The leak detection guy came to the house today. He oddly reminded me of a better looking, younger Billy Crystal. Not as funny as Billy Crystal, but who is. The leak is under a boxwood bush by our front door. It cost $360 to confirm where the leak is located. The plumber charges $105 an hour for digging. I can save some money by digging it up myself. I went out with the lopping shears and cut off most of the branches as step one of the process.
I think the bush next to it will need to be removed too - better safe than sorry, since it's probably the roots of the plants that have wreaked this havoc unto me. It will be a slow job digging it out, because we'll need to be soooo careful not to cause worse damage. If the plant is just yanked out, it's going to rip the pipe out with it and we'd be without water until the plumber can fix it next week.
So it's going to be a painstaking excavation-type project. I'm not upset over losing the bush - it has gotten too big and blocks me from getting to the water faucet outside. But I didn't expect to do a bunch of gardening this weekend! I think it will be worth it though, because I can see taking the plant out could potentially take 2-3 hours x $105.
When I started cutting the plant, I kept hearing a squeal like sound that made me wonder if there was some kind of animal life lurking in the plant. I had to stop several times and look - thought maybe a bird nest, but didn't see anything. It was more than a little weird. Turns out it was just my sandals! That was my duh moment for the day.
Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to read my blog!
Showing posts with label home plumbing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home plumbing. Show all posts
Friday, June 15, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Water you talking about?
God has been really good to us this week.
He wanted to teach all of us to be thankful for the wonderful things we take for granted - like running water. We have a leak...the water is not leaking into the house but it probably would be if I didn't turn the water off at the meter. I have had two full days now of having plumbers come to the house and give estimates. Some of them don't just give estimates, some charge $25 for their estimate. They also let you know this after they've given the estimate. They tend to forget to tell those things before they come out to the house. I understand why they need to do that, I just like being told beforehand, otherwise I feel that I have been tricked a bit. I paid it, but it did make me a little bit more negative-minded toward their work proposal/bid. I am a little overly sensitive, but so often the little things like that tip you off to a company or person's overall credibility. Like they say, little things mean a lot.
All in all, being without water isn't too bad, I can turn on the water for washing dishes, doing laundry, and for showers. It's a matter of planning ahead, and I'm really thankful that I wasn't behind at all on laundry when all this started. It's a big inconvenience to our teenage daughters of course, and when one of them brought up what a pain this is, I filled them in on what people in our family in the not-so-distant past had to do to get water. They'd have to pull it up from a well, and then carry it, among other chores. All we have to do is turn the water on again at the meter.
So I think we can cope with it! My main concern is getting it fixed so it won't harm the house.
The two plumbers that I have narrowed the job down to have vastly different quotes. One will replace pipes with Polyethylene (also called PEX) for $1,850, and the other plumbing company would do it with copper for $3,200. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but I think the PEX will do the job for us. At first I wasn't going to hire a leak detection service, (tack on there another $325 for 2 hours with a $35 trip fee) ...it seems excessive, but I think now that I might have that done, just to make sure we get to the root of the problem. One of the most disconcerting things is having so many different opinions on the same problem. I do care a lot about the amount of money, but I know that cost isn't the only factor to be considered. I have spent a lot of time today reading about PEX versus Copper pipes, the pros and cons of each, and finding the most unbiased opinions I could. I think I know entirely too much about it now. I will be available for dissertations at universities on this topic within a few days. My brain can't stand to deal with much more about it. I am thunk out.
"Dangit Jim, I'm an artist not a plumber!" (that was added for benefit of Star Trek fans)
Now...If the Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol would show up on my porch the same day the plumbers are here to do the work, that would be great. Just a little hint there...just throwing that out into the world wide web....
He wanted to teach all of us to be thankful for the wonderful things we take for granted - like running water. We have a leak...the water is not leaking into the house but it probably would be if I didn't turn the water off at the meter. I have had two full days now of having plumbers come to the house and give estimates. Some of them don't just give estimates, some charge $25 for their estimate. They also let you know this after they've given the estimate. They tend to forget to tell those things before they come out to the house. I understand why they need to do that, I just like being told beforehand, otherwise I feel that I have been tricked a bit. I paid it, but it did make me a little bit more negative-minded toward their work proposal/bid. I am a little overly sensitive, but so often the little things like that tip you off to a company or person's overall credibility. Like they say, little things mean a lot.
All in all, being without water isn't too bad, I can turn on the water for washing dishes, doing laundry, and for showers. It's a matter of planning ahead, and I'm really thankful that I wasn't behind at all on laundry when all this started. It's a big inconvenience to our teenage daughters of course, and when one of them brought up what a pain this is, I filled them in on what people in our family in the not-so-distant past had to do to get water. They'd have to pull it up from a well, and then carry it, among other chores. All we have to do is turn the water on again at the meter.
So I think we can cope with it! My main concern is getting it fixed so it won't harm the house.
The two plumbers that I have narrowed the job down to have vastly different quotes. One will replace pipes with Polyethylene (also called PEX) for $1,850, and the other plumbing company would do it with copper for $3,200. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but I think the PEX will do the job for us. At first I wasn't going to hire a leak detection service, (tack on there another $325 for 2 hours with a $35 trip fee) ...it seems excessive, but I think now that I might have that done, just to make sure we get to the root of the problem. One of the most disconcerting things is having so many different opinions on the same problem. I do care a lot about the amount of money, but I know that cost isn't the only factor to be considered. I have spent a lot of time today reading about PEX versus Copper pipes, the pros and cons of each, and finding the most unbiased opinions I could. I think I know entirely too much about it now. I will be available for dissertations at universities on this topic within a few days. My brain can't stand to deal with much more about it. I am thunk out.
"Dangit Jim, I'm an artist not a plumber!" (that was added for benefit of Star Trek fans)
Now...If the Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol would show up on my porch the same day the plumbers are here to do the work, that would be great. Just a little hint there...just throwing that out into the world wide web....
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