Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Drip, Drip, Drip!



Things are a little crazy at the Craig house. I know, I know…things stay pretty crazy at the Craig house. But, you see, it’s raining. And I don’t mean outside, wait…it is raining outside. But it’s also raining in my living room.

Not a big downpour but a constant, steady, every increasing, drip…drip….drip, coming down from four, maybe five different spots.

It started nine days ago. Imagine me coming downstairs first thing in morning, looking totally put together, makeup on, dressed to kill, thirty pounds lighter. (Okay, I never look like that in the morning, but believe me, it’s a much better picture than the truth, and since you were imagining…) Anyway, as soon as I step into my living room, I see it. A small puddle of liquid between my sofa and the coffee table.

Now, you know, we have animals, right? So you can guess my first thought, can’t you? Someone tiddled. So I do what I’m sure you would do if you were in my situation. I yelled for my husband to come down and clean it up. He’s the one on tiddling duty. (We use to have the “who saw it first” rule. But I learned real quick that men never notice crap like that. So I made a new rule. I don’t clean up tiddle. I mean, I cook and write, therefore I don’t do tiddle or other unexpected surprises.

Anyway…before husband arrives on the crime scene, I hear it. Drip. Drip. Drip. It’s coming from the heating vent in the ceiling. Hmm…this isn’t just tiddle.

And I know I’m in for a world of trouble.

You see, my husband considers himself a Mr. Fix it. Don’t tell anyone but the truth is he can’t stand dishing out the bucks for someone to do a job that he’s certain he could do himself. And don’t get me wrong, my husband is a multi-talented man—at some things. Yes, he’s inspired a lot of my scenes in my romance novels, but can I just remind you about his carpet-cleaning talents?

So here’s sort of barebones overview of how things have gone and where we are at right now. P.S. It’s written in the third person to protect the guilty.

Day One: Unnamed Hubby claims what was once thought of as tiddle is just due to the wife’s son (notice how said son is only related to the wife whenever things aren’t good) because he took a shower without closing the shower doors. Sofa is moved, and a bowl is placed to catch drip.

Day Two: Drip…drip…drip. Wife claims that it has to be more than leftover shower spill. Hubby claims he’s in charge of drip duty and proceeds to move furniture and caulk bathroom tub.

Day Three: Drip…drip…drip. Faster drip. Drip morphs into two different drips coming from two different places of heating vent. Hubby, a very intelligent man, has an answer to that problem also: he puts another bowl on the floor and a plastic tarp to catch overflow drips. But wife does see concern on hubby’s face that maybe…just maybe he’s wrong. He’s really scared. Not of wife, but because he knows wife is taking notes and pictures for her blog.

Day Four: The worse thing happens. Drip continues and hubby admits he’s wrong. But does he call in a professional? Oh no. He sets out to investigate the cause of the drip. Bad…bad idea! His policy? Never let a little sheetrock come between him, a wanna-be plumber, and a leaky pipe. Hubby puts a hole through the wall of the son’s closet to see bathtub pipes. All is dry. Drip increases. What is wanna-be plumber’s fix to that problem? Another bowl is added to the living room floor.

Day Five: Wanna-be plumber puts a hole through sheetrock in guest bedroom’s closet to see master bathroom’s bathtub pipes. All is dry. Drip is dripping faster. Another bowl is added to floor and wife is given bowl duty during hubby’s work hours to empty containers of water.

Day Six: Three holes are made in living room ceiling to see if hubby can find where the leak is coming from. Hubby discovers there is a floor between the ceiling and the second story that prevents him from seeing exactly where the leak is coming from. Wife suggests hubby call in a professional…again. But no, wanna-be plumber is certain he has the answer.

Day Seven: Drip…drip…drip is increasing in tempo. Three additional holes are made in upstairs hallway to see if hubby can spot any signs of a leaking pipe. No leaking pipe. But Eureka, hubby finds a wet spot. (See ! He could be a plumber after all!) But it’s late and drip is increasing. Wanna-be plumber resorts to putting a large bucket on living room floor and decides to further investigate tomorrow night.

Day Eight: Bucket is full. Fifteen holes are made in sheetrock. Leaky pipe still not found. But wanna-be plumber is certain it will only take a few more holes before he finds the leaky pipe. Wanna-be plumber still refusing to call in a professional. Wife wonders who is going to replace sheetrock. Wanna-be plumber claims to know a thing or two about sheet rocking. In other words…more blogs to come.

So…that’s what’s going on at the Craig house. Any crazy stuff happening in your world? Anyone know a good plumber and sheetrock person in the Houston area? Hey, I’ve put my foot down, I’ve limited him to 20 holes.

25 comments:

Jenyfer Matthews said...

OMG - Sounds like it is time for a smart woman to take control and call the professionals herself!!

My hubby is no way handy but thankfully he knows it. (He can however make a killer omelet)

Christie Craig said...

Oh Jenyfer,

If I did the smart thing, what would I blog about?

Thanks for posting girl.

Crime Scene Christie

Kate Douglas said...

LOL...be careful. Ceilings DO fall down. We had that happen in a house once that we were trying to sell. We'd already moved, the heat was turned off...and water pipes ran through the ceiling. Water pipes that froze and burst one fine January day. A neighbor called to tell us we had icicles in our living room. Not a good thing and you don't want to know what it cost to get it fixed!

What I find amazing is that while hubby still worked, he thought he could fix anything. Now that he's retired, he calls in the professionals--I think it's because he's too busy playing!

There IS hope.........

