The joys of home ownership.......I jest.
I went looking to find the source of the ant...because there have been a few more lately than should be given the amount of ant spray and powder around and in the process discover a leak. because we live surrounded by woods, carpenter ants abound and must be kept out less the devour the place. I say this by experience having had to replace back section of a wall that had been eaten completely from stud to plywood and even into the cedar clapboards. They are drawn by water and love to dig into wet or dame wood.
So good you might think as I have possibly discovered a problem, but not the source. Broken dishwasher perhaps. Whew, not that. Sink, not that. What else could be on this line, crap..an upstairs bathroom. The leak is not a feed pipe but a drain pipe, which make absolutely no sense unless it somehow in leaking from an elbow. The last thing I want to do is call a plumber to do the investigative work. I work for free, they certainly don't and are tough to get.
For the better park of this holiday afternoon I have been snaking pipes, cutting sections out of drywall under the sink, being the investigator trying different things and ruling out the possibilities. Water flows, so it isn't clogged and backing up. It drips 3 feet across from the original drop of the pipe in the wall which means it should be turning in the ceiling and then turning again to go down the outside wall as the drip is happening on the outside wall, which means that the leak in happening at least 6 feet into the line after it has turned 3 times.
Now I am stumped and it is getting late. Time to clean up and take my second shower fro the day.......drain grunge is smelly and gets all over. Perhaps a gin and tonic will help me thing of the next option or forget it for the day.
Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all for whom this day is marked for your commitment and for the gift you have bestowed on this nation.
2 comments:
Oh phooey. The dreaded leak. OH MAN!! Not a good thing. I am sorry about your ants - they are so pesky. But...more sorry about your water leak. My vote would be to have a few gin & tonics and call the plumber in the morning. Course that was many days ago. Don't know how I missed this...anyway...so tell us what happened!! Did you find the leak, kill the wretched ants??? America WANTS to know!! I liked seeing you with a little humor - you don't do that often. :o) ...debbie
Thanks for listening to the vent. No, haven't found the leak and didn't find any more ants.
But then I did stop, clean up in the other bathroom and hit the gin and tonics and except for a quick look this morning I haven't had time to work on it. Haven't called a plumber yet but did talk with one an Home Depot who confirmed my strategy (which is to find the leak then call the plumber) and he saved me some money buying a tool that wouldn't have helped me at all.
The decision is how to try to find the leak. It is between floors and in a wall so possibly I will start with the wall in the closet up stairs closest to the sink )which means emptying a full closet) and if luck is with me it will be right there. If not I have to work my way down a wall in the kitchen, neither of which approaches is being met with a favorable view in the family. So for now we use the other bathroom sink.
Interesting your comment about humor. I actually use humor a lot in conversation but writing here has been more on the serious side. Perhaps I will let more of that in.
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