Apr
19
The Myth of the Fat Plumber Butt Crack
April 19, 2007 |
Countertop installation went off without a hitch yesterday at the Austin house, which made me very happy. The installation crew actually showed up 15 minutes early, did their thing, and got all the details right. I was a little nervous as I had to be at work for various meetings so I basically let them in, made sure they were good to go, and crossed my fingers and hoped they got everything right. Which they did.
I got a little peeved at the lack of communication after signing the contract and basically hearing nothing for a week, but they got out and gave me an estimate within 24 hours, and got the countertops in within 10 days of signing the contract, so I’d have to give a thumbs up to Austin Countertops, if anyone in the Austin area ever needs such work done.
I’d planned on trying to finish the exterior painting last night after work, but upon arrival and checking out of the new countertops, I discovered that the hot water supply line was leaking a bit. The countertop folks handle disconnecting the sink/stove (and we ended up with a new integrated sink), but they don’t reconnect anything. I’d expected that, as they made it clear in the contract, but I didn’t expect to find a half full bucket of water underneath the sink, which they’d stuck under the leaking supply line.
So I ended up buying and installing a new kitchen faucet instead of painting, hooking the garbage disposal back up, and getting all the drains and what-not hooked up and squared away. Which, amazingly, all went off without too much of a hitch. Granted, those are all pretty newbie level projects on the plumbing scale, but I knocked it out pretty quickly, with no unexpected surprises or 162 trips to the hardware store.
I have to say, though, that I don’t see how plumbers work their magic, day in and day out. I’m not a big person at all, but I was just barely able to cram myself under the sink and contort around to where I could get to the necessary parts to lock the faucet down into place. How your stereotypical fat plumber with his butt crack hanging out would accomplish the same task, I have no clue. I guess by having his underpaid midget assistant do all the dirty work in tiny, confined spaces.
Comments
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I find sweating pipe enjoyable but doing plumbing under sinks is excrciatingly painful. Despite being only 5′8″ and 140 lbs it is nearly impossible for me to contort my body into some cabinets to get out rusty old faucets. It’s not bad for new installs but when garbage disposals sit in front I curse up a storm. Big guys need not apply I guess.