What’s the Most Unexpected Plumbing Problem You’ve Ever Dealt With?

[SS Project Manager]

Let’s be honest—plumbing surprises are never on anyone’s wish list. One minute everything’s flowing fine, and the next… you're ankle-deep in mystery water, wondering how it all went sideways. Whether it was a burst pipe in the middle of winter, a squirrel in the vent pipe, or a toddler flushing something “interesting,” we’ve all had those what-the-heck-is-happening? moments.

Now’s your chance to spill the tea (or the water)! What’s the weirdest, most unexpected plumbing issue you’ve ever faced? How did you handle it—and what did you learn from it?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

A couple winters ago I was disconnecting hoses from faucets in advance of an upcoming freeze. One hose was stuck so I got a big pair of pliers to help unhook it. I got the pliers over the hose end, went to unscrew it and the whole faucet snapped off the end of the pipe and I got thoroughly drenched in the midst of some really cold weather.

What did I do? Ran to the well and turned the water off, dug through my plumbing box for parts and capped that sucker off. Plumbing supplies are one of the things I make sure I have plenty of before winter.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Had a floor drain connected to the outside footer drain which ran to a culvert 250' out. 4 inches of rain, floor drain backed up. Only got about an 1 inch max in the basement, but it was consistent. Fretting tens of thousands of dollars to dig up and fix....we luckily found a plumber with a snake that long. Long story short, the son and his friend had dropped a plastic toy horse in the basement drain. It got stuck past the footer drain, causing the backup.

 

[flowerbug]

almost every run of pipe in this house leaked when it was newly built. some of them i fixed by simply tightening something that was loose. i think ex-step-dad pissed off the plumber (quite possible) who was about to retire and the guy didn't care about his reputation.

we still have one leak that we've never fixed because it drips into the crawlspace gravel and doesn't cause any issues. to replace it would involve replacing the drain for the utility room shower which is now getting to that point after nearly 30yrs. cheap plastic stuff that really should never have been installed. i took it out somewhat after 12yrs to recaulk and seal up the leaks that were coming around the edges and seams but i didn't at that time want to take out the base chunk of plastic and the drain to fix that since it wasn't causing any other problems. last year i did some cleanup and recaulking to get it through until we can replace it. my budget is getting there but not sure if it will be this year or next year...

 

[Hinotori]

About 4 months after we bought this place the septic started backing up. It had been pumped prior to sale with certification. Called out the people to pump it. Tons of papers clogging it. The cap is accessible and easy enough to lift off. They must have decided that just tossing paperwork in was the best way to dispose of it.


Kitchen faucet came off in my hand when I was moving it from one side of sink. It was running so that was a nasty surprise but easy enough to turn off and replace

 

[flowerbug]

About 4 months after we bought this place the septic started backing up. It had been pumped prior to sale with certification. Called out the people to pump it. Tons of papers clogging it. The cap is accessible and easy enough to lift off. They must have decided that just tossing paperwork in was the best way to dispose of it.

wow, just wow...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

They must have decided that just tossing paperwork in was the best way to dispose of it.

Years ago my son and his first squeeze were staying in the garage apartment. We kept having clogging issues so got the pump crew out to pump it out. When they took the lid off, I was amazed (besides being grossed out ). This girl had been flushing clothes! Clothes! Who thinks that's ok? T-shirts, underwear and socks...

 

[flowerbug]

Mom was running a load of wash this morning and came to me saying that things were gurgling and the water was running black.

so first thing is to listen and then turn off the hot water heater electricity and then turn off the well pump, bleed out any pressure then go and look in the crawlspace for any water puddles or drips.

glad to say nothing down there looking to be an issue so it is probably the hot water heater. turned the valve off for that and then turned the well pump back on and flushed out the system to get things running clear again and we're back in business other than having no hot water. which is ok, we can survive this a lot easier than having no water at all.

with it being clear and sunny and gardens needing some water at times it's not a great time to not have any water at all.

it's an old enough hot water heater that this isn't unexpected, just not what a Saturday morning needs... ah well...

call the plumber on Monday.

 

[flowerbug]

Years ago my son and his first squeeze were staying in the garage apartment. We kept having clogging issues so got the pump crew out to pump it out. When they took the lid off, I was amazed (besides being grossed out ). This girl had been flushing clothes! Clothes! Who thinks that's ok? T-shirts, underwear and socks...

that's an extreme version of sock golf i've not heard of before... but you do know that some people are just not right in the head? sometimes children or even adults just aren't developed right and their brains don't work very well. i often look in the mirror and wonder about myself too...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

but you do know that some people are just not right in the head? sometimes children or even adults just aren't developed right and their brains don't work very well.

This girl was cute - but I'll just call her unique, lol. So glad he moved on and married the perfect woman for him. Perfect for me too - she's my fishing, bowling and occasionally shopping buddy!