Saturday, February 9, 2008

Plumbing Surprise




Don't it just frost your berries when unexpected home repair projects rear their ugly heads? A dripping sound coming from a wall next to our bathroom. When I turned our water main off, the dripping sound went away. As soon as I got home from my run this morning I was all over the repair like a dog to bone. Fortunately I happen to be handier than a pocket on a shirt when it comes to home repair. I started out by cutting a hole in the wall to see if I could locate the leak. I was afraid I would find water damage ugly enough to scare a bull dog off a meat truck. I felt nuttier than squirrel crap when I discovered the source just a few inches from the opening I had created. We had caught the leak early and things should dry out just fine. The junction between a poly pipe and the copper pipe had started leaking. I increased the size of the hole in the wall to gain access to the pipes and took them apart.

I went to our local Home Depot to pick up a new thingymagig to fix the leak. When I got home with the new stuff I started the repair only to find that the new thingymagig had course theads and the old thingymagig had fine thread. Apparently the plumbing industry changed the standard since our house was built. This of course made me madder than a wet hen. Not unexpectedly as is usually the case with home projects I headed back to the hardware store for a new thingymagig. I went to McClendon's which is a local store with a really great technical staff for all things hardware related. Bob the plumbing specialist suggested I cut off the old brass fitting with the fine threads and pop in a 90 degree elbow. You won't learn that any farther up the creek. In just a few minutes I was heading home with the proper thingamigig to fix the problem.

I got home and had the pipes repaired in no time. Now we are happy as a pig in slop! So Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I should have the sheet rock repaired tomorrow with texture and ready to paint sometime next week.

Gotta Run!

Trail Scat

14 comments:

Backofpack said...

That's mah man! You know that's why I married you - cuz you can fix just darn near anything! Reminds me of my ol' daddy. Now, if you could just fix my toes....

Unknown said...

At least you didn't have to climb on any roofs for this repair. Job well done!

Mama said...

Impressive. We had heard you were handy, but hadn't seen the evidence. Unless, of course, you count cutting down trees.

Be Free,
Lorri

Sarah said...

If my hubby could fix stuff like that I'd be as happy as a clam! : )

Thomas said...

I'm glad your plumbing skills are better than your tree-chopping ones!

aquaasho said...

Funnier than a singing fish!

runningtwig said...

Very clever post!!

Jenny, Maniac #401 said...

I'm impressed by your crafty figures of speech!
Jenny- may I keep you on call?

Laura H said...

Sounds like you were busier than a one-legged man in an ass kickin' contest! But you got on it like a duck on a june bug! Good job, Eric-Bob!

Jon said...

McClendon's rocks! Their staff is always more knowledgable than Home Depot & Lowes AND they'll often carry some supplies that you won't find at your Home Depot/Lowes that you might need.

shawn said...

Eric I'm putting you on my speed-dial the next time I need help around the house, being that your handier than a wet wipe. Hmmm, did that make sense?

Olga said...

What's up with new flashy color??

Scott McMurtrey said...

i like the texture on your wall

Journey to a Centum said...

Scott - Glad you like the texture. I'm starting to like the hole in the wall. Heck, maybe I don't need to fix it. I could use the space for storage for things like worn out running shoes or stock toilet paper in there or something.

Trail Scat