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Over the weekend I had a job to do in my basement. I had a large water pipe break and if not for my water sensor alarms I might have had considerable damage to tools and boxes of items I keep down there, let alone the damage I might have had to my furnace, electrical lines, and basement walls.

I have to admit that I probably wouldn’t have purchased the sensors except that I had an existing problem when I purchased my home.

When I first moved into my house I had to be in my basement every time it rained. I had a water problem due to rain runoff from the house roof finding its way through my basement walls. Sometimes it would happen and other times it stayed dry, but I got tired of standing watch down there.

To alleviate the irritating task of patrolling my basement during the rains I purchased water sensor alarms. One type of my purchase were the Skylink WA-318 Household Alert Water Alert Sets that transmit an alarm to a receiving unit I keep in the upstairs living area. I got this type because I didn’t trust that I would hear an alarm going off in the basement. These sensors were placed in areas along the wall that were the first to allow water in.

Since I was buying sensors, I picked up a few others to cover the other potential problem areas. The other sensors I purchased were simpler and self-contained units that I placed under my washing machine, water/ice dispenser refrigerator, and sinks. These Glentronics, Inc. BWD-HWA Basement Watchdog Water Sensor and Alarms run only on batteries and since they are in the floors of the living areas in my home I can hear them, if they should give off an alarm.

Eventually, I installed gutters around my roof and extended the gutter drains underground to exit 10′ from my home. This alleviated the water through the walls problem. I then moved the basement sensors to the furnace area (hot water heating system), and the hot water tank. I had one left over that I put in the area of the basement that appeared to be the low point of the floor (where water would likely find it’s way to).

I now rarely go into my basement unless I happen to need a tool, or have to rummage through the shelves and boxes looking for something that I can’t find, but know I have. That means it may be a week or more before I actually venture down there for some reason.

That was, until Saturday morning.

I woke up to the shrill of an alarm at about 1 am. Though I was only partially awake I knew it wasn’t my alarm clock and was immediately hit with the fear my house was on fire.

Thoughts came to my mind:

1. Find the fire, evaluate it, and try to extinguish it if I could.

2. Get out of the house and call 911.

3. Save my porn collection.

(OK, so #3 was actually first on my list.)

It probably took me less than a minute after jumping out of bed and grabbing an extinguisher in my closet (I keep one in every bedroom closet, the kitchen, and the basement) to realize that I wasn’t smelling smoke and the alarm wasn’t exactly like my smoke alarms I’ve heard go off when I’ve burned something on the stove.

I followed the sound to its source and realized before I got to it that it was the receiving unit for the water alarm sensors in the basement. I headed to the basement and upon opening the door I could hear what sounded like a garden hose spraying. Down the stairs I went and I could see water spraying from a pipe. I ran to the main feed valve and shut off the water to the house. The pipe went from a spray to a steady thin stream to the floor as water remaining in the pipe continued to drain.

To make a long story short, I got some rags and a mop. I sopped up what water was on the cement floor. I wiped down the shelving, boxes, and tools that had been within reach of the spraying water. I then went back to bed after inspecting the pipe and cursing it.

The pipe failed at a solder joint where it met an isolation valve. I can only suppose that after 40 years or more of that valve being turned on and off that the twisting of it put stress on the joint and it chose a time when I would be asleep to let loose. It took me about an hour to make the repair the next morning after getting what I needed from Home Depot.

If it hadn’t been for one of the water sensor alarms that was in the area of the leak, instead of only needing some rags and a couple of passes with a mop, I would have had needed buckets and been looking for a sump pump to get the water out of my basement. I guess that leak had been going on for only about 5 minutes before I had the water off. Without the water alarm it would have been spraying water for at least another 6 hours before I got up that morning at my normal time and then only if I had noticed the sound of water running somewhere in the house when I was downstairs in the kitchen, or living room.

The potential damage to items and equipment in my basement would have been extensive and costly. I can only imagine how high the water would have gotten and how long it would have taken to dry everything out, that would have gotten soaked while I slept. As it was, I only needed a fan and turned on my dehumidifier, which I usually have off during the dry winter months.

If you don’t have water leak alarms in your home I would strongly advise getting at least one for your basement. Considering winter is upon us and it only takes one extremely cold day to freeze and burst pipes, its a cheap investment that can save you thousands of dollars in water damage.