Water leaking in the house can be a nightmare for anyone and personally, we have experienced water leaks in the past before and this was mainly from the rooftop water tank which we end up having to replace twice & one was from rainwater through gaps between roof tiles. Waterproofing the main areas of the bathrooms will be the next DIY project at home. Photo by PS Photography from Pexels.
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Unlucky Month Of February
The month of February has not been a good month and it is only the second month of the year.
Firstly I had a major repair done on my car which I did not plan for and this left a big dent in my budget for the month. Can you imagine me driving up to the workshop thinking that it is only going to be another minor service when the mechanic finds the radiator leaking as he opens the bonnet? The radiator leaking was not a big surprise considering it is still the original radiator since I bought the car 12 years ago. Then it was time to change the timing belt and the list of parts to be replaced continued to add up.
Then I contracted bad flu that forced me to work from home but without any rest which made the flu & cough worst. My daughter had the flu and cough first and then I started to have a sore throat one weekend. Then I went out with a close cousin of mine and sitting in front of the car air conditioner made the situation worse.
Just when I thought things were settling down towards the end of the month, my living room suddenly was flooded and we were clueless about where the water was coming from.
Strange Wet Porch
The funny thing was there was no indication of any leak when I woke up in the morning and cleaned up the porch as I usually do if I am at home. The mornings are rather calm and the timing is just right with the morning sun just rising on the horizon.
Then I went back inside to do my daily work until the time my wife came back from her work at about lunchtime. Her first question as she entered the house was whether I washed the porch. I stood up, looked at the porch and saw that half of the porch was wet. Water was streaming away nonstop. Thinking that the leak is on the outside and from the pipe leading to the tap at the porch, I quickly switched off the connection to the porch tap but that did not stop the water from leaking at the porch.
We then realised the water was leaking from outside into the living room and it had flooded the spaces near the showcases & the TV cabinet where it was not easy to notice it. Only when we moved the cabinets, we realised how bad the situation was.
Immediately we took out the mops and towels and started to sweep out the pools of water in the living room. However n matter much we keep mopping the water away, the water leak was rather unstoppable. So all the effort of mopping the water was a big waste but in the end, we managed to keep the water away from the electrical points in the living room.
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One sure way of knowing that there is a water leak in the house is when we started to get unusually high water bills and this is how we managed to identify the source of the water leak at the bottom of the house water tank. The other is by hearing the sound of water flowing even though no one is using the tap.
Mystery Of Water Leaks
The big question is where the water is leaking from so that we will know how and where to patch things up.
We first tried to switch off the various main pipes and see if the water leak stops. Despite waiting for a while, switching off the main water pipes did not stop the water from leaking on the porch & into the living room. We had dismissed any leaks from the upstairs floor bathrooms as the area where the water was flooding was far away from the area where the bathrooms were situated.
Since there was water all over the place in the living room, we decided on a more scientific approach by adding food colouring on various flooded areas to see where the water was flowing to and fro. A moment had passed before we managed to isolate a small corner where the wall was shared with the neighbour as the source of the leak.
The water leak from outside was leaking into the small gaps between the sliding door and then travelling within the tiles to spread all over the living room. We were pretty sure there were no water pipes running through that area so seeing a water leak here was strange. Giving up, we called some plumbers that we know to come over and check on this but none of them was free for the next few days.
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The next DIY project for the house is to do the waterproofing the master bedroom. The biggest challenge for this job is not getting the tools or the waterproofing paint but ensuring the family does not use the bathroom for days to ensure it is bone dry enough to paint on it.
Finally Leak Source Found
But at least now that we know where the leak is entering from outside into the house, we quickly isolate the floodings with dry towels which we had to keep changing to ensure it soaks up the water coming into the living room. But at least most of the living room was dry by now.
And to plug the small holes where the water was seeping in, I was considering using the unused waterproof sealant that I had in my toolbox to stop the leaks so that at least the leak goes out instead of in. Just as I was searching for the sealant in the toolbox, we notice the neighbour was at his main water meter looking at something. Then seeing us, he asked if we experiencing any water leaks.
Then we realised that the leak is coming from the neighbour’s house as he noticed his water meter has been running despite no one being around at home. We explained about the water leak in the house and noticed after the neighbour had switched off the main water, the water leak on the porch stopped immediately.
Unfortunately, it will take some time before the neighbour gets the water leak at his home fixed and until then we have to keep an eye on the spot where the water was leaking into the living room.