Drip drip drip. I heard it. I saw it. After they delivered the new
refrigerator/freezer I realized the water line for the icemaker was old and with turning it off and on during the switch out from the old fridge to the new, it was leaking. Somehow, thankfully I got it to stop and waited till this past weekend when my good friend Brooks was willing to come to town to help me fix yet another “house project”. And yeah I had a few more items on the to-do list to help me with while he was here.
We installed a new water line and valve kit into the old opening on the pipe and with the installation didn’t see any leaks. Just before that project we took out the old range hood and put in the new one I found online a few weeks ago. It had been sitting in its box, in my kitchen, just waiting. Now I have one installed over the range oven that works and also matches the other appliances. So the weekend appeared to be a complete success and it was only Saturday afternoon. Grateful to good ole Brooks, once again. And hours later I even had ice!
Drip drip drip. That sound was all too familiar. Sunday after we got back from church and eating lunch with the family, my sister and her husband stopped by with their girls. I asked Jas to check in the basement to see if the water line was still leak free. I went with him. I couldn’t believe it; I was hearing it again.
After more investigation and trying to tighten up the bracket holding the connecter to the water line and pipe, we (my brother-in-law and I) realized the old hole from the former kit was too big to seal with the new valve kit Brooks had just put in on Saturday. We were going to have to fix this leak by sealing the old hole and start a new one for the icemaker. We had 45 minutes till we were supposed to be at choir. I had already made one trip to the hardware store to pick up a new connecter kit because the rubber washer on the newly installed one busted with us trying to tighten it down too much. And now we decided to skip choir and headed back to the hardware store to get the materials to fix the leak and then worry about piercing a new tap for the icemaker. Lets see, pipe cutter for the copper water pipe, a compression insert or something or other to connect the two parts of the pipe once we cut out the part with the hole in it, and three shiny adjustable wrenches… yeah because I didn’t have even one wrench for the job waiting at home.
Back under the house we went to squat in the tight crawl space where the insulation was hanging down, water was spraying with each attempt we made at the “fix” on the pipe and we were both still wearing our church clothes. He was positive, I simply remained as quiet as possible so I wouldn’t say anything in my frustration. An occasional, “this isn’t going to work” may have slipped out or “lets not cut too far from the leak” when we were cutting through the pipe. (He was worried that I was being too negative, I was glad I hadn’t said anything worse!) But mostly I just held the flashlight or the pliers or my shiny new wrenches as he loosened and tightened over and over again with each task at hand to finish the job. Drip drip drip. Even with the main water line turned off, water continued in a steady drip the entire time we worked on it.
I am sore, my head hurts, and I still don’t have an icemaker connection. After we fixed the leak with the compression doodad, we tried to make a new tap in the line with the valve connector. We bent the pin on the one and at this point I was just ready to quit, so we left it for another day. Another priceless, can’t wait to work on the house again, day.
Remember if you ask for ice in your beverage at my house anytime soon… I just might have to show you one of my shiny new adjustable wrenches. How could you possibly need ice when I have these?!
Find yourself, keeping it real.
Photo Credit: http://www.handytoolguide.com/Crescent-Brand-RapidSlide-Adjustable-Wrench.jpg
1 comment:
If I could I would send you some ice.
But ooh, nice shiny new wrenches!
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