Me said...

Oh Christie, I can just picture it! (Speaking of which, where are the pictures???) Fingers crossed that the mystery of the great raining ceiling gets solved before you wind up with irreversible dalmatian decor. =)

Hugs,
TLC

Christie Craig said...

Kate,

Believe me, I'm avoiding all danger zones in the house. The good news is that the problem has been fixed. But my hubby made me promise not to define what the problem was. He insisted it might make him look bad.

Now I ask you, does he not already look so bad, that one or two more pokes would matter?

Crime Scene Christie

Ruth said...

Hey Christie, Look at it this way-- you could have your whole house remodeled at the rate he is going. I would suggest you turn it into your insurance company for home owners- But I don't think there is a a clause covering disasters made by stubborn husband.

Good look, but if I were you I would start looking for new paint colors and ideas oh what you want the room to look like after he breaks down and calls the plummer, I hope he doesn't fancy himself a sheetrocker-- oh I can see more and more blogs to come-- and continuing advertures of the Craig household at the next PJ party at Nationals.

Ruth

Christie Craig said...

Hi Tera,

Pictures? Well, I snapped several. And when I asked hubby to download them for me, he happily agreed.

Do you believe he accidentally erased them, or should I be concerned?

The good news is that he's already replacing the sheet rock. I will have to admit, he's makes a better sheet rock person than he does plumber.

Crime Scene Christie

Well,

Christie Craig said...

Yep, I see this story being added to my PJ-party story collection.

I swear I love that man, but I guess I have to put up with him. Okay...I guess, I'm a bit difficult too at times. Maybe we deserve each other.

Thanks for posting girl.

Crime Scene Christie

Anonymous said...

I'm very disappointed in the lack of pictures! Too bad they were "accidentally" erased. *g*

The only crazy thing going on around here is the tractro-trailer loaded with grain that tipped over (taking out a power pole) in the ditch about a block up the street.

Christie Craig said...

Tori,

Hmmm...that sounds pretty crazy.

Okay...guys...I'll see if can't go grab a few more pictures. I have to talk to do tonight so peek at the post later and see if they aren't up. I'll watch him this time so he can't accidentally delete them.

Crime Scene Christie

Anonymous said...

Christie,

Funny blog, girl. I agree with the others - it's a pity all those pictures were accidentally erased. LOL.

Faye

Estella said...

I am so thankful my husband can fix most problems we have with the house.
He is putting insulation under the house right now.

Christie Craig said...

Thanks for stopping by Faye.

If you ever have any plumbing problems, I'll send my husband your way.

Crime Scene Christie

Christie Craig said...

Estella,

You are a lucky gal.

I can't imagine what my husband would do if he tried to insulate the house. Yikes.

Thanks for stopping by.

Crime Scene Christie

Lucy said...

Since he "accidentally" erased the pictures, I think you should "accidentally" tell us what was the root cause. ;-)

Did I miss his carpet cleaning talents blog?

Tambra said...

Well, Miss Christie, it rained...in my car. My dh is excellent at fixing so I don't get upset when he does.
We thought he fixed this problem. So, here I go again lugging out the wet/dry vac to sop up water on the passenger side of my car.

My dh is an electrician and woodworker. He replaced most of the pipes in the house as well as the wiring. I've also seen him take apart a car engine, fix it and put it back together. I won't repeat the ugly words he said about my car.

Hugs and take care!
Tambra

Anonymous said...

I agree - he lost the pics so now you have to tell lol. Was if from the roof?? I don't know what sheetrock is but putting holes in anything sounds drastic!

Christie Craig said...

Lucy...

Yep, you missed the carpet cleaning blog.

Okay...shh...don't tell anyone, but the cause of the water was . . . a leaky faucet in the bathtub. The water was following the faucet back to the tile and the caulk on that one tile was missing and the water was flowing around the edge of the tub, dripping out onto the floor and finding it's way into my living room. Now remember...I've got 15 holes in my sheetrock and it was just a faucet. Yep, he's gonna grow up and be plumber all right!

Of course my hubby defended himself. He said the holes were also his way of checking for mold. Hmm... I'm think reaching on that one, but hey...like I said, I love the guy.

Christie Craig said...

Tambra,

Hmmm...my husband is really good with workwork and cars...it's plumbing, wall papering, and well, carpet cleaning that he really sucks at!

Thanks for stopping by.

Crime Scene Christie

Christie Craig said...

Catslady,

Yep, it's drastic. But he has started replacing some of the sheet rock and like I said, he's better at that than he is at plumbing, so he might be spared a blog about that one.

Thanks for posting.

Crime Scene Christie

Unknown said...

OMG, I just love this post. Thats just like a man they know it all. I have one of those kind myself.

Christie Craig said...

Virginia,

Yup, those men do think they know it all, don't they. Ahh, but they do come in handy every now and then. :-)

Thanks for posting girl.

Crime Scene Christie

Kathy Bacus said...

>Hey, I’ve put my foot down, I’ve >limited him to 20 holes.
posted by Christie Craig at 7:22 AM on Jan 22, 2008

I wouldn't put my foot down too hard, Christie, or you might fall through the ceiling or floor!

~Bullet Hole~

Christie Craig said...

Good Point, Kathy!

Crime Scene Christie

Anonymous said...

didn't your dad teach your husband anything about plumbing before he let him marry you?
I was thinking your dad should have been called to texas from alabama to fix it.
maybe he knew all along what it was and figured pete could come if there were pleanty of repairs to make.