TheBanyanTree: I'm living with a drip

[WolfSinger]

The faucet (you non-Mercans call 'em "taps", I think) in the master 
bathroom started dripping a few months ago.  No problem, replace the 
washers and all will be well.  Yeah.  That worked with the kitchen 
faucet - after I replaced the washers three times and finally realized 
I was getting the wrong brand of washers.  I AM my father's daughter.

This time I was prepared.  I had the tools, I had the washers, I had an 
old towel for when I forgot to turn the water off before taking off the 
handle.  (Didn't happen this time, but I was prepared!)  The handle 
came off easily, but I couldn't get the next little bit to unscrew.  So 
I got a pair of pliers.  That didn't do anything but scrape off some of 
the chrome and put the plate glass mirror in extreme danger.  Off to 
Lowe's for a strap wrench.  Nope, that didn't work either.  That darn 
cap wouldn't unscrew, but the whole faucet went all katty-whompus on me 
from the force, so I quit.  It wasn't dripping *that* much. 

Well.  It finally gave up dripping two days ago in favor of a nice full 
stream of water.  No way to get it to shut off at all.  I shut the 
water off at the cut-off under the sink, which is an annoyance, because 
now we have to go to the boy's bathroom in the hall to brush our teeth. 
 Because I don't like leaving my toothbrush in that bathroom - you 
never know what's going to be where in there - I decided to have a go 
at the faucet again.

I got all the stuff together and started off.  Handle off, no problem.  
Cap unscrewed.... not.  Vice grips, by golly, that'll get it!  Not.  
Finally, after an hour of intense struggle with this darned thing, and 
slivers of chrome and brass littering the countertop and sink, I hear 
"CLANG!" under the sink.  One of the two washers that hold the faucet 
to the sink was now on the floor of the cabinet.  More struggling.  
"CLANG!"  Now both washers were on the floor of the cabinet and the 
faucet was just barely hanging on.  So I gave in to the inevitable, and 
just took the whole darn thing off.  Here is where I should have had my 
towel ready, and didn't.  Yes, I had the water shut off, but when you 
undo the feed tubes from the valves up to the sink, the water in them 
has to go somewhere.  Quite a bit of it ended up in the cabinet before 
I could get a towel out and put it under the dripping pipes.  <sigh>

I figured if I wrapped the faucet in a cloth, put it in a vice, and 
used the vice grips where I didn't have to worry about pranging the 
mirror, I'd get that rotten thing unscrewed.  It just wasn't gonna 
happen.  Everything came off the faucet except the bit that was 
supposed to.

So now, I have to get a replacement.  In the mean time, my bathroom 
sink has no water supply, and three big holes where the faucet should 
be, which open into the cabinet below.  When I warned the hubby that 
the faucet was gone, and I was in *no* mood to replace it right that 
minute, he replied that he didn't mind waiting a few days and brushing 
his teeth in the hall bath.  Then he said, "I'll just have to remember 
not to go in there and dump out my water glass in the sink!"

<blink, blink>

I stood quiet for a moment, waiting for that to make sense.  It didn't. 
 So I asked him, "Why?"

He intelligently replied, "Huh?"

I said, "The *faucet* is gone, so you can't get water *out* of the 
sink.  The drain works just fine!"

His face turned a very cute shade of pink.  "Oh.  I guess it would!"  
And with that, he turned and walked away from me down the hall.

What a drip.

;o)

Laura
wolfljsh at insightbb.com
http://home.insightbb.com/~wolfljsh/index.html