This is a story not so much about country life, but just home ownership and the associated responsibilities and costs. A cautionary tale for all renters, particularly those lamenting their under-privileged position in the real estate market.
When I went to connect my washing machine hose to the laundry taps, I discovered that the hose didn't actually fit the wall connection; so I headed into Bunnings, explained my situation and bought an adaptor for the fitting. Problem solved. Except I discovered that that particular outlet was, in fact, hot water, not cold - and I prefer to wash in cold water.
When I went to set up the cold water hose, I discovered a similar problem - the hose didn't quite fit the outlet, and was leaking water everywhere. Another trip to Bunnings, another adaptor bought.
But despite all my efforts, sore hands and wrenching, I couldn't get the hose tight enough and it still leaked water everywhere. I managed to squeeze in two loads of washing, but knew that the situation wasn't ideal. Next time I had a bloke over, I'd ask them to fix the leak - after all, isn't that what male friends are for?
My dear Uncle Alan was the bunny who scored the job. He came prepared, with a boot full of tools, washers, wrenches, you name it. When Alan does a job, he makes sure it's done thoroughly.
I explained to him what I had done, and told him I just needed to get the hose BACK off the tap (I had put it on so tight, I couldn't budge it), and it probably just needed some teflon tape to stop the drip. "Leave it to me," he said.
Several hours later and a flooded laundry later, he said he'd fixed the problem. He also said he'd connected the cold tap to a central tap, which would control the flow. Whatever, I thought, as long as the drip is fixed.
That night, an hour or so after Alan and Elaine had left, I turned on my kitchen tap to wash the dishes. I had no cold water. None in the bathroom, or the laundry either.
I called Alan, left a message - he was still travelling back to Sydney. After speaking to him later that night, I figured if I had both the hot and cold laundry taps turned on, I could in fact get some cold water to the other pipes. Weird, but OK.
In the morning, however, I discovered that I actually had no hot water. And that the cold water taps were running hot, and weakly at that. Something was clearly wrong. Alan and Elaine had set off on holidays, so I knew I couldn't ask him back. My only option was to call a plumber.
Turns out that whatever Alan did - and I'm not blaming him at all, it was just one of those things - cross-connected the hot and cold water, and somehow blew the water pump. Like, totally fried it. Kaput.
When I first moved here, another friend had said to me his biggest concern living here would be the water pump. A prophetic concern, as it turned out.
So now I have a brand new water pump, new taps on the laundry wall and no leak. And it only cost me $700.
I've also decided to buy a whole new hot water system, which will set me back another $3500. The one in my loft bedroom is a dinosaur, and as the plumber said, if that goes, it will flood everything downstairs and be a disaster. Better to bite the bullet now and get a whole new instantaneous gas system.
So that's what has been on my mind the past few days, Facebook...
When I went to connect my washing machine hose to the laundry taps, I discovered that the hose didn't actually fit the wall connection; so I headed into Bunnings, explained my situation and bought an adaptor for the fitting. Problem solved. Except I discovered that that particular outlet was, in fact, hot water, not cold - and I prefer to wash in cold water.
When I went to set up the cold water hose, I discovered a similar problem - the hose didn't quite fit the outlet, and was leaking water everywhere. Another trip to Bunnings, another adaptor bought.
But despite all my efforts, sore hands and wrenching, I couldn't get the hose tight enough and it still leaked water everywhere. I managed to squeeze in two loads of washing, but knew that the situation wasn't ideal. Next time I had a bloke over, I'd ask them to fix the leak - after all, isn't that what male friends are for?
My dear Uncle Alan was the bunny who scored the job. He came prepared, with a boot full of tools, washers, wrenches, you name it. When Alan does a job, he makes sure it's done thoroughly.
I explained to him what I had done, and told him I just needed to get the hose BACK off the tap (I had put it on so tight, I couldn't budge it), and it probably just needed some teflon tape to stop the drip. "Leave it to me," he said.
Several hours later and a flooded laundry later, he said he'd fixed the problem. He also said he'd connected the cold tap to a central tap, which would control the flow. Whatever, I thought, as long as the drip is fixed.
That night, an hour or so after Alan and Elaine had left, I turned on my kitchen tap to wash the dishes. I had no cold water. None in the bathroom, or the laundry either.
I called Alan, left a message - he was still travelling back to Sydney. After speaking to him later that night, I figured if I had both the hot and cold laundry taps turned on, I could in fact get some cold water to the other pipes. Weird, but OK.
In the morning, however, I discovered that I actually had no hot water. And that the cold water taps were running hot, and weakly at that. Something was clearly wrong. Alan and Elaine had set off on holidays, so I knew I couldn't ask him back. My only option was to call a plumber.
Turns out that whatever Alan did - and I'm not blaming him at all, it was just one of those things - cross-connected the hot and cold water, and somehow blew the water pump. Like, totally fried it. Kaput.
When I first moved here, another friend had said to me his biggest concern living here would be the water pump. A prophetic concern, as it turned out.
So now I have a brand new water pump, new taps on the laundry wall and no leak. And it only cost me $700.
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| The offending tap. So innocent... |
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| My scary hot water system, lurking in the loft.. |
So that's what has been on my mind the past few days, Facebook...
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