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Celebration Homeowners Beware |
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Written by Jim Siegel
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Monday, 25 January 2010 17:09 |
If you live in Celebration, there may be a kind of “time bomb” ready to go off in your house at any moment. Thanks goes to a dozen or so residents who have called our attention to it, including Dennis Kennen (who started a thread on the Front Porch last month) and to Rick Amick (who posted a thorough explanation and warning). The problem is sudden and unexpected water leaks inside the house. The root cause: water pressure delivered to our homes that significantly exceeds County and Uniform Plumbing Codes, coupled with the omission by Celebration builders to install simple pressure relief valves.
Just ask residents such a Thomas Muery, Renato Texiara, and William Abendschein. All had expensive repairs totaling thousands of dollars.
The solution is relatively simple: a pressure relief valve installed in the water line just before it enters the home.
I just had one installed in my house in East Village, after I learned of the danger by reading the Front Porch thread started by Kennen. Suddenly, recent incidents nearby suddenly became clear. Earlier this year, my immediate neighbor suffered extensive water damage to the entire first floor of his house. Three months later, his neighbor had a water pipe burst, flooding half his house and ruining the carpet. A few blocks away, a friend had a burst water line just a week ago. The next day I had a mysterious trickle of water form under our washing machine.
Kevin the Plumber verified my fear. The pressure was about 120 psi, far exceeding the recommended maximum of about 80 psi. In a bit over an hour, Kevin installed a pressure relief valve, his second such installation that day. The water pressure time bomb has stopped ticking at my house.
But that raises an interesting issue. Should not some public organization (such as the County, CCDD, or CROA) be warning residents of this danger? Do the builders have an ethical responsibility to warn all the homeowners? What about real estate agents who sell houses to unsuspecting buyers?
Based on the talk around town, the attitude seems to be Caveat Emptor ... Let the Buyer Beware. The Water Department, CCDD, The Celebration Company, builders, and real estate agents all seem to be pointing their fingers either at the others or at the home owners themselves.
Thus it falls to the Fourth Estate (a term coined by Edmund Burke, meaning “the Press”).
We urge you not to procrastinate. Test your water pressure with a simple pressure gauge available at Lowe’s, Home Depot, or a good hardware store. If it exceeds roughly 85 psi, buy and install a pressure relief valve. Or call a reliable plumber like Kevin (their repair costs reportedly vary between $150 and $250, depending on the size of house and other factors).
Even if the water lines in your house have held until now, the excessive pressure month after month may eventually produce a weak point, causing what could be inconvenience (at best) and catastrophic, expensive damage (at worst).
Just because our public servants haven’t waived a red flag, it doesn’t mean there isn’t danger. Just ask the residents with posts on the Front Porch, category “Place& Community.”
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Written by Roberto Tassi
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Sunday, 19 April 2009 21:57 |
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Dear Editor,
In North Village, we enjoy the shade of beautiful deciduous trees along our sidewalks. Still, streets in North Village look neat and clean. Maybe people leave their cars parked in the streets less in this area than in other parts of town. In fact, particularly in the downtown area, I am always surprised to see portions of the streets with mounds of leaves along the sidewalks, evidently not serviced by the street sweeping trucks. This could be the consequence of the parking habits of the resident population. Parking is something that should be further controlled by Town Hall. People have built two, three, four cars garages, but they use them for storage.
Street Sweeping Service is performed in different days in various parts of Celebration. In my opinion, during those days, streets should be emptied and cars towed away. This was the (costly) rule in effect where I lived before moving to Celebration. I would like your opinion on the matter.
Thank you,
Roberto Tassi
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Last Updated on Sunday, 19 April 2009 22:03 |
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