Monday, July 30, 2007

I'm in Love with the Man from Menards...

Translations:

"In Love" - Highly pleased to make the acquaintance of, and thoroughly ecstatic at the advice given by.

"Menards" - a hardware "supermarket" - like 20 hardware stores in one store.


Andy the Handyman may have been confused by my suggestion that he might be able to help me with a little problem I've been having with my bathtub/shower. The faucet doesn't 100% turn off... it drips.

Now, there is also a long-term problem that comes from the idiots who owned the house before me - who put in new plumbing but had no clue how plumbing actually WORKS. So I have this bathtub spout that hangs out about 4 inches from the wall on a bare pipe. The previous owners were.... weird. These are the same guys who put up the towel-bars with mastick.

Frankly, I've lived with the stupid faucet-on-a-stick "feature" for so long that it doesn't even really feel like a "bug" anymore. The dripping, however, NEEDS to stop.

Handy Andy, as we shall call him, as that is his name and his skill-level, told me he would have to pull down the whole wall, probably destroy the tile and all to fix the faucet. I suspect now that he probably meant the faucet-on-a-stick feature, not the actual dripping problem.

The fine gentleman at Menards informed me that if I can get the water turned off, and then take off the faucet handle-thingy, there is some kind of a regulator valve in there that I can take out and haul off to Menards and they will help me pick out a perfect replacement, save me BIG MONEY, and stop the dripping dripping dripping dripping dripping dripping... all without destroying the tile.

Also all without having to pay Handy Andy for doing it.

So today I shall call the Association's management people and beg demand a new key to the meter room as they have changed that lock, so I can turn off the water and disassemble my faucetry. In the meanwhile, I've got a dish pan in the bathtub catching all the water and have been using that for foot-soak and general bathroom cleaning-up so as to not waste the water by letting it drip drip drip drip drip down the drain.

539 days

3 comments:

BBC said...

I went to Walmart the other day for a few things. One thing I needed was a turn signal flasher for the pickup.

Not seeing one in the automotive isles I went and asked the man running the automotive service counter if they had turn signal flashers.

He just looked at me real stupid like. Tried to tell me about tail light bulbs, buss fuses, and such.

I tried to explain again and he started insisting I needed a buss fuse.

I explained that I was a certified master mechanic and that he didn't know what in the hell he was talking about and we got in a pissing contest.

I told him that if he was going to work at an automotive service desk that he should get some training. I don't think I made his day.

I don't know where Walmart found that idiot, they usually have more informed clerks.

The Future Was Yesterday said...

If the pipe the faucet is attached to, sticks out of the wall, take the whole faucet off, and buy one that suits you.

I've learned over the years to avoid any and all service people of any type who start off with: I'm probably gonna have to...." because he's just told me he probably doesn't know his trade real well. A good plumber will look at that and tell you "If this condition exists, then I'll have to do that, but otherwise, here's what I'll do."

Sewmouse said...

Actually, TFWY - I think what needs to be done with the "faucet on a stick" is that it needs to be taken off, then the pipe needs to be cut and re-threaded and then the faucet will screw back on closer to the wall. It's not a priority since I've blocked off the hole the pipe comes through so that water doesn't get behind it and into the drywall.

Eventually I want to have that whole bathroom gutted to the studs and replace everything including the "man-tub". Maybe I'll get gold-tone faucetry just to be ostentatious... *laugh*