The Money Pit, Part Two

So there we were on a Sunday night, feeling like kids who'd played all day Friday and Saturday and now had no time to finish their homework. Robert had to take vacation time the next morning so we could have our kitchen sink back. We didn't want to connect the old nasty hoses to our brand new clean faucet, so while he went to Home Depot at 6:30 am to fetch the new hoses, my assignment was to turn off the water and drain the pipes. He showed me how to turn off the water and left.

I took my shower and got ready for the day and went to turn off the water just like he showed me. Except the water was still running. So I tried turning the nut the other way. Still had lots of water. I turned some more. Still water. Hmm. Well, I thought, I might as well eat some breakfast. I nibbled on a chocolate Santa and tried again. Still didn't work. Then the Man came home and asked why I hadn't turned off the water yet. He went outside to check it out and Lo! And Behold! The nut he told me to turn was the water pressure gauge. The handle to turn off the water was hidden and partially buried, but in the daylight it was quite obviously the water shut-off valve. But now we had no idea where the water pressure gauge was prior to my moving it. But, one thing at a time.

Robert had to go back to Home Depot after we ate because he had bought the wrong size adapter thingamajigger, so I put Karlina down for her nap and worked on cleaning and teflon-taping the pipes. So, so gross. There are so many deposits and grime and nastiness in our supposedly "clean" water, and they just collect in the pipes and hoses. Yummy.

So after an hour or so of cleaning pipe threads, Robert returned with the correct thingamajigger, I taped up the threads, and he attached the hoses. Still leaking.I think we're going to have to call a plumber. I told Robert, "You know, they're probably going to take one look and tell us we need to re-plumb the whole house." He said, "That's what I'm afraid of ..."

That night the water pressure was so high that our water heater was feeling the strain, and it started pounding and banging. I was nursing baby K and thinking "Geez, man, those neighbors! Pounding the walls at 9:00 at night when I have a baby trying to go to sleep ..." Robert suggested it was probably the water heater buckling under the strain of too much water pressure. He went outside to adjust it a bit and the banging and pounding stopped. Disaster averted.

On the plus side, our new faucet is eye-catching and quite functional. Before and after photos below.

Yeah, this post is kinda lame 'cause we still haven't really resolved anything, but this house has been a constant drain of our bank accounts since we bought it. I have no doubt that this little project will escalate, just like our $7000 roof that turned in to $11,000, and our $5,000 re-wire that turned in to $10,000. Home ownership is NOT all it's cracked up to be.