That's right, plumbing industry, I'm calling you out. Today I took the p-trap apart to fish out part of the sink stopper mechanism after someone who shall remain unnamed disassembled it for reasons forgotten. So I go buy some channel-lock pliers (thanks, Winks guy, for suggesting a sensible alternative to the massive pipe wrench I had my eye on!) and turn one of the nuts a bit, and the whole pipe pulls out of the wall, very easily. Turns out I didn't need the pliers, or any tools, because the pipes don't have flanges on the end, so the nuts just turn to constrict washers to grip said pipes. At either end! At the wall, and where it meets the downpipe from the sink, it's held in place with rubber friction. And I swear, the pipe going into the wall actually goes in, like, 1/32nd of an inch.This is seriously how it's supposed to be? Answer, according to Syd's plumber uncle whom I called: yes. This is lazy and dumb. It's the 21st century, people. We should have drainpipes that can't just be pulled out of the wall, and we shouldn't need a shoehorn to get a shoe onto our foot. (I guess that's another rant, but I don't really feel like going through the whole thing, so y'know, blah blah space-age fabrics, fasteners, miracle of elastic, should be able to put on shoe without use of contraption, you get the idea.)
2 comments:
It was me! I broke the thingymabob! Actually, I was trying to clean it, and I didn't know that it was stupidly designed so that when unscrewed half of the apparatus would drop down the pipe. C'est la vie, I suppose. Or at least, c'est la plomberie.
Mom pointed out that those pipes probably don't need a lot of tension, as they're just there to help guide the draining water on its way. I'm sure that the "bringing water in" pipes (veins? arteries? whatever) are much more secure. And use that glue-looking stuff they use on This Old House. And are not finger tightened.
Wow Pete, adventures in plumbing. That's always one thing that I will just hire a professional for. I can fix plenty of things around the house, but pipes aren't one of them. Glad you had fun learning where our shit goes when it goes down the drain!
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