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bluekitobsessed

Blue is back. That's not good.

bluekitobsessed
14 years ago

Hi y'all:

I finished my kitchen about a year ago, went on to a bathroom remodel (still going on due to life getting in the way), lurked for a while, but mostly vanished off the boards here.

The oldtimers might remember my kitchen, with my blue granite (hence my name), and the gorgeous hardwood floors I had installed for my birthday last year.

Yeah. About those floors....

My fridge icemaker line sprang a leak. The insurance company's remediation crew has removed huge chunks of my floor. I now have to shop for a new floor or two (will x post on home decoration with details).

Experience with floodstop, leakfrog, or similar products?

And fyi, those 36" - 39" aisles are fine for a kitchen in which one person cooks, but once an 85 year old mom moves in, they're not so good.

Blue

Comments (24)

  • rhome410
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It's nice to see you back, but not for a sad reason! Best wishes on the floor fix and working things out with your new roomie in the kitchen!

  • clinresga
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hey blue: I remember your kitchen well, I was a step or two behind you. Also burned out a bit on GW but still drop by once in a while. Sorry about the floors.

    I'm anxious to see what you hear back about leak detection systems. After two burst water heaters, I am paranoid, and worry even more about the lake house which is unoccupied for weeks at a time. Have friends who built a condo complex of 14 units, one flooded and they ended up replacing all the first floor flooring in all 14 units, as the water ran from unit to unit.

    At any rate, I've discarded the idea of simple alarms, like the leakfrog. Considering how often we're all out of the house, even an hour or two of flooding is potentially disastrous. So, having an alarm beeping away while we're at work/school/errands etc is not very helpful. Better than nothing, and if you are lucky enough to have something like a Creston whole house automation system that will call your cell phone for an alarm, well that's great, but I don't.

    So I'm leaning toward something like the floodstop or watercop systems. I'd use the whole house system in the lake house (it shuts off the entire water supply to the house in case of leak), and maybe in the main house too. It is tempting to use the individual units there (i.e. one shutoff valve for each dishwasher, washing machine, ice maker, hot water heater) but the cost really gets prohibitive. At $100 - $150 per sensor/valve unit, given the two DW, two washers, two ice makers, and two water heaters, it would end up at around $1000, vs under $500 for the whole house unit.

    But...I'm hoping someone with real world experience with floodstop or similar system would be willing to post their thoughts, pro or con. Searched the Plumbing forum but not much there beyond unsubstantiated opinion either.

  • marthavila
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, Blue. I have to ditto Rhome. I've missed your posts but not so much that I was hoping for one like this! Sorry not only for your floor problem but also that I have no advice to offer. (And, keeping my fingers crossed it stays that way!) Welcome back. You know you've come to the right place. Hope all works out for your kitchen floor and mom in the kitchen ASAP!

  • igloochic
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow umm welcome back :( I have floodstops on every water source in the house. We have had them go off a couple of times, both related to the washing machines, both would have beem messes if the flood stop hadn't immediately stopped the water flow. I adore the danged things...I have electric and battery operated stoppers and alarms (basic alarms on sicks and toilets and stops on ice maker, DW, W/D, hot water and any place not easy to get to (both of the jetted tubs). It will be the cheapest 100 bucks you've ever spent!!!

    I'm somewhat glad you're back...I have a new kitchen to do heh heh

  • plllog
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Blue!

    I'm so sorry about your floors!!! One of my tile setters (yes, they're still working on my kitchen) said that she always turns off the washing machine valve to prevent this kind of flood.

    I know I'm not going to do that, so I'm interested to hear what you end up choosing.

  • remodelfla
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hey Blue... sorry to hear about your trouble. I've been thinking about your granite... hence you too! I think I miss seeing it pop up in "what color granite" threads. HOw is it holding up? Still PERFECT?

  • alice462
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh, blue am so sorry. It sounds like life has really thrown you a curve, and not just the damaged floor. As a fellow "blue lover" I have missed you and do relate to the family moving in - my 40 y.o. brother with an injured back arrived last week.....hhmmm, wide kitchen aisles are really good!

    I have nothing to offer on the water alarms, except to say will be thinking about you. Your mom is lucky to have you -- good luck.

  • homepro01
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Blue,
    Sorry to hear about your troubles. I wanted to re-iterate that 42-48" aisles are a good thing. I had hip surgery a few weeks ago and getting in and out of the kitchen with the 42" and 48" aisles were wonderful. I could also pull a bar stool up and work on the island. My kitchen is still in remodel mode but these aisle widths were important to me early on.

