Plumb Annoying

When we moved into this house, it was only three years old -- finished in 1997. Everything was state of the art -- Richard, the owner/builder, even had every room pre WIRED for speakers. Imagine that -- now that most stuff is wireLESS.

Well, somehow the new house is now 22 years old -- the age where stuff starts to fail.

Last week, D2 heard a dripping. I can usually diagnose house problems, but not fix them. I found that the dripping was into an A/C closet -- coming from a bathroom directly above it. I turned off the toilet supply line, and the dripping stopped.

South End plumbing came out, re -sealed the toilet, and problem was solved.

And then, a few days later, I saw the bidet in another upstairs bathroom was spraying water. It was a leaking diverter -- the valve that lets you change the flow of water from into the bowl to the upward flow that cleans your stuff.

South End returned, found the problem, and left for the supply house. Bad news, Richard said -- the kohler stuff is 25 years old -- they no longer make the part. He ordered an entire new assembly -- and will install it this week.

I joked that we could "rough it" without a bidet for awhile. It turned out doing that tempted fate.

This am Wifey noticed low pressure from the faucets. I figured it was a system problem -- we had one last year and the county fixed it. I called their emergency number, and they sent out a fellow to check.

Just as his truck arrived, I went outside, and saw and heard a gusher from the side of our house -- the supply line was broken. The county guy told me indeed I had a big leak -- the meter was swirling. He shut down the water supply.

I asked him if he knew of any plumbers who would come out to put in a new main on a Saturday -- otherwise Wifey and I would have to decamp to a hotel.

He said he wasn't allowed to recommend anyone, but a card slipped out of his pocket - his cousin the plumber.  I dug the guy immediately -- gotta break the rules to help each other out...

So the cousin plumber and his son are on their way here. Hopefully they can get us back to flushing, showering, and drinking.

The joys of homeowner's life.

Meanwhile, I've been waiting and waiting for that second cup of coffee. Oh -- that's right -- I had no water to put in the Keurig.  We really DO need this H20...