Pipes

Had the plumber come out yesterday. After a week of using a counter-top water filter to see if we wanted it, we got the permanent under-counter version installed a few days back, whereupon we discovered a small leak under the kitchen sink.

(And how is that water-drinking going out there? Everybody getting in their eight glasses a day?)

The old faucet was corroded, allowing a little water to seep down onto the floor of the cabinet. And when we turned off the supply valve, it was old and worn enough that it leaked a bit, too. Stuck a bucket under them and made an appointment to have 'em fixed.

I'm not particularly handy, but I replaced the faucet last time, been ten or twelve years. Back in the day, faucets had rubber or neoprene washers in them, and if they started to drip or leak, you could shut the water off, take the valve apart, and replace the washer. Kitchen and bathroom faucets are all washerless now, and when they go, you toss 'em. Lifetime guarantee on the one I had. Apparently the lifetime of a raccoon.

I bought a new faucet, a four-holer. The valve, which was brazed onto the copper pipe, was beyond me -- I don't have the pipe cutters, torch or solder, and if I did, I could see setting my kitchen on fire, so I called the plumber. (Most of the pipes under the house are galvanized steel. Copper is better, and these days, you see a lot of PVC.)

Plumber came, attended to the kitchen pipes, plus a couple of leaky faucets outside, long as he was here, and we are back to what passes for normal around here ...