Tooling along (or not)...
Sep. 7th, 2008 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpHistorically, I have tended to dislike doing home repairs, mostly because such things require tools that I typically don't own (or, in recent years, tools that I own but which are located somewhere else, such as Houston or New York).
Back in the initial throes of remodeling fever, Galina had the kitchen taken apart along with the wall between the kitchen and the living/dining area. The result was very nearly unlivable, for while the stove remained upstairs, the closest sink was in the hall bathroom.
While I was in Kazakhstan, Galina had the kitchen more-or-less reinstalled, sans trash compactor or dishwasher, and the only real point of contention was the sink faucet, which leaked copiously. Then, somewhere late last week, the flow from the faucet diminished to a trickle, so like it or not, it was time to do something about the faucet.
The Phillips-head screw holding the faucet guts in place was well and truly stripped. A trip to the Ace hardware store uncovered a kit for removing such items, but it ran almost $30, plus I wasn't sure if I had the requisite 1/4-inch nut-driver in the house (all of my drills are, um, elsewhere). A new faucet wasn't much more expensive, and as it was unclear to me what I might need in terms of guts replacement once the screw had been removed, I dropped the idea of fixing the faucet, and went over to a plan in which the cussed thing would be replaced.
Somewhere, I recalled, I had a faucet wrench that lets you get up behind the sink to undo the nut that holds the faucet in place. The main question was, though: where is it? I combed the stuff in the garage but couldn't find it, so I bought a new one at the local Ace. It turned out to be physically too big to fit in the cramped space around the nut holding the faucet. Before I could get a good head of fuming temper going, Galina asked me to switch gears and unclog the vacuum cleaner.
Curiously enough, in clearing away space on the work bench for the vacuum cleaner, I must have disturbed some ancient sediments, for my old, original faucet wrench came to light under a set of disintegrating rubber gloves. After removing about ten pounds of crap from the innards of the vacuum - which still sullenly refused to pick up anything (I suspect a clog in an area that is not easily accessible) - I turned back to the issue of the sink, old faucet wrench in hand.
The geometry of the old wrench allowed it to be wrapped around the nut, just barely. However, breaking the grip of the nut was goin to be a trick. I ended up enlisting the aid of a pipe wrench, which provided the necessary torque. Once the nut had been loosened, I ended up shuttling the wrench between two positions, each of which allowing me to turn the nut - which would not turn freely by hand - one-twelfth of a turn. Eventually, while flirting with a Zen-like mental state in which I concentrated on repeatedly repositioning the tool and giving a slight twist, I got the thing off.
The rest of the story is pretty straightforward. New faucets seem less sturdy, but they are surely easier to install. The job was done before attention had to be devoted to cooking for the evening.
Someday soon, I shall have to do a more detailed disassembly of the vacuum cleaner. Who knows? Maybe I'll find Jimmy Hoffa's body in there.
Cheers...
Back in the initial throes of remodeling fever, Galina had the kitchen taken apart along with the wall between the kitchen and the living/dining area. The result was very nearly unlivable, for while the stove remained upstairs, the closest sink was in the hall bathroom.
While I was in Kazakhstan, Galina had the kitchen more-or-less reinstalled, sans trash compactor or dishwasher, and the only real point of contention was the sink faucet, which leaked copiously. Then, somewhere late last week, the flow from the faucet diminished to a trickle, so like it or not, it was time to do something about the faucet.
The Phillips-head screw holding the faucet guts in place was well and truly stripped. A trip to the Ace hardware store uncovered a kit for removing such items, but it ran almost $30, plus I wasn't sure if I had the requisite 1/4-inch nut-driver in the house (all of my drills are, um, elsewhere). A new faucet wasn't much more expensive, and as it was unclear to me what I might need in terms of guts replacement once the screw had been removed, I dropped the idea of fixing the faucet, and went over to a plan in which the cussed thing would be replaced.
Somewhere, I recalled, I had a faucet wrench that lets you get up behind the sink to undo the nut that holds the faucet in place. The main question was, though: where is it? I combed the stuff in the garage but couldn't find it, so I bought a new one at the local Ace. It turned out to be physically too big to fit in the cramped space around the nut holding the faucet. Before I could get a good head of fuming temper going, Galina asked me to switch gears and unclog the vacuum cleaner.
Curiously enough, in clearing away space on the work bench for the vacuum cleaner, I must have disturbed some ancient sediments, for my old, original faucet wrench came to light under a set of disintegrating rubber gloves. After removing about ten pounds of crap from the innards of the vacuum - which still sullenly refused to pick up anything (I suspect a clog in an area that is not easily accessible) - I turned back to the issue of the sink, old faucet wrench in hand.
The geometry of the old wrench allowed it to be wrapped around the nut, just barely. However, breaking the grip of the nut was goin to be a trick. I ended up enlisting the aid of a pipe wrench, which provided the necessary torque. Once the nut had been loosened, I ended up shuttling the wrench between two positions, each of which allowing me to turn the nut - which would not turn freely by hand - one-twelfth of a turn. Eventually, while flirting with a Zen-like mental state in which I concentrated on repeatedly repositioning the tool and giving a slight twist, I got the thing off.
The rest of the story is pretty straightforward. New faucets seem less sturdy, but they are surely easier to install. The job was done before attention had to be devoted to cooking for the evening.
Someday soon, I shall have to do a more detailed disassembly of the vacuum cleaner. Who knows? Maybe I'll find Jimmy Hoffa's body in there.
Cheers...
