The Joys of Owning a Home

by MischieviousAngel

For a couple of weeks now we (my husband and I) have noticed that the water meter continues to spend even after all the water in the house has been turned off. Obviously, this is evidence that we have a water leak. Since the meter was spinning very slowly we thought the best thing to do was to continue using the water and eventually we would notice where the water leak is at. This would save us money on having to hire someone to locate the leak for us.

Having two bathrooms in my house, I usually use only the bathroom in my master bedroom, leaving the other bathroom for my son. Saturday morning as I start my cleaning routine I walk into the ‘other’ bathroom and I swear I can hear some water running. So I run outside to check and see if the water hose might be on. The hose is turned off but there is a puddle of water next to the window of this bathroom.

Excitedly I run to my husband and say “I found the water leak!” He quickly runs outside with me to go see and then he runs to the meter to turn it off (the meter is now running steadily). He immediately starts digging in the area where all the water has accumulated. He says, “This has got to be it. I knew it was a water leak underneath the house because there wasn’t running water anywhere inside the house and there were no wet areas either to symbolize the water leak being inside.” He continues to dig until he has a hole about 30 inches deep and 24 inches wide. Once he is able to see the waterlines that lead to under the house, he asked that I turn the water back on.

I did as I was instructed and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally he screams, “Did you turn the water on?” I respond, “Yes! About 3 minutes ago.” After a while he says, “I don’t see anything.” Not believing him I go to where he has dug the hole and take a look for myself. Sure enough – the dirt is drier than dry. We look at each other and say, “There has got to be something!” We both walk back to the meter and the meter is at a standstill! Not believing that the leak has repaired itself, I instruct my son to stand by the meter and to tell me when it starts spinning again while I go inside and open some water to see if the water pressure will resurface the leak. I flush the toilet in the master bedroom – nothing. I turn on the shower in the master bedroom – nothing. I turn on the faucet in the master bedroom – nothing. I turn my attention to the ‘other’ bathroom. I turn on the shower there – nothing. I turn on the sink faucet – nothing. Finally I flush the toilet – still nothing. I run to look at the meter – NOTHING.

Our leak has mysteriously disappeared and the water that was standing outside the bathroom window has strangely enough dried. My husband and I have decided to leave the hole opened until we are completely satisfied that the leak is no longer there. I will keep you posted.