Oh yeah, that was exactly how I wanted to spend my (string of expletives deleted) Sunday!

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher) 02/11/2019 at 14:15 • Filed to: plumbinglopnik

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Yesterday was a study in chain reactions. A few days ago, the lever that holds up the sink plunger in our first floor bathroom broke. I pried up the plunger so the sink would drain. It was being held up by nothing but sink gook. My wife, wonderful house keeper that she is, cleaned out the gook, because ewe. Unfortunately, that dislodged all the gook, and clogged the drain yesterday morning . I rodd ed it out with a plastic electrical fish tape ... SUCCESS!

Oh cock. Water started gushing out of the bottom of the cabinet. I had punched right through the apparently rotten sink trap with the fish tape . I c leaned out the cabinet (side note, we never keep toilet paper down there, but last week my wife stocked it with toiled paper ... at least it absorbed a lot of water, I guess), took off the trap, went to my local Ace for a trap and replacement lever rod for the plunger .

I was determined to buy a plastic trap, but I noticed the bend of the plastic trap is slightly wider than the metal ones, so I spent four times the price on a stupid metal one. Installed it in a jiffy. SUCCESS!

Nope, water was gushing out off the joint between the trap and the tail pipe. Removed trap, and found that the tail pipe joint had disintegrated from installing the new trap.

New problem 1: The tile guy, the one guy who was obviously hired to do a job, and not work done by the idiot hack of a former homeowner, had done such a good job that there was no access to get a wrench onto the nut at the wall joint.

New problem 2: The vanity is tiny, and there was barely any room to turn the wrench anyways. And even if there was room to grip it and turn it, that nut wa s seized like a (string of expletives deleted).

Solution: Yank the rotten tailpipe out with brute force. Chip away enough tile with a hammer to put a giant ass socket around it. Go to Harbor Freight to buy the 3/4" drive socket set I’ve been eyeballing for years. Get 1-3/4" socket in place ... and realize there is no room in the cabinet to get giant drive tools in. Then go to Napa, buy an adapter to use my 3/4" drive socket with 1/2" drive tools. Hilariously try using my 1/2" drive flex ratchet, fail miserably, and then go get my 1/2" drive impact gun.

This is not supposed to be a plumbing tool, but desperate times call for desperate measures

Now, some of you may be wondering, “Shop, why not just pull the vanity and get it out of your way?” I’m glad you asked that voice in my head. Frankly, the vanity is a piece of crap, and I knew if I pulled it, it would almost certainly fall apart. The last thing I needed was to tear apart my bathroom, while my kitchen is still not finished, and we have a house guest (oh yeah, my father in law is dong much better. He was rele ased from the hospital Saturday night and i s staying with us while he recovers. Everybody’s thoughts/prayers/concerns were much appreciated. You rule Oppo!)

Anyways, the nut came off, so I went back to Ace, bought a full plastic trap and tailpipe assembly, plus a new nut and gasket for the joint into the wall . Installed it all, trimmed the tail pipe to fit, and SUCCESS!

Or not. No, definitely not. Now the sink would n’t drain at all. This revealed that I had not done a good job installing the new lever rod, so water was pouring out there, but the drain was very much clogged. I go grab our big soup pot, take it all apart again, get splashed and wet, go to pull the pot of water out ... and it’s too wide to get out of the cabinet flat.

At this point I walk away for a little bit to keep from smashing the vanity to pieces out of shear rage. Then I go get my crappy little Harbor Fr eight hand transfer pump, and pump the water out of the pot into the toilet, then remove the pot. Finally I clean the gook out of the drain in the wall, where it turns down with my fish tape, some wire, and just my fingers really.

I then pull the lever rod back apart, clean the calcified glob of gook that was keeping the nylon ball from sealing, and put it back together again. I put the trap assembly back together yet again, turn the water on and ... SUCCESS!

Finally, actual success!

I spent the next hour putting tools away and cleaning up. Today my back and butt are sore from how contorted I was doing that job.

Days like yesterday, I wonder why I don’t drink.

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:21

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I hate plumbing. This is a pretty good synopsis of why.

Glad you got it fixed up right though!

vicali > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:24

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Wow, that was a bad one..

