All hell broke loose in my kitchen yesterday morning. I had had my
morning shower, ate my breakfast and was on the computer when my wife
came down after her shower and was alarmed to see water leaking from the
kitchen ceiling. It was raining at the time. I just had a new rook
installed last month and this was the first heavy rain to test it, but
it wasn't raining hard enough for a leak like that.

My Mr.Fixit neighbour was out so I called a plumber. Mt water pressure
system was not kicking in, and the rate of flow was slowing, so it was
more likely a drain than a feed line.

The plumber arrived within an hour, had a look around and suggested the
main stack to the upstairs bathroom was shot and had to be replaced.
That is a big job and a lot of expense,... and he could not do it until
next Tuesday. I could not wait that long. He recommended a couple guys
who might be able to handle it right. Neither could do it. After a half
dozen calls I found someone who could look at it after 3 pm and do the
work this morning.

The plumber showed up a couple hours early. After looking around he
thought perhaps not the stack but he would have to cut a couple holes
in the ceiling to look.... and he doesn't do drywall repairs. Luckily,
he struck cold on the first hole. The drain from the sink and tub was an
old copper pipe that had corroded and burst. That meant a much smaller
job that he could do right away. He had to removed about a foot of pipe
and replaced it with plastic. We checked and everything looked good. So
the leak was fixed and the bill was only $175.


This morning I ran some errands by bicycle. When I got home my wife was
frantic about a leak in the dining room ceiling. She wanted to call the
plumber back. I was confident that the leak was repaired, but there was
likely some water that had leaked across to the other side of the wall.
I drilled a small hole where the ceiling was wet and have a trickle of
water and a pail under it. I am hoping that it stops dripping soon.