Bexar County – A Bexar County family is having to deal with a major financial burden after a pipe burst in their ceiling due to the winter weather crisis this past week.
This after undergoing on and off power and no water since last Sunday night.
“We were dripping water from our faucets for three to four days prior to the freeze because we knew it was coming,” said Traci Uribe, the homeowner. “Come Monday, there was no dripping and we were afraid that our pipes had froze because nothing was coming out.”
Uribe said she later learned the water had been shut off in her neighborhood in the River Rock Ranch.
“When we found out on the NextDoor app that our neighbors’ water was cut off as well, we went to the main line and the house and shut it off just in case the water mysteriously came back and we didn’t want the water gushing in.”
She said they realized their neighbors’ water came back Friday, which gave them a brief sigh of relief.
“While we turned the water back on at the main line about 25%, we knew better than to turn it on full blast,” Uribe said. “We only turned it on a little bit and then we turned it on at the house and then my husband was upstairs, and I was downstairs monitoring to make sure we didn’t see any leaks.”
Uribe said it was her young son that noticed something wasn’t right.
“‘Mom! There is a snake in the bedroom!’ He had his cowboy hat on and Spiderman suit and everything,” she laughed. “I was like, ‘What is he talking about? I don’t have time to play.’ Well, come to find out the water on the floor looked like a snake so by the time we got in here the floor was covered in water. This was brand new wooden floors, so we are going to have to rip these up.”
Uribe said she then noticed water gushing from different areas in the master bedroom.
“I first noticed it was coming out of the outlet,” Uribe said. “Then, when I flashed the light down the wall, you could see it coming through the wall and no sooner than that, it was coming through the ceiling, this wall over here and this area right here up in the corner.”
She said at least 30 gallons rushed into the home all caused by a one-inch busted pipe.
“We are glad we caught it when we did and it was quick because if we didn’t turn the water off in seven minutes, it could have been our entire downstairs because this pipe goes from the faucet outside, all the way across the downstairs, out to the garage.”
The family is now dealing with $15,000 worth of damage.
Uribe said though it is frustrating, she hopes she and her neighbors can get through this.
“I want people to be aware of the things around you. That little pop in the wall is probably not normal and that is exactly what our pipe burst sounded like.”
Uribe’s home is one of many in the neighborhood dealing with this exact busted pipe in the same exact master bedroom location.
Several homes in this Highland Home development are now faced with thousands of dollars of damage.
We’ll continue to track this story to see what the next step is for the development’s affected residents.