I’m a Handy Man
One of my roommates parents came over this weekend as they were clean his bathroom, they discovered a leak in our faucet. His dad showed me the leak and explained what I needed to do. It was a little hard to understand his broken english through a heavy Korean accent so I looked up faucet schematics online to see what could be the problem. Once I identified the source of the leak – ‘it was coming from that center hole area’, I procured the necessary tools. Today I took apart the sink to get to the trouble area. I turned off the water valves and disconnected the underside fasteners. Then I pried the faucet from the counter removing the silicon gel. Then I realized the leak was coming from inside the faucet fixture. I wiped out my trusty leather and got 2/4 screws undone. I cleaned off one rusty screw and got it out with my broken screwdriver (Nathan and Linn Minn aren’t borrowing my tools anymore) but the last screw was corroded over. I couldn’t get it out.
I decided it was probably better to just drive to Lowes and get a new faucet. I picked up a silver faucet at Lowes which matches the bathroom more than the gold/brass look of the old one. (Now I just need to replace the toilet paper dispenser and the cabinet knobs to match.) I easily installed the new faucet. I skipped installing the new drain as the old seemed firmly attached plus the drain pipes are metal and firmly screwed into one another. I didn’t have the necessary pipes for any adjustments in sizes or lengths. I did install the new drain plugger (?). It fits the old drain but it needs a gentle push to go all the way in. I reattached the water valves and tightened every thing. Water ran fine and no drips (yet). Chalk up another home repair that I can do.
My roommates dad suggested calling a plumber when he first described the problem. I’m glad I didn’t. I wouldn’t have learned how to change a faucet but also, he probably would have done everything I did. He would have taken off the faucet and realized the problem was inside. He wouldn’t have been able to get inside the faucet and would tell me I needed to buy another. He would have charged me for his time plus I would have to buy a faucet and still learn how to put it back on (or call him back). He might have also taken apart the drain which would have been much more work (and more $$ for him).
I think after New Years I’ll wire my house with Ethernet. That’ll be an adventure.