That sounds pretty ugly Al.
Hope it gets better.
It DID get better!! OK, pop quiz, what does this look like?
If you said "a penny soldered onto the front of a copper drainpipe" YOU WIN!!
The leak turned out to be a hole drilled into the drainpipe, even with the bottom of the above-range microwave which I personally mounted there a few years ago. There was no screw in that hole, but I have to own it. I must have dried to drill a mounting hole there and hit the pipe, then decided I couldn't use that spot.
The plumber said he could see that the hole was tapered, so the best we can figure, I drilled JUST enough to create a pinhole in the pipe, which corroded over time until it got big enough to leak. That leak is what created mold in the wall behind the range and got the basement wet.
The solution? He said: "you know, I've heard for years that plumbers used to solder a penny onto a copper pipe to fix this kind of hole. I've always wanted to try it."
So he had a nice shiny 2013 penny and soldered it in, even making sure Abe Lincoln's image was correctly vertical. The bill lists materials as: "Copper patch" and cost is "1 cent".
He took lots of pictures. I have a feeling that this is one story he'll pass around to his friends. His two visits cost me only $130.01.
Insurance coverage is still uncertain, but finding this leak makes a big difference in the cost. Now I can probably get by for the cost of peeling out some insulation and replacing a small patch of floorboard, plus some carpet. I'm feeling MUCH better.
