When I first moved to Florida, I shared many of my frustrations and challenges around home maintenance. I owned a small condominium in California. I thought that would have given me at least a clue as to what I was in for when I purchased my house in Florida. Anyone following me around for the first year or so I lived in “my pretty little house” in the Sunshine State could tell you that I was completely wrong. I had no idea what I was doing.
I don’t think I have become any savvier in the past ten years, but I have become more adept at managing my ignorance. It takes more disaster to rock my sense of stability than it did when I first moved here. I have survived ten hurricane seasons, renovation of two bathrooms, the demise of virtually all the major kitchen appliances, the complete replacement of the air conditioning/heating system, and warfare on several fronts with the screen garage door. Oh… and the one event that I try extremely hard to block from my memory- the Great Rat Invasion and Attic Insulation of 2021. I’m not sure I have ever recovered from that one, but I have to say that, in general, I am much more able to take these routine catastrophes in stride.
The other day, Max asked me if I had noticed the hissing sound the hot water heater was making. I had noticed it. It was the first thing in the morning, and I assumed it had something to do with the water heater starting when we turned on the showers. I had not noticed it before, but I wasn’t worried because… I now take things in stride!
The hissing noise did not stop when the hot water heater stopped. We looked all around the area and did not see any water anywhere. It didn’t seem like it was leaking. Max was concerned that the gas might be hissing and that we would be blown to smithereens. I called the plumber and scheduled an appointment for the next afternoon.
That evening, we both went to the Spiritual Formation Course I am teaching at my church. When we returned, there was a fair amount of water on the floor of the garage near the water heater. I guess the good news is that it wasn’t a gas leak causing the hissing sound. Still, it took a minute to figure out from whenst the hissing came. Finally, we realized it wasn’t hissing so much as spraying. A fine mist was spraying from the pipe above the water heater, onto the wall. It was such a fine mist; we could not see it. As the wall saturated from a day’s worth of fine spraying, water ran down the wall and pooled on ground. It was like the wind. You couldn’t see the mist, but you could see the effects. We followed the trickle trail of water back up the wall and found the leaky source in the pipe. After trying to mold several catch devices into the space under the leak and going through about 183 feet of duct tape, we were able to patch things up enough to get through the night until the plumber came the next day. Cleaning up the concrete-bottomed swamp on the floor under the water heater was challenging, but we knew we were saving those raggedy old towels for something.
The next morning, it was clear that our makeshift repair job was not going to be permanent. The damage was manageable, but we were both glad to see the plumber that afternoon. The plumber expressed admiration for our ingenious use of duct tape. I think he probably wondered if we owned stock in the company, given how much duct tape we used. When he unraveled the duct tape to begin working on a more permanent fix, a piece of the wall unraveled right along with it. Apparently, having 14 or 15 hours of fine mist trapped in a humid, confined duct-taped-based ecosystem is a recipe for complete drywall annihilation. We had a literal hole in the wall.
The plumber fixed the pipe for about $150. Max pressed him on how to resolve the drywall issue. Neither one of us is handy at all, so my inclination would have been to throw money at the problem… to pay someone to patch the wall. I was still kind of riding high on the knowledge that I did not need to buy a new water heater and that we had not made an unintended trip to Smithereen. Max, however, thought he could manage the repair. He thought it would be hard to find someone competent and trustworthy who was willing to come out for such a small job. Max consulted that well-known home renovation guru- YouTube. He made a list of everything he needed. We went to the hardware store and spent another $120 on the materials. I figured that, if we ended up having to find a handyman, he would probably want us to get all this stuff anyway, so I cheerfully jammed my debit card into the Lowe’s checkout station. I was still blessing my lucky stars that I wasn’t paying $1500 for a new hot water heater.
When we got home, I started my mental clock. I tried to decide how long it would be before Max would tackle the job. I also had a running bet with myself that, while I deeply desired Max to take on the task and complete the work when I was out somewhere, he would want me around to be supportive.
Oh, me of little faith! Max was on it. Within two days of acquiring all the necessary paraphernalia, I came home from some activity to find the wall repaired. The next day, again while I was out doing something, he painted it. It was amazing. Some people are probably confused about why this is such a big deal. I am mystified by home repair. Max is a little less mystified and a lot less intimidated, but neither one of us can boast “repair skills” in our wheelhouses. I think Max himself was pretty surprised by his deftness.
Today I am a happy camper. I did not have to pay a huge plumbing bill. I was without hot water for less than 24 hours. I have not been blown to Smithereens (wherever that is.) I have no hole in the garage wall. I have discovered that my very beloved partner is a man of mystery with impressive skills I have not previously uncovered. What a bonanza!
Have a satisfying day!
Terri/Dorry 😊
What surprising skills have you discovered in your partner? Please share your perspective by leaving a comment. In the alternative, you can email me at terriretirement@gmail.com.
