Kitchen Sink Follow Up

I'm happy to report the pipes under my kitchen remain leak free... whew! I'll admit to cringing every time I ran the water for the first few days, and then I'd shut it off and tentatively peer under the sink for water where it shouldn't be. A fear unfounded.

And, I asked Red to remove the hand sprayer. The hose from it always got hung up on the pipe down below -- ending up in me either yanking until it wriggled free or opening the cabinet and holding the sprayer with one hand and reaching below and freeing the hose with the other. (Red was horrified when I told him I'd often yank on the sprayer. In his words, "We may have identified the problem..." And, in retrospect, had I actually thought about what danger I was toying with I never would have done that...) At any rate, we do not need the pipes to be bumped or jostled with a sprayer hose, and we couldn't figure out a way to prevent it from happening that was worth the trouble.

Also, because the sprayer was right next to the faucet handle, invariably the sprayer hose would turn off the water on the way over to the left hand sink. Not convenient. In fact, both of those situations were way more frustrating than you'd think. (Maybe because I was already performing a less than enjoyable activity -- washing dishes?)

My solution was to buy one of those doodads (plumbing technical term) that switches your faucet to a sprayer or a stream and jettisoned the sprayer. Ahhhhh. I like it. It's the little things in life...  It's a cleaner look for starters, and there is no frustration involved. Don't look to closely at what I presume to be the original 1929 sink. The porcelain simply doesn't come clean anymore.

Leaky Faucet

The little "hot" and "cold" labels on the tops of my bathroom sink faucets have been upside down since I moved in.  They were on the proper faucets, but irritatingly the text faced the wall.  Over the months I made a few half hearted attempts to unscrew the top thing that holds in the white porcelain round, but honestly?  I didn't try all that hard.

Also an on-going issue is that the cold water handle leaks.  I have a white pedestal sink and there was a perpetual rust colored ring around the fixture.  Before expected company arrived, I'd take the time to get out various implements like old toothbrushes and a razor blade in combination with the beloved Bon Ami; but I in no way stayed on top of it.  I mean, c'mon, it was perpetual.

I got out my home repair but it wasn't terribly helpful.   Then over this past weekend I started unscrewing anything that I could unscrew, and enlisted Red's assistance.  He was more successful at dismantling than I was, and here is what was revealed:

And I'll tell you that before those photos were taken, substantial clean up happened.  When we first lifted up the fixture to remove it, about 3 tablespoons of this black chunky water flowed out.  Ewww!  I brush my teeth right there every day!  Totally disgusting.  We dutifully took photo documentation, and headed out.  Dinner, we said, and then Home Depot. 

Well, we forgot.  We remembered dinner, of course, and then Red dropped me off at home, and I went about my evening.  Until, oh, about 12:30 a.m. when I decided to brush my teeth and hit the rack.  Which is when I flipped on the bathroom light and there it was.  Now it was dry, and crusty.  Lovely!  Fortunately we had only taken apart the cold water -- the hot still worked.

Fast forward to today.  Let's thank whomever determined that presidents deserved a day of recognition, because Red was off work all day today, and I only had to work a half day.  I called him to announce my unexpected afternoon off and was met with his muffled voice -- he was on his back under the pedestal sink.  Bless his heart. 

He had it dismantled, and we went to a locally owned plumbing supply store.  They were very helpful and knew immediately what was called for.  The downside was, it was $55 per part, per faucet, and I needed two.  Ouch.  But onward!  Upward!

Now when you come over you'll see this pristine sight:

And I'll know that there isn't any sludge hiding underneath.  Always a good thing.