The Five Elements in NYC Living: Part 2

Part 2: Water, Wood and Earth

In February, mysterious water leaks had developed in my downstairs neighbor’s bathroom. On four consecutive days, four different workers came to locate the source of the leaks and were unsuccessful in doing so. While there were several different theories, nothing was visible to the eye, so it was decided to dig up my bathroom floor. Thus, all the contents of my bathroom needed to be transferred to my main room along with the items from my kitchen.

The first day of repairs started with most of my apartment being covered in plastic like a Christo installation and my toilet sitting in the bathtub. Next came major excavation by the plaster/painting contractor’s workers, which involved digging below the level of the pipes, perhaps 6-8 inches. Underneath the tiles was not only dirt, but actual soil! And wood. (It is an old building.) Four heavy bags of debris were carried out by strong, young workers staggering under their weight, and leaks in three separate pipes, were discovered. The plumber came to look late in the afternoon and said to be ready for them the next morning at 9 am.

The plumber’s mechanic and an assistant arrived at 9:30 am and began to unpack and set up materials in the hallway. At 10:30 am the plumber came to tell them what needed to be done. He left and they began cutting away the old pipes. The heat for the entire building needed to be turned off while they worked. Ditto the water in my apartment. As my repeated attempts to warn against the possibility of the pipes freezing had been ignored, I was grateful that it was the one day during a week of arctic-like weather when the temperatures rose above 30 degrees.

It took them forever. There was constant foot traffic and disagreement amongst the four plumbers, the building handyman and the contractor. Finally, at 7 pm they were able to turn the heat on and test the new piping. At 7:30 pm, after cursory cleaning and removal of the ‘body bag’ (leaving the toilet in the tub and dark grey fingerprints on the wall) they left. The third day, the contractor’s workers returned, concrete was mixed and poured—and needed twelve hours to dry. The fourth day, with tiling and grouting materials, a new floor was put down. And I spent the following four days cleaning.