flyangel2 2 #1 March 12, 2004 - Always check your crawl space or basement for water. - Keep all items in plastic totes. - Don't write in felt tip pens in your journals. - The water department employees stupid people. - You can't always lift with your legs. - There isn't enough Advil in the world. - Always have bottled water in the house. - Have either an electric blanket or electric mattress pad on all beds in the house. - Never store journals, logbooks, pictures, High School, College papers or degrees, or Graduation Certificates in a ceder chest in your crawl space. - Colorado dirt becomes mid like cement that sticks to every thing when it gets wet. - The paint comes off glass Christmas ornaments when they get wet. - Drying fans are loud. - The garage can double as a storage drying unit. - Have the right tools to be able to turn your main water line off. My suspicions where awoken on Monday afternoon after I got off work and returned home to walk my dogs. It's a regular routine, I get off work, come home, and take my three dogs for their walk. As I was walking down my driveway to the sidewalk, I noticed that were my water meter is, where the main control value is covered with rock, was now uncovered. I thought to myself, that is strange, the water department can read the meter with their little scanner from the indicator that is on the side of the house. Oh well I though, maybe there was a problem in the neighborhood, and they had to look at my meter and shut off water some where. On with my walk I went. On Wednesday morning, as I'm walking (really racing) out the door to drop Adam off at school, and have myself to work on time, I notice the corner of a blue index type card laying under the mail for my son Luke who recently moved out. Most times this stuff piles up, since most of the mail Luke gets is junk. He comes over at least once a day to eat lunch and let the dogs out for me. I look at that blue corner sticking out and think, "Gee, I don't remember leaving something like that for Luke." I grab the card and head out the door. Once I have dropped my son off at school, and I'm driving to work, I read the card. It's one of those cards that gets place on your front doorknob, most times by some new Realtor or from some pizza company offering a special if you order from them. But this blue card wasn't one of those. To my surprise it was a notice from the Water department. The notice read: - Leak was found in your system - We cannot locate cause of leak. If you wish we will meet with you to determine if a plumber or sprinkler firm is needed. Please call ........ - Other: Apporx 26,000 gals in five days. Ran test using 5 gal a min. I think to myself, okay, I haven't heard water running in the house, and I don't have a sprinkler system. How strange is this. I'll call them when I get to work. Call the number on the card, and the first woman that I talk to doesn't know what I'm talking about, and who ordered the check on my system. She gives me the number of another woman, and I call her. I call that number and am directed to Lori. Lori explains to me that since my water usage had spiked over a short period of time, they sent a guy out to check, just in case there is a break in the main line before it reaches my house. She tells me that the guy ran a test, and the problem is on my side somewhere. I tell Lori that I don't hear water running in my house and find it hard to believe that I have a leak. She says that maybe it's a break in a line in the yard, and that I'll have to call this company in Denver and have them come out and dig up the yard for the leak. Wait a minute, I have three dogs and I'm in my back yard everyday cleaning and picking up dog shit. I think I would notice my yard being all wet in one area. Lori then asked if I have any children living at home. Yes, teenage boys. She ask if they like to flush the toilets or play with them. No! They are teenagers, I'm lucky if I can get them to flush. I then ask Lori ever so nice, if she can send the guy back out, like the note said, for an appointment. She tells me that isn't possible, since I wasn't there when he came out and ran a check. Even if I had been home, he may not have come into my house to look for the leak, that the guy just does that out of the "kindness of his heart." Lori tells me that she will be glad to send me some special drop in tabs that I can drop into the tank of my toilet and if they turn blue, that means I have a leak in the toilet. My god lady, 26,000 gallons of water used in five days, that isn't coming from a toilet. She's of no help. I get out the phone book and look for plumbers. The first one I call, I get a message machine, so I move on to the next. BTW, it pays to have your business name starting with an "A", cause I just went down the list. I call the next plumber in the phone book and get a nice woman by the name of Karen on the other end of the phone. I explain my situation to her, and she starts with a check list of things I need to check out to determine where the leak is from. One of the suggestions was to check my crawl space or basement. Very good idea, why didn't I think of that one. Heck, I haven't been in there since after Christmas, putting decorations away. I set up an appointment with the plumbing company to come out on Friday, since I have the day off from work, and the plumber will walk through and around the house, seeing if he can find the leak. In the meantime, I decide to call Luke, and ask him to go over to the house and look into the crawl space. He calls back and said there is a small problem. I ask him, how small? He says that there is enough water in the crawl space that it has turned that area into a swimming pool. OMG, I race out of work to go see what is going on. I look into the crawl space and see water almost ready to leak into the house. My furnace is down there, sitting on a slab of cement, in about an inch of water. Thankfully the electric part of the furnace is just about a half an inch above the water line. I am now in a state of disbelief. I call the plumber back and tell Karen that I need someone here now, and