Damn you, plumbing! Damn you all to hell!

from JoeUser Forums

I live in a house that was built in the 50's.  This house is scheduled for demolition in the next 2 years - after they've built nice new houses to move us all into - so they're not looking to do a whole lot of renovation in these places. The lights dim when the heating or a/c kicks in, and the plumbing...well, it leaves a lot to be desired.

After a particularly stressful day last week, I decided that I was going to take a nice relaxing bath.  I started the water running, took off my clothes and wrapped myself in a towel whilst I waited for the tub to fill.  As I was reaching down to turn the bath water off, the hose that supplies water to the toilet tank broke away and started spraying cold, high pressure water all over the bathroom.

It was under such pressure that it hit the ceiling.  I tried the best I could to aim the hose over the tub so that it wouldn't spray all over the bathroom with one hand whilst trying to turn the shut-off valve with the other.  Remember, now, I'm only wearing a towel.

The shut off valve was stuck.  It's been stuck since we moved in despite our asking maintenance to come by and un-stick it.  Because the valve was stuck, I had to use both hands to try and force it.  Which meant letting go of the hose.  Which meant getting water all over the bathroom.

I grabbed my cell phone and called for help.  They said they'd be there in a bit.  A BIT!!!???  The whole fekkin' house could be flooded in 'a bit'!!!!!!!

There I am, cell phone in one hand, a hose that's spraying water all over the place in the other, dressed in a towel that by now is drenched, my ass hanging out as I'm bending over trying to control as much as I can, water dripping off my hair and nose and ears and elbows.....it wasn't pretty.  Not at all.

You know that super-human strength people talk about getting when they're in a crisis?  Yeah, I know all about that now.  After much wrenching, I finally got it shut off.  But not before I had ankle deep water on the floor, had saturated a number of books, 4 toilet rolls and the bath rugs.

I used ALL the towels and half the spare blankets in the linen closet to get the worst of it mopped up, and grabbed a t shirt and shorts to wear for when the maintenence men showed up.

Half an hour later, they come to the door...with a plunger in their hands.  A plunger.  Like I'm some poor little woman who doesn't know the difference between a clogged up pot and a hose breaking loose.  Then, he said that the water dripping from the ceiling was 'cool', and made a comment about duct-taping the hose back up again.

Words were exchanged - actually, he didn't say much, it was me that had a LOT to say, and none  of it was very nice.  I wanted to shove the plunger up his ass, actually, and I almost told him as much.  Anyway, I held back as much as I could, he fixed the toilet and then left me to finish the clean up.

It took me ages.  I had to wring out some of the towels to reuse them, then I had to start a load of laundry so the kids would have clean dry towels to shower with the next morning.

I hate these houses.  I hate that they take $1100 a month for this shit-hole that wouldn't fetch $700 a month on the open market.  I hate that they won't do proper maintenance on these houses because they're going to get torn down, that they simply rig stuff and hope that it holds (they no longer carry the part for the toilet that broke, so they used another part that just so happened to fit.  Who knows how long it will last).  I hate that nothing works the way it's supposed to, that everything has to be jiggled or tweaked or tapped before it opens or runs or turns the way it's supposed to.  I hate that they give us 30 days notice to move into town - and that BAH is paid in arrears.  That means that even if we had wanted to move off base, we couldn't have.  We would have had to come up with deposit for the new place, first month's rent, deposits for all the utilities....we estimated that we'd need $4000 in order to do it.  I don't know of any TechSgt with 3 kids and a stay at home mom who can come up with $4000 2 weeks before Christmas.  So, there are now a bunch of people living in these shit-holes who WANT to live elsewhere but can't because they weren't really given enough notice that this privatisation was going to happen.

But wait, there's more....

This afternoon, the drain in my laundry room started backing up whenever the washer goes into drain and spin mode.  I had water all over the laundry room floor this afteroon.  So, now I have to call them AGAIN and have them come out AGAIN to rig something so it lasts a little bit longer because they don't want to fix things properly because these houses are getting knocked down.

$1100 a month for this. 

Un-fekkin-real.

 

misc
4,571 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Not a fun tale at all Dharma, I hope it gets better quickly for you.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I had water all over the laundry room floor this afteroon. So, now I have to call them AGAIN and have them come out AGAIN to rig something so it lasts a little bit longer because they don't want to fix things properly because these houses are getting knocked down.


