Spoke of this about 3 weeks ago, a water leak, big, under the house has now had us without running water, could not find that discussion; but, the two outdoors spigots are fed right from the meter, so we've been carrying two 5-gallon pails inside as needed. Don't cook with it. Showers taken outdoors on the patio, no problem until now it's gotten a mite cool. Why so long? Indeed, my wife has asked a number of times. Today we tackled just getting to the leak. She cut out a piece of carpet in a bedroom closet we know is close to the leak. Today I cut out a piece of the floor sheathing, it's 3/4-inch 5-ply plywood. By the time we got that piece out, every muscle was hurting, joints too. The plywood floor: Plywood removed. Space filled full of insulating shreds, below which were 4 inches of Fiberglas insulation: Insulation is kept in place by heavy black plastic sheet. My wife slitted it criss-cross and folded it up and stapled it to the floor joists in only one cell. If I cannot get through the hole shown, the other cell will by cleared, the joist section removed, giving me double the opening. Rather not, as the remaining joist will have to be supported: The ground beneath looks really close, and it is. Insufficient room to sit up, maybe 28 or 30 inches. I declined to attempt going under today, hurting too much. She thinks tomorrow.......if I can get out of bed! Just a few scant years ago, jobs like this were child's play for me, and I staunchly refuse to give up! Frank
OMG, Frank. Things like these would never have been child's play for me. It's every owner's nightmare to try and locate a leak like that. Once again I admire your ingenuity and tenacy. I hope it's the right patch and keep my fingers crossed.
Frank this must be a bit of a nightmare for you due to the pain you suffer... can't you get someone in to help ?
Dunno Frank, with your loss of physical ability and a perfect environment for scorpions and black widows, this time I think I’d bite the bullet and find someone to do the crawling for me. I’m a hard head like you and no matter what the problem, I’m going to solve it but there have been times when I secretly wished I had a little help. Either way you roll, I do definitely hope your physical impairments improve quickly and the problem solved easier than I am presently imagining.
Good luck with that, Frank. I think we all must know our limitations, so don't be too proud to ask for help if need be.
Here is your earlier post about the water situation, @Frank Sanoica. It was part of another existing thread, which is why you couldn’t find it.
All I can say is "you're a better man than I am, Gunga Frank...." A problem of that magnitude would have had me running screaming to the phone, where I have the plumber on speed dial.
@Holly Saunders Yes, of course. I suspect the leak is located exactly where it was about a year ago, plumber repaired it, $200. Also suspect his job was shoddy. If I repair a leak, my thoughts are it should remain satisfactory "forever", or maybe 10 years, whichever comes first. Frank
Even though you may be able to do a better job by yourself, you won't enjoy the water if you're dead. It's simply not worth pushing yourself to the point of not only exhaustion, but risking permanent damage. Arthritis is evil. Once you knot your joints all up, you are stuck with that. Please get some help with the project.
@Bess Barber Your advice is sound, beyond doubt. Today, I braved the odds, donned my coveralls, which my wife had difficulty locating, and endeavored to get to the leak to inspect it, if nothing else. I did get to it, after exposing the underside of our home to a few primary profanities. One connection of the two lines feeding one bathroom had popped off it's union, the other is covered with alkali suggesting it's been leaking slowly for months or years. Tomorrow is the big day, if I can get out of bed....... Donning gloves prior to ascending into the hole: Our "shower stall" for 3+ weeks:
"...but I won't listen." That's what you "forgot" to say, Frank. I wish you luck in your endeavour. Sounds like you know how to fix the leak then. If it's been leaking for a long time, didn't the loss show up on your water bill?