I thought I could do it, I really did. Our kitchen sink tap was dripping badly. All I had to do was replace a washer in the hot water tap of the kitchen sink. I watched a few YouTube videos, thought, okay, that’s not exactly rocket surgery, so I went and bought some washers at Totem on my coffee break… then last night …
Step 1 – tried to turn off the water under the sink, um, knobs were solid (this house is 50 years old and while the sink isn’t original I’m sure it is not of the last few decades.) I had to get a monkey wrench to get the hot turned off and it was a real struggle.
Step 2 – took apart the cold water tap, easy. Then got to the part where on the video the thingy pulled out and you pull off the old washer… um, this isn’t set-up like that, I have to get the whole assembly off to get at it… so…
Step 3 – start to take apart the hot water tap… got the top off, unscrewed, take off the knob, then try to unscrew the brass fitting… um, nope… appeared fused… the brass is coming off in shavings as I try to use the monkey wrench to shift it AND the whole thing is turning around when I do manage to torque it… SHITE.
By now I am sweating like a pig and getting really tempted to let an F-word loose.
Step 4 – SCREW IT.
Step 5 – Reassemble both taps. Turn the water back on… Hot water sprays out from around the fittings!!!! SHITE SHITE SHITE.
Step 6 – Get the taps under the sink turned off as fast as I can, clean up the water… take them apart again.
Step 7 – Go find the card of the plumber that was here for our bathroom repair, call him. Someone else answers phone, he retired and left town. BUT the guy who answered is a plumber and will be here this morning with a new tap assembly to replace and repair…
Shannon Fennell's Blog 