Plumbing Problems

Sorry it’s been a while. We’ve been so busy with regular life we haven’t had much time to spend on the house. All is well though. It’s a stormy afternoon. Jaron’s taking the first part of his Board Exams today, and I’m just doing some paint touch-ups.

While Jaron has been studying all possible aspects of the human body, I’ve been learning to be a plumber—but, without the crack. I guess, with a different kind of crack—for a crack has caused more hours of lament this week than anything else.

old

new

It all started with the sense of security brought on by a successful drain-change in the tub last Saturday.

No big deal except for the getting-the-old-one-out part. Thanks to a husband with buffer arms than me and a smarter brain, it didn’t take too long.

Next came the faucet, which was a tricky little devil to maneuver, but successful nonetheless. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a faucet that redirects all the water to the shower head instead of just some.

new

old

So then, I moved on to the sink. I wanted to change the drain and plug there because it didn’t really work and it was gross. So, I watched a few YouTube videos, read the instructions, and talked to the Lowe’s guy (who totally did not think I was capable: “are you sure you don’t have anybody to do it for you?” were his exact words. I said “no,” but in my head was thinking, “if I had someone to do it for me, why would I be talking to you?” I digress)…

Armed with my new knowledge, a monkey wrench (which makes any girl feel invincible, by the way—as soon as you figure out which way makes it get smaller) I set to work. I pulled the old one out just fine. I did crack a nut, but no biggie, I’d love to brag to the guy at Lowe’s anyway. I assembled the new drain and plug and its stick thing that makes the plug go up and down with only the minor scratches and cuts to soft hands that are common with any plumbing job…or for any clumsy individual. 

The last bit was to reassemble the old PVC to connect the pipe from the wall to the drain itself. But, I had to make a quick run to Lowe’s to get that nut that I cracked. So I did. But, it was far from quick. I searched and searched and couldn’t find anything the same size. So, I relented and asked the guy (a different guy) where to find it. He searched and searched. He, too, couldn’t find the right size, yet wouldn’t say “no, I don’t have this part. You should try Home Depot before they close.” He just kept calling people on his manly walkie-talkie to come help. Eventually this old gentleman shows up and is no more successful than the two of us that searched before. By the time I tear my cracked nut from their time-wasting fingers all other hardware stores are closed. 

So a full weekend passes without a bathroom sink.

It wasn’t until Monday night that I could get back to the sink. After a full day at the Middle school and three hours of squealing baby violins, I took the whole chunk of old PVC back to Lowe’s to figure out the issue. Turns out I cracked a nut that wasn’t supposed to unscrew, which is annoying because both the YouTube videos and the instructions said to unscrew that nut. Alas, I bought the correct P joint with the attached nut and a few adapters. The more annoying part of the night was that my starving husband insisted I go grocery shopping while I was out (at 9 pm). Silly boy, why food? I just need a bathroom sink.

At last I made it home and figured out how to cut and assemble everything. It all seemed quite easy until I cemented my first joint at a funny angle. When I tried to push it on to the pipe coming from the wall, it wasn’t going on all the way, so I just turned it from side to side to wiggle it on…and then the cement dried before I could get it back to center. Ug. I jerry-rigged it anyway, just to see if it would work.

But it didn’t. We had a nice leak by morning.

Tuesday after school, same deal: Bought new PVC (thank goodness this stuff’s cheap), skipped the grocery store, re-measured, re-cut. I had to add an extender because by this point I had cut off too much of the original pipe to reach. Everything was much easier the third time around. And, best of all, it works!

After it all, I’m really not sure which type of crack is worse, but the third time is still a charm!

Oh, and here are a few other odds and ends for the week: