A Flood!

You can always tell when something is really wrong by the tone of voice your child uses when she calls out "Mom!" That is how I knew this was a real problem when Jessica called my name last evening. Then I heard it! What was it? Water... water under pressure... like the sound it makes when you are filling the bathtub... Water! Gushing and rushing in my upstairs bathroom. Oh No!

The pipe to the far right is the one that separated at the t-connector.

I rushed to my bathroom and found an eight foot tall fountain happily spraying my wall and ceiling. I quickly squatted and reached for the shut-off valve. It hasn't been used for a while so it was stiff and I couldn't remember at first which way to turn it. As my fingers began to freeze and grow numb I finally got it turned off.

Through the hole in the floor that the pipe originates there was a great river rushing into the ceiling downstairs. Emily and Parker-Daniil quickly rushed downstairs to assess the damage as Jessica and I began moving things and sopping up water. Downstairs they discovered water in the bathroom and Emily's bedroom (which is currently being used as the storage room). A ceiling tile and a the attendant insulation were acting like a sponge and getting heavier all the time. A moment later a crash and yell let me know that they had indeed come down.

As soon as Jessica had the water under control up here I reached for the phone and called Jessie at work. I wanted to let him know what had happened and find out if there was anything else I needed to do about the water. Beyond explaining what had happened and where the the pipe had separated, we were good.

So, once the mess was cleaned up we employed our new space heater and dried out the plywood on the floor. Presto! All is good once again and Jessie will be fixing the pipe today so we have cold water upstairs again. Downstairs the cleaning detail resulted in more clutter control in the storage room and a replacement tile in the bathroom ceiling. Whew! Never a dull moment around here...