My SHTF yesterday afternoon!!

I spend the weekends working on my house and this weekend was no different. Sunday was coming to an end for friends that had come up to help and before they left I wanted to check for leaks. I had just finished installing my on demand hot water system and filter (for the unit) and was ready to test. The well/pump house is about 60ft away so I wanted someone near the heater to check for any leaks in case there was a major problem.

So, I walk out and start priming the system and before it even builds pressure I hear "TURN IT OFF" so I do and run to the laundry room... the filter unit gasket wasn't seated properly. After 20 minutes and everyone coming to the conclusion the unit had a defect I realized that the gasket was in the wrong place (around the threads at bottom and NOT at the top). When I looked at the unit at home depot the employee took it apart to show me what filters fit and dropped the gasket as I remember him saying "don't want to lose this"... well as it turns out he put it on in the wrong place! EEK. Luckily the system didn't prime and only lightly pressurized the lines and shot out a little existing water.

Great I thought no other leaks though!

Head back out to the pump house to pressurize the system and at this time it's only my lady checking and others have gone back to their projects. I get it primed and it starts building, 20, 25psi, I yell at her and she says no leaks. Then about 10 seconds later my father screams SHUT IT OFF SHUT IT OFF the ceiling is leaking!!!!

I instantly turn it off, open up the spigot right outside the pump house and run to the back yard and open that spigot too (lowest in system) by the time I get inside the house their are rugs, buckets and more catching the rain storm in the living room.

As it turns out the bathroom upstairs hot water was not turned off completely (no sink or vanity). I removed it, and before I disconnected any pipes I turned everything off. When we checked it was very tight and we had to 'muscle it' to get it to turn off more. So basically the hot water that goes to the sink upstairs shot all over the place!!

So now we have water between the floors and a little drywall/texture wet upstairs.

Propane heat upstairs and crank up the wood stove. And of coarse it's Sunday evening now and I wasn't planning staying the night, let alone my 3rd night in a row w/instant meals, no warm water/shower, and now no running water at all. (To late to continue checking for leaks and we didn't plumb in a on/off valve for the hot water heater (lesson learned on that one to keep cold water running).

So I decided I would stay later and decide if I was going to head home later that night.

My friends, my lady and my father took off around 5-6pm and I continued doing misc tasks around the house. When they left I turned off the propane heater that was upstairs in that bedroom.

By now my house was in the high 70s and I was miserable it was DUMPING rain and sleet, and by 8pm it was snowing pretty good. Luckily right after the pipe broke and we got it all settled I chopped some wood and brought it in, enough to get me through the entire night and part of the next morning for sure.

I kept the fire going while doing as little as possible inside due to the heat, by 9pm it was 81* in my house, my wood stove sure worked great!

Whatever I had for lunch didn't agree with my stomach and I needed to use the restroom... great no running water, and NONE of my 5g jugs were full of water. I fell into the trap of "oh we have running water we don't need any stored" (I new we did, and have the capacity to store 200g in 5g jugs I just hadn't filled them yet *WOOPS*... always be prepared!) I new I had one flush in the tank and used that and then decided I better get some more water (I would need it later!).

I went outside and got my LARGE dust pan and scooped snow into 2 5g buckets and put them near the fire I then precoded to melt water in my ~1g kettle on the stove and cup and put them in the buckets. Basically I worked from snow bucket to water bucket. I also used my 5g paint mixer to speed up the process. Later in the night I needed to use the restroom again and got numerous flushes this time! I added a 3rd bucket later too, and just let it sit as now I had 5g of water available and 2 buckets underway. Less work for me since it was a raging 100+ degrees around the fire and I was getting hot again.

I later decided to spend the night as it was getting late and snowing worse.

In the morning I woke up to 3 5g buckets full at various stages of water... enough to last a LONG TIME for toilet duty I was prepared again!

I looked outside and saw approx 1' of fresh powder. At least I was prepared for the weather with enough food and fire wood, since we don't live here 100% full-time yet the food was just cup o noodles and soups but it was enough to last me at least a week if I needed. I should also note that I had 3 cases of drinking water I just didn't feel like wasting the $ for toilet water and needed something to do that could take me outside (I also had an untested spigot to turn off the ENTIRE HOUSE water supply, I could have then filled up from the pump house however since I was alone, it's PITCH BLACK, and snowing I didn't feel like turning on the water and running around checking if there were any leaks or spigot problems.)

