This is the Message Centre for Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

Watery shenanigans

Post 1

Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

Reading Hyp's journal about her hot water joys, I thought I'd post about my adventure yesterday.

As you may know, we've got a garden going this year. I've now got soaker hoses in all 3 beds, but have been having to shift the solid hose between them, which means watering takes forever (for a child's definition of forever--3 hours). A friend had given us a few hundred feet of hose (with no ends on it) last year, and adding hose fittings to hosepipe is a skill I already possess, so I've been meaning to get everything all set up so that all 3 beds can be watered simultaneously (our water pressure's high enough for it--I have to be careful how high I turn it on sometimes). I also need to shorten the hoses in 2 of the beds, and actually have a use for the ends--the big bed needs about 2 more feet, and I can loop the other extra bit around the watermelon plants, which are at the other end of the yard. But that doesn't have anything to do with the story...

Anyway, I noticed that the main hose that goes from the faucet to the connector to the long hose was overgrown with grass, and that I might be able to get a couple more feet worth of length if it were straightened out. So, I tugged on it, which released a few feet. I tugged again, and I only had about a yard to go. I hadn't shifted my standing place, and still didn't want to, so I gave a mighty tug.

And then I had a fountain under the house.


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Post 2

Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

I need to get ready for work--I'll write more later, if anyone's interested.


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Post 3

Witty Moniker

*Waits anxiously for the next episode.*


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Post 4

There is only one thing worse than being Gosho, and that is not being Gosho

Oh bother.


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Post 5

Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

So, anyway, there was water gushing under the house. Tom was out of town, out of cell phone service, so I couldn't panic at him. Fortunately, our neighbor, who is a good friend of ours (knew him before we bought the house) *and* knows how to do home repairs, was outside, so I called him over.

First step, of course, was to find the water shut-off. We checked at the water meter outside the fence, but that would've taken a wrench bigger than we had available. So we looked in the yard and J turned the water off (while we were looking, I tried calling Tom to see if he knew where the shut-off was, and that's when I learned he'd already arrived in a no-cell zone). Once J could actually see, he found that the pvc pipe had broken inside a fitting. After a few different wrenches were tried, the fitting was removed, and off I went to the nearest hardware store, while J watched PaperKid, Notepad, and a couple of neighborhood kids trying to find ripe cherries to pick. The first hardware store was out of the part I needed, so I went to the, which did have the part (J had pvc cement, so I didn't have to get any). J glued everything together, let me know that I only needed to let it sit for 10 minutes before the joint could take pressure, and the cement would be fully dry in 24 hours--and then left (probably to go meet C, his girlfriend). I waited a bit linger, to be sure, then had one of the kids go 'round to the back of the house so they could tell me if the fountain started up again when I turned the water on.

There was no fountain.

Unfortunately, that was because there was no water.

Off I went to Google. Everything I found pretty much said that a plumber would be needed, and maybe the city to turn the water off. By the time Tom got home, I was in full-on "I managed to cost us $500 by tugging on a hose!" mode. Tom pointed out that we have homeowners insurance, so I called in a claim. After I got off the phone, Tom wanted me to show him again what wasn't working right (I'd shown him, with much drama, as soon as he got out of the truck). He tried the valve...

And water started flowingsmiley - wow

smiley - doh

Yeah, J has stronger hands than I do, and so that was why I could only turn the valve an inch or so--not far enough to do anything. All the sites where I read that gate valves suck *did* say that, when the valve fails, the handle spins with no resistance, while ours was only turning a little. But, since I couldn't find anything that matched, I was going with the closest I could find...

So Google the Plumber is almost as dangerous as Dr. Google (except no possible life-threatening consequences).

And the claim has been cancelledsmiley - ok


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Post 6

Baron Grim

The insurers will be overjoyed. smiley - winkeye


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Post 7

Gingersnapper+Keeper of the Cookie Jar and Stuff and Nonsense

~ ~ ~ Saw this ~ Thought of you ~ ~ ~
http://www.randomgardening.blogspot.com/2014/06/wrangling-garden-hoses.html


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Post 8

Willem

I'm very happy you managed to get everything fixed without having to pay a fortune Amy!


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Post 9

Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

Me too! Could've done with the realization that someone half again as large as I am might possibly have closed something too tight for me to open *before* calling the insurance company, or even before the whole dramatic bit, but oh, wellsmiley - smiley


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