Why it takes a DIY-guy a week to replace a faucet

This is from back in 2011, but still valid I think

For just about any DIY-guy comes the time where the faucet has held back its last drop, and must be replaced. One might initially think that this would be a relatively easy task. Of the possible combinations no outcome would be disastrous, but there could of course have been reversed hot and cold Water – or no Water at all .

All this was well thought through when I took off to Bauhaus to buy new faucet . One of my final questions were “do I have everything I need? ” to which the expert replied ” Yeah, it should be square .” Just let me reveal now, that it was far from it.

When I first tried to install the pipes without mounting the battery itself , I discovered that the supplied thread did not fit on the extension tube . Hmpf! Shop was closed, so I had to re- install the old faucet .

Status Day 1 : no change

Back to Bauhaus where an employee cocksure announced that “it can only be those that fit ” so I rolled good-natured Home, finally to install the new faucet . Sure enough, they fit, the new gizmos, amazing! But it was only a partial goal. The mixer proved to be for the kitchen, so the piece under the table, filled more space than there was room for. In connection with this discovery, which of course meant the dismantling of the existing faucet was one of the hoses that connected pipe with faucet leaking due to damaged packaging.

Status Day 2 : still the old faucet mounted, now just only with hot water which, incidentally, was the dripping .

On the third day I unfortunately has to spend 3.5 hours to a fantastic important extra – extraordinary general meeting (important neighborhood stuff), so there was no progress in the project.

Status Day 3 : same same

The first mixer was chosen partly by design and partly by long-term use in mind. Now we had to choose again, and the priority now became price and feature the highest. We would now just need a mixer that could do the job for a short period . Somewhere on the horizon there is a new bathroom waiting, if it is while we live here is not known . Anyway, it was Silvan who was able to deliver a faucet that just met price + functionality, but they were so not able to deliver that much more. It was too much for the dear service representative when I explained how it was installed . When the original tube from balofixen was extended by a snake, it was too confusing for the employee. ” I need a coupling with external thread ” I explained, then Silvan boy quite upset proclaimed that ” that’s a strange system you have. I’ve never experienced it before.” Without seeming too defeatist and indulgent, I tried to point to one of the many variants that hung on the wall, and it did indeed finally get the his bulb glow a little. Now I had the feeling of being closer to the target than before. And the Silvan employee also seemed as if he had said the right things. Tugging in the kids and other domestic obligations, meant no more progress on the project that day.

Status Day 4 : same same, now just with the proper fittings, and the right faucet .

Friday I was to have the kids on my own, but I would just try to mount the bugger while they were in the bathtub. It all went fine, right up until the cold connection should be installed . The tube on the new faucet was of inscrutable reasons, two inches shorter than the original. So pipe was missing. # % } { % } ^ ^ # ^ { % | $ | | % {

The old faucet I had not dealt with very elegantly, so I could not mount it again. I therefore had to mount the warm support for the new faucet, which was now sitting in the sink. The cold could not connect, so I mounted it on the discarded faucet and put it under the sink. You should just not turn on the old faucet, the it would pour out on the floor.

Status Day 5 : new faucet, but only with hot water.

Saturday morning I took off to Silvan to buy a longer pipe to connect the cold end . With Rosa in the Triobike  we were quickly on the road. There was good tailwind and therefore a fast pace. It was to be too fast, in an S-bend at the café Ae. Here a front wheel suddenly lost contact with the pavement, and I lost control of the bike. I tried to ease the impact with my leg, which was perhaps silly, but maybe the reason why nothing happened to Rosa. Luckily nothing happened to her, she looked a little glum for me when I rocked the bike back on all three wheels. But soon won her good moods again. Now we were almost there, so we hurried into Silvan, bought the hose, and limped back home, very slowly.

ER couldn’t tell me anything, because of the swelling in the knee. Now, hit hard on mobility, lying with wrenches and other tools under a sink was not exactly top of the to-do list.

Status Day 6: all purchases made, now we just wait for mobility. So close to the target now 🙂

Sunday I could half sitting, half lying attach the hose so we could get cold water. Bingo! It worked! And you don’t notice the slight trickle when you are with your leg up high, here on the sofa, in the living room.

Status Day 7 : Alles klar Herr Kommisar , well almost…

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