A client called me yesterday, sounding in somewhat a panic. He and his wife bought a high water bungalow in Midtown a few months ago. Among the many glorious features shared by homes in Midtown, Sacramento, this home also has wood floors, bordered by inlaid mahogany, but the floors needed to be refinished. As the floor refinisher was securing loose boards, he managed to drill a couple screws not into the joist below but into a copper pipe running to the water heater.
Did I know a good plumber? I'd say out of the emergencies that could happen in a home, plumbing is an immediate concern because it involves water. You never hear of anybody screaming hysterically, "I need a framer to build a wall in the next 30 minutes or we're all gonna die."
Here's a couple tips for you: Don't ever work on plumbing in the middle of the night when all the stores are closed. And keep your plumber's number handy, taped to the back of your landline or programmed into your cell or stuck to the water heater.
The floor refinisher is picking up the cost to install a new copper line. Let me tell you, copper ain't cheap nowadays.
But I know how the poor guy felt. I had removed a tub from a second-floor bath in a former house -- back in my buy, fix and sell decade -- and hired a plumber to install new plumbing in the floor and walls for a shower. After he left, I put the fiberglass base in place and tried to secure it to the wall studs. Unknown to me, the plumber had cut away the bottom portion of the studs under the shower handle. So, when I drove a screw into the spot where the stud should have been, I drilled a hole right through the copper pipe, which sprang a leak.
Fortunately, for me, the plumber came right back and fixed it. He felt badly about it because only a few days earlier, he had put his foot through the Sheetrocked ceiling below, but that's another story for another time.
The moral of this story is use a stud finder, if you need to, and mark where the studs or joists are located before drilling or poking metal objects through floors, walls or ceilings. I think I shall buy a caseload of them to hand out as closing presents from now on.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, coming to a bookstore near you in February.
Photo: Big Stock Photo
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
