First, we expose the leak by cutting into the floor (this is the fun part, and the part that really brings home to you that you own the house, and nobody will yell at you (except you) for breaking it).
But when we examine more closely, we see that a longer section of this pipe has burst. Here's a picture of the leak in action:
O mama! So this calls for a super-duper pipe repair clamp. This is real hilljack work. After a second visit to Lowe's for today, here are my weapons:
That red square is a six-inch by six-inch piece of neoprene. I'm going to cut a patch twice as long as the three-inch pipe repair clamp, and use both clamps together to make a long patch. To make it even better, I'm wrapping the whole thing in repair tape before applying the patch.
Here's the new super-duper hilljack patch:
Tightened to a certain point, it's still drippy, but I'm excited. I go out to the carriage house and throw the cutoff -- and ... nothing. So I go back and investigate. Here's what I just spent two days fixing:
Looking on the bright side, I no longer have to worry about those drips.
Yeah, it turns out that the black pipe to the carriage house starts under the kitchen floor. When I looked a little more carefully, I could even see where it had been buried. After debugging, things always seem obvious.
So it's back to the ol' drawing board again. That was all I could take for today, though.
It's not a leak, it's a water-feature! (What? No?)
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