• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Check your pipes!!

C

Cobra

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Jul 19, 2000
Messages
544
Location
there
The guy I've been car pooling with got a call from his daughter Monday on the way home telling him that there was water all over their house. When we got there it was the worst I've ever seen!! The plastic flexible line coming from the copper line to the faucet in the master bath sink snapped at the coupling and had been running for 8+ hours. It wasn't because it froze, it just decided to go. The house is a 2 story with a finished basement, and the master bath is on the second floor. When we got there the front steps were all iced over because the water was flowing out the front door. Walking through the front door into the living room, the entire ceiling was dripping along all the sheet rock seams, down the walls, and out of all the electrical outlets, switches, and light fixtures! He has a 55 inch plasma over his fireplace, that looked to be ok, because the water was running along the wall behind it. The finished basement was the same. So the floor on the second floor needs to be replaced. The ceiling, walls, and floor on the first floor need to be replaced, and the ceiling and walls in the basement need to be replaced. He'll be out 5-6 months. When we were leaving, I noticed it was dripping down the out side of the foundation where the house meets the foundation, because the water was running down inside the walls!!

So, when I got home I checked all of my sinks and luckily they are all stainless braided hose from the copper pipe to the faucets. I would suggest changing to stainless to anyone who still has the cheap plastic ones. It could ruin your year.....
 
Yikes! We had a random water incident at our house last year too, but thankfully not that bad. An old piece near our water pump (well water) broke off and flooded the basement a good 4-5 inches. This happened early morning when my dad took the dog for a walk, so luckily he caught it when he came home and it didn't flood worse! I can't remember the actual piece that broke but it was small and located near the pump.

Is the house safe to live in still? I remember pipes bursting at a house some of my friends lived in at school, they were evicted and the landlord had to pay for hotel rooms for them (but the hotel was several miles away from the school so one of my friends lived in our living room those three months).
 
Rouar said:
Is the house safe to live in still?
Click to expand...

No. They'll be in a hotel until summer. The good thing is his insurance will pay for a hotel for up to a year. Also, all repairs should be taken care of. Its just a major hassle. Plus x-mas will suck for them this year. Last year around this time he was getting over totaling his GTO!!
 
dang...that just sucks!

thats one thing i kinda worry about with the downstaris shower in my house.
the pipes are in an outside wall.
could be sucky, but its been that way for years so i am not too worried about it.
 
Crazy. Thank god I'm on a slab and everything is cement/stucco/tile. LOL! My bomb shelter. Knock on wood. I'll have my g/f check my pipe to be on the safe side.
 
I've got the plastic lines on all 4 of my sinks. Sounds like a winter project might be in order. Are the braided steel hoses very expensive?

I assume it would just be a matter of shutting off the water, unscrewing the plastic (clean up mess) and then screwing the braided hose and turning water back on. Check for leaks when all is done, right?
 
I'm not sure about price, but I'm sure they are more that the plastic crap ones. I bought a set for the washer a while ago when we were moving into the apartment. I got them at home depot.

For installation, I assume that's how it would go. I helps if there are shut off valves under the sink, but that's not always the case.
 
the braided lines are about $6 each.
well worth the price.

and yeah like mike said, that is how installation would go.
the hard part is connecting them to the faucet, the sink usually gets in the way. thats why they make basin wrenches.
but it can be done without one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top