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How was your evening? [or how simple jobs get complicated]

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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Well, last night, Mrs JP calls me downstairs to take a look at the hot water supply to the washing machine - which was basically non existent. I had recently done some plumbing for our being renovated bathroom and I initially thought I had inadvertently put the hot water feed behind the washroom shutoff - I hadn't

That said, for once, I decided to check the simple things first - took off the hose at the washing machine - hose ran perfectly - looked at the machine, and, in the fitting is a little mesh screen completely filled with junk - cleaned it out and Bob's your uncle.

But wait, there's more.

As I was putting the machine back in place I noticed the hose fitting was corroded. No problem I have to go to Home Depot in the morning, and bought some new hoses. I did. then at supper time started removing the hoses - cold came off fine, except the valve didn't quite close - leaving a drip, but, the hot needed pliers, two actually, one for the tap, one for the hose - which wasn't enough because as I turned the hose I cracked a fitting. so, guess how I got to spend my evening?

Turned off the water to get though supper, quick run to Home Depot for new taps (remember the hot was rusted and the cold wouldn't close) Now the good news is that it all went together fine (miraculously) but, our house is a 75 year old cottage style house and the plumbing is err umm interesting. (when we moved in I had to remove a feed pipe for a non-existent boiler, and, while doing this made two cuts and soldered two joints and removed 15' of surplus pipe and currently there are two parallel hot water lines for twenty feet for no reason - but I digress)

Tonight I put in two new taps for the washer feed line - I threw away 4 valves and three taps! and, what made it funkier still, was that the "third" tap had two hot water lines and two cold water lines flowing into one line - and the tap - I have no idea how it made sense to anyone.

So 3 hours later, I am sitting thinking that my house and my car are just the same - no such thing as a simple job.

cheers all!
 
Feel your pain!
 
J-P: "So 3 hours later, I am sitting thinking that my house and my car are just the same - no such thing as a simple job."

hmmm - I think I hear a dripping sound.
 
I feel your pain JP. I can't count the number of times I've started what I thought would be a quick job only to have it turn into a multi-day nightmare.
 
I love old houses, but hate to work on them. We had an old 18 room Victorian built in 1860 and it was nothing but work, 25 years of it. Oh everyone loved the house, but they didn't have to keep it up. When I retired, it went happily to another owner, only new houses for me now. PJ
 
JPSmit said:
... no such thing as a simple job...
Click to expand...

Same here. Just now, with a totally different sort of "tap". I figured I could drill and tap a small hole in a casting in a few minutes. I was worried about the drilling because of poor clearance but that went ok. Then the tap broke... It broke nice and clean, flush with the surface.

I plan to stare sternly at it for as long as a small cigar lasts, then go to bed and read a while.

'Night.
 
Always hate the words, "all you've got to do is" or "it only takes a couple minutes". When working for someone those words can cost twice as much. Like working on a boat that has been in saltwater and the customer says "it's never been in saltwater".
 
PAUL161 said:
I love old houses, but hate to work on them. We had an old 18 room Victorian built in 1860 and it was nothing but work, 25 years of it. Oh everyone loved the house, but they didn't have to keep it up. When I retired, it went happily to another owner, only new houses for me now. PJ
Click to expand...


The (relatively) good news in the house is that almost everything behind the walls is new and up to code. And the basement, being a cellar is at least exposed. I still have to redo the results of the pipes freezing this past winter - and "clean" up the pipes - I figure there is at least 15 feet of surplus copper down there - one good day at least (famous last words)
 
coldplugs said:
I plan to stare sternly at it for as long as a small cigar lasts, then go to bed and read a while.

'Night.
Click to expand...

excellent solution!
 
LarryK said:
Always hate the words, "all you've got to do is" or "it only takes a couple minutes". When working for someone those words can cost twice as much. Like working on a boat that has been in saltwater and the customer says "it's never been in saltwater".
Click to expand...


Interestingly my brother bought a boat a couple of years ago that had been in salt water (which he knew) and, it has kept him err. busy.
 
My shower project ran concurrently with a laundry room build-out, plumbed all with CPVC, overhead. Waiting now for the copper in the slab to start leaking... :eek:
 
DrEntropy said:
My shower project ran concurrently with a laundry room build-out, plumbed all with CPVC, overhead. Waiting now for the copper in the slab to start leaking... :eek:
Click to expand...

when we lived in Florida we ended up have the house re-plumbed - fortunately as a part of a class action suit - something to do with the connectors on a "plastic" pipe. Needless to say the new (pex?) piping went through the attic. But, more to the point, until then I didn't realize that the sheer number of lightning strikes in Florida weaken copper to the point that it gets pinholes.
 
That PEX thing was a big deal for a while, IIRC. Nasty.
 
In Oklahoma, just about every new house is plumbed with PEX in the pressure systems. Drainage is PVC. You can still use copper, but you can plumb 5 houses with PEX with one in copper. Pex doesn't burst if frozen, it swells out and when warms up, returns to normal, or so they say! Need I say what copper will do. PJ
 
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