Unfortunately, I'm not acquainted with any plumbers, but I think that guy who plays one on Desperate Housewives is pretty cute (for a young guy). Anyway, this afternoon a flood of water suddenly fell from the ceiling in one of my bathrooms. Funny how we just expect pipes and bathroom fixtures and appliances to work perfectly forever, so I was dismayed.
I figured out that the problem might come from the condo unit above mine, but I couldn't understand what was going on. My ceiling is wet, stained, and dripping, and the weekend is coming. Alas! This is a self-managed building without a full-time maintenance man.
I did the only sensible thing I could think of: I got in touch with my upstairs neighbor and asked a few questions. Together, we figured it out.
The large unit above mine contains four bathrooms (I only have two, but then I live alone; my neioghbor has a family). One of his bathrooms is seldom used. He flushed the toilet in that bathroom as a test, and I got another deluge. Now we know.
So my neighbor promised to lock that bathroom and hire someone to fix the problem. I hope he does ceiling work, too. Something like this can make me feel like a helpless old lady, but as usual, I'll try to look on the bright side. I expect to gain further respect for the noble trade of plumbing, too.
Copyright 2007 by Marlys Marshall Styne
I figured out that the problem might come from the condo unit above mine, but I couldn't understand what was going on. My ceiling is wet, stained, and dripping, and the weekend is coming. Alas! This is a self-managed building without a full-time maintenance man.
I did the only sensible thing I could think of: I got in touch with my upstairs neighbor and asked a few questions. Together, we figured it out.
The large unit above mine contains four bathrooms (I only have two, but then I live alone; my neioghbor has a family). One of his bathrooms is seldom used. He flushed the toilet in that bathroom as a test, and I got another deluge. Now we know.
So my neighbor promised to lock that bathroom and hire someone to fix the problem. I hope he does ceiling work, too. Something like this can make me feel like a helpless old lady, but as usual, I'll try to look on the bright side. I expect to gain further respect for the noble trade of plumbing, too.
Copyright 2007 by Marlys Marshall Styne
Illustration from http://www.howstuffworks.com
10 comments:
Oh my! I do understand! I used to live in an old apartment building. Imagine my horror when I returned from a weekend away and half my living room ceiling was on the floor and anything else in its way.
It seems the radiator upstairs had sprung a huge leak. I was not happy about cleaning up that mess and I'm sure my landlord no9t amused at having to re-plaster my ceiling.
Thanks. In a way, this was even more annoying, since the building is only seven years old and I'm only the second person to move in (the first in my particular unit). Anyway, the family above me has done a lot of remodeling, and now that they are aware of the problem (which is probably their fault), I have confidence that they will take care of it. If the leak has been stopped, my ceiling won't fall down, but it will certainly need some repainting!
Funny you should write about your toilet experience today because I had a bathroom problem today too.
I have two bathrooms in my condo. One has a stall shower. When I went into that bathroom today I saw that the shower door had detached from the molded wall that was holding the door up. (if I explained that correctly).
It lloked like it was going to let loose and crash on the floor.
Today is Sunday and the maintenance man is not on the grounds but I felt that I couldn't wait until tomorrow so I called him on his cell phone and left a message.
Well, it didn't take too long and there was a knock on my door! The maintenace man made a special trip to see what the problem was!!
He secured the door as best he could, will order the parts that he needs and will be coming back on Tuesday to make a permanent repair.
What a great guy and he's good looking too!! ;-)
Congratulations on living in a building with a great-looking, competent maintenance man! Most of the young people in my building are do-it-yourself types, so they resist hiring more help for the building.
That's one reason I'm moving to a senior building (actually, a lifetime care building) in a year or so. There will be someone to take care of such things, and I don't actually care what he or she looks like! Another plus: I'll have a better view of the city, too, from a higher floor, the 35th. This building has only eight floors.
Reinventing ourselves and learning plumbing skills... something we all should do.
I think I'll skip the plumbing skills. Writing about plumbing problems is more fun (although much less profitable).
Ask me, what a horror it can be living in a house with plumbing issues. Last summer, my sink drain started leaking, I tried everything but nothing seemed to work. Moreover, the stink made coming back home a terror. Here I must also confess, that I am really bad at fixing and such work. But still man, hiring a plumber is also an expensive thing.
Well, left with no option I called up the guys at Georgebrazil (http://www.georgebrazil.net), they were really helpful besides they even gave a free quote on the phone and gave me some money saving options too, I was really lucky.
So are you still staying in that apartment?
Since this "apartment" is an expensive condo that I own, moving is hardly an option. Anyway, my upstairs neighbor took pity on me and handled things (his plumbing fixture was at fault anyway). Perhaps there are a few advantages to being old and "plumbing-challenged."
Plumbing is something that I would like to delve into in the future. Plumbing problems can make us feel helpless, and yet it is something we have to face at some point in our lives. The bathroom is a very important part of the house and should therefore be equipped with the best plumbing fixtures that our budget can afford. Every faucet should be made to last at least a lifetime, don't you think?
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Plumbing Fixtures
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