When the Pipes Break

I am sure most of you have heard the old saying about “April showers”. However, that takes on a new meaning when the pipes break. One lesson that life will keep on teaching you over and over again, is that crap happens. Those familiar with my story, will know I am no stranger to bad things happening in my life. Luckily, compared to other events, this will be minor in the grand scheme of things and fixable. In addition, the silver lining is this will not cost me thousands of dollars to fix. In fact, the biggest expenditure caused by this temporary annoyance will be buying a few cleaning supplies.  But let me start one year ago.

About one year ago, I found it raining in my bathroom. The pipe in the ceiling had become so corroded that it finally broke and I had large amounts of water pouring in. I called the building superintendent and then he called in the plumbers. They had to cut two holes in my ceiling and cut through the upstairs neighbor’s floor to replace the pipe. Here are some pictures I took from one year ago:

Fast forward in time to the last week of March. Once again, I noticed water, but this time it was building up inside my ceiling and down my bathroom wall. The next day I noticed the water bubble in the ceiling was getting bigger. I called the building super and he drained the ceiling bubble into a bucket and water continued to drip into the bucket for the next 2-3 days. Here are the pictures:

My upstairs neighbors said that the problem was their toilet was leaking in their bathroom. They called in the plumbers to fix the pipe in the back of their toilet which had broken sending water down into my ceiling. The problem appeared to be solved, but it wasn’t.

After a few days, I continued to see water dripping down the wall. This continued over the course of the next two weeks, as I waited for them to call the plumbers back. Then on April 11, I saw the ceiling had really started to bulge and sag. I was quickly alarmed that the ceiling would collapse. Unfortunately, we could not get the plumbers back in time and that is what happened. Here are the pictures:

On Thursday, at about 5:30 AM, I heard a loud crash. I knew exactly what it was. My ceiling collapsed and water, dirt, bits of concrete and plaster came down. On Friday, at about 6:30 AM, the next section of my ceiling collapsed. I am glad I was not in there at either time.

The neighbors’ plumbers returned the next day to fix their toilet, but found nothing wrong with it. The water was coming from elsewhere. Finally, the super called in the buildings own plumbers and they identified the problem. The main water line had broken. This is an old building with old pipes and eventually the pipe corroded away. This leak must have been happening for a while and just kept building up to the point of collapse. In all honesty, I think it was a combination of problems. Firstly, it was the neighbors leaking toilet that brought this problem to light. Secondly, I think whatever their plumbers did the first time exacerbated the problem with the main water line. The end result, was the collapse.

In any event, none of the damage caused by the leak will result in a financial cost for me. I live in what is called a housing cooperative or “co-op” for short. If you don’t know what that means, Investopedia has a good article describing this type of apartment dwelling. If you live in an expensive city, this is a good alternative to both renting or buying a home. Each co-op apartment has certain policies and regulations.

Basically, I am responsible for anything that happens in my apartment unit with the walls being the border line. Anything that happens inside the walls between apartments is the buildings responsibility. That is why one year ago, I didn’t have to pay for repairs to my ceiling, walls, or for the new pipe. Because the pipe was between apartments inside the walls, the building was responsible for repair.

The silver lining is I dodged what could have been two expensive water bills within 12 months. If I had bought a house instead 4 years ago and this happened twice, I would be paying a lot for home repairs. Of course, this is why I have an emergency fund to cover unexpected costs. Luckily, I will not have to use my emergency fund to cover this water damage. In addition, while I could have done without this whole ordeal, another positive is that since last year these two pipes are now fixed/replaced. There should not be any more problems with them in the future for a long time (I hope).

And that is what happens when the pipes break. Sometimes these things happen. It was annoying, but could have been much worse. I continue onward towards my financial goals. The dividends are still flowing in strong. Onwards and upwards!

Anybody have a similar experience? Did your home insurance cover it, or did you have to cover the expenses? Also, do you have an emergency fund to cover such unexpected events? Let me know in the comments below.