God Helped Me Replace A Bathroom Sink Faucet!
Posted: Wednesday, October 13, 2010
by Bob Alexander
http://www.bluemarlinbob.com
I didn't think I would need divine intervention to replace a bathroom sink faucet. Instructions found on the internet suggested that even someone with less than average intelligence could do the job in 30 minutes. With my plumbing expertise I did the job in five hours; with some help from God.
Reading the instructions and the first item on the list, I was advised to cut the water off at the shut-off valves under the sink. Tackling the cold water valve first, I tried as hard as I could to twist it with my hand. That didn't work, so I used my channel lock pliers on the handle.
Dashing outside to the meter, I quickly shut off the water to the house. Back in the bathroom and the mangled shut-off valve, I tried the hot water and there were no leaks. I would only have to buy one and I could get the project underway again.
The super indoor lumber yard and hardware store was five miles away. After finding the items I needed I drove back home and replaced the shut-off valve. Now I could finally take off the old sink faucet and exchange it for the new one.
Taking the old faucet off the lavatory wasn't really difficult and I had it off in 30 minutes. I also had skinned knuckles because the wrench I was using slipped off the brass fittings twice, causing me to accidentally rake my hands on the rough underside of the sink.
Now, only three hours after I began this task, it was time to replace the old bathroom sink faucet with the new one that was still in the plastic bag.
The next steps were easy. Tearing something apart is usually a lot easier than putting it back together again. This was the case with the new faucet. For some reason the 'P' Trap fell apart when I disconnected it from the drain pipe in the sink.
Try as I might, I couldn't figure out what was wrong, because I couldn't put it back together. Finally it made a lot more sense to run back to the hardware store again and buy a new 'P' Trap. When I got back home and installed the fixture, everything worked perfectly.
After installing the new faucet and connecting the water supply lines to the sink faucet, I removed the aerator as advised by the now water soaked set of instructions. Turning on the water from the road, I heard a hissing noise before I got to the bathroom.
This time I turned off the water at the sink. Instead of a drip, there had been a flood coming from the faucet itself, a place where it was impossible to leak. Since it wasn't dripping with the water off, I gave up and went to bed, soaked and tired from the day's effort.
Being the praying man I am, before I went to sleep I asked God to fix the leaky faucet for me while I slept. If he didn't want to do that, He could at least send me someone who was smarter than I to show me what to do.
The next morning when I turned the water on in the sink, water blasted from the top of the sink again. My wife heard the commotion and walked into the bathroom. After turning the water off, she held out her hand and showed me the aerator I had taking off the faucet saying sweetly, "I don't know for sure, but this might help."
Mumbling that no one told me to put the attachment back on, I crawled out from under the sink, screwed it onto the faucet. No leak!
God does have a sense of humor.
This Article has been viewed 1,087 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)You poor thing :( I think you showed remarkable self control and fortitude! You did tell the story ever so engagingly though!!
You probably could have done that by yourself Bob- without bothering God about it-LOL- Always- Ella
Great story Bob and I too feel bad for you. We all have those moments such as yours. I love the humor you conveyed in sharing your story.
... and so do you! I loved this story because I could relate! My husband says he is the worst handyman but there is no job he won't tackle and even though he may have to do it twice, sometimes three times, he always gets the job done right. I'm going to give him your article to read just so he knows he's not alone. Thanks for sharing your story with us, and thank God for your wife. :)
Hi Bob.
I absolutely hate messing with plumbing. Our bathroom faucet leaks and we need to replace its innards, but first we have to get it apart. One piece seems to be totally frozen in place, so this repair has been shelved until both Bernd and I feel we have the necessary free hours to deal with it. You see, I have this rule: Look at what needs to be done and make a worst case estimate of how long it will take. Then ... multiply that by three.
I'm really glad it finally all worked out for you. I won't say I laughed through your retelling, but I did smile a lot. Sorry! :)
Many hugs,
Dianne
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.