    Best of luck with the floor. I do need to look at these flood stoppers too!

    Igloochic, which models do you have?

    Homepro01

  • shannonplus2
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    So sorry to hear about your flooding! But I am glad you are back, cause I remember your kitchen is so beautiful. Perhaps you will post pics again, or put them in Finished Kitchens Blog? Are you the one with the Ming Green backsplash? I have a friend considering that tile, and I thought I remember yours, but maybe I am wrong, but couldn't find a pic of any Ming Green backsplash in any case.

  • bill_vincent
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My fridge icemaker line sprang a leak. The insurance company's remediation crew has removed huge chunks of my floor. I now have to shop for a new floor or two (will x post on home decoration with details).

    THIS is why I can't see hardwood in the kitchen or bath, not because I'm a tile contractor. Accidents happen. Plain and simple. With tile, this is no problem whatsoever.

  • jakkom
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh, how awful for you! And I'm sorry to hear about your aisle problem as well. I totally feel for you - for me it was a world of difference between just thinking about universal design, but then suddenly having to use a walker for 2 months and actually experiencing the difficulties of accessibility! I hope everything works out for you in the months ahead.

  • igloochic
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Homepro (and anyone else who cares) I will link the retailer I purchased them from below. They were really lovely to deal with (I had to purchase twice because a dishonest plumber stole them...they gave me a great deal on the second order after hearing the story and threw in a few freebies).

    Mine are all by FloodStop. I have several different models, probably just about everything they make because I had so many applications.

    I have the sump pump attachement and alarm. It's a bit louder than the others (which is necessary). It alerts to overflows and given ours is in a crawl space we don't always know if it's kicked off (rarely happens but if it does you want to know right away...it's happened a couple times since we moved here, but only when workers turned it off accidently).

    I have compression alarms/shut off systems on all of my appliances which have water. Hot water heater (they have a special one for them), both washers and dryers, dishwasher and ice line to the fridge. These are all electric and have a battery back up or you can just use battery.

    For the hidden water lines (built in tubs) I also have compression stops on them. On all other water areas, (sinks and toilets) I have the basic alarm sitting either under the cabinet by the pipes or just behind the toilet where you'd get a drip if you had an issue. We were alerted to one toilet with a slow leak the couple of times it happened (took a bit to fix the toilet) but this saved the marble floor from being damaged since it was an area you'd not notice (way behind the toilet in the back) unless you were cleaning the floor...little used powder room so it could go a bit. I've had one sink alarm go off once as well, due to a badly installed pipe.

    All of our issues could have been slow leaks that made a mess of the cabinets or floor and each was immediately caught with the water alarm. I will never live in a house without them again. They're worth every penny they cost (the alarms are about 30 and the shut offs are a bit over 100). I see they also have a freeze alarm now as well...we're buying a big old victorian and I will be ordering those for some of the water sources as well.

    I have quite a bit invested in the darned things but if you compare it to one floor needing major work...it's nothing really. I'm ordering enough for the new house as we speak (thanks for reminding me Blue). If anyone wants them...hurry order before me LOL I have ten or eleven bathrooms to outfit!

    By the way, for some I ordered an extra sensor. I have one on the floor by the water valves in the wall for washers and dryers and then another (hooked to the same alarm/valve shut off) under the washer since I've had leaks in the past in both areas.

    If your water does get shut off because of an accident (the only time this happened is when our washer went way out of balance washing a big comforter and it sloshed out a tiny bit of water into the pan...all of our washers sit in cheap plastic pans by the way....30 bucks at lowes). Anyhoo, that tiny bit of water was enough to set the alarm off and turn off the valves. You have to dry the area (or pick up the sensor until it dries as I did) and then it's just a quick button to hit to turn things back on. If they still detect water though, they'll shut you right back off. Very sensative, but in all the right ways :)

    I don't own this company LOL (I just sound like I do heh heh) Maybe I should buy stock....

    Here is a link that might be useful: FloodStop at the Water Alarm .com

  • clinresga
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks igloo: figure it would be you who had the real scoop. Looks like I add them to my to-do list

  • bluekitobsessed
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks y'all -- especially igloochic, for the link. Did you ever finish your kitchen with the gorgeous rooster?