bring a pump. I can hear water running if I stuck my head into the crawl space door far enough. I have my son take his shoes off and swim to the area where I think I hear water. He reaches down and feels around, then tells me that the water coming out of the pipe feels like the water from a jet on a hot tub, except this water is really cold and then ask if there is something I can give him to stop the water flow. (I had to laugh to myself, thinking that there is nothing I could give him that would stop the water with that kind of pressure.) OMG, I run to the valve that turns off the water in the house, then run back to the crawl space and ask Luke if that stopped the water. NO! OMG, I need to turn the main off. Grab what little tools I have and run to the front yard. Damn it, I don't have any tool that will help me turn that water off. I call the plumber back and find out that there is a guy on the way. How can five minutes feel like a life time? The plumber, Keith, arrives, and dives right into the crawl space, that has now become a swimming pool. He tells me, yeah, that's the main. Swims to the little door that you have to go through to get in and out of the crawl space, covered in mud and water, and runs to the main value and turns it off. He has brought a pump with him, and uses the neighbors water to prim it. Back down into the swimming pool he goes. I'm now looking at my furnace and hear it running. Thank god, that's working, and we might just save it. I tell Keith that I'm not comfortable with him being in that much water, with the furnace running, so I dash upstairs and turn it off. The water level is dropping, but not as fast as Keith would like, so he calls another guy and ask him to bring another pump. Now I have two pumps going and the water level is finally dropping at a very fast rate. I notice all my items in plastic tubs floating around the crawl space, and I notice boxes that have sunk. My ceder chest is close enough that I can reach it if I balance just right. I open the lid and reach my hand into the chest. Yes, there is water in there, what did I expect? The water is now pumped out and Keith discovers a line that is broke. He tells met that when the line was laid when the house was being built, had a wrinkle in it, and after years and years of water flowing through it, it finally just broke. Keith tells me that I'll need to rent a fan in order to dry out the area, since I don't want a problem with mole. He was nice enough to call the rental place and make reservations for me to get one tomorrow. Now Keith discovers that he doesn't have the right part to fix the pipe and will have to come back tomorrow, and will have to leave the water off. I'm fine with that, at least the water has stopped pouring into my crawl space. (plus I know that I have water in bottles in the garage and showers are overrated) Just as Keith is leaving he hands me the light bulb that was in the light socked in the crawl space and tells me "Sorry, I knocked that out." There looks to be a part of the socked still connected to the bulb. He tells me to just send him the bill if someone has to come out and fix it. At this point, that's the less of my worries. There is no way I'm going to even dig into that mess at this time. Plus, I have to go to work at my second job. (My girlfriend is the manager of a retail store, and I help her out twice a week) After Keith leaves I try to turn the furnace on. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Ugh.....the water did break the furnace. Not to worry, I have homeowners insurance with a $500 deductible. I call my girlfriend at her store, and tell her what my day has been like. She tells me not to come into work, but I figure that since I have no heat and water why not. Thursday morning after dropping Adam off at school, I head back to the house and call someone to come out and look at the furnace. He arrives the same time as Keith, and both of them are down in the crawl space doing their job. The furnace guy does his check on the furnace, and then asked me to check the main circuit. That was the problem. When Keith broke off the light bulb that tripped the circuit. At this point I don't care, the furnace guy has check the furnace out, and every thing is fine on it. Keith has fixed the pipe and turned on the main water. Everything is back to working order. I start the process of removing every thing from the crawl space. Because it's a nice warm day here in Colorado, I decide to let things dry out in my back yard. (it looked like some kind of garage sale) There are phots that were in cardboard boxes, and items that were very special to me in the ceder chest. I don't want those papers and pictures to be in direct sun light, so I set up a drying storage unit in the garage. As of this writing everything including the plastic is out of the crawl space and I have drying fans going. I'll spend today looking though the items in the garage and seeing what I can save and what I have to throw away. I'm reminding myself that things could have been worse. It could have been a fire, and then I wouldn't have anything to look through except ashes. I got to the problem before the water had started into the house and I don't need a new furnace. This adventure happened while I was home, instead of being out on the road, god only knows how the boys would have handled it. Life will go on, this is just a lesson learned at the cost of : - Plumber: $300 - Furnace guy: $70 - Fans: $120 - Water bill: $500 I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my income tax return comes in the mail very soon. I had plans to drive Amanda out to Texas to visit family, and for me to kick back and enjoy some time with Dave and Clint at their DZ.May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JJohnson 0 #2 March 12, 2004 Real sorry to hear about your bad day(s). Hope it gets better. I'd trade you my lawsuit for it though....JJ "Call me Darth Balls" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #3 March 12, 2004 Sorry to hear that Mary 26,000 gallons in five days - yeah, I would think the water company would be wondering if you were filling up a swimming pool. A couple of times. I hope the insurance company doesn't give you fits. