Plumb Luck

Praise God from whom all blessings ‘flow’! The leak is fixed and water is flowing in its appointed courses. The experience also shows the church in action. I emailed my pastor and some friends last night with the situation asking if anyone knew a plumber or if one was in the church. My pastor replied this morning that there was a plumber in the church, but he was on his way back from Colorado. I called him and he referred me to another company who came within just a few hours.

Turns out, modern plumbing involves a plastic pipe with brass compression couplings. At the time my house was built about five years ago, an earlier generation of this (requiring special tools) was used and has since been abandoned. These plumbers didn’t have those tools and couldn’t fix the problem—the coupling between the faucet and pipe had popped out. They referred me to the company that actually installed the original plumbing on the house, only charging me a minimum fee.

The second company showed up within a couple of hours and was able to fix the problem within minutes. As it happens, the crimp on that particular connection was bad and so a failure was inevitable, sooner or later. The plumber put better insulation on the new pipe and there were no new leaks when the water was turned back on. Hallelujah.

Total bill for plumbing:  just under $150, a bargain compared to what it could have been. I still need to repair the interior wall, but I can do that myself and it is near the bottom of my pantry, so doesn’t need to be pretty. The carpet still needs to have a little padding replaced and then re-tacked. But it could have been much worse.

I learned that only drip indoor faucets, not outdoor faucets. I had a number of friends from church and work call or email with support and help, and I am deeply grateful. Most of all, thank you to my folks, who were available for consultation at the late hours at which things developed.

This episode reminds me of one of God’s highest desires for us—to love one another in healthy interdependence. When one member suffers, the rest support them. I am grateful beyond belief that my suffering has been little more than an inconvenience, but there was still some uncertainty as to the severity while I waited—was it a simple inexpensive job, or would my slab be compromised and remodeling necessary? How long would I be without water, and would I need to go to a friend’s or get a hotel? Knowing there were resources available because people cared with actions, not just words, helped give a peace to the waiting. Thank you to all involved.

Truly,

SDG

Water, Water, Everywhere, and Now, Not a Drop to Drink

The line is from an early Caedmon’s Call song, but reflects the results of the arctic cold here this week. My kitchen, master bath and one of my outdoor faucets are all on the very exposed north wall of my house, and in spite of my efforts, four pipes froze (the two outdoor faucet pipes, kitchen sink hot water and upstairs master toilet supply).

I discovered it late last night (about midnight) and was able to quickly get the sink flowing freely again with no apparent damage. Wal-Mart didn’t have anything to help warm the other pipes, so I went back to campus and raided my lab’s surplus supplies and got some heating tape (think high temperature electric blanket, but in a strip you can wrap around something), and wrapped the three remaining pipes between the wall and the faucet/valve. I got to bed about 3:30 and up by nine—no success. None of the local hardware stores had anything better, so got ready and left for campus about 11.

When I got home about 11 tonight, JOY! Both outdoor faucets were flowing free and the toilet was working again. Hallelujah! I had opened the north faucet a bit much and my back yard was a slushy marsh, so it must have thawed fairly early in the day. I use so little water this is probably 10 times my normal monthly usage in one day. Sigh.

I prepared the faucets to stay warm and dry with the snow approaching and went inside. About a half hour later, I went into the kitchen and discovered a minor flood flowing from the pantry (opposite the north faucet) and into the carpeted dining room and living room and all the cabinets in between.

Off went the main cutoff and praising God for the shop vac, cleaned up most of the water. The carpet penetration wasn’t great so I could salvage most of the padding. Here it is, two hours later and I’ve done most of what I can do tonight, so off to bed and hunt for a plumber in the morning and hope there isn’t too much damage in the wall.

I’m sure there’s a profound spiritual message here somewhere. I’m too tired to hunt for it, so ask the Holy Spirit and I’m sure he’ll oblige you. It will be better than what I’d come up with anyway.

Good night.

SDG