Plumbing sucks!
I’ve been reluctant to do any plumbing work around the house because every time I’ve tried it before I only made things worse. As things kept going wrong I just patched them up as best as I could without doing a whole re-work. I can do amazing things with electricity, woodworking etc. but plumbing has me running scared.
Through the years my pipes have given me troubles and I’ve been able to fix some of them. I (and a number of friends) replaced the whole front yard sewer line from the street to the house. I cut and replaced a large section of the sewer line in the back yard too. That’s as far as I can go.
The drain under my den sink leaked. I just stopped using the sink.
The drain under the kitchen sink leaked. I gooped it up with plumbers dope.
The dishwasher leaked. I put it out into the trash and used the space under the counter for storage.
The toilet in the den started spraying water from the supply side. I removed the toilet, put it in the tub, capped the pipe and used the bathroom for storage.
Fred’s parents gave us a dishwasher almost a year ago. I’ve been scared to hook it up.
The real problem here is not my inadequacies about plumbing but my fear of it. A fear so strong that it kept me from even attempting to fix these problems, until now.
Last weekend I went forth to Lowe’s determined to fix the kitchen sink (the faucet supply lines have begun to leak). I knew that if I could overcome my fear of plumbing, I could fix the kitchen and then the den. I decided to do it right. I bought a new faucet, pipe and valves to replace the hot/cold supplies, plywood to replace the cabinet floor, dishwasher supply and drain stuff, and all the parts for the sink drains from the sink to the wall. I gathered up the parts and returned home, fearless and confident.
4 hours later I’m on the phone promising Thom that if he comes over and helps me I’ll buy them dinner.
I had gotten pretty far but when the connectors didn’t fit and the old ones broke off and I wasn’t sure which connector would fit… I panicked. Thom said I was almost done, I just needed to make one last connection. I guess I haven’t conquered my fear quite yet.
At least I got another funny story out of it. Thom was under the sink making the last connection from the dishwasher to the hot supply and I hear, ‘CRACK’….pause….”Oh man”…pause…”what time is it?” It was 8:51. Lowe’s closes at 9:00. I’ve never actually been in a rocket sled but I imagine Thom’s van came close. He slides up to the door, I jump out while still moving and sprint to the front door. I almost collide with the automatic door when I noticed the sign that says they’re open until 10:00. We took 20 minutes to drive back just to make up for the bad traffic karma.
All is well; The sink is wet, the drain is dry and the dishwasher is working. I just don’t know if I should tackle the den or not. I still haven’t gotten this plumbing thing down yet.
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