Water...

One of the reasons they've been working on our street was so that they could replace all the utility lines as well as fix the drainage in our neighborhood.

However, ever since they hooked us up to the new water line, the water pressure in our third floor (where our bathroom and shower are located) has been severely lacking. We've asked them several times what the problem could be, but they don't know. We've also asked our neighbors if they've had the same problem, but they haven't noticed anything different.

This is not a new problem for us. Pretty much everything that could go wrong with our house has gone wrong. I wrote about it here.

And the problems just seem to continue. They broke our water line on four separate occasions when they were installing it and digging around it, so we think that probably has something to do with the low water pressure, but the workers still seem to be stumped. It's probably time to bring in a plumber.

BUT, we found out one thing that they did do correctly when they built our house. They actually connected our sewer line to the main sewer line that runs under the street. (we must celebrate these small victories.)

You know how I told you that the worker always told my husband "that ain't water" about the mud bog in our street before they laid the concrete. Well, it turned out to be more than true.

As they were digging up our driveway and sidewalks, they discovered a line running from our neighbor's house towards the street. But it didn't connect to anything. And... Get this. It was her sewer line! The ground under our street has basically been a septic system for our neighbor's house for the last 10 years.

The only saving grace is that the two people who have lived in that house over the last 10 years were single women who traveled a lot and weren't home very much. Otherwise, I just can't imagine.

They have since connected her line to our line, which is definitely connected to the main sewer line. I'm sure, though, now that her house isn't contributing to the ground moisture that we're going to have some kind of subsidence problem and our big oak tree will probably die. Imagine all that good fertilizer that has been pumped directly to its roots for years! (ick!!!)

Yep, Houston has got some real winners when it comes to house contractors and inspectors. I sense that we're going to need Holmes on Homes to come to our house someday soon.