, but didn’t see anything. Was it rain related? It had been raining all evening, and it never rains, so maybe it was a sump pump or something? I was tired and confused, so I went back to bed.
When I woke in the morning, the sound was still happening. This time I went outside. When I got out there, I could actually hear water running. Ugh.
Something was leaking under the kitchen floor – in a space that was only accessible through this opening:
I did not go in. Instead I went to the main water shutoff. It didn’t work. The spigot handle just spun ineffectively. Ugh.
I knew where the city water cutoff thing was, so I went there. A wrench got it turned off.
Many phone calls and frustrations later, a plumber arrived. I was so grateful to him for coming. He took some pictures. The leak was here:
That clampy thing pierces a pipe to access water, and then the blue hose takes water to a refrigerator ice maker. This was an old one I wasn’t using, and it had gotten brittle and disconnected. Ugh.
The leak repair was shockingly expensive, but I have water again. I’m going to try to get my home warranty company (which was part of my home purchase) to replace the water shutoff valve.
Are you going to ask your home warranty company to pay for everything? They should.
As my realtor said when I asked her about it: “Home warranty plans aren’t very good at emergencies.” They could have helped me, but not until Monday. The wheels turn slowly.
There is a method for having them reimburse you for work, but it requires pre-authorization and paperwork that I don’t think any emergency plumber would have tolerated. They don’t make it easy, those home warranty people. I guess that keeps them from making too many payouts…
Dang it all. That totally sucks. I am sorry that this happened, but at least you’ve got the warranty. Ugh ugh ugh.