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RevJim 0 #4 March 12, 2004 Holy shit, Mar. What can I say? Not much really, but here: {{{Hug}}} It's your life, live it! Karma RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #5 March 12, 2004 Well, if that which does not kill you makes you stronger, you are a woman made of diamond. Florida. Once month from today. See you there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites chopchop 0 #6 March 12, 2004 Had a similar problem a few months ago.. except it was my roommate / gardener who left some drip irrigation on in the back yard.. $900 in water bills and a disconnect later, I turned off the offending spicket. I was out of town for 10 weeks and got back to no water. When they turned it on, I found the problem in a flash. It's amazing how fast that typically tiny bill can go up and become one of the biggies. chopchop gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking.. Lotsa Pictures Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites ACMESkydiver 0 #7 March 12, 2004 QuoteWell, if that which does not kill you makes you stronger, you are a woman made of diamond. ...I like that. I'm not nearly that brilliant, so I'll just say I'm sorry to hear about all that, Mar... At least it's better now. ~Jaye Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites jumper03 0 #8 March 12, 2004 dry ((((vibes))))!!! Glad to hear it wasn't any worse. JumpScars remind us that the past is real Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites RkyMtnHigh 0 #9 March 12, 2004 Hey Mar, I might be a little late on this suggestion, but I had a cracked sprinkler head last summer which ran up thousands of gallons of water usage on my meter, when I got the bill it was way up there as well. I went to the water department in person, told them that until I got the large bill, I didn't realize I had a problem with the sprinkler system. I showed them the repair bill and proof that it was fixed and they adjusted my bill to what it normally was in previous months. If you haven't paid the $500 bill yet, it's worth a shot. Good luck! _________________________________________ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites billvon 3,120 #10 March 12, 2004 Another lesson I learned the hard way: -When wading around in a flooded room, turn off the power to said room. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites slug 1 #11 March 12, 2004 Lesson learned Every organization has "no people" If your dealing with a small organization one "no person" can stop you in your tracks. Large organizations do have some "yes people" that can use discretion when dealing with customers. The water company put in a high tech system to detect "excessive useage" that was sucessful "poor training" of their employees (no people) allowed the system to fail. 25,000 Gals of water in 5 days and the "no people" ask you about your kids flushing toilets, or leaking toilet. By the time the "no people" sent you the dye tablets to put in you toilet tanks you would have lost another 10,000 gals. Once you get caught up and recover from your losses print out your origional message (edited) and send it to the water co. The co & their customers have a weak point (poor training & procedures) in their hi tech leakage system. The plumber who incorrectly installed your main line from the meter to your house may have installed every line in your subdivison. So there will be more leaks in the "hood". R.I.P. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kallend 2,151 #12 March 12, 2004 Look for the silver lining: you avoided a trip to Texas!... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites airtwardo 7 #13 March 12, 2004 Quote I showed them the repair bill and proof that it was fixed and they adjusted my bill to what it normally was in previous months. *** Same thing over in Aurora, Co. We have a rental property there... Line cracked and was leaking...into the yard next door... Showed the Water Dept. the repair bill and paid the average monthly usage! Humm... Gotta fill the 50,000 gal. pool this weekend... May just call a plumber and get that "leakey toilet" fixed!!! Let's see how nice they are here in Houston ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Michele 1 #14 March 12, 2004 Hugs, darling Mar. Sorry to hear about it. Love you, you diamond girl, you. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites sunshine 2 #15 March 12, 2004 Oh mar, so sorry to hear that. ___________________________________________ meow I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites flyangel2 2 #16 March 12, 2004 Update: Insurance will cover the cost of items that have been destroyed or damaged. Example: They will pay for the new pipe, but I didn't need a new pipe, just a piece that fits the two broken ones together. The items that were destroyed are mostly pictures, yearsbooks, and baby books. Can't put a price on those. Now, if the furnace had been damaged and I needed a new one, I could and would file a claim. I've also talked with the water department. The only adjustment they will do to the bill is to now come out and see what the meters reads to do the quarter adjustment average projected usage. I still have to pay for the water that went through my meter, even though it was wasted water. How I decided to use it was up to me. I'd really like to know how you people that got it taken off your bill did that. I even went to the water company and spoke with a supervisor. keeping fingers crossed for the tax refund to show up soonMay your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. 