  • morton5
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I always enjoy your wry comments, Blue, but am sorry about your floor.

    I'm afraid to install any kind of stop or alarm system because it would mean moving my fridge, and I'm afraid that might actually start a leak. I used to pull out my old fridge all the time, but not this one-- just stick the vacuum nozzle as far as it will reach.

  • igloochic
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mine is a sub zero and a nightmare to move morton...but think that through...if it's that hard to move, what are you going to do when you need to shut off the water FAST? Really...it's worth the hell of one last move to put the alarm/shut off on the thing because I certainly couldn't move mine if we had a quickie emergency leak! It shuts off the water so quickly you'd not have any damage at all!

    Blue, I have to rehang my window coverings and paint the window trim, and then I can say "done". I wanted to get that done before we move into the winter house (DS and I are becoming snow birds) but I'm not sure I can do it. I may have to give up LOL (And I'd like to have drapes made but don't see having the time in the next few weeks). I do love our chicken kitchen :) and the bench seating in the bay window came out soooooo cool (and I've never posted a pic LOL). Maybe I should give up on paint and just try to post it before we move to the new house LOL

    I really am sorry to see the old timers come back with a floor or whatever issue (I'm so old that I've seen it before sadly). But I always enjoyed you so I'm glad you'll be back for a bit of my ride down "victorian kitchen lane". This one will be entirely different, and probably not started for a year, but I'll have fun posting plans and letting folks beat them up :)

  • plants4
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm sorry Blue, that you had this happen, but if it makes you feel any better at all (probably not!) your experience has pushed me over the edge to address this issue. I've read about it before on GW but mostly ignored it. Now, with the information from Igloo, I'm actually buying these things.

    So, thanks Blue for sharing your terrible experience and thanks Igloo for posting such detailed information on the floodstops (as well as why they are needed).

    Here's a question: in terms of placing the icemaker/water alarm, do you put it more expecting a leak at the connection TO the refrigerator or something springing a leak INSIDE the refrigerator?

  • warmfridge
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My fridge icemaker line also sprang a leak when the plastic tubing spontaneously cracked. (I was fortunate to have no water damage anywhere.) Apparently, this is not an uncommon problem when this cheap plastic tubing is used. My plumber replaced it with a copper line, which wasn't terribly expensive.

  • kaseki
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have purchased four Floodstop units so far, but only the washing machine unit is in use and tested. One unit is in an RO water feed line and several sensors are used in parallel where RO lines enter the kitchen: ice maker feed under refrigerator, pot filler at prep sink, RO faucet at main sink. There will also be separate Floodstop units used at each sink for the hot and cold lines.

    Expansion to more units for other purposes is under consideration.

    Sorry about your floor, bluekitobsessed, I liked your kitchen.

    kas

  • arleneb
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just saw this, Blue . . . your countertops nearly caused my keyboard to short out because of excessive drool. I'm sorry to hear about your leak problem . . . hope you find a drop-dead beautiful floor replacement.

  • clinresga
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    kas: are you using a central unit that shuts off the main water line, with multiple sensors, or is each unit a separate shutoff?

  • kaseki
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Clinresga:

    Sorry for the late response; I lost track of this thread. The units are relatively individual.

    By that I mean that there is a single motor driven ball valve in series with the RO feed to the kitchen area, and it is controlled by five moisture sensors placed where the various RO fixtures are located (two under the refrigerator, for example).

    The main sink feed has a pair of motorized ball valves and one controller with three sensors. (One is under the faucet, one under the dishwasher, and one under the cabinet next to the toe-kick heater.) The prep sink feed has a pair of motorized ball valves and one controller with one sensor. The washing machine feed has a pair of motorized ball valves and one controller with one sensor on the floor.

    I think this configuration provides a better means of localizing water leaks without shutting everything down

    kas

  • clinresga
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    kas: makes sense, i think it's a superior system, just so much more costly than a single mainline shutoff and multiple wireless sensors. Still, your logic is correct and it's a better approach. Will have to save more $$.

  • amberley
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Although this is an older post- thought I would share my experience. We have one of these units installed in our basement on our washer. We have it because our old washer's water sensor stopped working, and it kept filling hte tub, for about 4 hours. Took out our 1 year old carpet flooring in our newly remodeled basement. We put it in 3 1/2 years ago, and it has prevented a couple of disasters. I am planning to install one on every fixture in our kitchen remodel, and we will retrofit the HWH as well. Lifesavers!