Most Recent Disaster

Actually, it wasn't a disaster, but it sure seemed like it at the time.

I had all my baking stuff out ready to begin some low fat banana-nut bread (no diet pill needed)when Mike let out a yell. I ran to the laundry room and found both of us ankle deep in water.

We looked into the sink expecting to see water like the last disaster, but it was empty. Within a minute I noticed water coming under the door of the water heater closet.

To make matters worse this door requires a screw driver. The water heater was in the process of pouring 40 gallons of hot water onto our floor. There was water in the hallway and onto the new carpet, and even more in the Arizona room.

We spent the next two hours mopping up water with towels and ringing them out into the mud-room sink. (Mudroom - same as Laundry room.) Mike called a plumber who saved the day.

The clean-up and repairs took all day. It was now 4:00 pm. In the meantime I made my bread and Mike (the plumber) kept saying how good it smelled. Afterwards we three sat in the Arizona room at the patio table and enjoyed banana-nut bread, apple juice, and good conversation.

When I first found myself in water I was understandably upset. But within seconds I realized we had been very blessed. It happened while we were at home. It happened during the day. Imagine the mess we would have had had we been sleeping or away from the home!

It was also a blessing that it happened during the morning hours so we could get a plumber before he had other obligations. He was on another job a mile west of us, but lucky for us he was almost finished.

Once a water heater starts spilling water there is no way to stop it. It empties the entire tank.

The second heating element might not have blown if we had the information in the plumbers head. Which is that if your water heater starts spilling water you need to turn off the electricity.

Not to the whole house but just to the water heater. That is if your water heater is electric like ours. Other wise I guess you turn off the gas. Our water heater has two elements. One at the top and one at the bottom.

When the tank began to empty it left the top element heating without being in water. It got too hot and fried, as Mike, the plumber put it.

Bottom line is that the elements were $10 a piece, and his total charge
was $85.00. A blessing I didn't mention earlier.

A new water heater and charges could have been $385.00