Are you thinking about buying or renting a townhouse in the near future? If so, listen up! This is a lesson that you don’t want to learn the hard way. If you have a choice, choose to be above (higher altitude) the other tenants in the building rather than on the downslope.
Why?
Here’s why…
Because water follows the lowest path of least resistance. Why does that matter when it comes to choosing a townhouse?
Tell ya in a minute…
While unrelated to buying a townhouse on the upper end, I had a water leak mystery to solve of my own yesterday. I summoned Skyline Plumbing the following day because I deduced that the leak was only happening when the master shower was in use and, therefore, figured it could definitely wait. After all, it was a Sunday on a holiday weekend and we had another shower to use in the meantime.
A Master Plumber from Skyline shows up a couple of hours after I make the call and he’s a very nice and knowledgable plumber with 20+ years experience so he’s seen just about everything. He proceeds to handle the leak with little difficulty, something that I would not have been able to do. He handled that issue in no time at all so I asked if he could take a look at another issue I was having in the guest bathroom tub/shower.
Anyhow…
Here’s Why You Need to Consider Buying or Renting the Highest Townhouse Amongst the Row.
After he explains to me how he repaired my secondary plumbing issue (I always hang out with the repairman so I can learn something new) he proceeds to tell me a funny little story about a waterpipe leak he was called on earlier in the week during our record-breaking chill here in Georgia.
He was called to repair a busted water pipe for a customer residing in a townhouse. When he got there the water was already a couple of inches deep in his kitchen. At first, the plumber assessed that the pipe was busted in an inaccessible area because it backed up against an outside wall and it seemed logical that it would have busted in that area. He explained to the customer that it was probable that he would have to bust in through the outside wall to repair the pipe and that it would be expensive.
He asked the customer if he was certain that he wanted him to proceed. Customer replied "yes". But the plumber asked if he could go to the neighbor’s townhouse just to see if there was a problem one door up before he went to the time, trouble and expense of repairing the pipe because he lived on the lower end of the townhouse row…keeping in mind that water, without fail, flows downhill.
He knocks on the door and discovers a couple of guys inside that have obviously been smoking dope and totally oblivious to the fact that the water was running all over the place towards the rear of the townhouse and, consequently, into the customer’s townhouse down below. They asked why they hadn’t shut the water off. Both of the (numbskull) potheads replied that they wondered what that dripping noise was but hadn’t bothered to investigate the source.
I told the plumber that they must surely be renters…not that all renters are automatically potheads and numbskulls, mind you. But…yes…they were renters. My point simply being that they could have cared less what was going on as long as they were able to catch a buzz!
Unbelievable!!!
The Moral of This Water Leak Story is…
According to Lindsey the Plumber…always buy, lease or rent the townhouse on the upper end of the row. Never buy or lease on the lower end. There’s no escaping free flowing water from a neighbor that lives above you, if a problem should occur.
Related:
How To Prevent Water Pipes From Freezing and How to Thaw Them – via The American National Red Cross
I started as a home-stalker… visiting brand new homes under construction in the neighborhoods near my house. That inspired me to write about home building and home renovation projects — chronicling homes during different phases of construction from a consumer's point-of-view. Basically, the tips you'll find in my articles are a collection of checklists for what I think should (and should not) go into building or remodeling a quality home.
