A Distressing Picture

Can you tell what this picture is?

IMG00115-20091205-1403-400

This is what I saw the morning that I left for some computer training in Las Vegas, NV.  With no time to do anything about it, I just took the picture.

When I got home, the image hadn’t changed, and I knew I had a problem.  The picture is my foundation wall and the dark spot is water on the concrete.  The white lines show that the water has been running for a while.  Since there are no leaks inside the house, this means that the leak is either under the house, or worse, in the wall.

I went under the house and found the leak.  It was easy to find due to the puddle of mud.  I counted a drop every 4 seconds.  I wiggled the pipe and the water started to spray out.  No more slow leak.

Poppa and I opened up the wall, but the leak was actually in between the floor and the baseboard.  I had driven a 16 penny nail straight though the middle of the copper pipe, probably back in July, before the drywalling.  We were able to cut out the leaking section and I got to sweat the copper under the house (my favorite! <end sarcasm>).  At least no hot solder dripped on my arms this time.

Now that there is no leak, there is no dark spot on the foundation anymore.  Woohoo!