The Hot Spot

Just before the weekend we started noticing how warm the tile was in the entryway. At first it was interesting, but then our actual brains kicked in and we both realized it couldn't possibly be a good thing. I called the city Monday morning and asked them if the water meter would be running if everything was turned off and they said no and told me what to look for. Sure enough, I went out there and the thing was turning and everything was off. The only thing that made sense was that the hot water pipe between the hot water heater and the guest bathroom was leaking. This wouldn't be so horrible in a pier and beam house, but we have a slab foundation (my first - my first two houses were pier and beam). So I called the plumber guy that my shower guy had recommended a while back to replace my shut-off valves when I was replacing the faucets in the master bathroom. As soon as I said, "Hot spot," he said "Oh no!" He also said:

1. That meant the hot water was leaking into the slab


2. Insurance companies only cover water damage and floor replacement


3. They charge $1,450 per day for this work


4. If I called my insurance on this after the shower and the roof damage this year I might lose my homeowners insurance.

After all my initial freaking out I have, as usual decided to look at the bright side. The bright side things are:

1. They will not have to dig all through our floors to find and fix this leak because,


2. They can cap that pipe off and reroute that water through our attic, and


3. Although they have to tear out the wall behind the water heater and behind the bathroom sinks,


4. The one wall is in the garage and the other wall is in the cat room closet.


5. They don't do any wall repair work, but that is something I can do myself

For some reason I did not address the shower with the guy, but the wall behind the shower is in a large storage cabinet, so that should not be a giant problem. I guess the main part I am dreading is having to get up early and have all these people in my house although I really like the main plumber guy named David. I may have posted about him when he was here before but I don't remember. The cat room closet is where we keep two of the litter boxes so we will have to move everything out of there Wednesday night.

David said it should be done in 4 to 8 hours. I have a plan to make sure they fix everything in one day. I am going to make a crockpot stroganoff that morning. The smell of cooking food all day will make them want to hurry to get home to eat and will make them want to do a good job because it will feel all homey. I hope.

Because I do Meals on Wheels on Wednesdays, this will all be done on Thursday. I'm okay about it now. Although it's going to cost around $1700. THAT part sucks. At least on Wednesday I will have my catfish. I like to have things to look forward to.