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The last few days have been sheer misery. I had to install a sink and replace a tub drain. I can do minor carpentry, electrical, paint, drywall but God save me from plumbing.
This all started 3 days ago when I got a call from the man we had contracted to install a new countertop. His call was to inform me that he had an open day on Wednesday of this week. I had to clean off the countertop and remove the sink so that he could install the new formica. The removal wasn't seriously difficult but it did involve some nasty drain water leaking down my shirt.
Wednesday came and the formica was installed. Yayy! Very pretty, great improvement over the old nasty formica. Time for Darren to install the NEW Quartz/resin sink. First Problem: Metal brackets won't fit. Damn! Call plumber friend who advises me to just silicone the sink in and it will be fine. Okay, done. Now to reattach all the pipes and fittings. Ooops, second problem: New sink is deeper than old sink, pipes have to be cut and moved. What a pain and these pipes smell awful. Finally get pipes attached after a trip to the local hardware store for additional materials
It's now 7:30, I'm tired and stinky. It was 100 degrees today and I've been laying in stinky pipe water. I want to take a shower. What's this? The tub is full of water. Why won't it drain? Oh Great! I take a shower anyway. Still can't get the tub to drain. Picture stark naked guy with a screw driver bent over tub working on the drain. I finally figure out that we need a new drain assembly. That will have to be on tomorrow's agenda.
Thursday, I go to the plumbing section of the hardware store and purchase a new drain assembly. At home now and I remove a cabinet to gain access to chase behind the shower wall. I squeeze through a 15 by 29 inch opening and squat down to unhook pipes. More stinky pipes, ewwww. The wife is offering assistance as we struggle to achieve the proper alignment. A good 45 minutes worth of squatting in tiny space has achieved nothing but an inflamed knee and distressed olfactory senses. I finally discover that the premium brass drain plug is a tad to large for our setup and swap out the old plastic one which fits fine. Once again it is 7:30, I'm tired stinky and sweaty but at least my tub drains today.
Now I know why plumbers charge so much. What a pain. I'm hoping it's a couple of years before I have to do anymore plumbing.
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