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chopchop 0 #6 March 12, 2004 Had a similar problem a few months ago.. except it was my roommate / gardener who left some drip irrigation on in the back yard.. $900 in water bills and a disconnect later, I turned off the offending spicket. I was out of town for 10 weeks and got back to no water. When they turned it on, I found the problem in a flash. It's amazing how fast that typically tiny bill can go up and become one of the biggies. chopchop gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking.. Lotsa Pictures Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ACMESkydiver 0 #7 March 12, 2004 QuoteWell, if that which does not kill you makes you stronger, you are a woman made of diamond. ...I like that. I'm not nearly that brilliant, so I'll just say I'm sorry to hear about all that, Mar... At least it's better now. ~Jaye Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumper03 0 #8 March 12, 2004 dry ((((vibes))))!!! Glad to hear it wasn't any worse. JumpScars remind us that the past is real Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RkyMtnHigh 0 #9 March 12, 2004 Hey Mar, I might be a little late on this suggestion, but I had a cracked sprinkler head last summer which ran up thousands of gallons of water usage on my meter, when I got the bill it was way up there as well. I went to the water department in person, told them that until I got the large bill, I didn't realize I had a problem with the sprinkler system. I showed them the repair bill and proof that it was fixed and they adjusted my bill to what it normally was in previous months. If you haven't paid the $500 bill yet, it's worth a shot. Good luck! _________________________________________ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,120 #10 March 12, 2004 Another lesson I learned the hard way: -When wading around in a flooded room, turn off the power to said room. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slug 1 #11 March 12, 2004 Lesson learned Every organization has "no people" If your dealing with a small organization one "no person" can stop you in your tracks. Large organizations do have some "yes people" that can use discretion when dealing with customers. The water company put in a high tech system to detect "excessive useage" that was sucessful "poor training" of their employees (no people) allowed the system to fail. 25,000 Gals of water in 5 days and the "no people" ask you about your kids flushing toilets, or leaking toilet. By the time the "no people" sent you the dye tablets to put in you toilet tanks you would have lost another 10,000 gals. Once you get caught up and recover from your losses print out your origional message (edited) and send it to the water co. The co & their customers have a weak point (poor training & procedures) in their hi tech leakage system. The plumber who incorrectly installed your main line from the meter to your house may have installed every line in your subdivison. So there will be more leaks in the "hood". R.I.P. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,151 #12 March 12, 2004 Look for the silver lining: you avoided a trip to Texas!... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 7 #13 March 12, 2004 Quote I showed them the repair bill and proof that it was fixed and they adjusted my bill to what it normally was in previous months. *** Same thing over in Aurora, Co. We have a rental property there... Line cracked and was leaking...into the yard next door... Showed the Water Dept. the repair bill and paid the average monthly usage! Humm... Gotta fill the 50,000 gal. pool this weekend... May just call a plumber and get that "leakey toilet" fixed!!! Let's see how nice they are here in Houston ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Michele 1 #14 March 12, 2004 Hugs, darling Mar. Sorry to hear about it. Love you, you diamond girl, you. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites sunshine 2 #15 March 12, 2004 Oh mar, so sorry to hear that. ___________________________________________ meow I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites flyangel2 2 #16 March 12, 2004 Update: Insurance will cover the cost of items that have been destroyed or damaged. Example: They will pay for the new pipe, but I didn't need a new pipe, just a piece that fits the two broken ones together. The items that were destroyed are mostly pictures, yearsbooks, and baby books. Can't put a price on those. Now, if the furnace had been damaged and I needed a new one, I could and would file a claim. I've also talked with the water department. The only adjustment they will do to the bill is to now come out and see what the meters reads to do the quarter adjustment average projected usage. I still have to pay for the water that went through my meter, even though it was wasted water. How I decided to use it was up to me. I'd really like to know how you people that got it taken off your bill did that. I even went to the water company and spoke with a supervisor. keeping fingers crossed for the tax refund to show up soonMay your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
Michele 1 #14 March 12, 2004 Hugs, darling Mar. Sorry to hear about it. Love you, you diamond girl, you. Ciels- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sunshine 2 #15 March 12, 2004 Oh mar, so sorry to hear that. ___________________________________________ meow I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyangel2 2 #16 March 12, 2004 Update: Insurance will cover the cost of items that have been destroyed or damaged. Example: They will pay for the new pipe, but I didn't need a new pipe, just a piece that fits the two broken ones together. The items that were destroyed are mostly pictures, yearsbooks, and baby books. Can't put a price on those. Now, if the furnace had been damaged and I needed a new one, I could and would file a claim. I've also talked with the water department. The only adjustment they will do to the bill is to now come out and see what the meters reads to do the quarter adjustment average projected usage. I still have to pay for the water that went through my meter, even though it was wasted water. How I decided to use it was up to me. I'd really like to know how you people that got it taken off your bill did that. I even went to the water company and spoke with a supervisor. keeping fingers crossed for the tax refund to show up soonMay your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