I cranked the fire back up in the morning (still in the mid 70s in the house and in the high 20s outside). And then went out to shovel my deck... I had a new snow shovel / non-wheel barrow (sled?) thing I wanted to test and WOW did it make fast work.

I was able to clear the deck in <30 minutes, and also spent some time clearing the build up by the plow down on the road / entrance to my driveway... nothing like walking 500+ft through fresh powder in the morning. I spent ~1hr shoveling/plowing by hand.. made me think I need to get my plow mounted on my ATV! It was hard work but I enjoyed it, like chopping wood it's very enjoyable to me.

It started snowing as I started packing up again today, I had duties to take care of in the valley or I would have stayed until later again. The house was around 80* again when I finally left. My front porch was cleared, deck was cleared, and my driveway was accessible. We are expecting another foot or so within the next couple days as two more storm fronts come in and I want to be able to make it in next weekend

In the end even though I was technically prepared I learned some things about melting snow 'efficiently', and always having extra water on hand even if it's not drinking quality it may come in handy!

I have pictures I`ll post soon too.

They cost less than a $1 a piece!!

Remember also if your doing any electrical wiring always make sure your always doubly insulated, i.e. turn of the mains supply switch AND remove the fuse for the ring main your working on and don't rely on anyone else no matter how trustworthy, to do this for you!! Always insulate any bare mains wiring which isn't connected with electrical tape.

And just like my valve that could have not been tight enough, or sealed enough, or had a bad thread, etc... :P But I know what you mean

I try to do my electrical work standing in a puddle in a rain storm that way it zapsme good

I assume you viewed the old movie "The Money Pit" prior to investing in your project, right?

We were remodeling when that flick came out at the VHS movie store. Dad would not let us rent it.

seriously consider: ball valve angle stops. 1/4 quarter turn and they are off.

also consider: stainless steel, braided, supply lines.

if you're not gonna be there all the time - and even if you are - these are inexpensive insurance.

+1 on the suggestion from bsmith!

My house is going to be finished sometime this month. I've made darn sure we couldn't watch this while it was going on. Soon, that will be over too.

Yup, that's what we used down stairs. IT's what I plan to use upstairs once we get working up there. My fault for not DOUBLE checking it was off. Considering I turned it off and removed it I thought I was A-OK... now I have to double check myself!

Thank you for being our teacher. I'm taking notes on your lessons!

-Blast

Gaining knowledge is a wonderful thing.

Sue

Even better when you can learn from someone else's experience! Thanks Todd!

I'be gotten to where I replace extra stuff so I end up having new water lines or electrical wires in parallel with the old while I install all the new stuff so there is very little downtime when I cut over the new. You ca tell I work in It and support servers too much when i start thinking about downtime and making sure my kitchen is fed by dual redundant paths.

Glad ya`ll like the lesson L O L.

I`m back up here today brought with me my ATV and 15g of water from the 'city water' to keep on hand now.

We have a winter storm warning in affect for 24 hours 10 to 20 inches of new snow, and then continue until Monday. I thought we would NEVER Make it back in here again unless I came up and keep the private drive open. Luckily I have internet and can work from here too!

Food, water, brought up 5g more gas, 7200watt generator, I`m ready to stay until Monday if need be!

I was thinking at this point even if power goes out I only use it to have light and I have other lights for that so I won't need the generator. This weekend I`ll make a cord and test the genny out for my well and see if I can get water with it, that's the goal and to run the refrig when needed.

Wood stove is warming up, almost 30 outside (65 in), and starting to snow. Supposed to come in hard between 7 and 10pm (almost 7 now).

I`ll keep everyone updated

So, left Sunday night back Wed evening.

Drip by drip it was still on, running down the copper, into the floor / ceiling and saturating my insulation. Luckily I turn off the power when I leave and it was only existing water in pressure tank! Tomorrow I`m doing another test for leaks though!!!

I now have a 3'x7' hole on my downstairs ceiling from rippping out wet insulation.

It dripped so slow it ran 6' or so SOAKED the insulation drywall not really ruined...

Great... more $$.

I put on the new valves today and no more leaks...

This ended up costing like $500 or so (or will) in labor to repair it all

When you kill the power, open a low level faucet the relieve the water pressure and drain the lines.

I used to do this before all plumbing was fixed.
Now I just kill the power and leave the tank primed so I don't have to re-prime the well when I get here again... apparently I was wrong about the all being fixed... drip drip drip killed me!

