Turns out that the name The Leak House was very appropriate for House #21…
We originally called it that due to the leak in the roof that had caused a bunch of sheetrock damage and had likely scared away lots of other buyers. But, it turns out that wasn’t the only leak that this house had…
We started the rehab this past Monday, and late that day we decided to turn on the water to make sure there were no plumbing issues. All the plumbing fixtures — sinks, faucets, toilets — had been removed during demo and all the water shutoff valves had been turned off at the fixtures, so we knew that if there were any leaks, it would have to be in the walls or with the water heater.
When we turned on the water at the meter, we immediately knew something was wrong — the meter has a little hand that spins if water is flowing into the house, and since all the shutoffs were off in the house, no water should have been flowing — but the hand was spinning. Not just that, but inside the house, we could hear water running…VERY LOUDLY!
About 5 of our contractors were running around the house trying to pinpoint the leak, and then I walked into the garage. The entire ceiling of the garage was leaking, and the sheetrock was already starting to bow and come apart at the seams. This was no small leak! We quickly turned the water off at the meter, and starting tearing down the garage ceiling.
In the ceiling was a copper supply line that appears to have burst during the cold weather. So, while we found the source of the problem, we had to tear down the entire ceiling in the garage.
Ultimately, it will cost us about $200 to replace the ceiling, another $500 to replace the water heater (the plumber found that was leaking as well), about $150 to repair the burst pipe and about $100 to rehang the garage door openers that we needed to pull down from the ceiling. So, on day one, we’ve already spent about $1000 that we hadn’t anticipated.
If this is the only surprise this house has to offer, I’ll be okay with that…
Does sound fun though!
Just be grateful it didn’t happen after you finished the house, sometime on a Friday or Saturday and have it flood the entire house and not get noticed until a neighbor sees water rushing out from beneath the front door on a Sunday morning. 🙁
Bet you’re glad you buy them right. I’m sure this didn’t phase you.
Danny
Like Danny said I had a leak pop up after rehab was done, fortunately it was somewhere underground beneatht the slab of the house because we could never find anything but the water bill came in at $200 !! Sure enough the water meter was spinning when nothing was running inside the house.
Ended up having to change the main water line from the meter to the house for about $800. Not an awful cost but an unexpected expense neverthless.