Jerry wrote:

Another opportunity for leaks is the water supply line to the toilet.
I had one let go at about 2AM, luckily in the bathroom right next to
our bedroom, so I heard the water running right away. It wasn't
actually the metal flex supply line - the plastic nut connecting to
the bottom of the toilet cracked and split at the joint between the
round and hex parts of the nut. Have since had 5 or 6 other people
tell me the same thing happened to them.


My house was vacant for a while (we tried to sell it, but with the
housing market the way it is, that didn't happen). The day after we
decided to move back in, the toilet supply line in the master bath
failed in exactly the manner described above. A neighbor noticed water
flowing out of the house and called us. We have no way of knowing how
long the water had been spraying out of that crack in the plastic nut,
but all rooms were flooded but the two front bedrooms. All the
carpeting and all of the MDF baseboards in the flooded rooms were
ruined. The company that came out that evening drilled 1" holes in the
drywall everywhere and installed 5 industrial-sized dehumifiers and
about 20 high-power fans to dry everything out. It took a week. All
the flooring had to be replaced except the ceramic tile, and all the
flooded rooms were repainted. The total insurance settlement was about
$25K.

All of this was caused by the failure of a part that costs less than $5
at Home Depot. For under $7 you can get one with a safety shut-off
valve. Guess which one I bought. I replaced the toilet supply line in
the other bathroom as well because the plastic nut on that one was
cracked too, but hadn't started to leak yet.

Suggestion: inspect those things often!

--Steve