Urgent help needed.

stuart45

Jist in the nick of time, they've still got 4 minutes left to sort it, pack and find their passports and give the cat it's last meal.😀

WIAWSNB

Which law is in effect here? MrSod's?

Whatever stress I am feeling right now has been placed firmly in perspective.

Mind you, I do have a 40-minute walk ahead of me now - and it's piddling… I hope you all feel bad.

Elsien? ELSIEN?! 😏

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885614#Comment_81885614

Hopefully in flight mode by now.

elsien

Update for anyone who’s interested.

My house is still here so that’s a bonus. I decided to leave the water and the electric turned off while I was away just because I would’ve been fretting otherwise, which meant a fun hour with a hairdryer trying to defrost the freezer before I went.
Back this morning having successfully ticked parent’s final trip abroad off. Managed to get a plumber in this afternoon without having to pay stupid emergency callout rates. Although it did involve a lot of furniture removal and having to cut holes in my old carpet - with my agreement, I hasten to add because it was easier than unscrewing and emptying a multitude of bookcases.
Turned out to be whowever had put the original central heating in had put a nail next to a pipe under the floor to hold it in place. And it had slowly corroded over the years causing a pinprick hole which had suddenly decided to become less pinprick.

Elevtric light circuit still needs to be checked, but I’ve got lamps I can use for now.

Still need another holiday to get over it all though.

Thank you all for the help at the time. I am just relieved the issue decided to show itself before I went, not while I was away.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81891693#Comment_81891693

Glad to hear you got away for the important trip and things weren't too bad on your return.

Once the dust has settled you might want to get some additional/replacement drain valves installed in case of future urgency.

Worth reflecting that something as trivial as a nail in the wrong place can lead to such a major problem some years later…

…although having a 'pimp' in your bedroom is asking for trouble. 😉

elsien

Blasted Siri! 😁

WIAWSNB

Siri, yeah, sure...

Good news, and I hope you actually enjoyed your break.

The light fitting, if left powered down for a week so everything dries, will almost certainly be fine.

You could remove the bulb(s) and check the terminals and sockets look clean - after a week or so.

Slinky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81891693#Comment_81891693

Is it just the one pipe that was held with a nail? We found out the first morning after we moved in, when the central heating came on, that all the pipework under the floors upstairs was held by nails bent over the top of the copper pipework. The banging as the pipes moved against the nails, when they heated up sounded like world war 3. How the previous occupants of our 1960s house had lived with that racket every day for years was beyond us. We lifted some floorboards and sorted some of the worst of it, but had the whole lot ripped out and replaced when we finally moved into the house ourselves a couple of years after purchase.