KneesUp
Guru
This is actually a tale from yesterday, but it was so annoying I thought I'd share in the hope that someone might find my annoyance amusing.
So, amongst other things, I am the handyman at work. God help them. The water to the building comes in at the front, goes along one wall, via the little kitchen, to the hand-basin and then ends at the toilet. The section of pipe that runs from the hand-basin to the toilet was damaged some time ago and has now begun to leak, so yesterday afternoons job was to cut out a section of pipe and replace it. I had my length of pipe. I had a proper pipe cutting tool. I had all the connectors I needed - and I had two hours. Lovely.
First things first - try and remember where the control valves are. I remembered there was one under the sink, so I went to check. Lovely. A bit hard to get to because of the waste pipe, but I only need to get a screwdriver on it. "I'll turn it off and then I can drain the cistern and the pipe run while I tidy up the work area a bit before I start" I thought. And then the little screw head on the control valve sheared off (God knows how old it was) and water began leaking out of the control valve. So all of a sudden I had to evacuate the cupboard under the sink so the stuff there didn't get wet, and so my 'not yet tidy' work area is now full of the stuff that was there already and stuff from under the sink - and water is jetting at me from the valve that was supposed to shut the water off. The main valve, incidentally, is in cellar and you have to move a display cabinet to get to it. Fortunately I had a dim memory of noticing some tme ago another control valve in the pipe somewhere else which I'd though of as redundant as it was on the same run (i.e. the broken one was before the kitchen taps, and so was the other one) I located that and shut it off there (thankfully that one didn't fall apart) and set about removing the broken one, but due to all the waste pipe-age in the way I couldn't get my tools on well enough to unbolt it. So I cycled to Wickes and bought a different tool, and a new control valve. Cycled back, dismantled the waste pipe, dry heaved at the smell for a bit, got the old valve off and then it occurred to me that you can't get the bl**dy olives off once they've been tightened, so I had to cut the pipes back a bit more, meaning they control valve now didn't fit the gap. So back to Wickes for a flexible pipe connector, because that seemed the easiest way, fitted that, water back on, no leaks. Excellent. Three hours later and I've spend £15 in Wickes and I'm back where I started leak-wise, but the kitchen is a right mess. "Sod it", I thought, the water is off, and my tools are out - I'm doing the leaky pipe now and I can get in before everyone tomorrow and tidy then" So I go to investigate the leaky pipe and discover that it's so close to the wall that I can't get my pipe cutter on it at any point unless I cut literally yards out. I needed my hacksaw. The hacksaw I knew was in the cupboard under the sink at home. So I went home.
Today I got in before everyone else to tidy up. Everything looks exactly as it did at 4pm yesterday, except there is a new bit of flexible pipe under the sink. And it's taken me 4 hours to 'achieve' it.
Any other tales of running to stand still appreciated.
I'm fixing the actual leak tonight.
So, amongst other things, I am the handyman at work. God help them. The water to the building comes in at the front, goes along one wall, via the little kitchen, to the hand-basin and then ends at the toilet. The section of pipe that runs from the hand-basin to the toilet was damaged some time ago and has now begun to leak, so yesterday afternoons job was to cut out a section of pipe and replace it. I had my length of pipe. I had a proper pipe cutting tool. I had all the connectors I needed - and I had two hours. Lovely.
First things first - try and remember where the control valves are. I remembered there was one under the sink, so I went to check. Lovely. A bit hard to get to because of the waste pipe, but I only need to get a screwdriver on it. "I'll turn it off and then I can drain the cistern and the pipe run while I tidy up the work area a bit before I start" I thought. And then the little screw head on the control valve sheared off (God knows how old it was) and water began leaking out of the control valve. So all of a sudden I had to evacuate the cupboard under the sink so the stuff there didn't get wet, and so my 'not yet tidy' work area is now full of the stuff that was there already and stuff from under the sink - and water is jetting at me from the valve that was supposed to shut the water off. The main valve, incidentally, is in cellar and you have to move a display cabinet to get to it. Fortunately I had a dim memory of noticing some tme ago another control valve in the pipe somewhere else which I'd though of as redundant as it was on the same run (i.e. the broken one was before the kitchen taps, and so was the other one) I located that and shut it off there (thankfully that one didn't fall apart) and set about removing the broken one, but due to all the waste pipe-age in the way I couldn't get my tools on well enough to unbolt it. So I cycled to Wickes and bought a different tool, and a new control valve. Cycled back, dismantled the waste pipe, dry heaved at the smell for a bit, got the old valve off and then it occurred to me that you can't get the bl**dy olives off once they've been tightened, so I had to cut the pipes back a bit more, meaning they control valve now didn't fit the gap. So back to Wickes for a flexible pipe connector, because that seemed the easiest way, fitted that, water back on, no leaks. Excellent. Three hours later and I've spend £15 in Wickes and I'm back where I started leak-wise, but the kitchen is a right mess. "Sod it", I thought, the water is off, and my tools are out - I'm doing the leaky pipe now and I can get in before everyone tomorrow and tidy then" So I go to investigate the leaky pipe and discover that it's so close to the wall that I can't get my pipe cutter on it at any point unless I cut literally yards out. I needed my hacksaw. The hacksaw I knew was in the cupboard under the sink at home. So I went home.
Today I got in before everyone else to tidy up. Everything looks exactly as it did at 4pm yesterday, except there is a new bit of flexible pipe under the sink. And it's taken me 4 hours to 'achieve' it.
Any other tales of running to stand still appreciated.
I'm fixing the actual leak tonight.