What a night... (A bad one)
- Thread starter R_einan
- Start date
nhdiesel
Member
That really *****! It's amazing how much water can come out of a small line. I had a boiler outage call at a large local company. I traced it to low water in the buffer tank (wood pellet boilers). I asked their maintenance people if they had any leaks...nope. I did some more diagnosing...definitely a lot of water missing somewhere. Another guy came in...I asked him. Nope, no leak. Well...except a small one they had overnight. Oh? Tell me more. Turns out a line leaked in another part of the building. They thought they only lost 50-100 gallons of water. Nope. The 4 THOUSAND gallon buffer tank was almost empty, along with two large heating loops of 4" pipe. And of course the makeup valve stuck, so it didn't compensate.
They learned just how much water can come out of a small line overnight. The water had gone down a drain so they had only estimated how much had come out.
Jim
They learned just how much water can come out of a small line overnight. The water had gone down a drain so they had only estimated how much had come out.
Jim
Sorry to hear about that. I know how you feel with my recent mold situation in the attic but also many years ago the water line to the ice maker broke. Woke up to wet soaking wet floors.
Good luck and hope it all works out. At least homeowners is stepping up. Just found out today that insurance dosen't cover mold issues with no specific direct cause/failure.
Good luck and hope it all works out. At least homeowners is stepping up. Just found out today that insurance dosen't cover mold issues with no specific direct cause/failure.
Our fridge came with the option of an automatic ice maker. I declined it. Those parts and lines on it are way too fragile looking. I just have a couple of ice cube trays.
Plus usually people use saddle valves to install them. Those are junk.
Well, I met them today while I was on my lunch, moisture meter still pegged on all the walls. They are waiting on the adjuster and the asbestos test (house built in '75, unsure when the basement was finished) before any more cutting of drywall. They have an air scrubber, 2 dehumidifiers, and a TON of fans going down there. I guess we are just in a holding pattern waiting for things to dry, which *****, so much humidity in my house right now, all my windows are steamed over. Doesn't help it is 20 degrees out right now.
I'm going to call the insurance again tomorrow and give them a little nudge to try and get this going a bit faster.
Thanks again for all the advise and positive thoughts, it's much appreciated.
I'm going to call the insurance again tomorrow and give them a little nudge to try and get this going a bit faster.
Thanks again for all the advise and positive thoughts, it's much appreciated.
toyotadriver
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
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Dennis Leigh Henry
Well-known member
R einan, hope all works out for you.. A real bummer for sure. Good luck getting it behind you..
My uncle had a toilet tank crack once, blamed it on us because we had just stayed there.. caused some tension between us, but he and my father did the abatement work. He caught it before it flooded much other than upstairs carpet.. The floorboards did warp but with a bit of creative Sawzall work, it was remedied quickly.
I need to check into those Water Cops.. sounds like good cheap protection...
My uncle had a toilet tank crack once, blamed it on us because we had just stayed there.. caused some tension between us, but he and my father did the abatement work. He caught it before it flooded much other than upstairs carpet.. The floorboards did warp but with a bit of creative Sawzall work, it was remedied quickly.
I need to check into those Water Cops.. sounds like good cheap protection...
nonhog
Well-known member
Did you check out my link? I see he is only on the wet side. Just wonder if anyone over the mountains uses similar technology?
Good luck on a speedy recovery!
brycez28
Well-known member
A few years ago, my aunt and uncle were away for a couple weeks, Christmas vacation. Every couple days a neighbor was going to their house to feed the cats. Christmas day they go in and the floor is wet. Traced it to the 500 gallon fish tank my aunt had, the line for the water filter fell out and pumped almost all of the water to the floor. Ruined the living room flooring, kitchen flooring, ran down into the finished basement and wrecked the sealing, walls, flooring and furniture. Insurance paid them something around $20/hr for initial cleanup efforts before a professional service was able to be on site. At the end, the total claim was close to $40k and my aunt got rid of the fish (tank is built into the wall).
My house is built on piers with a 3' crawl space and the bottom of the floor joists are covered with osb and cellulose insulation blown in between the joists. So, If I ever had a flooded house, the repairs would be even worse because in addition to everything that you would have to do on a house built on a slab, I would also have to tear out and replace all of that joist insulation.
