Basement Water Leak

Becky wanted to water some new plants she just put into the ground out in the front garden. I got the hose reel out of the shed and hooked it up to the faucet in the front of the house. Then I went inside and down to the basement to turn it on. When I opened the valve to the front faucet there was a loud sound of rushing water in the pipes. I didn't sound right. I thought I may have left the faucet open outside and I was hearing water going through the pipes before spilling out on the walkway along the side of the house. It all sounded different and wrong.

I went outside and checked the faucet but it was shut and there was no water on the ground. I quickly went back down to the basement and saw to my shocked surprise that there was water gushing down the wall and splashing all over my work bench and soaking my tools including the power tools too. I was also really worried about the several electric outlets.

I ran to the other back room where the valve was located and quickly shut it. The water stopped. I spent some time cleaning up and moving the tools into another room. Then I called the plumber who installed the water line and valves a few years ago. Since the valve was shut and the water was no longer leaking it was not considered an emergency. It would take several days for the plumber to come out and fix the pipe.

I couldn't understand what had happened and also couldn't see what happened. Their was obviously a large break in the water line to spew that much water. It certainly wasn't a small leak in the pipe but it all happened out of sight behind the pegboard wall or in the rafters between the two rooms.

It would be almost a week before we could get everything working again and in the meantime Becky was using a watering can to take care of her plants.