Tag: plumbing

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Bathtub woes

Seems we are going to have to replace all the master bathroom’s pipes and get all new plumbing. I pretty much had a feeling that a simple repair job wasn’t in the cards this time. I admit that I was kind of keeping my fingers crossed, even though I knew we had been having problems with the pipes for some time now.

Looks like we’re also going to have to call in a professional to do the job also. My Al just got put on 12 hour shifts at the plant where he works and even had a shift change to nights, so between the hour and a half  it takes for him to drive to and from work, and also the long hours, he just won’t have the time to do the job himself.

Needless to say, my small nest egg and my “me” vacation money is going to go to the professional plumbing guy. I then can start all over saving up my silver change all over again. On the bright side of things, at least I have the funds to pay for this and the peace of mind and also a working bathroom is well worth it.

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Old house and ancient plumbing

While remodeling the spare bathroom, we have found that they no longer sell the bath and shower fixtures that will fit our ancient bathtub. The tub is small and is made out of molded cast iron. It’s also on an outside wall. To replace the tub, we would have to totally knock out the whole wall, somehow cut the tub into pieces and then haul that away, put a new tub and plumbing in and also new walls. This means we’d also have to replace the outside wall and siding. What a job.

What makes things worse, is on the other side of the adjacent wall where all the pipes are, is my son’s bedroom. That wall would also have to be knocked out and it is going to be one heck of a major project. The hot water was leaking and we tried to find the right parts to get it at least semi fixed, until we could go a head and do this improvement but my husband had to rig one up, since the hardware stores don’t carry the part.

I had to laugh when we took the parts in, because the man who was to help us looked at the  part, then at us with the most odd look. Like we were asking for something that was from the moon or whatever. He said he hadn’t seen one of these parts since the 40’s and even then they were nearly obsolete. Great. For now, we’ve decided to hold off on this project as long as we can, as we honestly don’t have the funds right at the minute to do a total remodel job. We have just finished the main bathroom. In the mean time, I am going to pick out tile and flooring, paint and at other items I may want to use once that darn tub is out and the plumbing in there is fixed. I can always look shop and get a idea of various prices.

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Garden planning for next year

This years gardens and lawns did not do well at all. It’s sad because I had seeded, planted and even reseeded in hopes that my plants and flowers could or might do well despite of lack of rain. I was wrong. Even watering from the hose didn’t help.

I’ve been looking at various seeds and plants that might do well despite the lack of rain, in case next summer is anything like this summer has been. In our growing area, it’s pretty sparse pickings. No pun intended.

In the mean time, I’m trying to get the remodeling of my bathroom finished, so at least I’ll have the extra money to plant new flowers, plants and veggies next spring. Hopefully, that will be finished toward the middle of next month if all goes well with the plumbing. As far as my gardens go…I’m still trying to water, but it’s a loosing battle.

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New bathroom vanity

Getting a new vanity in the bathroom had to be put on hold for awhile because we had developed problems with the pipes that came up from the under the floor and though I had kept telling my husband that I thought we had a leak, he had been too busy with work and other things he had on his plate, to even check it out. Something that of course upsets me to no end, as I don’t really know anything about pipes and plumbing. I didn’t even know how to begin to fix the leak or who to call that wouldn’t’ charge me a small fortune.

After talking to a good guy friend of mine, he came out and looked at it and thank goodness it was a fairly easy fix. I ended up using the barter system and promised him three loaves of homemade bread for him to fix my leaky pipe.

Shopping for the vanity was easy. There were only three that I had looked at and really loved, but only two that would fit the space. Since I couldn’t decide on which I wanted, I let my oldest son pick. I like his style and he knows mine, so we came home with a really nice looking and functional vanity. I’m happy with it and it does give me more storage space.