When designing the house, I pondered for quite a while on a solution to deal with such a catastrophe. I considered water alarms, pump control circuits (water is from a well with a submersible pump), and any other thing that I could think of.
I finally decided on a basic 'manual' strategy that has worked out well and is about as foolproof a solution as you can get.
At the water pressure tank in the utility room, I have a shutoff valve to shut off the water supply to all the house. I also have the pump (120VAC) plugged into its own dedicated wall outlet.
So, anytime I leave the house, I simply shut the valve and unplug the pump.
I even shut the valve at night before going to bed.
Wife thought this was ridiculous until our pastors house was flooded during the night because the toilet line failed. It happens. I had a washer hose fail in a previous house, but fortunately, I was home and shut off the water after just a couple of minutes.
If it has never happened to you, it's something you usually don't even consider until it's too late.
Another advantage of plugging in the pump is that I can completely isolate it from the electrical panel during the frequent thunderstorms we have in this area.
When designing the house, I pondered for quite a while on a solution to deal with such a catastrophe. I considered water alarms, pump control circuits (water is from a well with a submersible pump), and any other thing that I could think of.
I finally decided on a basic 'manual' strategy that has worked out well and is about as foolproof a solution as you can get.
At the water pressure tank in the utility room, I have a shutoff valve to shut off the water supply to all the house. I also have the pump (120VAC) plugged into its own dedicated wall outlet.
So, anytime I leave the house, I simply shut the valve and unplug the pump.
I even shut the valve at night before going to bed.
Wife thought this was ridiculous until our pastors house was flooded during the night because the toilet line failed. It happens. I had a washer hose fail in a previous house, but fortunately, I was home and shut off the water after just a couple of minutes.
If it has never happened to you, it's something you usually don't even consider until it's too late.
Another advantage of plugging in the pump is that I can completely isolate it from the electrical panel during the frequent thunderstorms we have in this area.
dave*99
Well-known member
Many years ago I was standing in the family room waiting for everyone to get their coats on so we could all leave for a few hours. I heard a loud hiss from the laundry room. Washing machine was running. Hot water hose burst. It ran for maybe two minutes.
All I can say is if we had left as planned, wow it would have been a huge mess.
I have stainless braided hoses now. And I turn the water off when I leave for extended periods.
Of course Hurricane Sandy blessed me with 6 inches of water on the entire first floor. So I feel your pain.
All I can say is if we had left as planned, wow it would have been a huge mess.
I have stainless braided hoses now. And I turn the water off when I leave for extended periods.
Of course Hurricane Sandy blessed me with 6 inches of water on the entire first floor. So I feel your pain.
redmondjp
Well-known member
Not a bad idea - may I suggest that if you want to keep disconnecting your pump on a nightly basis, to install a motor-rated switch or disconnect? Using the receptacle daily will wear it out (contacts will eventually lose their spring force and you'll get a high-resistance connection). For that size load, they make heavy-duty or motor-rated toggle switches.
Google "motor-rated toggle switch" to see what is available - $15-25 at your local home center or electrical supply house.
Another option would be to install a heavy-duty timer (not a plug-in style) that has a horsepower rating on it suitable for your pump. For reference, look up the Intermatic WH40 timer - it's rated for resistive loads - you would want something similar to this that is motor-rated.
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wssix99
Well-known member
Wow. I've had some of those tank fittings break on me like that before from over-tightening but they all expressed a slow leak when the crack started. That burst is surprising to me - I'd check water pressures as others have mentioned.
Here are the Watts FloodSafe hoses... http://media.wattswater.com/F-FloodSafe.pdf
What have you heard about them? Flexible supply lines scare the *&^% out of me. Due to the design of our toilets, we had to use them and couldn't go with solid tubes. I would install these FloodSafe valves in a heartbeat if they work.
66HertzClone
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Make sure you house has a water pressure regulator and check to see what the actual water pressure is - no reason for it to be over 80 psi
Also a lot of older houses use those 'saddle' type valves for adding a line for an ice maker, etc which now a days is a no no
Also a lot of older houses use those 'saddle' type valves for adding a line for an ice maker, etc which now a days is a no no
manwithtools
ALLIANCE MEMBER
You need more than a look at the meter. You need a tattle tale gauge that will register the highest pressure since you reset it last. They are less than $20. You might be surprised what the highest pressure reached during a 24 hour period.
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