My dad was wrong. That’s the important part of today’s post.
Beth here.
Merideth and I have not had more than a trickle of cold water from our kitchen sink for the past three years. There was plenty of hot water, but cold? For cold water, one had to visit the bathroom sink or the hose. We tried everything we could think of, namely checking to make sure the cold water cutoff was open, but came up with a blank and learned to like lukewarm drinking water for lack of plumber-calling inclination.
We’re not proud of our poor problem-solving skills, but there just seemed to be bigger things to do. We had to fix windows, level stairs, landscape the yard, and watch Project Runway.
When my dad last visited from Colorado in October, he and I had a lively “discussion” about the cause of the no cold water situation. His contention was that the faucet was broken. Mine was that it was something in the pipes, an argument based solely on the fact that I replaced the faucet 2 1/2 years ago, and there wasn’t cold water on the old one, either.
Spurred on by my need to prove my father wrong, I got under the sink last weekend to stare at the pipes. I did the only thing I really know how to do: I turned off the cold water and unscrewed the connection to the faucet. For want of anything else to do, I looked at the connection. There was a rock in it. I removed the rock and put everything back together. We have cold water now. This may be the only house project that was easier than I thought it would be, and that just made my week.
Also, I’m all warm and fuzzy with smugness because my dad was wrong.
hellohahanarf said,
November 26, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
wahoo! i love being a girl and being correct. although, more importantly, i love cold water.
yay, you!
Jennifer said,
November 26, 2007 @ 10:00 pm
Here, here! Cold water is the best! And being right is close behind!
mindy said,
November 27, 2007 @ 8:48 am
Yeehaw! Isn’t it fun to be right? And also to be able to wash dishes in your sink without scalding yourself?
Congrats on saving yourself the cost of a plumber’s visit… and the sight of a plumber’s crack.
Helen said,
November 27, 2007 @ 10:31 am
heehee..plumber’s crack!
When our bathroom was reno’ed a couple of years ago, the shower was running all dribbly. We told the contractor- he pulled off the shower head and it was all full of construction debris, screws, nuts…you name it. Who knows how that all gets in there, but glad it was an easy fix!
Beth said,
November 27, 2007 @ 11:56 am
hellohahanarf – Thanks!
Jennifer – Being right is just so awesome.
Mindy – No kidding! I would’ve been so mad to pay someone else to remove a rock. Hopefully he/she would’ve pretended it was something bigger.
Helen – How does that happen?
brit said,
November 27, 2007 @ 3:40 pm
You are my hero..
kim said,
November 27, 2007 @ 10:27 pm
Please come fix mine now. One of the sinks in my master bath (the sink I use) started trickling cold water recently. So now I do the dance of two sinks when I brush my teeth. If it’s not on my list, it doesn’t get done and I conveniently keep forgetting to put this task on my list. Maybe I’ll do that now.
Arabella said,
November 28, 2007 @ 10:48 am
Break it to him gently!
Margaret said,
November 29, 2007 @ 10:37 pm
I don’t think I’ll mention this particular project; it will take him a whole day to
somehow figure out that he was right! I do know my guy! Mom
Beth said,
November 30, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
Brit – Why thanks!
Kim – I think I could only come fix your sink if my dad challenged me not to.
I do not claim to be very mature.
Arabella – So the touchdown dance is inappropriate?
Mom – Oh, I’m SURE he was secretly right!
cup said,
December 20, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
Just imagining how annoying it is to be three years without cold water in the kitchen sink.
Glad your father made you find the problem.
If it hasn’t been for the suffering of the previous three years it would make a funny story.
Beth said,
December 20, 2007 @ 3:03 pm
Cup Hi! I guess I wasn’t terribly clear. There was cold water — it was just a trickle, so one had to be patient when getting a glass of water. It’s not like it was scalding hot or nothing. The biggest issue was that generally this is indicative of a much bigger plumbing problem and means that the pipes leading to the sink need to be replaced. Financially, we just weren’t ready to face it.
And that’s how you end up with not-so-much cold water for three years.