Busted Water Pipe, Day Seven: Flooring, Gas Pipe, and Sparks

I can't work up much enthusiasm for the idea, yet, but it's probably a good thing that a pipe broke in the laundry room last Friday morning. One of the fellows who's been over here, sorting out what needs to be done now that Servicemaster has dried the structure out, noticed that he got sparks around the circuit breaker panel.

That is not a good thing.

When an electrician came to evaluate the sparks, he found that one wire wasn't quite insulated properly. It's hard to tell what happened: years of slight movements might have cracked the insulation, it might have been nicked when the system was installed - or maybe something else.

Good news: It wasn't the water, so we aren't looking at tearing apart the walls and floors and tracing the wires. And, the faulty wire has been replaced.

Like I said, I don't feel all warm and wonderful about that busted pipe and the water damage. But between discovering a dryer vent that could have caught fire, learning about a small-but-dangerous flaw in the wiring, and getting a look at some repairs in the outside walls that can - thank God - wait until next summer: It looks like it's a good thing we had our attention focused on the workings of this house.

Oh, right. One more thing. We discovered that the insulation over our living room needs replacing and that the airspace over the room isn't adequately ventilated. That area wasn't affected by the flooding: but my wife had one of the fellows who was over here looking at needed repairs take a look at that area too.

I'm not surprised about the insulation situation. That area's one that we figured needed attention - but could wait. Now, it's getting attention.

One last thing: Servicemaster took its fans and heavy-duty dehumidifiers out of the house yesterday afternoon. It's really quite, now that they're gone.

Related posts:

• "Busted Water Pipe, Day Five: Bathroom's in the Kitchen, and a Mouse Condominium?!"
  (September 21, 2010)
• "Hammers, Fans, Dehumidifiers, and Maybe Some Good News"
  (September 20, 2010)
• "Wet Albums, Loud Fans, and Grilled Burgers"
  (September 2010)
• "Not So Much Water on the Floors"
  (September 17, 2010)
• "Busted Water Pipe, Standing Water on Two Floors"
  (September 17, 2010)