One Hammer to Rule Them All…
Originally uploaded by dalcher.
TroubleFree Plumbing came today to fix my spigot (giggity) and the guy had to go get some parts from Menards. I came downstairs to find that he had elected to use my Saruman staff holder to hang onto his hammer for him while he did the repairs, and he left it there as perfect camera-fodder while he went on his parts run.
He says that he’s 90% sure that the spigot caused all of the leaking, he said when those freeze up they blow out spraying water back into the cavity behind them. He says that the water will follow the pipe and run off at every turn in the line, which appears to be what has happened here.
Also, this place doesn’t do the carpentry repairs, so someone else will have to come and fix those. Luckily, my homeowners insurance covers the ceiling damage (but not the pipe damage) with a $500 deductable.
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5 users responded in this post
Jeez.. I patched five enormous holes at my office for under $100, and that included the tools I had to buy… I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.
You *do* have drywall (sheetrock) walls right? Because I do NOT do lathe & plaster… blech.
Call me and I’ll come take a quick look tonight. 642-5439.
You cover the materials cost at menards, but I’ll do the work free.
I… uh… conked out after work for about 3.5 hours, sorry I didn’t see your message. If you want you can swing by after karate or something tomorrow to have a look, I honestly couldn’t even tell you what I’ve got as I’m pretty dumb when it comes to this stuff.
I took a picture just now to help illustrate the situation:
Interestingly, my house appears to create a dampening field that compels contractors to leave their tools behind. The One Hammer referenced in the post is still hanging in my staff holder.
Easy as pie. The only hard part will be matching that wall texture and paint color (but I leave that to the paint dudes at menards).
Once we do this once, and you see how it’s done and what tools are required, you’ll be a pro and able to do it yourself as many times as you want in the future.
We’ll take a look and some measurements tomorrow after practice, find out what else (if anything) you want to bust up and replace, and I’ll make a shopping list. Menards will be closed by then, so I’ll have to pick up supplies Wednesday and start Wednesday night. I’ll also hunt around at work Wednesday to see if I can find any drywall pieces I can use for the main patch (we rent our office from a roofing company.. so that’s not as odd as it sounds). We have to let the spackle dry 24 hours, before sanding. Then an evening of texturing, then a day of drying, then finally you can paint.
The waiting between sessions is the worst part of all. But you gotta let it dry good.
PS It would behoove you to FULLY test the water pipes for leaks before we get started!!! Reworks suck regardless of profession.
Sounds good man… I will fully test the pipes between now and then by spreading weed killer on my front lawn. I appreciate the help, I will check with the wife and see if we have any scheduling conflicts that would prevent m4d c4rp3ntry sk1llz being applied, but I think we’re ok for Wednesday.
Sounds good. Remember, Tuesday night I’ll look & measure (take 20 minutes tops). Wednesday maybe 1.5-2 hrs for the main repairs (depending on how much you want to do elsewhere). Thursday (or whenever you have free) another 1 hour for sanding, gap touchup & final texturing, then whenever after that you can paint to your heart’s content.
It’s not overly time consuming except for the waiting between phases.
PS It *is* messy and white dust will get everywhere during sanding, so if you don’t have plastic to cover your stuff with let me know and I’ll bring some with.
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