The Plumbing Problem Continues

"That's about the dumbest place they could have put it," the man said.

He worked for County Water, and it was a big tree.

A big tree that was planted decades ago directly over our water main.

It's grown since. The roots jut out of the ground and weave gnarled paths I have to steer the mower around. I've dug into them when gardening along the house. The mattock worked wonders when smaller tools could not prevail.

Carrie wanted to remove the tree before, but I said "next summer or spring."

Now that we have a leaking water main under it and a "fix in 14 days or we shut off your water" notice it's not going to wait.

Sherry, the plumber, was right.

Carrie collected quotes on what it would take to dig up and fix the leak. Insurance won't cover any excavation (aka fixing). The pipe is four feet down and under a tree and it's impossible to tell where the leak(s) could be without digging it all up.

The quote I heard was $5775.

Ouch.

There were others and we'll get a few more tomorrow. The quote in question involved running a new line to save time and money through bypassing the tree entirely.

Pop already loaned me his chain saw, so I'm thinking about going to work on it tomorrow. Carrie and Shane will be out of town and I'll need to keep myself busy. It may as well be doing something useful!

I need to talk more to our neighbors as well. The had a pipe burst in their yard last year. We talked to them today and heard that their other neighbor had a pipe burst on her the year before! That's three houses in a row.

My neighbor, Sheryl, said that the county had done some road work and then the pipes started busing. It could be coincidence since the houses on our street were all built at a similar time, or it could be being caused by something. Sheryl said something about the new copper pipes could be changing the pressure (I guess she heard it from the man who fixed her yard?), but I didn't really understand what she was saying.

I did clue in when she said "if two or three houses in a row get the same problem, maybe I'll talk to a lawyer." I'm not planning on moving for years to come, so we'll see where that goes down the line.

Sheryl and Lisa said they think the guy they used last year was cheaper than our quote, so we're going to keep shopping around.

Some of the damage in the basement (my guitar amp, the queen-sized futon, etc) will take a bite out of whatever we do pay. I like to think of it as we're stream-lining. Less junk to pay less for repairs.

I'm thankful that I have this sort of problem and not a "What will my family eat tomorrow" type of problem. Puts stuff in perspective, doesn't it?

Maybe I'll solve someone's "How will I put my kid through college" problem by picking them to fix the pipe!