Plumbing as a team!

A year ago, Jennifer noticed a leak at the bathroom sink. The advice she got was that the washer needed to be replaced. The faucet handle was essentially glued to the shaft (what's the right word for that thing?!), and she had to break it all to get it apart. The end result of the project was a new faucet at the sink and new pipes below, which are all working well to this day.

On Monday of this week, Jennifer noticed a leak at the bathtub. She knew the washer needed to be replaced, and she called Keith asking for help. Keith talked to his dad, who was quite helpful even by phone! When Jennifer got home, she found Keith working to get the faucet handle off, but it was glued on just like the sink faucet was a year ago. Jennifer could empathize, but she couldn't fix it. Keith's dad repeated his instructions to "tap it until it comes lose," and Keith didn't lose his patience like Jennifer did a year ago. At Lowe's we bought some special tools to reach behind the tile to turn the nut, and we bought a variety pack of washers since we weren't able to see the old one yet. We got home, removed the nut behind the tile (without breaking the tile!), removed the washer, replaced it with a match from the variety pack, and put the faucet back together. Now, there is no more drip!

Many thanks to Mike for his help by phone! Jennifer is convinced, though, that plumbing as a team is a lot more sane than plumbing alone! Keith is the hero of the day!