At 11am yesterday morning, I received a call from one of the tenants at my Ware St rental property -- their bathroom water didn't work. 😯
I called my bro, confirmed there were no major leaks in the basement, then proceeded to drive to Lowell (from Cambridge). When I arrived, I figured out where the pipes for that unit go up from the basement. I then hooked up an electric space heater, using some metal wire I found on the floor to hang the heater so it blows right on the pipes. About 30 minutes later, I heard a gushing sound -- the ice cleared. I turned the heat on high in the vacant unit where the pipes ran through, so hopefully that won't happen again. I drive back to Cambridge, and arrive at 2:30pm.
Then at 5:20pm, I get another call -- this time from the first floor tenant at my Bowers St property. He says water is pouring out from his kitchen and bathroom ceiling. My stomach drops as I recall the last time this happen and the damage cost me $16k to repair. I told the tenant over the phone, how to turn off the water main, so the water would stop coming out of the broken pipe. After driving through rush hour traffic, I finally arrived around 6:30pm. While I was en route I called a plumber -- he arrived at Bowers St few minutes before I did. He fixed the broken pipe -- a tiny 4 inch section of copper pipe -- then proceed, with my help, to check the rest of the house for possible leaks. Luckily there were none. He charged me $398.96 and left.
Thankfully, there was not very much water damage. The kitchen counter, cabinets, and part of the bedroom were soaked, but the rest of the kitchen and most of the bathroom were spared. The tenant's TV was ruined, which I'll have to pay to replace, but it was nothing fancy, just a basic 27" tube TV. The baseboard electric heater I installed in the hallway a few months ago (specifically to avoid a problem like this) was on high for the past few days, however, people visiting the tenant on the third floor kept leaving the hallway door open -- even though there are two big signs that say "KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED!". Maybe I need to write the signs in 10 other languages.
I decided to install a door closer before I went back to Cambridge, as I don't want to risk this happening again. First I went to Ware St to get my cordless drill from my brother and while I was there, he told me he wants to start painting the vacant 1 bedroom unit in Ware St tomorrow.
9:00pm - I drive to the Nashua Home Depot (in tax-free NH), buy the door closer, two five-gallon buckets of white interior flat latex paint, a box of ceiling tiles (for the tenant to replace the water damaged ones in Bowers St), and two weather strips (for the doors at Ware St -- lots of cold air blows in through the bottom). $183.
10:20pm - Back in Lowell, I drop off the paint and weather strips to my brother at Ware St, then drive to Bowers St to install the door closer. I realize I don't have the drill bit that I need... where did I leave it? Cumberland Rd? Ware St? The factory (the building our family business runs out of)?. Bah, I don't remember, so I drive to Cumberland Rd. Nope. Drive to the factory. Yes! Drive back to Bowers St and spend 30 minutes installing the door closer. The door closer works -- but now there's a problem with the door closing tightly. The door closer isn't strong enough to close the door all the way. I have to modify the door frame to make the door close better -- another 30 minutes of work. I decide to do it later, maybe even this weekend. At least this way the door will never be left open.
12:20am - Arrive back home in Cambridge and write this post before heading to bed.