scream

[alonewiththemoon]

I think I just broke our kitchen sink, and all i was trying to do was fix it.  There's been a leak at the faucet (the swivel ball type) for a few days, and I bought a repair kit to replace the worn parts and stop the leak.  Seemed easy in principle.  Step one, turn off the water.  I turned all the faucets I could find, but couldn't turn the water *off*, just to a slow trickle.  The directions I had read for fixing these leaks did say you could take off just the handle without turning off the water to check on the first washer, so I thought at least I could do that with the water at slow trickle level.  I undid the little screw thing with the hex wrench, but the handle was not coming off the sink.  So I put the screw thing back in and turned on the water--water flowed out of the handle everywhere.  After much cussing and growling I managed to reseat the handle properly so that it didn't leak any more than it had in the first place. 

Time to turn the water back on--only now it won't come back.  I think it had probably been so long since those valves were turned they broke when I turned them (black stuff came out of the faucet when I turned them off the first time).  So now we have a tiny trickle of hot water coming out of our faucet, I don't know if the washing machine (same pipes) will work or not and I have to do laundry today, and worst of all I feel like I broke the pipes even though I don't think any of it is my fault, because this should have been a simple thing and the building should not be so run down that turning something on and off breaks it.  To make matters worse, the main reason that I was trying to do it myself, apart from being stubborn that way, is that the landlord's plumber hates us and the feeling is pretty much mutual so we don't trust him in our house along and god knows when he'll actually show up to do any work, and he'll make it as difficult for us to schedule as possible.  Today being a holiday of course does not help.

Fuck fuck fuck.  Anybody know anything about plumbing?

Comments

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

Dunno anything about plumbing, but I hereby offer the Exile washing machine, if you have a laundry emergency.

[alonewiththemoon]

thanks--hopefully this will be resolved quickly, I just left a sad message on the landlord's voicemail. I'm still very irked though. i should work out today but mostly right now I want a big scotch.

[alonewiththemoon]

happily, the washing machine is getting water, so laundry is underway!

[frederic.livejournal.com]

Is it just the hot water or both the hot water and cold water?

Is it possible that you didn't undo all of the valves that you closed?

[alonewiththemoon]

It's both the hot and the cold, neither wil flow beyond a trickle. There were only two valves, one on each of the pipes going up to the sink, and I've tried opening them all the way, opening them partway, turning them off and then opening them again, cursing at them, etc. My guess is that it has been so long since the valves were moved that something inside them, like a rubber gasket maybe, fell apart when disturbed and is now preventing any change in water flow.

On the plus side, the washing machine is getting water, so I am able to do laundry now.