RickRouse.com

Rick the plumber

Jan 29, 2009 My thoughts on...

All homeowners can expect to have maintenance issues rear their ugly heads every once in a while, and our turn came around just the other day. Well, it actually came around a long time ago, but I put the repair off until it simply couldn’t be avoided any longer. What happened was the drain in our kitchen sink became completely stopped up, and no amount of Drano, plunging, or prodding with a plumber’s snake would unclog it. So what do you do when your plumbing skills are roughly equal to those of the family dog? Call in an “expert” of course!

My brother Glen is one of those people who can do most anything he sets his mind to, and do it extremely well. Although he isn’t a plumber by trade, Glen has plenty of experience with basic home repairs and plumbing tasks. We invited him up, and in no time at all he and his son Shannon had the clogged pipe replaced with a new one and the sink working like a charm.

Although I know it really wasn’t, they made the task look so easy that it emboldened me to attempt the next plumbing job that popped up all by my lonesome. Well, it didn’t take long for the next one to pop up…

A few days ago I heard Cheria yelling for me to come into her bathroom right away. When I got there I found the floor soaked with water, and more water was gushing out of the toilet bowl tank at an alarming rate. The “fill valve” had ruptured, and water was going absolutely everywhere. To make matters worse, the cutoff valve was stuck open and I couldn’t turn the water off! I quickly ran to the garage and grabbed a pair of pliers, and luckily they were just what the doctor – I mean plumber – ordered for stopping the deluge.

After we got the mess cleaned up, I sat down on the toilet (backwards, mind you) to evaluate the situation. The fill valve had indeed malfunctioned, and my chance to do a little plumbing of my own was staring me right in the face. I thought seriously about calling in “the expert” once again, but I figured that surely I could make such a simple repair myself. Well, this morning we took a trip to Lowes, and after doing a little research (i.e. asking for help), I purchased a replacement fill valve and water supply hose. Now the rubber was about to meet the road…

Back at the house, I opened the package and took out the new fill valve, then carefully read and re-read the instructions several times in the hopes of avoiding another Noah-scale flood. Step-by-step, I installed the new fill valve and hose. Finally, hoping for the best but expecting the worst, I held my breath and turned the water back on.

To my delight and surprise, I discovered that the water was going exactly where it was supposed to be going, and nowhere else. What’s more, when the water level reached the fill line etched onto the inside of the tank, the valve closed and the water stopped flowing. As simple as it was, I felt pretty good after having successfully completed my very first plumbing job! Depending on what it turns out to be, I might or might not attempt the next maintenance job that pops up. But all in all, today I was a pretty darn good plumber.