SLO LIFE Magazine Oct/Nov 2019

E
arthquake fault lines are fascinating to think about,
mostly because of how little we contemplate them. They
hold it all together diligently and silently for years and
decades and centuries; everything is fine, until one day they
snap. For Bob and Sallie Weatherford, it wasn’t a fault line
that wreaked havoc upon their San Luis Obispo tri-level
home. It was something much less nefarious: a hairline
fracture on a toilet tank.
The insurance company’s claims adjuster, who came out to
study the brittle porcelain under a magnifying glass, said
it was an accident waiting to happen. One day, it could
not hold out any longer. While the couple was away for
the afternoon, it ruptured. Although it did not register on
the Richter scale or make the six o’clock news, the fracture
opened up in such a way that the valve was left on the
“open” position for one hour after the next. By the time
the Weatherfords had returned, the floors and walls and
cabinets were ruined, all of them—total devastation.
Everything had to be gutted; a complete remodel was in
order. It would not be the first time the couple set out
to alter the face of their hillside home, which a friend
affectionately refers to as a “tree house for grown-ups.” But,
previous efforts had always been modest, and mostly around >>
60 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | OCT/NOV 2019