Times Like These
Yes, at times like these, the plumbing matters!
Over recent weeks I've been doing some renovations, had the builders in to do the 'building' work and alongside I have been running a little DIY project.
With the builders gone, the dust has settled and been duly cleaned up. The hall carpet has had three machine cleans so far! A bit of hands knees and bumps a daisy round the edges. Who needs a gym!
Shower room stripped, old grout out, new grout in, tiles cleaned and polished. New taps bought and ready to fit in order to spruce up the aesthetics of the sink.
Problem 1. No close off valves. I could have sworn they were there somewhere, but no couldn't find them. Ok no problem, switch the water off at the mains.
Problem 2. It won't close off! OK no problem, call in a plumber friend, it needs replacing. Nope, couldn't do it.
Problem 3. Water Board tap needs switching off outside, so, as not insured if anything goes wrong, which I'm told is highly likely, other arrangements have to be made.
In the meantime,
The dryer door won't stay closed without the sweeping brush being wedged against it to keep it closed. Not an issue on a dry day, but the washing line doesn't work so well when its raining!
What! The microwave won't microwave! Never Mind, its a combination oven, which is well used. Well, that was until it stopped turning round, resulting in everything being roasted black, unevenly at that!
Not to worry a quick dash to the shops, a new combination oven duly bought and installed with the help of my much stronger armed sister. She has the muscle, I have the tools :>)
The main oven received its compulsory cleaning after use, which was going smoothly until the inner glass in the door simply fell away from its fitment. Of course it won't go back in! But that's ok, we still have the new combination oven which will suffice for the time being.
And tonight!
Shouts of "mum the shower is cold and I can't get it to work" drag me into the shower room to try and sort that one out. It won't surprise you that it continued to run cold and had to be abandoned for a bath.
Yet, what on earth is that trickling water sound? Oh No! the loo! The ball cock I thought at first. No. For some inexplicable reason one of the joints is spewing water into the cistern. It can't be loosened or tightened, won't budge a millimetre.
Ok thinks I, turn the valve off to fix it. And here we are, going round in circles.
There is no cut off valve to be found, I'd turn the mains off but of course we already know that that's broken and won't switch off, so here I am with water spritzing my newly grouted and polished tiles. The ball cock is propped up with a rolling pin to keep the cistern empty to save some water and every half hour I'm flushing the rising water to stop it saturating the ground outside as it spews out of the overflow.
Is there a moral to this story? No I don't think I'm in the mood to see one even if there is one.
Sods law seems to be showing its power. On the positive side, I got the exact model of combination oven I wanted at a great price and the new sink taps are fabulously stylish and at a snip of a price. They will look perfect when I can eventually get them fitted.
Now if I can just manage to stem the flow until 8am when I can call the emergency plumber out!
Diane Stafford on What Matters at times like these!
