Today Joe, Zac, and myself went down to the shop, where we had a big old time continuing to empty out the old back of the middle bay.
As we were truffling loads from the shop to the trailer, I noticed a slight puddle forming in the doorway between the two rooms. Interesting, I said something to Joe, who had no idea, and then to Zac, who had no idea. Zac walked over and cleared the area a bit, and sure enough, there was a copper pipe plumbed in the door jam between bay 2 and 3. Who knew? And then, who knew it had water running in it? Then, who knew the water had frozen and was now thawing before our very own eyes? And the pipe was bursting/had burst while we were working!?
I got a sheet from the other room and tried to compress it and stop the slow flow, and we ignored it again for a little while. Zac had left his tools at home, so he didn’t have the wrench it would have taken to turn the water off at the street. We schlepped a few more loads, and I notice the puddle increasing, so I tell him, why not go get your tools. What if this got worse? So Joe and I go and sit on the green couch and eat some chex mix with our dirty hands, and drink a root beer. Hmmmmmm. I just have to watch this variable in my life. What if? I don’t want to be the asshole with a flooded building. I go in there and lift the sheet, and sure, it is flowing out pretty steadily. And then more, and more. As if my curiosity had allowed the pipe to finally leak to its potential. I stand there, and nervously ask Joe some inane questions, like, should I call Zack Dryden? Should we do something? Something? I have to look again, I look down and lift the sheet, BLAMMO! Right in the eye! Apparently, Joe thought this was funny enough to suppress his laughter, but I, on the other hand was tense. Super tense. And although I wouldn’t have minded his laughter, was way too focused on being stressed to enjoy myself at that moment. It felt like Zac was taking FOREVER.
I pressed harder, with my feet. With my finite amount of weight. There is water flowing in every direction, under the tin ceiling pile, under the wood pile, under the (hold your breath) BROKEN PIANOS!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Finally, I see the river of paint chips cease to drift, and I know the water is done flowing for now. I dismount my heroic pile of sheet, and assess the damage. OH! Guess what! It all flowed UNDER the building, through one of the gazillion holes in the floor! Oh!
Whew. My real question now, what would have happened had we not been there? Would the flow have continued for days? Running up the utilities like a teenager with daddy’s credit card? I hate to think of it. Luckily we were there to witness the flow, and stop it. More mysteries of the building. Water pipes in door frames. Hmmmmmmm.
Queen of the leaky pipes