UPDATE: The Reveal! Home remodel before and after 2010-2011 picture and video tour.
As you know what started out as a kitchen remodel and trying to decide granite vs quartz quickly ballooned into a full first floor home remodel. Part of that remodel job included replacing all the baseboard trim work that came with the house and putting in a larger more decorative style. That's where our picture hanging dangers were discovered. September of 2007 marked a big day in Happy's home. That's the day I got my first large screen LCD television professionally mounted on the wall with a surround sound speaker system. Shortly after that Mrs Happy and I put up a bunch of nicely framed pictures around the television. We did what all home owners do when they're hanging pictures on the wall. We pounded some nails into the wall after figuring out exactly where the pictures would be symmetrically hung.
As you know what started out as a kitchen remodel and trying to decide granite vs quartz quickly ballooned into a full first floor home remodel. Part of that remodel job included replacing all the baseboard trim work that came with the house and putting in a larger more decorative style. That's where our picture hanging dangers were discovered. September of 2007 marked a big day in Happy's home. That's the day I got my first large screen LCD television professionally mounted on the wall with a surround sound speaker system. Shortly after that Mrs Happy and I put up a bunch of nicely framed pictures around the television. We did what all home owners do when they're hanging pictures on the wall. We pounded some nails into the wall after figuring out exactly where the pictures would be symmetrically hung.
After a few months, we decided we didn't like the look so much, so we took down the pictures and removed the nails from the walls. Fast forward to May of 2010 when we decide to replace the trim baseboards after getting the new wood floors installed. As the trim carpenter was removing the baseboard, he realized that the drywall behind the trim was moist. He noticed a sewer pipe running right behind the drywall, just lateral to the television. At first we thought the trim nail had been shot right into the sewer pipe. But we learned that anytime a pipe runs behind the dry wall, a protective plate must be installed at the base of the trim to prevent trim nails from going into the pipe. That's what the code says.
It soon became apparent that this smelly liquid was coming from higher up. One could see the water marks above the baseboard trim line. So the dry wall was removed up the wall and the sewer pipe was exposed. And wouldn't you know it, we found the leaking source. The
sewer pipe was perfectly aligned with our previous picture frames we
had hanging before. Two years prior, we pounded a nail right into the
sewer pipe. When we removed the pictures and the nails, a small amount
of sewer water was apparently dripping out of the pipe every time
someone flushed the toilet upstairs, for the last two years. How about that!
The plumber got it fixed up pretty quickly. He cut out the damaged
section and put in a new part sealed together with PVC glue.
The drywall is now complete and the painting and trim work finished. It looks just like new. I never knew that sewer pipes ran right behind the drywall like that. I'm sure we used a cheap stud finder that probably mistook the sewer pipe for a wooden stud. Had we not remodeled that room, we would have had leaking sewage for years. Ah, the hidden dangers of hanging pictures. My only other experience with plumbers in our home was when we were losing hot water pressure in the whole house. That was an interesting diagnosis!
