Hot this morning with more on the way. Humid too. But there is a lake down the hill…..
Yesterday was hot hot hot. So I did mostly indoor stuff. I knocked several small projects off the list. Replaced the toilet flush stuff in the hall bath. Found the water meter and shut off, and made the shut off actually work. Because I looked under the hall bath sink and saw the pipes were glistening….
Old pipes shouldn’t glisten. That means they are wet, and water should be on the inside not the outside of the pipe. There was a drop on the bottom of the P trap. Odd, since we haven’t really been using that sink, but the faucet does drip. It’s the project I was finally getting to.
As I tried to disconnect the P trap, the whole tailstock broke loose from the sink. That ain’t supposed to happen. With all that out of the way, I can see the cold water supply line is wet. And this is the point that finding the water service shutoff became really critical. I actually couldn’t make the valve near the house move, so we dug out the main valve at the street. Some judicious banging on it got it free, and we were able to shut off the house.
Which was really timely, as the pipe nipple and 1/4 turn valve under the sink fell off in my hand. Rotted right through where the galvanized iron pipe was screwed into the brass T of the supply… So now I’m digging through my parts buckets and boxes looking for some way to get this all back together at least so I can get the rest of the house turned back on.
After much “skull sweat” (as a favorite author used to say) I finally figured out a combination that would actually work, and let me connect the new sink. I just had to clean all the old pipe dope out of the fitting, use a sprinkler nipple, and reuse the old 1/4 turn valve. What could go wrong?
Well, MY stuff all held together, but banging and scraping on the brass T soldered into the 1/2″ copper supply line must have moved enough of the green corrosion around to open a pin hole. Yep. Water was coming out of the side of the fitting.
NOW I just need to cap the line, so I can get the water back on, and I’ve used what I had. Gotta cut out the bad T, while not breaking any of the other sketchy solder joints, or flexing the other green copper fittings.
And as much as this tale of plumbing woes must resonate, and stir the passions of you readers… meatspace. 6pm Sunday, small town America, no stores open, BUT, my neighbor takes me to his “storage house”, really just a metal building used for all the stuff that won’t fit in his tiny lakehouse, and we find some copper fittings, pipe, and everything I need to solder it all together.
So I did. Got the line capped, the water back on, everything held, and other than not having a sink in the hall bath, we’re back to normal.
It could have been very bad. Had the pipe burst while we were away, it could have flooded for weeks, or until someone noticed the water running out of the back of the house…
But I got lucky and saw there was an issue. Poked at it until I was SURE there was an issue, and got a solution from my own preps, and with the help of a friend and neighbor.
Followed that up with a nice dinner, and front row seats for a great neighborhood fireworks show (all the neighborhood chips in, the fireworks are sponsored, and the money goes to the volunteer fire department. Small town USA.)
A good day.
I was going to write about Independence, given the day and all, but that will have to wait.
Hard work, a lucky break, friends, and the community celebrating together happened instead.
So as I hope you (American readers) will celebrate Indepedence Day, and have a truly wonderful one, ask yourself “What are you doing to become independent?”
The question is a good one for everyone, not just Americans. What are you doing to be not- dependent? Stacking needful things is a great start… enjoy the day.
nick
