Screws for sale... only $800 each...

A much needed day of cleaning was in store for the Lukin household when higher powers decided it wouldn't be. Now, normally, if I had ANY chance of getting away from cleaning, I would embrace it and go with the flow. Well, literally we did "go with the flow." Walking downstairs Evik stepped in a bunch of water and wanted to know who spilled what... The girls (Kaisa and Clara) are always playing "Real House" downstairs and we were sure they were the culprits. Not so. We heard water spraying everywhere...and knew in our guts that the water line had burst...again.

Yes, I said AGAIN! This is the fourth time since we bought this house that the water lines have either leaked or broken. FOURTH...like as in the SAME lines...and since our deductible is $1,000, we've always paid about $8- $900 in repairs, we've never been reimbursed.

Luckily for us, we have the very best "family" here. Not biological family, but our kids call them Auntie and Uncle, they came to the rescue. No shortness of cussing was spared as we dug out the side skirting on our house... (Don't forget we have about 8 feet of snow covering our house on all sides) and...down, down, down they went... into the depths of the deep blue sea. NOt really, but its dark and scary down there under the house.



I'm no plumber, so if I incorrectly state something, just remember that! Daniel came over with his truck full of supplies, and him, Evik, Dean and I crawled and shimmyed our way over to the leaking.



What we found was awful. Like really, really AWFUL. The leakS were spraying from everywhere. The water was moving UP toward the insulation. It soaked through the insulation, through the vapor barrier, through the floor boards, and through the carpet to the downstairs B&B. UP. I said UP!



After turning the water off, they were able to squeeze the pipes closed and replace about four or five different places where water was spraying out of...holes everywhere.



After cutting most of the existing pipe off, they soldered patches, and replaced holey pipes for about five hours... All while on their knees and drenched in water...the temp outside was about 10 degrees, and gloves, fingers and knees froze.



There were so many places in the pipe that had corroded and had water spraying out that we were faced with an ice rink under our house.

It wasn't until they came up for dinner that we were really mad though. Up from the depths of the house came a piece of pipe that we had previously paid over $800 to fix. This is what they came up with...



I know Kotzebue doesn't have highly sought after plumbers, and I also know there are a lot of crooks out there. BUT...never had I imagined that THIS would have happened. Especially after paying that much for the "fix."

What...The...HECK!??

For those of you who don't see what it is, let me explain...

Apparently, we had a hole in our pipe. Instead of doing the professional thing, and soldering it, or replacing it...this guy found a screw and a piece of an innertube, for a waterproof seal no less, and screwed the screw into the hole. Problem solved.

Yeah.



Anyway...its fixed now and all for a fraction of the price. All I was required to do was serve dinner, Chocolate Chip Cookies and home made vanilla ice cream. I'll make them cookies and ice cream and dinner for a YEAR for what they did for us last night.


Ice Cream maker hard at work


Seriously, I make the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies around...just ask Elsa! They have vanilla pudding mixed into the dough. MMMMmmmMMmmmM...

Anyway, I have recommendations for who to Use and who NOT to use...if anyone wants to know. I'd be happy to say. I just don't want to be snarky on this blog. :(

Thank Goodness for friends who like my cooking/baking...we're broke enough as it is.