Heh. This is NOT a topic about urine. No Whiz Quiz to be given. I am just talking about my front hose bib. What's that, you ask? Well, depending on where you are in the USA, it could be called a spigot, a tap, a nozzle, a spout, or even a bibcock (heh, I said bibcock). Either way, mine is leaking, and has steadily gotten worse over the past few months. Yeah, I said months.
At first I didn't pay that much attention to it. We have the hose attached to it, and a sprinkler attachment as well. So it dribbled a seemingly small amount of water constantly. We would just move the end of the hose (where the sprinkler part is) to a different part of the yard, and it helped like a slow-soaker. However, in recent days, it has gotten worse. It's now a bit more than a trickle.
First attempt was to see if we could take it apart (it's an older type) and maybe scrape out some hard-water deposit, or something. Nope. That wasn't possible. Looked like someone before ha tried that and ruined the screw so that we can't get the screwdriver to get a grip. Must of been the guy who lived here before us.... 10 years ago. No biggee, I will just take it off the line, go to Lowe's and get a new one. Nope. I am scared to try to loosen it. The pipe it is on appears old and fragile. The hose bib seems 'cemented' on and covered with years of paint. As if it was the original one when the house was built (early '60s). I am afraid that if I were to force it, I could break the piping, or worse problems.
Yesterday I called around for plumbers. You realize that they charge like $90/hour, and that was some of the low side pricing. Of course no one would give me an estimate over the phone - never know how bad the job is, or the time to actually do it. I understand that. I explained it is a simple remove/replace - how long could it take? I was told an hour or longer possibly. Well, I finally found one place, that I talked them down to $49 to come out and give me an estimate, and if I wanted could do the work right then. So I said yes. Still looking at maybe around $100 probably before all is done, but at least I know I ain't breaking nothing. Expensive, but safer I guess. When I told the Wife I had scheduled for today, and told her pricing, she about came unglued. She started bitching about the cost, so I flat-out told her, if we tried to do the job, it could end up being several hundred, and broken piping and who knows how much more. She finally conceded.
So, for that special low price, I am on 'stand-by' meaning if the plumber gets some free time in between jobs, he will call and come over. I would have had to pay more if I wanted an actual appointment time. This way, he could come by between 8am-7pm, which is fine with me. I just want the damn thing done.
My 8 yr old son is home today. After the event Monday morning though, this is a normal one. He is sick. Seems like all my friends that have kids, they are getting sick. I guess it is that time of year. Even the Wife has taken some mucus clearing stuff for her chest. Right now the son is in my bed (yeah, I let him sleep there) after I gave him some decongestant. When he gets up later, the humidifier will be turned on and let him sit near it so it can help too. Sis and Stuman - both their families are getting sick. Seems the family get-together this past weekend may be the cause of it all....
That's all I got for now. Off to await a call from the Plumber. Hope his pants stay up where they should....
PeacE
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