Can Things Ever Be Simple?

So we had this ugly brass and stainless tub and shower faucet. Sorry I don't have a picture to show it in all it's glory. So we thought in all the other upgrades we were doing, we'd get an oil rubbed bronze one to match the towel bars and sink faucet we had gotten. First of all, the oil rubbed bronze finish is ridiculously more expensive than any other, but after much searching and determination I found a tub and shower faucet for $55 on ebay as opposed to the $200 ones in stores (ebay is the best thing ever for remodeling)! Well, lesson number one: order the same brand faucet as the one that is already installed even if it comes with the valves. The valve that came with the one we bought was too big to fit in the hole, so no big deal, we'll cut A hole in the wall to get to it, patch it up and be done.




Lesson number two: either we have bad luck, or things are never that simple. We tested the faucet, and it kept stopping up, so Joey tried to do it by himself, bless his heart - go under the house, turn off the water to the tub, clean out the sawdust in the pipe (sawdust was from having to drill a hole in the stud for the valve to fit), going back under the house to turn back on the water, and then testing the faucet again. Over, and over. So he finally asked me to help. So I sat under the house, walkie talkie in hand, facing one of my biggest fears - that I might see a rat- waiting for Joey to tell me to turn on or off the water. Finally Joey got all the sawdust cleaned out, and the tub faucet worked. Next, (lesson number two continues) Joey takes off the old shower head and pipe and puts the new one in. Thinking, "whew, we're done," Joey takes a shower. Well, then we see our carpet in the bedroom behind the wall of the shower is soaked as well as some of the sheetrock. So Joey, bless his heart again, finds out the pipe for the shower head broke when he was having to keep twisting it so that it would quit leaking. Therefore, hole #2.




Thankfully, it is finally finished AND works. I don't think Joey thinks it was worth it, but man that old faucet was ugly and didn't match any of the new stuff. Oh well, just the glories of being a homeowner, right?