Friday, June 22, 2007

Leak update

My choice to brace myself for the worst was a good one. The plumber says that the leak is somewhere along the main water line and rather than digging along that line until he finds the leak (which would risk puncturing the sewer line underneath), he recommends just REPLACING THE WHOLE WATER MAIN. Ouch.

We did some investigating into the history of the water bills in this house. The meter was read on May 25th and was the normal amount of water for a quarter. (I guess they're only read every quarter.) Then it was read again June 20th (the day we moved in) and it had already used as much water as the previous quarter. Something obviously happened between May 25th and June 20th. Our inspection was on May 23rd and also found nothing wrong.

We've worked with the previous owners and they have agreed to split the cost 50/50 with us as long as their portion doesn't far exceed what the plumbers estimated it would cost. That was nice of them to work with us on it. It's still discouraging, but I'm over most of the drama.

Here is what the hole looks like for now.
Tomorrow it will only get
worse before it gets better.
Wish us luck.

4 comments:

Sandy said...

Oh man! I totally feel for you! In yet another Twilight Zone similarity (except ours is a rental so we didn't have to pay for it), we had our water main replaced last week, too:) And we're trying to move. So you need to have something really great happen to you so it'll happen in parallel to us, too!!

Hang in there -- it'll be over before you know it, and look on the bright side - you'll have a new water main, so you shouldn't have to worry about anymore, right??

Anonymous said...

Oh kids, that's too bad! I'm so glad the previous owners are splitting it with you 50/50 and can't believe you've been able to post in the midst of the move.
Good luck tomorrrow - Drew - that's such a sad picture of the back of your head gazing into the murky waters of the broken water main - it's such a helpless feeling and oh my gosh, such a pain to spend money on stuff like that - it should just take care of itself.

Good luck - we'll call tomorrow and hope we can reach you in person - can't wait to hear what you're doing and how the kids like everything.
Love of love,
Mom and dad Sweat

Anonymous said...

That's so frustrating. I hate spending money on things like that. I'm glad the former owners are splitting the cost. The former owner of our house (who didn't even live here, she bought it for her daughter) took some things that were specifically mentioned in the contract to stay here and she was terrible to work with. She wouldn't return either our agent or her agent's calls and was very annoying. Oh well, such is life, and everything will work out.

Anonymous said...

I think both you and the former owners are to be commended for the way all parties are handling this unfortunate situation. The world is full of people who would rather go to court than do what all of you have done. Congratulations to all concerned.
And remember, there is a great deal of truth to the old saying "It's only money."