Going go to check EVERYTHING again this morning to look for any leaks, and then kill power to well tonight and check for any drop in pressure tomorrow to be double sure.

I found a link under my kitchen sink (new) the white pipe that goes to the drain under the sink leaks around the white pipe that's tightened to the drain.... no gasket leak, no leak from stuff that I had to put together just this darn thing that I have NO idea why it's leaking.. tightened down with a wrench too.

Can you add a valve to the tank to keep something in it to keep it primed, while you cut the water to the rest of the house? Maybe you could put a heating coil in it to keep it from freezing?

Before we gutted our house (due to be finished in three weeks), I showed up one weekend and discovered I had a wading pool in the basement, due of course to a frozen and burst pipe. It burst in a room that we thought was heated. Anyway, instead of replacing the pipe, because it was just going to get ripped out for the renovation, we simply put two valves on the ends of the pipes. When I'd leave each time, I would cut all the water to the house, then drain everything through those two valves. Now, we have a spigot at a fairly low point, and better heating in the basement, so I'm much less worried.

Can you cement the joint at which there is a leak?

There is a valve at my house to turn water off for the entire house. I haven't tested it but if it's like any of the other ones it probably would drip drip too!!!

If I had thought any leak was possible I would have turned off the water and emptied but I was wrong : (

New valve in place, checked last night, and this AM so far so good

Pressure drop test tonight.

So, I discovered a drip every ~2-5minute in the SAME spot as my last problem. The sewer line joint that goes up into the bathroom is not sealed 100% !! I would have NEVER found this (well until my ceiling saturated and collapsed) had I not cleared out the drywall from my other leak.

Also, what's interesting is that it's coming from the sewer pipe but there is NOTHING on the 2nd story that drains into it yet. No shower, no toilet, no sink. So, the only thing I can think of is that since it's been RAINING TONS the few drips that get in the vent pipe (which is also above the sink on the 2nd story out the roof) are dripping down the pipe and out this joint that's not sealed.

Talk about bad luck, good luck and timing!

Had my other water leak from the sink not caused a seriously wet ceiling / insulation problem I would have never torn it out. Had I never done that I would have never opened up the ceiling where the sewage pipe was. Had it not rained all night last night I would not have known there was a problem with that sewer pipe. Had my wood floors been new / sealed properly I wouldn't have noticed the SMALL (50cent piece?) STAIN on the floor. A tiny puddle on a gloss/finished wood in a very cluttered under construction house would have been near impossible. In fact I think the puddle would have been there Thursday, Friday or Saturday had there not been a chair there with a towel on it I was drying in front of the fireplace (where this was).

So, I got SUPER lucky I even found this slight sewer leak!!

I also fixed the leak under my kitchen sink, all 3 of them. 1 of them my own fault for not glueing a piece in the p-trap!! REplaced a hose for another, and tightened the CRAP out of another hose.

Also found a puddle in the basement under my new shower... shower head pipe in the wall did not have thread sealant. Luckily we were only 2 showers into this and the floor under the shower will hopefully dry soon.

Water has been an issue!!!!! First our roof problems and now this.

OH, and to top off my ceiling damage leak... my backyard spigot that I turned off and turned off in the basement (secondary valve for cold weather) was not turned off, in fact it was leaking a STEADY STREAM of water (This was under 6ft of snow so I was not able to check.. I turned it off tight from under the deck and in the basement and never checked the flow as it was outside and it had turned off for me in the past just fine.) The snow was SO DEEEP because well we got 3ft in under 5 days and each time I shoveled it off the deck it went where this was as this was along the side of my deck.

SO, in the end if this hadn't leaked SO MUCH my ceiling would have probably been about 5x worse and I probably would have had to replace 10'+ of ceiling drywall insulation.

So, while so many problems were discovered in the last week they were kind of all for good reason in the end.

My outside spigot has a new valve on it.
Once I get some free time I`ll replace the valve in the basement. (Multiple ones I need to do actually the others are capped).

The well is off.
Current pressure 30psi.
No water leaks for last couple days.
I hope it's like that when I check again

You are not letting water freeze in the pipes are you Todd?

Rarely does it get "that" cold here.
Even when it snows it's in the 20's and during the day 32 or 33.

Lately... are you ready... 53*F yesterday and raining my 3ft of snow is dwindling fast!!

But no, I have all my pipes insulated very good