Watch this, if it starts backing up other places, you've probably got a backed up main going out, and can relieve the pressure. Somewhere outside, probably near a water faucet is a white plug with a big square on the top. Unscrew this, and if the main drain is backed up outside of the house it will come out here. Of course this is only a temporary fix, and it means you're dumping your sewer on the lawn, but at least you can use a little water without flooding the house.

Been there, done that. I wish you luck.
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top

Somewhere outside, probably near a water faucet is a white plug with a big square on the top.

I know exactly where that is.  Thanks!

Not a fun tale at all Dharma

Ah, it's alright.  It's pretty funny to think of it now, actually.

Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
I know about the $1100/mo. thing. I was living in an apartment where the ceiling (yes, the ceiling) above the bathtub literally fell into the tub from a longstanding leak from the apartment upstairs. It took the apartment complex two months to fix it.

I almost got arrested for "tresspassing" when I went to the complex office and bitched out the site manager. I feel your pain Dharma. I feel your pain.

-- B
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top

almost got arrested for "tresspassing" when I went to the complex office and bitched out the site manager. I feel your pain Dharma. I feel your pain.

Yeah, if they gove me some shite about it talking 5 days before they can come and fix my laundry room drain...then I might be making a single phone call from jail tomorrow night because I marched my happy ass over to the maintenance shop and caused a disturbance.  I'm fekkin' sick of being fobbed off.  I've got 3 kids, I use the washer almost daily in order to keep up, so they can either come and fix it or they can pay for my laundromat expenses. 

I hate laundromats.  They are (as I was telling someone the other day) the most mind and soul numbing places in the world, and if I have to go use one of those I'm going to be even MORE unhappy. 

Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
lol...Karen...I know it's not funny...but just the image I have in my head of little you wrestling with the toilet is too much.

It figures this would happen while Dave was away, too, right? Not that you're incapable of handling it, of course. But it just figures.

Good luck with your pipes, babe.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
I remember those days!  Sorry about that.  I cant believe what they are charging for rent tho!  Outrageous!
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top

I cant believe what they are charging for rent tho! Outrageous!

well, they're simply charging the maximum allowable amount for Dave's BAH (Basic allowance for housing).  if we lived off base, we'd ger $1100 a month for housing, regardless of how much the rent was.  So, they're simply doing it out of convienience - and also because the AF doesn't want us making money whilst we're living on base

Like I said, if we had been given more notice (we got about 30 days) we'd have saved up some more dough and would have moved off base.  However, that didn't happen...so us and a lot of other families are stuck in these crappy houses. 


It figures this would happen while Dave was away, too, right? Not that you're incapable of handling it, of course. But it just figures

I learned long ago that when he's gone, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.  I've dealt with small fires, floods, accidental discharges of firearms, blizzards, heatwaves, power outages, tornadoes, illnesses, hospitalizations, surgeries, car accidents, lock outs, cars that broke down, doors that fell to pieces, lawnmowers and other appliances that wouldn't start...I've dealt with almost everything. The only thing I haven't dealt with is a birth (and seeing as I can't have any more kids, that's not even likelihood) and a death (and I hope to gawd I never have to deal with that).

So, on the grand scale of things, the toilet incident was relatively minor.

Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top

Words were exchanged - actually, he didn't say much, it was me that had a LOT to say, and none of it was very nice. I wanted to shove the plunger up his ass, actually, and I almost told him as much.

hehe...you sound so much like me.  We had new carpet installed and had an issue with the install.  When the installer came back, he said that he told his boss that "that lady's crazy" since he didn't think we could possibly have an issue with "his" install.  It took every ounce of my being to keep me from coming completely unglued.  I don't think I would have been able to curb my language if I were in your (soggy) shoes.

Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
You know the metal webbing in a faucet the aerates the water? It came out one time when I was washing in my hands, and for the life of me, I couldn't get back in.

Situation well-handled, blog well-written. I've learned to expect no less. Doesn't sound like there's much chance of improving the situation... but I hope Christmas brings enough happiness that you don't dwell on it.

Dan
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
Next time, tell your kids to "play outside."

Then, when the repairman's truck has a flat, by some sort of coincidence *wink*, he'll be stuck there, so might as well take a shot at fixing it. Or you can tell him about your accident and show him some scars or something equally unpleasant.

Because why should you play fair when you've got your back up against the wall?