I was in the middle of making a Tiramisu Saturday morning for our weekend family guests when the doorbell rang.
I figured it was a delivery but went to the door anyhow. It was the neighbor from several doors down the street who immediately announced "I think your main water line just burst!"
Yes, indeed, we had a major problem, with lots of water flowing down the driveway, sidewalk and into the street. The neighbor lives several doors down from us and had seen the water flowing down the road. He told me he was pretty sure he what the problem was before coming up to our house, since others on the street had experienced the same issue in the last few years, and he had as well. Thank goodness for a thoughtful neighbor!
I turned off the water at the street right away and immediately got on the phone to let my daughter know...en route from LA with the grandkids for the weekend...and my wife, who was out shopping.
The next urgent call and text were to Drain Runner Plumbing (based in Carlsbad) who has done work for me multiple times over the years, as well as handling referral business to buyers and sellers. My primary thought was - OMG we are without water until who knows when, with family arriving in the next couple of hours. And it's the weekend!
The problem...a burst water line from the main water source at the street...has plagued multiple neighbors of these 33-year-old homes. And, as the neighbor across the street said when he had the same issue...you'll get yours sooner or later. Just part of the fun of owning and maintaining a home!
Thank goodness we were home and not away for the day, or longer! One of the neighbors had the same problem and was on vacation when it happened!
It brought back memories of the time when our dishwasher water line burst while we were out at church in Minnesota. We were selling our home to move back to Boston and had gotten the house ready for an Open House that afternoon. We went out, left the DW on, came home a couple of hours later, and imagine the shock when we opened the door from the garage to the house and all this water came pouring out from the kitchen. The entire first floor was flooded, but even worse we had a fully finished lower level. You can imagine what that looked like, from ceiling to floor!
Needless to say the sale and move was on hold for a few months. Note to self from that day forward - NEVER leave the house when an appliance is running.
On with the story - Drain Runner Plumbing was out on other calls, but within 2 hours arrived at our house. They were able to set up a temporary water line from the street so we had water again.
The plumber also let me know a couple of options for the repair...the estimate is $5800. Yikes!
The great news is we had water again right before family arrived, and Drain Runner Plumbing will start later this week with the repairs - a new copper water line from the street to the garage and up and over the ceiling and down to the main line (not under the driveway slab which is where the current line runs - that would be even more expensive to repair).
There is certainly a lot to be thankful for - we were home, we had a thoughtful neighbor who took the time to come by, and I have a great relationship with a plumbing company that went out of their way to help, and installed a temporary line with a heavy-duty hose!! Thankfully the "flooding" was all outside and not in the house!!
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