Around 8:00 pm we got home after eating out. Chelsea noticed blisters on one of the foyer walls. I was shocked. Hobbes wasn’t. He said, “You hadn’t noticed that? I saw it when I got home from Talmadge’s house.” That was around noon.
If it had been an insect, he would have told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to take care of it — immediately. Bulging/wrinkled paint? Not a peep.
Fortunately, Danny and Joy were visiting so he was able to help me figure out how to isolate the issue and turn off the water to that bathroom. I got a recommendation from the neighbors for a plumber. He was able to come out two days later.
Super old houses tend to be a patchwork of bandaids and updates. When it comes to plumbing, we have a mix of cast iron, copper, galvanized pipe, PVC, and PEX.
In this case, the hot and cold water lines were still galvanized steel. Over time they tend to rust from the inside out and develop pinholes. That is what happened to ours. Fortunately, the plumber was able to replace about 30 feet of pipe from the basement up to where the pipe changes direction in the first-story ceiling/second-story floor.
Next week, we have someone coming out to repair the damage to the walls. I am optimistic that once he finishes his work, it will blend in and look like it originally did.
UPDATE: The sheetrock has been repaired and painted. It genuinely looks like it did before.
