Plumbing and Bicycles

April 7 , 2013

"For  every failure , there's and alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock. take a detour. "

Mary Kay Ash

For more info on me click here

For answers to questions on cycling click here

For answers to questions on Fitness click here 

For a program that is automatic and pays 100% Commissions click here

For Heritage Church Click here

Several Months back the bathroom faucet started leaking so we went out to Lowe's and looked around for a suitable replacement. My wonderful wife picked out a really neat looking one that  she just fell in love with and since it was on clearance the price was OK with me.

I got it home glanced at the directions and decided this was going to be a project I would have to do on one of my days off. I had just started working nights so I was working 7 on/7 off at the hospital. I had done some plumbing in the past and was decent at it. I sure didn't want to spend the money on a plumber.

The old model that was in there was a Moen and a decent model but a piece inside the shell had broken and the hot water side was leaking. The new one is and American Standard and a completely different design. Old one uses two handles and one faucet, new one one handle and one faucet. The new install would also require replacing the plastic sheet that covers the wall and some carpentry modifications to get everything plumbed and fitted properly.

It has been several months now since the leak started, and it has gotten worse. I have been exceptionally busy  the last few months with taking Ruth to daily radiation treatments, repairing bicycles, taking the grandchildren to various events etc.

Ruth's last radiation treatment was Thursday, so I told her that Friday I would set aside to to 2 things 1 fix the drain under the house and 2 put in the new faucets for the bathtub and shower.

Luckily for me the drain was a real easy fix. We have a crawl space under the house and the drain for the bathtub which goes to the main drain runs in a way that makes in difficult to get through if anyone has to work down there. We had some people that did some work on the house, they did a great job, They had apparently removed that drain pipe so they could get in and out easier, but forgot to put it back when they were finished. The water from the tub had been running out on the ground since they had worked on the house. Luckily it was just bath water and really did not do any major damage. Anyway I just hooked that back up and it is working fine all the tub water is now going to the drain.

So after that it was time to remove and change out the faucets, The old plastic wall was removed and the old faucets came out without a hitch.  I was thinking this may be easier than I thought originally. Be real careful what you think as things that seem easy, may not turn out that way.

Old faucets are out, and it is time to put in the new. This is Friday about 1 PM, I have made a couple trips to Home Depot to pick up stuff that I din't know at first I would need, I decided to replace a couple of things that probably could have been reused but were not really in great shape. I figured I better go head and replace them now instead of having to take everything apart again in a week or 2 just to replace something that could be done while I have to all apart. Well that is where it got me (isn't there always a gotcha in these stories). I went to tighten a fitting on a piece of the pipe (this is old galvanized pipe, house was built around 1930).  Anyone that has ever worked on old house plumbing can probably relate to what happened next. The pipe broke in two just below  the threads and the HOT water, it's always the HOT water begins to spew out into the wall. I had installed shut off valves in the pipe several years back when I put the old faucets in, but this broke off on the other side of the valve.

This caused a hasty trip to the street to turn off the main valve, probably should have done that in the first place , but was trying to let Ruth use the water in the kitchen. Sometimes things just don't work out like you plan. The broken pipe is about 6" long and I figure I can just unscrew it, but since that pipe has been there for probably 80 plus years it just did not want to come loose, and to be honest I was a little scared that something else would break and I would end up replacing all the plumbing, which is probably also a very good idea, just not right now.

When I got to the street to turn off the water I noticed that the meter was damaged. It only took a few seconds to figure out what had happened. There had been a pile of leaves near the meter, the city had picked up the leaves. They had caught the meter box in the device they used to pick up leaves. I called and told them, they came out, said that since it was still working and not leaking they would be back Monday or Tuesday with a new meter and antenna,

I got the water off to the entire house and worked for several hours trying to get that 6" piece of pipe out without breaking something else. I did not get it out Friday and I had to be at The Tour de Tifton Saturday Morning. I had planned to take the race trailer with me and a few bikes to show at the TdT. When I went to crank up the trailer the handle for the jack broke off in my hand, so I just took the van and tools and what I could get in the van. Did you ever feel like everything is against you? I was beginning to get just slightly depressed.

It was abut 6 PM Saturday before I could work on the faucets again, and I had to get that piece out before I could go any further, a can of WD-40 and several hundred blows with a hammer did not budge anything. I told Ruth I needed a pipe to put on the end of the pipe wrench to get that loose. She brought me several different things all too small or too weak.

I had just about given up, when she comes in the bathroom where I am still trying to budge this thing and getting absolutely nowhere carrying of all things a fence post setting tool. This thing weighs about 10 or 12 pounds and has handles on both sides. It is used to pound the metal fence posts into the ground.  Neat thing though is it a sort of pipe and it fits over the handle of the pipe wrench so why not. I set the pipe wrench put that fence post tool on the end and pulled, amazingly the pipe moved a small amount. I could only turn it about 1/4 of a turn each time because the wall was in the way, but at least it was moving. It took a while but I got it off. I was too tired to do anymore Saturday evening so went to bed, got up this morning at 4 and finished the installation of the plumbing parts. Everyone will get a nice warm bath before church and I will cut the new plastic after church .

Now some stuff about bikes. The 4th annual Tour de Tifton was held yesterday in Tifton Georgia. Bret Wagenhorst and his crew of volunteers as always did a fantastic job of setting up the courses and getting everything prepared.  I have provided SAG for the Tdt each year since it began. I ride throughout the routes and check to see if the riders are safe, need any mechanical support or maybe even need a ride back to the Y.  I keep a supply of tools and small parts like tubes and such in the van. Yesterday a young man picked up something that tore a hole in his tire. It just so happened that I had a new one in the carrier on my van, Placed it on his bike for him and changed out the tube so he could finish his 62 mile ride on his bike. It always feels good to help someone. He came up later to pay for the Tire and we spoke for a few minutes.  I don't charge labor on anything at events like this, but I do have to get reimbursed for parts, so I just tell the riders to stop by the van or booth after the ride and give them a business card, telling them to call Monday or just send a check to the address on the card if we miss each other.  As yet I have always collected from every person I have done work for at one of these events.

The Tour de Tifton ride went very well and is for a great cause. This year the ride was dedicated to a good friend Ilse Boyette. Ilse was born in Germany and married Henry Boyette from South Georgia. She was a special lady that loved cycling, the outdoors and her family. Ilse always had a great outlook and as one of her good friends said at the opening ceremony she could light up a room just by walking in. This year we had exceptional weather for the ride. Do you suppose Ilse had anything to do with that?

The money from this years ride will be divided between the Ilse Boyette Scholarship fund  Tiftarea YMCA programs for children.  Ilse was a Nurse at TRMC and a scholarship has been started in her name to help cover the cost of books for Nursing Students.

I have not heard how much the ride raised for the charities, the target was 10,000.00 total with 5000 going to each.  It would be wonderful if they ,made even more.  I am looking forward to doing it again next year.

I have been speaking with Linda from the R2R and am going to start trying to put together an Honor Ride for wounded veterans ) can be physical or emotional wounds. The target date is September 28th, but I am looking for a place to have it. YMCA's, Churches, and certain Veteran's organizations are usually good places.  I will probably start calling places like that Monday.

If you  are like me your money always seems to run out way before the month ends. If so why not check out the Empower Network. I am starting to show some progress with the Empower Network and I am sure I can help you too, that way we can both make some extra money.

Have  great day

Jerry