I get the ‘Sink isn’t draining’ a few times a year, take all that junk out of the cabinet, get the elbow off (Buckets!) and clean out the goop/hair/don’twanttoknow.. last time that didn’t fix it and I ended up snaking the main line out.. should be good for another ten years or so!

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:24

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Now all you need is to start having dreams about the job you have done ... only everything you touch inexplicably breaks or doesn’t work as expected.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:26

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Yikes. This falls squarely under “call someone else to handle” category for me.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:27

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#hateplumbing

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 02/11/2019 at 14:28

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Yes, and $400. Or more. Shop is probably out a total of $40.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 02/11/2019 at 14:29

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True, but I have an attitude of transferring risk. If I do it and fuck it up, I’m on the hook.

If someone else does it, they are.

TheRealBicycleBuck > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:30

4

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.

But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.

So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!

With what should I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With an axe, dear Henry, an axe.

But the axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The axe is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

So, sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So sharpen it dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it!

With what should I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I sharpen, dear Liza, with what?

Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, the stone.

But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

So wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So wet it dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what should I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.

With what should I carry it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I carry it dear Liza, with what?

Use the bucket dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, the bucket!

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

lone_liberal > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:30

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And this is why I’m glad we’re out of our old house that had been badly remodeled a couple of times. The saga of the bathroom toilet is one that will be told by my family for generations. 

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 02/11/2019 at 14:31

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Well, you hope they are and they make good...

My thing is that I can pay someone good money to mess something up, or I can mess it up myself for free. I shoot for the latter, when possible. And ever wonder why plumbers are expensive ?

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:32

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This is like every single item on our house. You go to do a simple task, 4 homede pot runs and $243 dollars later you got it fixed. Vanity is cheap, I’d just buy a new one.

TorqueToYield > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:35

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Those P-trap plastic slip nuts/joints are complete and utter garbage and will fail at some point. The older metal ones in my house seem to hold up OK so I don’t touch them, but any of the newer plastic ones have failed within a few years. They’ve all been replaced with flexible compression fittings.

I fucking hate plumbing but I do love me some compression fittings.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 02/11/2019 at 14:41

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I typically don't have issues with recovery of money from parties, but yeah, I get what you mean

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 02/11/2019 at 14:44

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What are you, samurai lawyer or something?

smobgirl > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 02/11/2019 at 14:47

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You forgot the liquor store runs, but yes.

smobgirl > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:48

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This is how I ended up with a new vanity. 

RallyWrench > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:48

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Argh, this is why I hate plumbing. Always turns into an ordeal somehow. Always. Good on ya for getting it done though.  The joys of home ownership, right? 

PartyPooper2012 > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 14:52

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Hey. We have all been there.

It could have been worse. I have done worse...

You know that soup pot you had full of nasty water? Well... I went to empty it... into the sink... that had no plumbing below it... because I removed it to work on the damn thing

DOPE! 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 02/11/2019 at 15:01

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Just never give up!

Brickman > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:06

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You know you mean business when you bring in the impact wrench 

Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:10

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I also have this problem, as well as some sort of organic miasma rotting in the overflow drain (will be replacing sink to fix this) I’m just not eager to start because all one-hour plumbing jobs in this house are followed by an additional 23 hours of plumbing. (there’s a pipe in my basement ceiling that make 3 right turns instead of a left, and if one gets too deep in the cabinets, a voice can bee heard saying “ZU UL!”)

user314 > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:15

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All I keep thinking of is Rube Goldberg machines....

OPPOsaurus WRX > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:27

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I got a new kitchen sink when we got the new counter top. I hacked the drain together with what I had laying around. I think it is held together with drain gunk at this point. I really need to property replace it all.

but when I do that I know the shit in the basement is soft and will probable crumble so i’ll be replacing that.

