when to fold 'em

the leak under the kitchen sink last night came from an unexpected source.

previous leaks had been at the drain's p-trap. last night it was the dishwasher's supply line.

after diagnosing the problem i couldn't believe it had ever not leaked; the water was spilling through a ridiculously-placed compression fitting which should have been a soldered joint all along.

i generally pride myself on my home improvement skillz, but i have never learned to solder. i sat in front of a cabinet full of water last night and knew i would have to actually (gasp!) call a plumber.

he arrived around 11:30 this morning and fixed the leak within about 10 minutes. then i set him to work on other tasks that i have also been so far unable to do myself: fixing the squirt nozzle on the sink faucet, and repairing the outdoor spigot.

i ended up spending a little over $100, but i consoled myself with the fact that the plumber fixed everything WAY faster than i could have (evidenced by the mere fact that these other problems have been waiting for repair for almost 2 years).

it felt a little weird paying someone to do this simple home repair for me, but in this instance i think it was really the best thing to do. i would have likely spent 4 hours just teaching myself to solder, and i don't think i would have ever diagnosed the spray nozzle problem correctly... i would have ended up buying a whole new faucet -- which would have cost $100 anyway.

Posted by xta at May 13, 2005 3:28 PM | TrackBack