Plumbing tale of woe
I have good news to report of the state of my ball-cock. For some time now, the overflow has been dripping, from the main header tank, all over the Honeysuckle which is growing up the back of the house. The resulting splashes of hard water have coated the kitchen window in lime-scale, and recently a small pool of water formed out in the garden (it's been getting worse). All the time, I've been kicking myself with annoyance at it, knowing that I can't fix it myself. The reason that I can't fix it is that the main stop-cock under the sink is jammed. I tried it out when I bought the house in 1990, and it didn't budge. So, I need a new stop-cock, and that means calling in a plumber, and that means bringing a man into the house to fix something. And that's something I have a problem with, as we can see from the state of the repairs to the Cappuccino.
Well, the other day my neighbour mentioned that the overflow was getting worse, and I agreed with him. On Sunday evening, I took another look at the stop-cock that I knew was stuck. I've already broken a gate valve by using too much force, so I was wary of breaking it. With just a little extra leverage (mole grips) it turned. Carefully, a quarter of a turn at a time, I eased it round until, wonder of wonders, it closed! Well, that's it -- I have to take the ball-cock in the loft apart now (after B&Q has closed, you'll note).
The washer in the valve is perished and the nylon nozzle has turned wrinkly with age (about 25 years). So, first thing this morning, I was off to B&Q with a plumbing shopping list. Naturally, they didn't have much of what I really wanted (a Torbeck valve), but I did get a new nozzle and piston for the original valve. The piston didn't fit, of course, so I slipped the rubber washer out of it and into the original (muttering a quote from Brazil: They've gone back to metric again). So, back into the loft to reassemble, and then a test run. All is well again.
Now I'm beating myself up for not doing all that when the problem first appeared.
Well, the other day my neighbour mentioned that the overflow was getting worse, and I agreed with him. On Sunday evening, I took another look at the stop-cock that I knew was stuck. I've already broken a gate valve by using too much force, so I was wary of breaking it. With just a little extra leverage (mole grips) it turned. Carefully, a quarter of a turn at a time, I eased it round until, wonder of wonders, it closed! Well, that's it -- I have to take the ball-cock in the loft apart now (after B&Q has closed, you'll note).
The washer in the valve is perished and the nylon nozzle has turned wrinkly with age (about 25 years). So, first thing this morning, I was off to B&Q with a plumbing shopping list. Naturally, they didn't have much of what I really wanted (a Torbeck valve), but I did get a new nozzle and piston for the original valve. The piston didn't fit, of course, so I slipped the rubber washer out of it and into the original (muttering a quote from Brazil: They've gone back to metric again). So, back into the loft to reassemble, and then a test run. All is well again.
Now I'm beating myself up for not doing all that when the problem first appeared.