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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

If It's Not One Thing It's Another

And Sometimes It's Everything All at Once.

A little background:
1. The plumbing in our house seems a little odd. Last year we had a problem where the water that was coming from the garbage disposal or the dishwasher was backing up into the sink in the basement bathroom. We got that cleared and then the water wouldn't drain out of the kitchen sink. After we exhausted all do-it-yourself possibilities we called a plumber and everything worked again.

2. A couple of months ago we started having water pressure problems in the kitchen sink. Just the kitchen sink. Taking the faucet apart revealed - not much. It seemed to be a build-up of sediment. So two weeks ago we bought a new faucet and put it in.

3. During the rainstorm last week we got water in our basement and had to toss the rug we had down there. We bought a new one yesterday at Walmart.

Okay - that's the background. Now to yesterday and today.

Yesterday:
The new faucet in the kitchen - no water pressure. Can't be a build-up of sediment in a week? Can it?

So after we laid the new rug down in the basement, my husband took the sink apart to see if he can discover the problem. The problem is what looks like pieces of a water filter coming through the pipes (as far as we know we have no water filter on the pipe.) He cleaned it out and put it back together again.

He moved stuff back onto the new carpet downstairs - so he could get to the downstairs bathroom. Discovered that the sink was filled with dirty water. Looked like the dishwasher drained into it.

He emptied it and poured drain cleaner down it.

Now Today:
While I was out, he ran the dishwasher and then went to cut the grass. When he finished the grass he went downstairs and discovered that the dishwasher had overflowed the bathroom sink and flooded the basement.

Of course the new rug is wet.

So we went out and got some drain opener. While taking it out of the car, it leaked, and got all over his hands. He washed his hands, went downstairs, and discovered that the water he'd just put down the kitchen sink was now in the sink downstairs. So - no using the kitchen sink for awhile.

He got the bathroom sink flowing again - so I could use the kitchen sink (not sure I trust the dishwasher yet.) And then he went out.

He came back to tell me that there is something very strange wrong with his car (the fan won't turn off, even when the car is off) and when he went to use the sink - guess what - there was no water pressure.

He's working on the car problem - and the water pressure returned (at least temporarily.)

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Or maybe I can.

2 comments:

Heather said...

I hate days like that! Our old house had the strangest plumbing. All the vent pipes led to the basement instead of the roof like the plumbers said they should. I hope you get the sinks figured out and fixed.
Great to meet you from the Catholic Mom's blog ring.

christine M said...

Thanks Heather - isn't it weird how things like electrical and plumbing get rigged up sometimes? Hopefully we'll get the sink think figured out. I'm kind of afraid to run the dishwasher again