The elbow going out the foundation isn’ t looking too pretty either.....

shop-teacher > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 02/11/2019 at 15:28

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I’m not taking this bathroom apart until I have the time and money to gut it to the studs.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 02/11/2019 at 15:28

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$100, since I had to buy tools.  But at least I have more tools now.

shop-teacher > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 02/11/2019 at 15:29

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Understood.  This falls into the “I hate it, but I can do it, so I’m not spending a bunch of money I don’t have on it.” category for me.

shop-teacher > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer 02/11/2019 at 15:31

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Yeah, I knew I was going to have to deal with this, but wasn’t hot to get started.  Then it clogged, so I had to suck it up and dig in.  Total time on the job was 5 hours.

shop-teacher > smobgirl 02/11/2019 at 15:31

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I’m not taking this bathroom apart until I have time to gut it to the studs.  That time is not now.

shop-teacher > OPPOsaurus WRX 02/11/2019 at 15:32

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It never ends!

shop-teacher > PartyPooper2012 02/11/2019 at 15:32

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I almost did that too.

shop-teacher > RallyWrench 02/11/2019 at 15:33

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Yep!

shop-teacher > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 02/11/2019 at 15:33

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Why dream it, when I can live it!?

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW 02/11/2019 at 15:33

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Me too!

shop-teacher > Brickman 02/11/2019 at 15:34

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Yeah, that was either going to work, or fail spectacularly!  Thankfully it worked!

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 02/11/2019 at 15:34

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#metoo

Chariotoflove > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:35

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So, you’re saying you got to b uy a new drive socket.

Congrats! Good day!

shop-teacher > Chariotoflove 02/11/2019 at 15:36

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I bought the whole 3/4" drive socket set from HF!  Had a 20% off coupon on me as well.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:36

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I guess that since I live in a condo, I don’t have any tools or place to store them. That’s a big part

Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:38

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Also my sink drains into a pipe that used to be a toilet main and has cabinets built on both sides.  ZUUL!

Chariotoflove > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:38

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Lucky devil.

Looking forward to your post about the bathroom demo and construction.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:39

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When I tried to fix a simple leak on our vanity it resulted in tearing out part of the wall to repair the shut off valve that no longer shut off, and when it broke it emptied 30 gallons of water onto the floor-volume of the pressure tank .

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:45

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Too much of my life has been spent trying to make pipes fit together in ways that they never were intended to fit. Now I just tear everything apart all the way back from the getgo and just do it the way I want from the beginning. 

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 15:48

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You omitted the part where you put it all back together, good to go, except that there’s 1 joint that leaks.  That’s my specialty.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 16:46

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Why not both?

shop-teacher > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 02/11/2019 at 16:53

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I .... cannot argue that.

shop-teacher > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 02/11/2019 at 16:53

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UGGGGHHHH!!!!  Fortunately I did not need to shut the water off ... who knows if those work!

shop-teacher > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer 02/11/2019 at 16:54

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Definitely Zuul!

shop-teacher > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 02/11/2019 at 16:54

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No judgement here from me :)

shop-teacher > Chariotoflove 02/11/2019 at 16:56

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We’re at least 3 years off of that ... I hope.  I need to tend to the exterior of the house for a couple major projects.  Well, first I need to actually finish the kitchen ....

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW 02/11/2019 at 16:57

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I did actually omit that for length.  I felt the saga was long enough.

shop-teacher > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 02/11/2019 at 16:58

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I’ve done plenty of that, but now is not the time for this bathroom.

Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 17:21

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also my dog is pretty big and he ate Rick Moranis.  

shop-teacher > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer 02/11/2019 at 17:32

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Ah jeeze!

MoCamino > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer 02/11/2019 at 17:38

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MoCamino > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 17:43

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... At this point I walk away for a little bit to keep from smashing the vanity to pieces out of shear rage...

This phrase (or some variant of it) is included in each and every story I tell about my attempts at plumbing repair.

Chariotoflove > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 18:09

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Well get on it.  I’m not getting any younger.

shop-teacher > MoCamino 02/11/2019 at 18:18

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Yeah, me too.

shop-teacher > Chariotoflove 02/11/2019 at 18:19

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Haha! I'll try to hurry it up for your sake then :)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher 02/11/2019 at 23:06

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Tools don’t count. Tools are an investment .

Speaking of tools: I’ve been eating very differently lately, and posting a bit about that. I am about ready to begin shopping for a chef-grade knife .

Speaking also of tools: I was off today for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, which is actually tomorrow .  I milled some Doug fir for the next round of cabinet doors. Dewalt benchtop planer and some brand of benchtop jointer. A quantity of surface-dry 2x4s that I cut down, then planed, to a precise 3/4" by 2". All in 48-inch lengths. I got a slice out of each one that’s a strong 3/8 x 2. And I’ll tell you this: that benchtop planer knows the difference between pine or fir and a bit of poplar!