Another Leak!?

In my last post I’d mentioned how we had a leak and didn’t know exactly the culprit. I’ve learned a few things since then. One, is submitting a claim online with the warranty company does nothing. I waited 5 days after opening the claim to call and see what the hold up was. It was them, their system, because the minute I called they had a plumber contacted and scheduled for the next day. Lesson learned, CALL, don’t do it online. Two, is that it’s the shower drain leaking and it’s not covered by the warranty. The cost for the repair will be almost six hundred dollars! Ugh 😑

The house we bought is on a septic, not city sewer. This is a new experience for us and it stinks… literally. There is a delicate balance when it comes to a septic tank. Too much water, bleach or antibacterial call kill the natural bacteria system and causes it to smell. Of course, we didn’t do any research, we just start pouring bleach and vinegar down the drains, making matters worse. Mitch thought it could be the washing machine drain, so he removed the drain hose, and decided to pour bleach down the laundry sink.

I focused on unpacking more boxes in the bedroom and decided to do a load of laundry. It was about 7 pm last night 5/12/22 and it Was Eli’s turn to make dinner. Hamburger helper with peas and corn was on the menu. I’d just proposed the idea that who ever cooks the meal gets to decide where we eat. The options are the new dinner table, the living room to watch a show or the back patio.

Everyone liked the idea and I headed towards the bedroom to find my phone (I misplace it at LEAST 5 times a day) as I step towards the laundry room a wave of water greets my feet! “Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!” I say, Panic stricken I’m frozen in disbelief. It’s coming from the laundry room! The entire laundry room, part of the dining room (both tile) and a small portion of our bedroom (carpet) under a 1/4” of water! By this time Mitch, Eli and Angel come to see what I’m oh shitting about. Mitch turns off the washing machine, I go get a mop and bucket, and everyone else runs to grab towels.

With the abundance of water, Mitch decides to grab his shop vac as Angela kept soaking up water with the towels. Eli, Nettie and I address the bedroom carpet, chasing the water and moving the furniture. The water ran the whole back side of the wall, all the way to where it had leaked before. Oh bother!

My day of progress organizing the bedroom, the feeling of getting things put together diminished and once again we were in crisis mode. Mitch came in with our trusty orange Rigid shop vac to suck up remaining water. He has it running in a matter of seconds, while we all are still diligently doing our part. In his frustration, he asks, “what else can go wrong!?” Suddenly, a strange chemical/electrical smell fills the house. A grey haze of smoke floats through the air and I step out of the bedroom to see what the smell is. The smoke detectors begin going off throughout the house. I stood there, fingers plugging my ears, trying to lessen the volume. I look around at the family, as Mitch, continues to feverishly vacuuming up the water. Every single one of us had a questioning look on our faces.

Suddenly, Sparks began shooting out of the top of the vacuum! Then a flame darts out of top followed by more sparks! I yell, “shut it off! Shut it off!” Mitch, not even close to the power switch or the outlet, yells, “I can’t get to it!” Sparks, flames and smoke begin to overtake the top of the shop vac when it finally registers in my mind that the power switch is within my reach. I step forward to shut it off, but in my panic I shut it off, turn it on and shut it off. Mitch steps in to shut it off, inadvertently turning it on, more sparks fly and then finally shuts it off. At exactly that moment, Angela gets to the outlet and unplugs it.

The adrenaline subsides, we all breath a sign of relief, once again, without having to speak a word, we were all thinking, that was a close call. Thank God, that could’ve been so bad! Mitch takes the shop vac, throws it in the front yards and comes back to continue cleaning. We open all the doors and windows, place box fans at each exit and get back to cleaning up the water.

As the excitement dissipates, we begin to talk about what’s causing the this new leak. Mitch speaks up, stating, “that was me, it was my fault. I pulled out the washing machine drain hose out behind the washing machine to see where the smell was coming from, then I got sidetracked, pouring bleach down the laundry drain. I totally forgot to put back the drain hose and someone did laundry.” Yup, I did the laundry.

Saturday night, after having fans blowing on the bedroom carpet all night and all day, today we were able to return the furniture back to their proper location.

The eBay store is back up for business as we organized and cleared out a CRV load of donated items.

I’m sitting on the back porch at 7:42 pm, it’s now Sunday evening and Mitch is still trying to fix the stink. We got rid-x (septic treatment) today in the mail, followed the directions, but there’s still a lingering smell. Not just a little smell, it’s a putrid, nauseating order that keeps emitting from the laundry room, and sometimes it would engulf the whole house. Especially when a load of clothes are washed. We’ve cleaned the washing machine, Tried to chase the smell, light candles, kept the door shut, and all the while I’m certain it had to be the septic. Mitch, on the other hand isn’t so sure it’s septic. He’s been on the roof trying to snake the vent pipe, called a friend looking for ideas and is now in the house snaking the laundry sink drain.

He decides to check the floor drain in the laundry after snaking the sink. Especially since it didn’t drain when we had our latest flood…could it be? Maybe that’s why the toilets aren’t flushing right? The tub isn’t draining very fast? Could it all be connected? He hit drain clog gold! Warning, unpleasant photo to follow.

I chase him around trying to get more pictures of his find so I can share it with everyone.

He snaked the drain one last time, and states that it already smelled better. Nothing else came up the second time around and we began wondering if that’s why things weren’t working right. I couldn’t wait, I run to our bathroom and flush the toilet… it swirled! My man fixed it! I am so glad he kept looking and found the problem.

What a relief, one problem solved. Way to go hubby! The plumber comes tomorrow to fix the shower. On to finding our curtains, getting blinds for our bedroom patio door and getting our drivers license. Oh and keep on keepin on.