It's a miracle!

[altivo]

We've been suffering from leaky faucets. Now we both know how to change a washer, though after living 14 years in a 110+ year old house you approach such things gingerly and only at a time when several hardware stores will still be open if you need them. In fact, such experiences had made my mate gunshy about fixing the dribble in the shower, in spite of the fact that the fix he cobbled together in our prior house the month we moved in lasted the entire time we were there (and that was on one of those claw-footed tubs with a shower that came from a long gooseneck pipe that rose up from the taps, and a shower curtain that hung from a ring shaped rod suspended from the ceiling...) So, the bathtub tap has been drippy for years now.

But the real problem is the frost-free (so-called) hydrants in the two barns. For you city folks, these are special faucets that live two or three feet below the ground surface and are opened by a lever action mechanism that pulls a long (six or eight feet long) rod that goes down the center of the supply pipe. When shut off, the water drains out of the vertical riser into the soil, keeping things from freezing up at least in theory. They are very handy when they work, and horrid when they fail. It was getting so they didn't shut off completely, and you had to play with them to get them to stop running. When turned on, water literally sprayed out from around the packing nut. We diddled things but never got them to work for more than a few days. In the middle of the night I'd wake up because I heard the well pump cut on. It was replacing the water pressure lost to the barn taps.

So this morning, after I went to work, Mate decided to call a plumber. Uh oh. Maybe they'll show up by August. The miracle? "We might be able to squeeze you in this afternoon, I'll call around noon." And they did call back, the guy did show up, and fixed three of four leaky taps. The fourth he said might give way while being disassembled and then would need major repairs to the tune of $600, so that was postponed for now. Total cost, about $200. Results? Perfect. How often do you get a plumber in for so little, and have him actually show up on time and on the same day you called?

Comments

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

I'm not afraid of plumbing. But it is a drag when ancient pipes/etc. disintegrate. Sometimes you have to replace everything in the vicinity. If it's in the walls, eeek! I can get in there and fix it, but I would leave a trail of destruction, I am not qualified to repair. (plaster, and such) My house is half your's age, and the plumbing is getting "interesting."

[kamodragon.livejournal.com]

The water main at my mum's 30 year old house has exploded about 7 times. They just dont lay pipe like they used to :P

Pokey is a plumber! I have helped him on jobs on occasion and I would never want to do it for a paycheck.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is good. Repair men here suck. You call them and they tell you when they'll show up, and you're lucky if its the same day they said they would be there when they actually show up... We had an appliance repair guy who showed up a week after he said he'd fix things...

Heh, and by the text of your cut, I expected there to be sewage/septic problems.

[pokeypony.livejournal.com]

plumbing sux

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I made that more confusing than it was meant to be. Our present house is only 30 years old. The one we had in Chicago 1985-1998 was 110+ and much better made than this one is. I doubt very much that this one will still be standing 80 years from now.

The plumbing here is copper, actually, which has pretty good durability. But the water is full of iron and stuff, typical well water, which causes problems of various sorts.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It seems like we have more bad stories to tell about plumbing and water pipes than anything else, actually. Even with the "professionals" doing the work.

I would have called on Pokey to help with this if he weren't so far away. I'm sure he's more competent than we are at that. ;D

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No, nothing so bad, thank goodness. But just say "plumbing" to Gary and he goes all green and shakey. ;p

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Or squirts. Depending.

You're the expert, I won't argue with ya. ;P

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

*chuckles*

[deffox]

A plumber on time and affordable is noteworthy.

I've always done the work myself though. I installed two wells and a sprinkler system at my parents' place years ago.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

*generic Calydor-comment about having trouble with your plumbing*

[hartree.livejournal.com]

I certainly can relate to that. My place is 93 years old, so I expect to find more wrong than I see when I start a repair.

Keep that plumber's number handy. That one sounds like a keeper.

[doco.livejournal.com]

Leaky faucets? Bah, poppycock!

There is nothing better than putting up a calendar on the wall and wondering about a month later why the wall is soaking wet, then pulling out the nail and having a high pressure stream of water shooting through the room because you happened to hit the old lead pipe when you put the calendar in in the first place.

...and then the contractor tells you he isn't allowed to fix that particular lead pipe, but legally obliged by law to only use copper in new installations and repairs, resulting in your entire kitchen being torn apart. _That_ is fun with plumbing. But at least lead piping is something I need not to worry for in this house any more. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Where possible I prefer the do it yourself approach too. But 200 foot deep wells and pressure tanks and all that get a little complicated to work on without specialized equipment. I dread the day when we have to actually dig up that supply line to the barns. The well specialist says it runs off "back pressure" between the well and the pressure tank in the house, and there is no shut off valve. If that line springs a leak, we have to shut off all water to the house to work on it, and it's buried under four feet of hard-packed silt and gravel for a distance of 150 feet or more.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*generic Altivo icy stare*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That's what I said too. The irritating thing is, this house is only 30 years old. The one in Chicago was the 110 year old antique, and it was better made by far. Plumbing and electrical wiring were the main problems there, and we've had more trouble in seven years here than we had in fourteen there.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I can go you one better than that. How about discovering that the pipe you accidentally opened was a gas line rather than water? The house had gas lights when it was built, and though they were removed when electricity came in, not all the lines were disconnected. This was in the century old city house, of course, and not our present place.

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Go hoss and hossmate!

200 for that kind of job leaves you with lots of
oats money!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Not only that, but I got to take a shower this morning without water spraying all over where it shouldn't and trickling after I turned it off.

[deffox]

Oh that'd be a fun one to work on. ;-)

It was plenty of work to dig up my parents' yard to install the sprinkler system. It took over a month before everything was done. And to my surprise the adapters and fittings to connect the pump to the well cost as much as all the equipment in the yard.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I'd like to learn how to do my own plumbing then I could replace a couple of schmozzles we have here. Well I have replaced some but now they leak in other areas that I hadn't replaced >.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yep. That's the curse of the plumbing gods. In order to fix one thing, you usually have to fix a lot more.