Is there someone else living here too?/part 2

Okay, so I had a leaking dishwasher (probably) and mysteriously water filled bowls on two shelfs in the cabinet next to it. Not much water on the shelfs and no water what so ever out on the floor. In wait for the plumber Audrey emptied the bowls and we shut off the water feeding the dishwasher. And, of course we didn’t use it.

He came a couple of days later. Looked into the cabinet. Checked the pipes and the tube at the far back. Didn’t find anything wrong with the plumbing. Looked at the wood surrounding. The insulation. Felt it. Sniffed it. No, no signs of water damage. And if there had been, there most certainly would have been water on the floor. 

What?

Audrey and I were instructed to run the machine and see what happened. And off he was. We ran the machine. Before, we put the bowls back to stage the same scenario. Then we ran the machine. And what happened was the plastic pipe connected to the dishwasher outflow was flooding. Lots of water. On the shelfs and out on the floor. Nothing in the bowls! 

So, literary the reversed scene. And also water right down from the plumping at the far back of the cabinet under my kitchen floor. Audrey was quick with a bowl trying to catch some of it, but absolutely, right down under the floor. Like poring a bucket down there.

This did not feel good. Not at all. Really bad. Okay, we had done the troubleshooting and localized the error to the sewer system, but where in the system? Was it ways under the house? Did I have to take out the floors in the kitchen, bathroom and entrance to fix it? And all that water…

The day after the plumber was back. It turned out the water trap in the cabinet connected to the dishwasher was clogged up. Really? Was that the whole thing? Yepp. Can I trust that? I will cut off my right hand if it isn’t. Ok, I hear you…

Then he took a good look into the cabinet. Checked the surrounding wood at the back. The insulation. Felt it. Sniffed it. It was all dry. Bone dry. You can’t be serious? Yepp. But we saw all that water running down there? Well, all I can say is that there is no signs of water damage here.

What?

I just couldn’t let it go. I didn’t feel safe. So I had an inspector from my insurance company come and look, this was Tuesday this week. It was a big man. While he crawled into the cabinet I told him the whole story, and I didn’t leave out the water filled plastic bowls. He checked the wood. The insulation. He touched it. He sniffed it. He measured the humidity with his special measuring instrument. He was thorough. 

Dry. He told me. Everything was bone dry. No signs of water damage. But how is that even possible? Can it be the water has been running through the insulation and is down under my floor, but it’s dried out on the surface? No, I would see that. But there is not a trace of any water what so ever here.

I should be able to let it go now, right? I mean, I have had a plumber and my insurance company saying it’s all good. But where did that water Audrey and I saw go? And those plastic bowls? Neither the plumber or the insurance guy had an explanation to how the water could have gotten into those bowls, especially without the shelfs being more than just wet, and no water running out on the kitchen floor. They both agree on that’s mysterious.

So what do I think? I have absolutely no idea. I am still worried there is undiscovered damage from the water I saw with my own eyes, and who knows how long that’s been going on? But the unexplained water bowls don’t bother me that much. Audrey is more uncomfortable than I am, after all, as I did tell in the Part 1 of this thrilling mini series, I am kind of used to some inexplicable activity around the house.

And if there is someone else living here too, it must be someone who looks after me. Someone who doesn’t want to harm me, but the other way around. Someone who takes plastic bowls, holds them to a leaking tube and fills them with flooding water. And at an instant dries wood and insulation.