The Beautiful Waterfall

Cari asked me to check on the stream of water flowing out of our crawlspace.  Without much thought, I suggested that it was the water flowing under the house because of the rain we have had.

"The rain we had a week ago is still flooding?", she asked.   With that I got off my butt to see what was going on.   I walked out to the sidewalk and saw very little water coming out from the house.  It was such a small amount that I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been prompted by Cari.

Flashlight in hand, I walked over to the side of the house and pried open the square door leading into the crawl space.  As the door swung open I stood back and checked for spiders hiding on the inside of the door.

Once the coast was clear I stooped down and swung my flashlight around.  When the light hit the side of the water heater I saw water flowing down the side of the tank.  Liquid was gushing out of the top of the tank and running down the side.  It was a beautiful, and expensive, waterfall.

I delivered the good news to Cari and we discussed our options.  I was about to leave for work and really couldn't do this work for several days.  I offered two options.  Turn off the water at the street and live with no hot water for two days or call a plumber and fix it now.  It was time to hire a plumber.

After a few calls the water-heater-fixer-upper-dude was on his way over.

Everything went great and hot water was magically being delivered to the faucets within a few hours.  The most horrifying part of the day was witnessing the old tank being drained.  More sludge and dirt came out of the bottom of that thing than water.   That'll teach you to drink unfiltered water from the faucet!

We no longer have a beautiful waterfall flowing from under our house.  Not only did Cari find the stream of water, she also discovered what she is getting for Christmas this year.