The Shower Hypothesis

Many people have told me that they do their best thinking in the bathroom. Life’s mysteries are revealed to them in the shower and they dream up successful business ventures while brushing their teeth.

I had an epiphany in the bathroom the other day. Unfortunately, there are no resulting successful business ventures in sight.

The bathroom was slightly warmer than the rest of the house. One might go so far as to say that it was downright humid in there. No one had recently showered, we live in Idaho (which eliminates natural humidity as an option) and nowhere in our house is ever warm. Ever. I began investigating.

I helped Aaron study his chemistry flashcards on scientific method the other night. In my bathroom investigation, I decided to test my newfound skills as a self-proclaimed expert in the field of  scientific method.

Observation is the first step to forming a hypothesis. So I observed. I stood quietly for a moment until I heard the gentle trickle of water. We don’t live in a forest glade or near a fountain, so I suspected that something was amiss. I put my hand on the bathroom wall and followed the sound. My hand hadn’t gone far when it reached the corner by the shower. I felt moisture and hot air leaking out of the seam between the shower wall and the main structural wall of the trailer.

Observation: There is not a heater or a mist machine in our wall.

Hypothesis: Hot water is probably leaking into our wall.

Aaron was called into action to submit his opinion in his role of man and protecter-of-the-house, and then immediately called the landlord, Bob, who agreed to hurry over as quickly as possible.

Observations: 1. Bob is hurrying. 2. Bob is NEVER in a hurry. Hence...

Stregthened Hypothesis: It’s highly likely that hot water is leaking into our wall.

Everyone knows that once you form a hypothesis, you have to test it.

Bob decided to test our hypothesis with sophistocated scientific tools. In a matter of about three minutes, he had somehow procured a claw hammer. One minute later, a hole appeared in the wall, quickly followed by a small mountain of damp sheetrock bits next to the toilet.

The hole unearthed the problem and introduced facts to our hypothesis. The hot water is DEFINITELY leaking into our wall. We also found some missing pieces to our scientific guesswork. I had not considered the fact that there was probably also mold present.

When Bob called our attention to the mold, I remember saying something intelligent. I believe it was, “Eww.” Then we returned to what we were doing until we heard the gentle trickling of water change into a muffled rushing.

Observation: We don't live near a waterfall.

Hypothesis: There is a LOT of hot water leaking into our wall.

Bob said something about clearing the way to the water heater, which verified my concerns. We got the water shut off pretty quickly and Bob went to work wiggling pipes around until the problem was fixed.

One wet-vac, a quarter-roll of electrical tape, some 2x4s, a piece of plywood, some wood molding, a space heater and three days later, we had a complete bathroom wall again. Someday we'll get around to painting the molding and the plywood.

For now, every time I take a shower, I’m just thankful for hot water and leak-free walls.

Oh, and for scientific method.