#fixing leaks

[mckitterick]

Spring brings pain and home maintenance.

March rain Pouring through leaky gutters Splattering walls Brewing moss.

Fixing it seemed like a good idea.

Forty minutes Standing on slippery ladder rungs Digging into leaf goo Submerging hands into freezing water Driving nails to replace rusty stubs Re-aligning sagging gutter joints Fingers rage red with cold.

(But the leaks are fixed.)

Next step: Hot shower to ease the burn.

[goingtiny]

Still working on backyard water systems, I noticed that the most-full #1 barrel would leak from around the out-flow faucet to the #2 barrel when it was full of water to above the connection. 

As that barrel is nearly empty, I was able to easily unscrew the overflow spigot, see the remnants of a previous plumber’s tape application, and put it back after rewrapping the threads.

Memo to self: stuff like the barrels freezing when full in wintertime is what really stresses the upper barrel connections.

[craftystation]

- Maintenance and Mending Monday: Plumbing, Again???

This was a few weeks ago now, but the recurring leak in our shower needed fixing, so I pulled out the washers that I had for this purpose and got to it. Unfortunately, it led to a downward spiral of me just having to replace one of the stems because the packing nut would not budge no matter how much WD40 I sprayed in it.

The upside (?) was that I had a chance to use my “shower” crayons to take notes while I was working there. I couldn’t actually find shower crayons anywhere in-store, but I did find these “washable” large crayons. These are absolutely fine for my fiberglass shower walls (and sealed tile, but probably avoid grout just in case!), and it wipes off really easily. Now I can take notes in the shower of all the things I need to put on my to-do list - that I usually forget the moment I step out of the shower!