We called the plumber because we noticed that the back corner of the house where the master bath is located was wet again.

The plumber said that the good news was that the old leak that he patched last year was still in tact. The bad news is that there was indeed a new leak.

He also said that our toilet was in really bad shape. We mentioned that the toilet in the master bath was wobbly. He said that because the toilet was never installed correctly, water was seeping between the floorboards and dripping down every time we flush. He said that at the rate that the water was damaging the wood, the toilet would eventually come through the floor.

He also said that all the piping was the wrong side. Water pipes should be ¾ inch copper and not ½ inch.

While he was talking to us on our front porch, he also pointed out that the water pressure valve at the front of the house looked to be about 10-15 years old. He could tell that the valve had been replaced with galvanized steel fitting which, when that metal reacts to copper causes corrosion. We mentioned that since we moved in, that valve has blown twice. He said that we were lucky that we have not blown a pipe under the house otherwise it would have caused serious damage and thousands of dollars of work.

He said that a factory sets the standard pressure on valves at 50 lbs. Most households should run 70 lbs or less. When he measured the pressure, we weren’t using any water in the house and his meter read 120 lbs of pressure. He said in the evening, when everyone is home and using water, our pressure valve probably goes up to 170. He said that this was our emergency NOT the leak under the house and he was extremely surprised that it had not blown previous especially since the entire house is not fitted with the right sized pipes, adding more pressure to the amount of water trying to push through the smaller pipes. We had him change it before he attended to the work under the house. $385.

It took three workers to replace the pressure valve, the piping under the master bath ($2,800) and the master toilet piping ($450). All with the proper sized, copper piping. Since the plumbers were under the house, we figured we would ask them why we can’t get any hot water in the guest bathroom sink. Apparently that sink has not had hot water for years.

The plumbers initially couldn’t figure out why we would get hot water in the shower, but not the sink when both were connected to the same pipes. They had to take apart some of the plumbing to see why.

To no one’s surprise, the previous contractor did a shoddy job, connecting galvanized steel pipes of the wrong size to copper pipes, causing once again, those two metals to react and cause corrosion. The pipes are so corroded and clogged with gunk that NO hot water can get through it.

There is over 40 feet of galvanized piping that would need to be replaced in order to do the job right. He said it was about as much work as the master bath.

He also said that the guest bathroom toilet was also in the same condition as the master bath -- put in incorrectly. The floor was cut too big for the toilet pipe work so they wedged pieces of wood to keep it from moving. This patch job also stands the chance of eventually falling through the floor as well.

We don’t’ want to spend that money only for us to eventually remodel that bathroom to the way we truly want it so since no one really uses that bathroom, we will wait until we have the money to do so. Meanwhile, no water will continue to run in that sink.