Our house, where digging begins tomorrow. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2020.
WE LIVE IN AN OLD HOUSE. Eighty-one years old, according to a real estate listing from 1984, the year we bought our Faribault home. I don’t think that date is accurate. I expect this house was built in the 1920s. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.
What matters now is that we are facing a monumental expense after the city water line from the street into our basement began leaking. We awoke Monday morning to water running across our basement laundry room floor. Not good.
We could have replaced the pipe some 30 years ago when the street past our house was completely redone. But, like most homeowners, the additional street assessment was enough of an expenditure. So we opted not to update the water line.
Now here we are, with a rotten old pipe, temporarily without water and facing an estimated bill of $5,000-plus. I am thankful for money in savings.
Still, it’s an expense we’d rather not have as we continue to pay $1,868/month for health insurance and cost of living expenses continue to rise with no wage increase to compensate. Sigh. And my dreams of updating our 1960s vintage kitchen seem even more distant now.
I’m trying to maintain a positive attitude. This could have happened when we were out of town. This could have happened in winter, making the entire process more difficult. And this is fixable.
Mike, whom I’ve know since he was a child, is leading the project. I feel good about that with someone I trust in charge. Excavation begins Tuesday morning. Mike assures water service by the end of the day. In the meantime, the next door neighbor has kindly agreed to let us run a garden hose from his house to ours.
I’m also grateful for Al, service manager of Faribo Plumbing & Heating, who showed up mid-morning Monday to assess the situation. “This doesn’t look good,” he said. I may have sworn and appeared on the verge of crying because he apologized for delivering such bad news. I assured Al he was not to blame. Stuff happens when you own a house, right? But he understood my distress and was exceptionally kind and understanding in a way that speaks great customer service.
To live in a community where neighbors help neighbors, whether personally or professionally, is truly a gift.
© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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