Happy Solstice!

I celebrate the lengthening of the days.

Bugged out of work early. Came home, and decided to arrange for a plumber to install a new laundry sink faucet. The old unit was a disaster--the handles had broken off long ago, necessitating the use of pliers to open and close, and a drip had grown into a steady stream. I wanted to wait for the arrival of some book money, but the stream seemed to be growing, so I bit the bullet and called.

I should add that I haven;t had the best luck with plumbers. The ones we called over the last couple of years did the job, but there were things about them we didn't like. I had initially planned to call the least objectionable of the group, only to find in a mailing from Checkbook Chicago, a local business rating service, that the plumbing company in question wasn;t well thought of.

So. I dug into the day job email archives and excavated the name of a company a co-worker recommended a few years ago. Called. Left a message asking about the faucet replacement. Expected that I'd be lucky to be able to arrange something in a week or two, assuming they called back at all. If they're busy, they dont call back.

Welp, this guy called back. He had just finished the last job of the day, was on his way home, and said he could drop by because he had a faucet in stock. 45 minutes later, he showed up.

Friends had mentioned that I could try to change the faucet myself, but no, not this one. Acetylene torches and saws were involved, along with a good hour's worth of labor. After that, I asked if he would look at the kitchen faucet, which was installed only three and a half years but had become really hard to turn. Then there were the bathroom faucets, which were both hard to work.

Welp, he fixed those, too. The bathroom faucets needed new cartridges. The kitchen faucet needed a new o-ring. Yeah, I could've tried to do those myself, but I wouldn't have really known what I was doing, and it likely would've taken me longer than the 15 minutes it took the plumber, who was a nice professional of the sort I could ask questions of without feeling like an idiot.

So, three little nagging issues and one bigger issue handled in an hour and a half, for about half what I expected to pay. And guess who's going to get the call in the Spring when I have the battery back-up sump pump installed, and have the outdoor faucets replaced? Guess who'll get the call when I have the bathroom redone?

I have found a plumber. I couldn't ask for a better Christmas gift.

Happy Solstice!

I celebrate the lengthening of the days.

Bugged out of work early. Came home, and decided to arrange for a plumber to install a new laundry sink faucet. The old unit was a disaster--the handles had broken off long ago, necessitating the use of pliers to open and close, and a drip had grown into a steady stream. I wanted to wait for the arrival of some book money, but the stream seemed to be growing, so I bit the bullet and called.

I should add that I haven;t had the best luck with plumbers. The ones we called over the last couple of years did the job, but there were things about them we didn't like. I had initially planned to call the least objectionable of the group, only to find in a mailing from Checkbook Chicago, a local business rating service, that the plumbing company in question wasn;t well thought of.

So. I dug into the day job email archives and excavated the name of a company a co-worker recommended a few years ago. Called. Left a message asking about the faucet replacement. Expected that I'd be lucky to be able to arrange something in a week or two, assuming they called back at all. If they're busy, they dont call back.

Welp, this guy called back. He had just finished the last job of the day, was on his way home, and said he could drop by because he had a faucet in stock. 45 minutes later, he showed up.

Friends had mentioned that I could try to change the faucet myself, but no, not this one. Acetylene torches and saws were involved, along with a good hour's worth of labor. After that, I asked if he would look at the kitchen faucet, which was installed only three and a half years but had become really hard to turn. Then there were the bathroom faucets, which were both hard to work.

Welp, he fixed those, too. The bathroom faucets needed new cartridges. The kitchen faucet needed a new o-ring. Yeah, I could've tried to do those myself, but I wouldn't have really known what I was doing, and it likely would've taken me longer than the 15 minutes it took the plumber, who was a nice professional of the sort I could ask questions of without feeling like an idiot.

So, three little nagging issues and one bigger issue handled in an hour and a half, for about half what I expected to pay. And guess who's going to get the call in the Spring when I have the battery back-up sump pump installed, and have the outdoor faucets replaced? Guess who'll get the call when I have the bathroom redone?

I have found a plumber. I couldn't ask for a better Christmas gift.