Rant: Tried to save $14 by fixing a leaky faucet myself and flooded the bathroom

I was at my sink in Cleveland last Tuesday, thought I'd be clever and avoid calling a plumber, but when I took the cartridge out the water shot straight up and soaked the whole ceiling before I could find the shutoff valve under the sink - anyone else have a DIY plumbing job blow up in their face?

3 comments

3 Comments

pat_fisher249d ago

Did you actually see where the shutoff was before you started?

miles_roberts9d ago

@pat_fisher24 you hit it right on the head. I didn't even think to check the shutoff first. Same thing happened to me in my last place. I was trying to swap out a old shower head and the whole pipe just snapped off behind the wall. Water was spraying everywhere for a solid 30 seconds before I could sprint to the basement and kill the main valve. By then the drywall in the hallway was soaked and I had to rip it all out. That $14 faucet fix turned into a $400 drywall job real quick. Never again am I touching plumbing without testing the shutoff first and having a bucket ready.

michael_coleman109d ago

Man that's rough lol. I feel your pain though because I did something similar trying to replace a toilet flapper in my old apartment. I thought I could just swap it out real quick but the supply line was so old it basically snapped in half and water was just gushing out. I was standing there holding the broken pipe like an idiot while water soaked into the laminate floor and ran under the baseboards. Ended up having to call a plumber anyway and the flooring was all buckled up after it dried. These plumbing jobs always seem so simple on YouTube but reality hits different when you're standing in a puddle.