“Where is that water coming from?” Good question. My wife and I were looking at a cardboard box in our basement that had somehow sustained water damage.
This particular cardboard box, with dried drip marks running down the front of it, sat amongst several boxes, plastic bins, canned goods, and glass jars on one of those ubiquitous metal Costco shelving units.
While passing by the shelving unit on the way to the washer and dryer, my wife and I would notice this odd sight, contemplate it for a few seconds, then forget about it completely until the next pass-by.
After several rounds of this, we finally decided to stop and investigate. The slow mystery solvers were on the case. Grab your pillow.
First, our basement is completely enclosed and not subjected to the elements. It is not close to any doors or windows that could potentially leak during rainfall, so it’s not clear how water would reach this spot in the basement. Additionally, the shelving unit doesn’t lie beneath any internal plumbing, so again, it’s unclear how water might have reached this location.
We looked closer at the damaged cardboard box and touched it. The water streaks down the front had dried, but there was a corner on the top of the box that was still wet. We both touched that area and then touched the case of juice boxes sitting directly on top of the cardboard box; they too were wet. This might be a clue. We were getting somewhere.
We moved the case of juice boxes askew and felt some exposed moisture on the side of one of the individual juice boxes. Looking at that juice box closely, we saw a small puncture, and upon squeezing the box, saw more juice drip out. This was a crime scene, not an accident site.
The damage on the cardboard box was not water damage, it was juice damage, caused by a visiting mouse who was conveniently provided with juice boxes to drink from, and as we also discovered, a box of dried pasta to munch on. Not exactly a banquet, but something convenient to subsist upon. I’m sure it appreciated our hospitality.
Boy, was that foolish of us to leave down there. Equally as foolish, it took the two of us a ridiculously long time to figure all of this out–to rule out water and actually consider the juice boxes SITTING DIRECTLY ON TOP of the damaged cardboard box in question. Brilliant!
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