My OperaPlumbing Notes
Monday, July 11, 2011 2:32:08 PM
The editor guesses that many of the old time renovators do a lot of things themselves, such as basic plumbing: Putting is a new washers or even a new faucet. Maybe the new toilet wax ring. Snaking the pipes in cold weather.
So yesterday, the editor quite readily said "sure" when asked to replace an old Kohler faucet. Did the Falls Church Home Depot, along with a Petsmart and SFW fried chicken stop. The SFW fried chicken is the best the editor has ever had, except for his maternal grandmother's. She was a farm cook when much younger.
So, came home and started to take out the old Kohler. "Old" means 1978 or so. I.e., Kohler when they were not like anyone else. They were the best and to heck with the rest. In other words, if you're not a well equipped pro, stay away. That's changed, and Kohler is still around.
Given the placement of the various nuts under the sink, getting to the nuts without very specialized tools was non-trivial. Getting the nuts to move was rather more difficult. They had had 30+ years to let the brass nuts and the connector they were holding become one.
3 hours later, the Kohler was out and the new faucet took about 15 minutes to install. By "out" the editor means dead as well as removed.
He did have to drop by Seventeenth Street Hardware for a 1 1/4" open end wrench. They could order one, but didn't have in stock, which doesn't really surprise the editor.
However, they did have this which he had been eying for a while and now had an excuse for. It made a big difference.
He also saw this
He didn't use it, given various constraints. But it would have been very handy to have over the years.
So yesterday, the editor quite readily said "sure" when asked to replace an old Kohler faucet. Did the Falls Church Home Depot, along with a Petsmart and SFW fried chicken stop. The SFW fried chicken is the best the editor has ever had, except for his maternal grandmother's. She was a farm cook when much younger.
So, came home and started to take out the old Kohler. "Old" means 1978 or so. I.e., Kohler when they were not like anyone else. They were the best and to heck with the rest. In other words, if you're not a well equipped pro, stay away. That's changed, and Kohler is still around.
Given the placement of the various nuts under the sink, getting to the nuts without very specialized tools was non-trivial. Getting the nuts to move was rather more difficult. They had had 30+ years to let the brass nuts and the connector they were holding become one.
3 hours later, the Kohler was out and the new faucet took about 15 minutes to install. By "out" the editor means dead as well as removed.
He did have to drop by Seventeenth Street Hardware for a 1 1/4" open end wrench. They could order one, but didn't have in stock, which doesn't really surprise the editor.
However, they did have this which he had been eying for a while and now had an excuse for. It made a big difference.
He also saw this
He didn't use it, given various constraints. But it would have been very handy to have over the years.
