Plumbing – A Love Hate Relationship!

I have a love-hate relationship with plumbing. While I appreciate not having to use an outhouse (been there!) and love turning on a faucet and instantly getting water, I don’t like fixing or even maintaining the plumbing in the house. When I took a plumbing class with my husband back in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s I said I never wanted to do plumbing: it’s dirty, messy, you’re often contorting your body in weird ways in places you normally wouldn’t be, and you often get wet – and sometimes usually not with clean water, either! We also took an electrical class. That I gladly and routinely do even today. For the 5th time this year and the second time this week I had a plumbing issue. Well actually, I had two today and one yesterday, so make that three this week and six for the year.

Yesterday the water pressure finally decreased enough that the whole house water filter a plumber installed incorrectly earlier this year had to be removed. My neighbor was willing to help me and (bless his heart) put some parts back together wrong. What should have been a 90-minute job (including the trip to the hardware store to get new cut and threaded pipes), turned into an all-day project – and I was without water for most the day. My countenance wasn’t what it should have been, either. He was whining – I detest whining. At nearly 80 you’d think he’d be past whining. Usually, I can let his whining go, but add plumbing not going right and I snapped at him.  Not my best moment. Thankfully his memory issues cause him to not remember things like that.

Today, because we drained all the water, there was air in the pipes. I let the tub faucet run a bit before turning on the shower to get the air out. But there was still air in the showerhead pipe and it broke the seal to the shower filter – after I was already in the shower. I had water spraying EVERYWHERE! The ceiling, the walls, everywhere. I tried just tightening it but a bunch of debris from the pipes got in the seal and I had to remove the water filter. That meant running into the bedroom where I keep a small toolbox to get a wrench. I left a trail of water everywhere I stepped. As long as I was out, I grabbed the dust mop so I could put an Envirocloth on the end and wipe down the ceiling and the walls before I got back in the shower. So, filter removed, showerhead put back on, ceiling and walls dried, and I was good to take my shower.

This morning I had also soaked something in the bathroom sink and when I popped the drain icky water came up in the bathtub. This has NEVER happened before. I just snaked the drains a month or so ago. In fact, I did the tub and followed it with Drano (last resort) a few weeks ago. When I saw the water back up this morning I thought I’d deal with it later in the week. But as I stood back in the shower and the water wouldn’t drain, I had to deal with it NOW.

Luckily, I keep the drain snake close by and there I was snaking the drain. There wasn’t much there and it drained a little better, but not like it should. After my shower, I found the real culprit: the sink drain had some hair in it, but it was mostly oily hair that was the problem. While I don’t understand how hair gets in my bathroom drain (I put my hair back in a band before washing my face and the sink gets dried, polished and the drain closed when I’m done) I do know where the oil comes from. I oil my skin after I wash with coconut oil and top that with an organic body butter since I have extremely dry skin. If the drain parts were all metal, the heat of the water would keep the oil liquid and it would not be a problem. Where it is sticking, though, is the plastic parts. I still don’t understand how that little bit of hair caused the drains to slow so much, but it’s better now – thankfully.

I am thankful and grateful that the event that I had planned for the earlier part of today was canceled. I am also thankful that the webinar that I thought I’d catch while combing my hair after my shower is posted on FB for me to watch later. So, now it’s 12:50 and I can get dressed and go on with the appointments of the afternoon.

Several months ago, I posted a blog on cleaning your drains. If you haven’t read it, you can read it here: How to Snake Your Drains.  I also posted a blog on how I care for my sinks on a regular basis. That blog can be found here:  How To Have Clean Sinks ALL the Time.

Have a great week everyone!