Ms. Fix-It
Nov. 12th, 2008 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hiddenmuseIt's probably really lame of me, but I kind of like fixing things around the house. I think it's because I like feeling useful, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from making something work again!
This time, I'm working on the kitchen sink. We have this pretty much annual problem with the garbage disposal backing up, which results in slow draining and backwash when the disposal is run. So, when it happened this year, I thought I'd try some Dran-O to get the slow drain problem resolved. Didn't work. I had no clue what to do about it, especially since I really didn't feel like taking the sink apart to clear out any clogs.
A couple of days later, I noticed that there was a small puddle of water near the cabinets - just off to the side of the refrigerator (another story for another time). I cleaned it up, and didn't think much of it. When it happened again, I took a peek into the cabinet and saw water on the floor and at the bottom of the cabinet door. Apparently the water would get to the door, and then drip onto the floor. Oh joy.
I thought that it might just be a loose pipe connection that was causing the leaking, so I went to the hardware store on Monday, got new washers to help with the connection along with a monkey wrench to do the repairs. I came home and thought, "Okay, cool - I can get this done, no problem!". So, on the floor I go, ready to make repairs. The not-really loose pipe wasn't the cause of the of the leak, although I'd managed to clean out the junk in the pipes, crazy amounts of water coming out the whole time. With the water stopped and the pipes reattached, we ran the water again, to make sure that there was no blockage.
The water ran just fine - onto the cabinet floor! It turns out that the j-pipe was corroded, holey and cracked (see photo below). So, it's another trip to the hardware store for me, lucky day!
Today, I talked with the building manager (Shawn), to let him know what we were doing with the borked pipe, as well as our concern that other pipes may be similarly corroded. He told me about how some other tenants had some bad plumbing issues - and did nothing about them! Stories about flooded kitchen cabinets, consistently running toilets and wrecked bathroom faucets. At the end, he said to me, "This is just my way of saying 'Thank you' for taking care of this." After that, he gave me $20 to get the replacement pipe, and told me to bring back the receipt.
After work, I went to the hardware store and bought what I assumed to be the right pipe. Well, it was the right pipe - wrong size. I'll be going back tomorrow to return the pipe and get the correct size. This will be done; oh yes, it will be done.
And that was my foray into home repairs. Go me!
This time, I'm working on the kitchen sink. We have this pretty much annual problem with the garbage disposal backing up, which results in slow draining and backwash when the disposal is run. So, when it happened this year, I thought I'd try some Dran-O to get the slow drain problem resolved. Didn't work. I had no clue what to do about it, especially since I really didn't feel like taking the sink apart to clear out any clogs.
A couple of days later, I noticed that there was a small puddle of water near the cabinets - just off to the side of the refrigerator (another story for another time). I cleaned it up, and didn't think much of it. When it happened again, I took a peek into the cabinet and saw water on the floor and at the bottom of the cabinet door. Apparently the water would get to the door, and then drip onto the floor. Oh joy.
I thought that it might just be a loose pipe connection that was causing the leaking, so I went to the hardware store on Monday, got new washers to help with the connection along with a monkey wrench to do the repairs. I came home and thought, "Okay, cool - I can get this done, no problem!". So, on the floor I go, ready to make repairs. The not-really loose pipe wasn't the cause of the of the leak, although I'd managed to clean out the junk in the pipes, crazy amounts of water coming out the whole time. With the water stopped and the pipes reattached, we ran the water again, to make sure that there was no blockage.
The water ran just fine - onto the cabinet floor! It turns out that the j-pipe was corroded, holey and cracked (see photo below). So, it's another trip to the hardware store for me, lucky day!
Today, I talked with the building manager (Shawn), to let him know what we were doing with the borked pipe, as well as our concern that other pipes may be similarly corroded. He told me about how some other tenants had some bad plumbing issues - and did nothing about them! Stories about flooded kitchen cabinets, consistently running toilets and wrecked bathroom faucets. At the end, he said to me, "This is just my way of saying 'Thank you' for taking care of this." After that, he gave me $20 to get the replacement pipe, and told me to bring back the receipt.
After work, I went to the hardware store and bought what I assumed to be the right pipe. Well, it was the right pipe - wrong size. I'll be going back tomorrow to return the pipe and get the correct size. This will be done; oh yes, it will be done.
And that was my foray into home repairs. Go me!
