Indoor Plumbing: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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If you missed our plumbing problems from yesterday, you'll want to catch up before reading on.

The Good:  Our well is fine.  The pump is fine.  All resident cats and people are alive and well.

The Bad:  The water is off, and we have no expectation that it will be back on any time soon.  It may not be back on this week.  I'm hoping it will be back on by next week.  If it's sooner, I can move this into the Good column.

The Ugly:  So here's what happened.  There is an access panel in our basement that allows access to the plumbing where the water is piped into the house from the well.  

Ugly, right?  Ordinarily, it has a panel covering it up.  This is my sewing room, and so it also has one of my quilts hanging in front of it.  If you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't know it was there.  This room, in addition to being my sewing room, is also a utility room where our water heater, furnace, and water softening equipment is housed.  In many houses, these rooms aren't even finished, and so no one gives them much thought.  It is finished in our house, and I'm so grateful, because it is a large space for me to set up shop.

The Bad:  Yesterday, we discovered a leak, growing larger by the minute, behind the access panel.  You can see it in the image below where the concrete foundation is wet.  When we first noticed it, we only noticed the saturated carpet under our feet and the wet concrete.  Within a couple of hours, it was running a steady stream.

The Good:  It didn't happen while we were gone.  If it had, we have no doubt that, left unchecked, it would have become a sideways geyser within a day or two.

Here's what my sewing room looks like on most days.  That quilt on the left side hangs in front of the access panel.

The Ugly:  Here's what it looks like now.  Some demolition guys were here this morning.  They moved most everything out of the sewing room and the closet.  I had already taken the projects I'm working on so that I might be able to continue working on them...not likely.  They removed the wet insulation.  They pulled up the wet carpet and removed the saturated padding underneath.  The padding will have to be replaced.  It looks like the carpet can be salvaged.  The drywall and insulation will need to be replaced, and the room will be painted.

The Good:  This part will all be covered by our homeowner's policy.  And I'll get a spiffy new paint job in my sewing room.  Any suggestions about the color?  It's always just been primer white, but I want a color now.  Keeping in mind that there are no external windows in this room, I'm thinking a sunny yellow might be nice.  Nothing too bright, but I want some color.

Here's our guestroom with the Tiptoe Through the Tulips quilt on the bed.

The Ugly:  Here's what the guest room looks like now.

And here's our family room.  I wouldn't call myself the tidiest of housekeepers, but I usually do a much better job than this.  All of this stuff came out of the sewing room, and out of the closet in the sewing room.

The Good:  I'm awaiting a plumber who should be here within the hour.  The sooner they get started, the sooner the water will be back on.

The Bad:  The pipe in question is about 4 feet below the grade, and so it will require trenching to gain access to the leak.  This is the part of the garden that will be trenched up.

In the foreground is my favorite dark purple rhododendron.  I fear for its future.

Also potentially slated for exhumation, my favorite ruffly pink azalea. 

Also in the bad column, the plumbing repair and excavation are not covered by insurance.  The plumbing is considered "erosion" or "deterioration".  It is not covered by insurance...ours or anyone else's.

The Good:  The adjuster was here this morning.  He was very nice, polite, and efficient, and he has already written us a check to pay for the damages.  He estimated most things high, and so in at least a couple of ways, we'll be better off.  For example, I had a cheapy Home Depot pressed board cabinet where I kept odds and ends.  Pressed board tolerates water not at all.  I doubt we paid more than about $50 for it.  However, he paid us $250 for it, so I will be able to get something a little nicer when all is said and done.

The Bad:  My sewing room is completely out of commission.  I won't be able to sew for at least a week or two.

The Good:  My fabric was all stored in plastic bins, and so none of it was damaged.  Also, it will give me a chance to catch up on my embroidery.  All embroidery, all the time, I figure.

Many of you have written such lovely and supportive comments.  Thank you.  In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor bump in the road.  My family is intact, happy, and healthy, and there's nothing better than that.  My cats bring me great joy.  We have the resources to clean up this mess.  And a major good thing is that we have an RV where we can shower, do other bathroom-type things, and cook.  There is no rain in the forecast, and so the excavation will not turn into a muddy mess.  

The Bad:  Still, this is the third time we've been through something like this.  At our previous house, our basement flooded twice--once from a broken pipe in an upstairs bathroom (that was a REAL disaster), and once when the bottom rusted out of our water heater (a minor disaster).  Having been through this before (and we had water those times, at least), I know it will be a long time before things are back to normal.  I don't tolerate chaos well, and I hate that I'm not going to be able to sew while all this is going on.

The Good:  This too shall pass.  Sewing will resume, and someday, we will laugh about all of this.  I know we will.