Or…
I got my kitchen sink back! Hurrah!
Most folks have nice kitchen sinks with *twin* bowls. Ah yes, the basin on the left is a mirror image of the basin on the right. When we built our house almost 16 years ago, I was so excited when I spotted a Kohler sink in the marked-down section of the plumbing wholesalers we dealt with. The sink was less than half of the new price.
Yes, the sink is a peach color, which wasn’t my choice, but in the grand scheme of things, the color was “doable”. As you can see, the left basin is a great deal larger than the right one. Oh, the memories of bathing babies in that large basin, watching them play and have a grand time splashing water all over!
When Mark originally plumbed everything, he bought a “sink kit” for a kitchen sink. As you might have guessed, the tailpieces were fine, but the pipe running from the tailpiece on the left, to the tee connecting the trap was too short. Mark made some “minor adjustments”, and we lived with it for quite some time.
About a month ago, the pipes went out of whack. No matter how I “squeezed” or shoved, they just were too short! I worked under the sink, trying to piece it back together for quite some time before finally telling Mark about my woeful situation.
We wound up going shopping for new parts and we would put it together when we “gotaroundtoit”. As I said, this happened about a month ago. I faithfully hauled all the dirty dishes down the hall and washed them in our (boy, was it CLEAN!) bathtub. I scrubbed the tub every day.
Yesterday, Mark decided we could no longer live with the sink as it was. I really didn’t complain about it. One of my finest features is that when things go wrong, I generally make allowances, and just “live with it”. I do complain when I don’t get help sometimes, but things like “broken sinks” are just something you work around!
Michelle was “the plumber” yesterday as I just was too tired to crawl under the sink. She and Mark worked together and the net result was fabulous!
I was so happy, thinking about how I would no longer have to “perch” atop the side of the tub, washing dishes. I was envisioning myself standing in an upright position, happily humming to myself as I worked….
Michelle began tightening one of the metal nuts under the sink that attaches the tailpiece to the bottom of the basket. Crack…..oops! The metal ring disintegrated under the pressure of Michelle’s fingers!
The kids wanted to go shoppng with a friend last night, so we took them to the mall and dropped them off, heading immediately to the Home Depot. We searched through so many parts, wondering why we couldn’t find the componants we specifically needed. A young fellow asked if we needed help, but Mark politely told him we were just browsing. Too many times we had asked for help, only to be disappointed when a blank stare told us that the person was totally clueless!
After probably about 20 minutes or so, Mark asked me to look for assitance. I found an older fellow in the next aisle, and when I asked if he worked in plumbing, he responded it was debatable…
We ended up getting wonderful help, as the man had worked for many years as a PLUMBER! He told us exactly what we needed and gave us valuable information about applying the new parts. I was so happy as Michelle finished cranking on the new parts at about 11 pm last night!
Then, reality hit like a ton of bricks. Mark told me to fill the left basin with hot water. I did so. Then, I removed the basket that holds the water. Egads! Instead of the water going down the DRAIN, it all moved into the right basin! I was totally mortified! I was so tired and miserable, I told Mark we needed to quit and just go to bed! I did so, but he stayed up to watch a Sabres game he recorded last evening.
This morning, I was prepared to run a “snake” through the pipes at the wall, as Mark thought that was the last resort. I was surprised when Mark asked me, instead, to grab a plunger. He had always told me NEVER to plunge the sink, as the pipes were so fragile before!
I filled the right basin with hot water and then removed the basket, fitting the plunger in the drain to form a vacuumn. I worked away, plunging that basin until I felt like my back was breaking! Being a “Photo Hunter” with this week’s theme smelly, I could have offered a horrific photo of brown “stuff” floating in that basin. The smell was enough to gag a maggot, but all of a sudden, the water swiftly disappeared down the drain…
I let water out of the left bowl with the same results. I fillled BOTH basins and then pulled the baskets. You have no idea how elated I was as I watched duel vortexes swirling in both basins as the water made its way down the drain!
Alas…once again, I am happily standing upright washing dishes! Oh, what a silly, simple delight!
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