The Worst DIY Disaster – the Monster in the Closet

The joys of home ownership are sometimes out of this world…or at least I would like to propel some of those “joys” to another planet, anyway. That being said, there’s a little story about a certain you know what that has had a mind of its own since the day I moved into my new house. I still don’t understand why it declared war on us, but I imagine the rigorous traffic from the kids, the dogs, other family members, and yes, the occasional guest was just a bit much for the pretentious water heater in the back room. I suppose it all started by packing the closet with my son’s belongings – that was obviously the day it decided to make life a living nightmare for us all. The first incident probably happened shortly after I’d washed just one too many dogs in the neighboring bath room. At the time I had eight rescue “children” who were in dire need of a good cleaning. A few days following the daunting task, I walked into my son’s room to feel the squish-squash of pudding liquid on the carpet. Did my son spill something? Immediately, I followed the source of the rapidly growing in-home pond. Sure enough, just beyond the veil of a closed closet came an oh-so-faint hissing sound. Frantically, we raced to move all the old toys, clothes and blankets in front of the soaking wet wall board. Pulling the soggy sheetrock to the side, there it was; mocking us and spewing a steady but fine stream of water. (No wonder the electric bill had tripled in the past month!) One trip to the hardware store, one hose later, a heavy-duty shop vac, and a little air-out time, and the water heater was back on track…or so I thought. The truce only stood for a couple of years, when the next white water rafting adventure began. This time it was the second copper pipe that developed a pin hole stream. Once again, it required a trip to the hardware store, a hose, a new and improved shop vac, and viola! The white, steel ogre was doing its job. And just as the last time, the electric bill had more than tripled for this costly monstrosity. By now I was ready to throw up my own white flag and just toss this thing out. But, it was working…UNTIL a couple of months ago! The Final Stand Who would’ve thought that one more pipe (that we obviously missed) could wreck the havoc it did in the back room? Oh this was a doozy! This time, everything within an eight foot radius was sopping wet. No one home to prevent or stop the damage. It had its way with us, and it was the most disastrous flood of them all! Finally, the last new pipe, reinforcement of the cratered floor beneath it, and yet another vac job…the rest of the story? What can I say – it’s like a Timex watch, this water heater takes a licking and keeps on ticking! For now, all pipes have been replaced with thick rubber hosing. Until it falls through the floor, that old nemesis is going to finish its sentence whether it likes it or not! This is an entry for PartSelect’s $5000 GE Giveaway contest Original Article here: The Worst DIY Disaster – The Monster in the Closet By CarolA Bailey-Lloyd – Social Media Sorceress on philosophy, social matters, social media, current events and more! Copyright – ALL Rights Reserved