The "pipe" story.

[LuckyCharms]

Last edited Tue Dec 5, 2023, 08:29 PM - Edit history (1)

I do anything that I can DIY. But after all of these years, I've finally learned my limitations.

The biggest thing I've learned is "No plumbing on a Sunday".

Some years back, I was doing some work in my basement workshop on a Sunday. In this workshop, there was an water supply line that came in through the bottom of the basement wall. The line came out of the block wall about 4 inches, took a left hand turn to a water shutoff about 2 feet away from the wall, and then terminated because it was an old water supply line that ran in through my back yard from the street behind me.

Subsequently, this line was replaced and relocated to another part of the basement. The new line ran in from the front of the house instead of the back, because the town put a new water main in the street. That's the reason the old pipe in the workshop just ended. The old water supply from the street in back of me was terminated, and the new supply was from the front of my home.

Anyway, I was doing some frustrating task in the workshop that required me to be close to the wall where the old supply line was. I kept tripping over the pipe. I was sweating, frustrated, pissed off. I tripped over that pipe about five times, and I finally said to myself "I'm going to cut that thing off".

I did question whether the valve in the street behind me was turned off, but then I said "Of course the town turned it off when they ran the new mainline from the street". I tried to open up the interior shut-off to be sure, but I couldn't budge it, so I convinced myself that the town valve MUST be turned off.

I got out the reciprocating saw, but a blade for metal in it, and started cutting the pipe. As soon as the first tooth on that blade broke through the interior diameter of the pipe:

PSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTT

PSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

They never shut of the valve that was in the street behind me, about 10 feet down.

Water was spraying in my eyes, and reached the ceiling of the basement.

I usually stay calm during emergencies, so I calmly thought, no problem. I'll just try to turn the shut-off valve again, I'm sure I can work it loose. No, that won't work you dumb shit, you cut it behind the valve.

Ok, I'll just turn it off at the new shut off that comes in from the front of the house. "No, how is that going to work, you fucking idiot"?

Then, I panicked.

I yelled up the basement stairs "CALL A PLUMBER". My wife yelled down "Why"? "Jesus Christ I can't answer any questions, CALL A PLUMBERRRR!!!!"

It took her about a half an hour just to reach someone. He was 40 miles away. "Should I have this guy come"? YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!

In the meantime, she got three guys from the town over here. They came down in the basement. They had blueprints on them. "Why didn't you guys shut the valve in the street when the line was replaced".

"I don't know"

"Can you get a backhoe over here today to dig up the goddamn thing and shut it off"?

"Well, I could, but I can't exactly find where it's buried by these prints".

PSSSSSTTTTTTTTT PSSSSSSST

Plumber shows up. He looks at the pipe, looks at me, and says "You're fucked".

"Yeah, tell me about it".

I told the guy from the town "I could have hooked up to that line and had free water for years, and you guys never would have known, because the pipe was not metered".

The plumber split a hose lengthwise, put it over the cut, and attached it with two radiator hose clamps. That slowed the leak a little. The water pressure coming out of that little cut was incredible.

The town came the next day with a backhoe, dug down about 10 feet, and shut off the street valve permanently.

Basement got flooded, shit got ruined.

Now, if I get the notion to do anything that has to do with water on a Sunday, my wife just looks at me and says "PIPE".

She's a saint.

[debm55]

1. Great post, LuckyCharms.

[1WorldHope]

2. Plumbing is terrifying.

I had a plumber come reset my 1st floor toilet. He told me he wasn't sure he could fix it because my 130yr old galvanized pipe was in bad condition. He said he would send the boss over. But the small leak stopped and the toilet was fine. Fine for a couple months. Then it started dripping again. There is a second floor toilet as well. The 1st plumber said that someone will have to cut a whole in the wall to replace that one too. Of course I have plaster walls. It doesn't sound like this plumber is really interested in this job. Who will I call if it's not a plumbing job? 😲

[LuckyCharms]

4. Oh damn...

That's what I hate about calling contractors. First, you have to get someone to answer the phone. Then, you have to convince them to do the job if it's a tricky one, without charging you an arm and a leg.

I have plaster walls as well. They're nice looking, but they are problematic if you have to do any DIY with them.

I managed to replace both of our toilets with those ones that hardly use any water. They flush incredibly well, and for some reason, I didn't screw it up.

I hope you got your toilet fixed without having to take a second mortgage!

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. My "plumbing" story.

About 40 years ago, I bought a 2 story apartment building....yippee, 1st time home-owner! That winter, my wife and MIL booked a cruise to the Caribbean, right after Chrismas. I dropped her off and spent a few days, visiting my mom, sibs, and friends.

Unbeknownst to me, the wife had shut off the oil drip furnance that was the sole source of heat in the apartment. This was an old timey oil dripper stove. She shut it off because she thought it would be too dangerous to keep operating while we were away.

So I come home, open the door, and started gliding into the room. wtf? Then I realized, frozen water throughout the kitchen and bathroom. Immediately got the burner going to bring the house back up to temp, then realized that I had multiple pipe breaks in the plumbing. Now, my saving grace here was that all of the pipels from the main/HW heater were all exposed.

Shut off the main water supply, removed the water, and then spent the next 4-5 days cutting/sweating pipe. I had no money to call in a plumber, so I went into DIY mode. Wife called from Jamaica and asked how things were....I told her I was sweating my brains out.

[LuckyCharms]

5. Holy cow!!

So the pipes froze and burst?

Damn. I am feeling this.

I was at the cemetery once putting some flowers on my parent's grave, and my wife called me sobbing. I rushed home, about a five minute drive.

The goddamn handles blew off the bathroom faucet. Water was spraying up to the ceiling, and the entire first floor was flooded. Cheap ass Home Depot faucets.

[1WorldHope]

6. Bless the people who want to plumb!

[OAITW r.2.0]

7. I think it was 3/4 " copper tubing, maybe smaller.

Most of the breaks occurred at locations before 90 degree angles. I think I had 15 different breaks between the bathroom and kitchen.- the only 2 rooms with water.