Adventures in Plumbing: The Part Arrives!

I have mentioned that we have been having some plumbing adventures at our house. Last Friday morning, when I turned the upstairs shower on to get cleaned up to go to work, the part broke in my hand. I was able to finish my shower but the water wouldn't turn off.

So we had to turn the water off to the house. We then managed to get to the shut-off valve to the tub and shower itself, and we did that. But when we put the water to the house back on, it turned out that the tub shut-off valve did not work completely; the hot water continued to spew everywhere. So we had to turn the water to the house back off again.

No store in town had the replacement cartridge for the faucet, so we ordered it online from Amazon (for under $7). The part was estimated to arrive later in the week. And on this day, it came! And such excitement we had. But nervousness too. For plumbing is not our expertise, and there were still several hoops to jump through to get fresh, clean, running water flowing in the house again.

For the past week, we have lived without running water. It's been a challenge. You can still get things done but it requires planning. Your water usage gets very efficient during such times. Every other day or so, we'd turn the water back on and fill a bunch of containers and sit them around every sink and toilet for hand washing and gravity flushing.

I bathed and shampooed in a little pond. I washed my hair in the rain. (Of which we've had lots, so hey, there's a plus: it worked out pretty well for me.) We also set up a little bathing station behind my husband's big black Chevy in the driveway: buckets, cups, shampoo, and soap. I took a few "showers" there this past week, too.

You may have read some lies on the Internet about a naked crazy woman in our driveway soaping herself up, with her husband helping to hose her down. I would say only these two things: 1) don't believe everything you read on the Internet, and 2) a girl is NOT technically naked if she's wearing her Crocs.

Overall, I'd have to say that the most challenging part of having no running water was food prep and clean-up. It just isn't any fun to cook when you can't easily wash your hands. And washing dishes posed its own challenges . . . I'd heat up some water in the microwave, put it in a basin with detergent, wash the dishes, and rinse them off individually by pouring water from a pitcher. You want to cultivate mindfulness? Try living without running water!

I am happy to report that the part arrived around 1 pm on this day. My husband immediately began cleaning up the area where the new part would go, as I stood around, pacing anxiously. Then he attempted to install the part, but when he got everything together, it seemed that something was missing. And indeed it was: there was a little white plastic washer type thingy that had broken. And the handle didn't seem to work anymore either.

The downstairs shower uses the same parts as the upstairs shower. So he cannibalized the downstairs shower for the missing parts. And as he took the downstairs shower apart, even with the water turned off, water began to spew everywhere!

As we have been using that shower for storage (including a sleeping bag and some magazines), I had to take the wet stuff out onto the porch, and I put the sleeping bag on the trunk of my car in the sun to dry.

My husband then used the parts he'd taken from the downstairs shower to finish fixing the upstairs shower faucet. Finally, everything was back together! And he turned on the water to the house again. The upstairs shower was fine now. No leaking!

But the downstairs shower was leaking like a sieve! We looked for a shut-off valve to the downstairs shower's water source, but found none. I could have cried! We turned the water back OFF to the house.

He messed with the downstairs shower faucet some more, using the broken parts left over from the upstairs repair. Eventually, he got the parts to seat OK, and we turned everything back on. Those parts will need to be replaced soon, of course, but I'm happy to report that as of this moment, the water is not dripping a drop!

The repair was completed by shortly after 3 pm. Two hours of solid messing around with and fuming over a plumbing repair. I said to my husband later, "In the middle there, I thought it was the end of everything." And his reply to me: "It's NEVER the end of everything." Which is a good thing to be reminded of, especially when the hour seems dark.

So the very good news from here on this day is that the repair has been completed and both showers are back together. And the water is back on! How delightful! I have hot and cold running water at the touch of a hand. Wow! It's like magic! Fresh, clean water! At the very end, my husband allowed that he was rather pleased with his work, but he added that he'd really miss his wife's showers in the driveway.

Above is a photo of the original plumbing crew from last week, who gravely assessed the initial problem. In the photo above, the crew is admiring the brand new part that did solve the problem and get us back in business, water-wise. (The raccoon climbed all the way to the top of the part, of course, as is her nature.)

It was a celebration, of sorts. And if you have access to good, clean running water, both hot and cold, take a moment to be grateful today. You know that I sure will!

The soundtrack song: Otis Redding, with You Left the Water Running.