When you decide to fix your plumbing problems on your own without any experience, it’s inevitable that some interesting and humorous accidents will entail. Below are five plumbing accidents that have actually happened.
The Makeshift Water Heater
When the water heater in the house went dead, a husband had a great idea to construct a makeshift water heater instead of paying a plumber to fix the broken one. This guy managed to take the cold water pipe, attach it to a loose plastic water bottle, direct the bottle to a small heater, and then attached a small tube to the container to drain the heated water into the sink. Not only was this project a mess, but you could potentially scorch your skin if you leave the water in the heater too long.
Human Waste In The Sink
Having to clean a drain is disgusting with all of the hair, rotting food, and other unmentionable items. However, one family’s plumbing experience takes the cake. When their kitchen sink became clogged, they expected food or mold to be jamming the pipe. In this case, human feces came bubbling up out of the kitchen sink.
That makes every drain you ever cleaned seem like a dream. This probably happened due to someone’s shoddy plumbing skills, and this person should stay far away from pipes and drains in the future.
The Garden Hose
When your toilet has a problem flushing due to a lack of water in the tank, you usually will call a plumber to get the water flowing again, correct? Certain people choose the lazy method and seek alternative methods. In this case, an individual decided to connect a garden hose to the tap of the sink and run it to the tank of the toilet.
All you have to do is turn on the tap, flush the toilet, wait for the tank to fill up, and then turn off the tap before the tank gets too full. No problem, right?
Stinky Satellite
Waste pipes are for waste, nothing else. That being said, some people see them as an easy way to run cables from their satellite dish into their bedroom. True story, somebody actually ran the cables of two satellite dishes through the waste pipe on their roof, down the attic, and through a hole in the same pipe. Needless to say the house wreaks, is leaking water, and probably has some drainage problems.
Ice Kitchen
Have you ever come home to find your kitchen completely iced over? You probably haven’t, but there’s one kitchen that had this exact scenario take place. A pipe most likely broke when nobody was around, and the water ran across the ceiling, down the walls, into the sink, and onto the floor. The open windows and doors, combined with the freezing temperatures outside, turned the room into an ice palace. This is why you flush your pipes before winter sets in.
If the above situations have taught you anything, hopefully it’s to call a professional plumber when you have a problem. Remember, being a makeshift handyman may be a great learning experience, but it’s usually only fun for those laughing at your plumbing failures.
Charlie Teschner started MESA Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling in 1982. Charlie has a journeyman and master plumber’s license. He was raised with a strong work ethic and he now applies those values to tasks such as Longmont, CO heating repair.