by El Zorro Viejo (aka; Jim)

Modestly, I can say that I rule in the area of home repair/renovation. Today, in a burst of activity, I replaced both the boiling water appliance and the garbage disposal under the kitchen sink. This was not the plug-and-play experience it could have been, let me tell you. Both of these were at least 10-15 years old, so, obviously, neither replacement unit exactly fit where it's predecessor was located. The hot water dispenser had changed the placement of the connections, and that meant that considerable "adjusting" had to take place before all the connections were secure. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

The key to this whole thing was the garbage disposal. The unit in place was a top-of-the-line model...15+ years ago. This means it was both big and a little primative by today's standards. The big thing, though, was that I couldn't get at the mounting hardware of the hot water dispenser faucet because the disposal was in the way. So, instead of being able to replace one at a time, circumstances forced the double replacement. And, to take a step even further back, the reason I was doing any of this was because all of the drain pipes under the sinks (double, stainless steel) had decided that they had served long enough and had developed brittle areas that were literally crumbling at the slightest touch. So, there was water under the sink. One pipe repair led to another and so-on and so forth. I finally had enough and decided to replace everything under the sinks so I could forget about that area for another 10 years.

Fortunately for you, dear reader (I assume I have at least one...), I have neither the time nor the inclination to go into a step-by-step rendition of the project. Let it suffice to say that more than one trip to Ace/Home Depot was involved. Let it also suffice to say that the interim fix of the leaking pipes resulted in more, not less water under the sink. However, I learned fast, so, when the major push came this afternoon, I only had to make one flying trip to the Depot to beat closing time (Had to reconfigure the drainage from the new disposal, and that involved another piece of 1 1/2 inch pipe.)

I am pleased to announce that both units are in place and working perfectly. There are no more leaks from joints or anyplace else under there. I have had my first cuppa (tea: Earl Grey made with an infuser...), and I am a happy man. It doesn't take much, does it?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. ©El Zorro Viejo 2002-2005