Plumbing Lesson
Just over 40 years ago a galvanized steel water pipe was installed in the crawlspace of a now 120 year-old homestead house built of sturdy 1" x 12" planks and sided with steel siding. It had no indoor plumbing during the first 80 years of its existence, all of that added by the second owner when it was renovated to late 20th century livability standards. Overall the renovation was a success, keeping its occupants housed in ample comfort if not in opulence.
Renovations included fully studded walls with plenty of insulation covered by sheetrock and wood paneling finish. The electrical was sound and well thought out as was the plumbing except for one small detail which became a problem just about a year ago. The pipe mentioned above conveyed fresh cold water to sinks, tub, shower, and toilets perfectly for just over 40 years without any issues. Then something strange began happening. Somewhere a slow leak developed which was recognized as existing when the water system was switched to on-demand pressure pumping. Every minute and twenty seconds, the pressure pump would kick on, run for three seconds then shut off–a sure sign of a slow leak.
Isolating sections of the water line between sources (water wells) revealed no leaks. Isolating between storage tank and house revealed nothing either. Then it was finally determined to be under the house somewhere in its crawlspace. Using an endoscope camera it was finally pinpointed in an entirely unexpected place along a length of its run between the place it entered the crawlspace and turned up to enter the wall between the two downstairs bathrooms. It had formed over the span of decades as a result of galvanic and chemical corrosion as result of resting against one of the original sandstone blocks carried up from the creek bed to serve as support member of the old homestead house's perimeter foundation.
It had been leaking slowly for a long time, possibly for decades, finally saturating the ground.
Repaired quickly, it's now a matter of waiting for ground of about five feet of expansive clay laid over alternating layers of sandstone and pebbles stretching who knows how deeply to dry. Under-house humidity has decreased from 100% at a rate of about 10% per month to about 60% now. The goal is 20% or less before assessing for any required foundation repairs.
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