I still remember the call from my cousin in Montclair last February. “There’s water coming through my dining room ceiling,” she said, her voice tight with stress. “The plumber says it’s been leaking for months.” What shocked her wasn’t just the $6,800 repair bill – it was learning that her home had been sending signals for nearly a year that something was wrong. Signals she’d completely missed. Her story isn’t unique. After twenty-seven years inspecting…
The first time my pipes froze in Howell, I was new to town and completely unprepared. It was January 2019, that polar vortex weekend when temperatures plunged to 3°F, and I woke up to that sickening silence when you turn the faucet handle and…nothing happens. By noon, my kitchen ceiling had a water stain the shape of Lake Hopatcong, and I was on a first-name basis with an emergency plumber who charged roughly the equivalent…