You know, I could swear there is stuff they only teach guys. Like today. I have a day off and decided to tackle those household jobs I've been putting off. There's a particular pile of laundry which I've moved from one spot to another just to avoid sorting and folding it. That needs doing. Also, I should hang the pictures that have been lounging around the house for years, leaning against walls at potential points of suspension, their little faces tilted up as I pass by, deliberately ignoring them. And I really need to attend to the rehabilitation of my lingerie drawer (okay, that job I don't really mind as it involves shopping and pretty things).
Anyway, the main job I set for myself today is replacing the washers on the leaking faucets in the two upstairs bathtubs. The one in my bedroom leaks so badly that I started using the main bathroom exclusively as soon as Kyle and Gavin moved out. Unfortunately, the main one has started leaking and I can't keep ignoring the fact that the washers need to be replaced.
It's not that it's a difficult job. In theory it's pretty simple; turn off the water at the main valve, remove the knob cover, unscrew the valve stem, remove the screw that holds the washer in place, flip over or replace the washer and return all to their original state. I've done it before in my old house (circa 1935) with no trouble. In this house though (built in 1984), the problem is that I can't loosen the valve stems. I've actually attacked the faucets a couple of times but I'm just not strong enough to budge the buggars. It's very frustrating knowing I'm just not strong enough to do something. And in the process I'm chewing up the fitting with the wrench.
Today I was determined to fix this once and for all. I'll spare you the details but after about an hour spent searching for tools and struggling with various parts of the fixtures, I successfully removed the valve stems in the bedroom faucets. As the screws holding the washers wouldn't budge, I wasted another 15 minutes trying to locate a vice grip before deciding to take the whole valve stem up to the Clarkson Home Hardware. Those guys are great and I thought they might be able to give me a hand getting the various pieces apart.
Did you know that for $5.99 you can just buy a whole new valve stem complete with washers that you can then just screw into place? I didn't. But I bet that guys know this. That little bit of knowledge would not only have saved me about an hour of work but I probably would have fixed the issue ages ago!