Flood!

Dan is currently away on a ship so it’s back to the old routine for the girls and me for a few days. (whatever routine that was?)

We pull up in the drive-way after work, one girl grizzling, for no apparent reason, and the other two pestering me for food before we even enter the house! So I quickly unload them from the car and traipse upstairs burdened with children, bags, mail and milk (I have contemplated getting another set of arms surgically fixed onto my torso, but I will go into detail on another post). After feeding the wild animals and making sure they were settled I head back downstairs to check on the washing machine.

This morning I had good intentions to try and catch up on the washing, only to find the washing machine isn’t draining properly. My first thought was “Not another bloody child’s sock up the pipe!” but on closer inspection it appeared the whole machine was having a bit of a spasm and verging on giving up completely!

Being a fairly practical girlie I decided to turn my hand to some basic plumbing and swap the dying washing machine for the top-loader sitting in the laundry. A thought in the back of my brain reminds me there was some problem with the top-loader, but I brush it off with “It’ll be ok by now surely”, as if it has fixed itself while sitting unused in the laundry?

So I grab a screwdriver and some grabbing things (ok…I’m practical, but I don’t know the name of the damn tools!) and head toward the pipes at the back of the machine. As I squeeze in I look up and see the power cable…oops, might be better to un-plug the machine first – water and electricity not a good mix! Using the grabby things (which I will call pliers just because it’s easier) I turn the taps to, what I believe is off. Standing up I begin to unscrew the hose link attached to the washing machine, when I hear a horrible sound of rushing water followed by a sudden high pressure leak. I quickly jam the hose back on and look back at the taps “They are definitely off – Where’s the water coming from?”

After a quick phone call to a male friend (yes I crumbled and thought a woman wouldn’t be able to answer my question…sorry!) for advice, I am lead to believe it’s only a little pressure left in the pipe and will drain away. So I go ahead and unplug the pipe…

…Five seconds later the bucket is full and water is still gushing!!!

I leave the hose in the bucket and dive back under the bench with the pliers to attack the tap. No sooner do I touch the blue plastic and it breaks off in the pliers – “Oh god – don’t panic!” Shaking frantically, while becoming completely soaked I hear mum at the front door, before I could stop myself I yelp “HELP!!” in a ridiculously high pitched voiced. She came through and immediately grabbed the hose, which had now completely overflowed the bucket, and held it in the sink above me, while I attempted again to grab the, now thin piece of, metal with the pliers and twist it to off. When I eventually get it turned off I notice the last of the water dripping onto my back – of course how typical – I only removed the drain hose from the sink coupling and water going down the plug hole was escaping out of this new gap rather than going down the drain!

So now I am completely drenched…cue the girls with more demands and whinging. Mum/Nan now leaves me to attempt the second (hot) pipe and tends to the girls. I turn back to the sopping carpet and half plumbed washing monster. Yet again I am caught by the dodgy taps, but thankfully I’m prepared and react quicker in turning the tap off to save myself from getting scolded.
Ten minutes later the top-loader is connected and washing its first load. Although I am a little weary when the water rushes back in! Thank fully though all is well and connections seem to be secure. The only evidence of my disaster being the sodden laundry carpet and fairly flushed me!