Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Plumbing



Those cars of my youth (50’s)
 Who would have thought this kid (Standing in front of a 1941 Chevy with fog lights, would be replacing faucets that  he had installed 25 years ago!

Today:
Plumbing, old plumbing to be specific, can be a real pain. While my sister Shirley lived here, she would not complain about anything. It was leased to her reasonably of course, so she took care of most of the problems that came up, if she wanted to. Otherwise she worked around them or had them fixed..

I did fix most of the things I noted as the years passed. BUT the sink faucet, a Delta, has been leaking and the spray quit working years ago. The leak did no damage, it leaked into the sink when it was being used. “I do not use that spray, forget it!” was her answer when I said I would fix it.

SO now 25 years later, I climbed under the sink. It was no picnic. Both bolts that held the unit on, had to be broken off. What I thought would be a 30 minute replacement was about 3 hours. Something to remember when calling a plumber to old work, there are times when repairing one thing, another breaks. It did in this case, the cut-off valve had to be replaced also.

But we now have new faucets in the kitchen, this time the brand is MOEN. I have used both Delta and Moen. Both are good faucets that last and give good service.

This being a lease/rental unit for the 22 years while we gallivanted and were on-the-road, Delta must be given an A+ for service.

You know things are slow here to be talking about kitchen faucets! LOL. I was just thinking. I paid high dollar for that faucet 25 yrs ago, about $15.00. The replacement in 2019 was $90.00.  Time, it does change!  LOL

Sherry made Spaghetti today, it was good! 

We still cannot decide if this is to be OUR real home. LOL

Nite Shipslog

7 comments:

Glenda said...

You have acquired a number of skills that are valuable when you encounter the various issues that surface with home ownership. You've likely saved thousands of dollars, those DIY classes that Home Depot advertises, you could teach!!! Congrats on that that
Git er Done attitude.
p.s. I like Moen products as well :)

Lisa said...

We always have trusted Delta faucets. You are right. What looks like an easy fix ends up being a nightmare sometimes. Nick has a problem finding his tools that "I must have put somewhere he can find them". I gave up that argument a long time ago, even though I never touch his tools or know where he even keeps them. haha.

love from here
Lisa

betty said...

This is a good reminder for us "young" folks to fix something even if we don't use it before we get "older" like you are Jack. I can't imagine myself (not that I have the skills) to be climbing under a sink and doing that type of work in my 70's yet alone 80 like you are. Glad it got done though!

betty

Mevely317 said...

Good lesson, for sure! I'm going to share this with Tom. Even a new build (2004) in Arizona, he had his share of repairing shoddy faucets. Our current home was built in '95, but you don't want to hear what he has to say about this plumbing. Oh, the things I've taken for granted!

Mevely317 said...

Hi Jack. This is Tom. Myra has shared some of your posts with me BUT this one hits home.
I have done my share of kitchen plumbing repairs and have always had something old break to cause me to spend more time fixing "WHAT BROKE" than the original problem.
Rusted bolts holding the faucet were always a problem but I have one for the books.
You know the little clamps that hold the sink to the underside of the counter top????
This job turned bad when I tried to loosen the faucet bolts and the rusted clamps came loose because I applied too much force to them and the whole sink came down on me.
End result,, new sink, reinforce the counter top and then finish the job that I was there for in the first place.
I didn't have the heart to charge the lady for all of my labor because I caused the problem.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Plumbing is something we take for granted until it doesn't work. A plumber can be expensive too, and many of us, not me, try to do it ourself. Thankfully, I've got some handymen in my sons. They've always fixed what needed to be done. Now I'm renting and they no longer have to. The landlord takes care of it. I've had to have the kitchen sink faucet replaced since I've lived here and the spray unit was what caused the problem. It wasn't easy but I have a new faucet, He fixed it, but I had to clean up the mess. It took awhile to dry out the cupboard under the sink where it had leaked. Things are slow here too, so I can appreciate your post on the faucet...

Dar said...

It seems like everyone has to replace a faucet sooner or later. B does a fine job so I'm one of the lucky ones like Sherry, having a ' handy ' man around.
Life has been an adventure around here so far this spring. It seems we haven't had a chance to sit down~one project leading to another. Nothing is straight forward. We helped lil' sis power wash the finish off her decks, but one of them had 2 layers of paint...leading to some stripping and sanding too. No matter the project, one thing leads to another.
love n' hugs from up north in our sunshiny 80's. The heat is on!