Lessons From Tradesmen
Mar. 8th, 2006 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jamesqWhile helping build the deck this weekend, I learned a whole bunch about building decks (natch). Starting from zero in the carpentry department, everything was a revelation. Crowing lumber, making posts even, operating nail guns. It was a blast and I didn't once drive a nail into my flesh!
I also attempted some home plumbing. Our kitchen faucet has been slowly dying. The flow rate has been going down and down and finally the faucet was all but unusable. Strangely, the spray hose worked fine so I knew that the pipes hadn't frozen. Using my deductive reasoning, I concluded that the fault must be downstream of where the hose met the faucet.
I hauled out my tools and took the faucet apart, discovering nothing. I managed to put it all back and the flow rate was more-or-less the same.
Monday I called a plumber. He showed up and I described the problem to him. He proceeded to unscrew the tip of the faucet and take out the end, which was completely choked with calcium. "Here's the problem", he said. "Fuck", thought I. He replaced it and I decided that I was a yogurt head. One $50 service charge later (during which we had him take a look at some other things in the house just to make me feel a little better about paying a guy to replace a $1 part) and we had flowing water again.
The good news is this triggered an outbreak of cleanliness and industry amongst the roomies.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
spookiemonkie cleaned the top half of the house and the Brain cleaned the bottom half. He also fixed the dishwasher, which was also choking on calcium deposits. That I didn't have to do it (or pay a repairman in for a job we could do for free) was quite pleasant.
I was also handed money and pizza, which is always appreciated.
I also attempted some home plumbing. Our kitchen faucet has been slowly dying. The flow rate has been going down and down and finally the faucet was all but unusable. Strangely, the spray hose worked fine so I knew that the pipes hadn't frozen. Using my deductive reasoning, I concluded that the fault must be downstream of where the hose met the faucet.
I hauled out my tools and took the faucet apart, discovering nothing. I managed to put it all back and the flow rate was more-or-less the same.
Monday I called a plumber. He showed up and I described the problem to him. He proceeded to unscrew the tip of the faucet and take out the end, which was completely choked with calcium. "Here's the problem", he said. "Fuck", thought I. He replaced it and I decided that I was a yogurt head. One $50 service charge later (during which we had him take a look at some other things in the house just to make me feel a little better about paying a guy to replace a $1 part) and we had flowing water again.
The good news is this triggered an outbreak of cleanliness and industry amongst the roomies.
spookiemonkie cleaned the top half of the house and the Brain cleaned the bottom half. He also fixed the dishwasher, which was also choking on calcium deposits. That I didn't have to do it (or pay a repairman in for a job we could do for free) was quite pleasant.I was also handed money and pizza, which is always appreciated.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-10 06:06 am (UTC)But don't worry, it's the first of many of the home-ownership-Doh!-moments. I predict that there will be many more to come for you (and, doubtless for me as well).
I think my personal favourite was taking down a chunk of birch tree that had cracked in a storm and was threatening my house. I was standing on the top (yes, the TOP, two steps above where the sign says "do not stand above this rung) of a 10" ladder, holding onto the upright of the tree for support (it wobbled a bit), reaching above my head with the saw and trying to remove part of the tree.
Zooba!Zooba!Zooba!Zooba!
This went on for quite some time, as the birch is a rather hard wood - and despite all appearances, it didn't want to cooperate with me.
After quite a while of sawing, I was contemplating life, the universe, and my future as a great inventor. I decided that it would make things a lot easier if someone invented a different sort of saw, one that was shaped like a bow with a longer throw, and larger teeth... I then realized that someone had beat me to this very invention - and that they had already named it a "pruning saw".
The Doh! moment followed right on the heels of this thought, as I realized that I had one in the back shed.
I climbed down the ladder, and put down the rip saw that I had been using, retrieved the pruning saw, and took care of the rest of that tree in no time.
Welcome to the joys of home ownership! The best part about building a deck (or any other reno that you do yourself) is the fact that you can sit back later and look at your accomplishment. Sure, it might not be as "perfect" as one done by a "professional", but it is yours - and a helluva lot more effort went into it, and probably two to three times more hours than a professional - and that makes it even more of an accomplishment. (And think of the war stories you can tell the next day at work!)
If you climb mountains for a living, climbing one more is nothing to write home about, but your first mountain - that's worthwhile!
Keep on at it!