“Merry Christmas!” said the pipe under my sink. “I’m all rusty and don’t feel like holding water in anymore. Were you planning to clean the kitchen floor on Christmas Day?”
So, yeah, that happened. I had just finished washing dishes after making eggnog pancakes and a side of bacon for Christmas morning when I realized I could still hear water running, other than the cats’ water fountain in the room. I doublechecked that I hadn’t somehow started the dishwasher, then opened the cabinet doors to look under the sink. That resulted in water spurting at a diagonal across the room while I scrambled to pull things out from under the sink – in addition to obvious thinks like the dishwasher soap (which really shouldn’t get wet until you’re ready to use it!), our collection of Ziploc bags in their now-slightly soggy boxes were under there.
Then I tried turning every valve I found under the sink, hoping one of them would actually affect the water pressure. No luck. I wrapped a rag around the leak, preventing it from leaving the cabinet at least, and looked behind the pipe, just in case. I vaguely remembered one of the workers over the summer – I think the one who replaced our water softener – showing me the water shut-off for the entire house. That worked… except I didn’t realize it because there was still water in the pipes that needed to be drained. It took a couple emergency runs from family members before I realized the draining part. The photo above was taken at a point when the water was off and drained. The actual fix took a professional about 30 minutes the next day.
But “my pipe rusted through and leaked” isn’t the title of this post. I noticed the problem as soon as it started because I know what the normal house sounds are. Right now, I can hear the cats’ fountain, the hum from the vents, and the sounds of the furnace running in the garage (it’s just through the wall I’m facing). Two weeks ago, when a light switch broke, I knew that switching off the breaker that affected part of that switch (it’s a weird kitchen & garage switch) would turn off all of the kitchen lights, even though the kitchen is on two different breakers and some of the lights are on the other side of the room. That’s part of our house’s “normal.”
It’s similar to identifying a problem with your car because it doesn’t sound or feel right… normal is what you’re used to, and it can help you identify problems before they become worse. Particularly with a house, it will take a bit of time to identify what counts as normal, but it’s worth learning. If I hadn’t noticed the problem as soon as it happened, I would have been dealing with a lot more water where it didn’t belong. For those times when something isn’t normal, it’s useful to have information handy for companies that handle plumbing, appliance, and electrical problems, and a general handyman, so you’re ready for any issue that arises.