–Drew Grossklaus, Sales Director/BIC East Cooper
For many, owning a home is one of the most rewarding experiences to have in life. We receive so much enjoyment from our home and create lasting memories – so much so that our homes truly become a part of us. Unfortunately, owning a home also comes with the often hair pulling experiences of home maintenance.
I recently had this experience in my own home. I received a call from the municipal water company that they saw I had been running water constantly, 24 hours a day. This had been going on for some time. I had just started using a sprinkler system, so I thought this was the cause of my higher bills, but the confirmation that water was running all day long told me that my home definitely had a leak. Thankfully I hadn’t seen any water inside my house, so I inspected my crawl space only to discover that I now had a pool…under my house.
If you have ever had a water leak, you realize how much havoc water can do to everything. I assumed that since I had turned on the sprinkler system weeks ago something was leaking in that system. Thankfully, I had someone I knew who worked on the sprinkler systems that I was able to call. My friend looked, and after turning off the system let me know that the leak was not caused by that system as water was still running at consistent pace of a ¼ gallon an hour.
He gave me the name of a leak detection company, something I didn’t know existed. They have specialized equipment that would be able to try and find the leak. Given that my crawl space was a mess, I knew clean-up would be needed, so I had already called a crawl space specialist to look and let me know what would need to be done after I found where the water was coming from. The crawl space specialist arrived in the morning and went under the house. They hurriedly came out, telling me the main supply line had burst and water was freely flowing in my crawl space. He promptly shut off the water and talked to me about where it was and that I needed a plumber to come out to fix it right away. The specialist and their office helped me to locate a plumber that would take on the job after four different plumbers said they could not do it. Thankfully, we found a plumber that could fix it the same day so I would not be without water for even a night.
My story is one that all homeowners go through whether it be pipes, roof, HVAC, or any of the other “fun” issues that come with owning a home. After the fix, I took a moment to think about the times during my leak when I really felt helpless, not knowing all the answers for what to do next. I was fortunate that my work in real estate gave me trusted contacts to call that would help me, since I did not have the expertise to deal with the issues on my own.
Home buyers and sellers often don’t know who to call for information and services that they can feel confident in and trust. I think of William Means agents and the help and answers they provide to our clients daily. The peace of mind that our team brings throughout the home buying and selling process is invaluable. They not only act as the experts in all the nuances in the real estate process, but well beyond that into the good and bad of homeownership. While I hope your home maintenance issues aren’t too big, it is always nice to know that if you have an issue, you know who to call.
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