Well, my simple plumbing project turned out to be a bust...
Simple seal change to stop the dripping in the shower... Sure....
I tried to replace the seals yesterday and can't find the seals anywhere... So one of the plumbing supply shops around here sent me to the "expert" plumbing supply shop to find it...
The seals were obsolete and they sold me a new 'cartridge' assembly that is supposed to replace the old stuff... (This is the original fixture from when my grandfather had this house built back between 1960 - 1962...) So I buy the new and improved cartridge assembly... They show me that there is still a seal left in there and I have to use a special tool supplied in the kit to remove it... I tried, but didn't want to turn it too hard and break it, so I threw in the towel and called a plumber...
The earliest I could get a plumber was for this morning... Those bad storms that blew through last night made it hard to get a service call, plus most of the plumbers were busy by the time I called yesterday... Meanwhile I have to keep the main water supply in the house shut off because there are no shut-off valves for the shower... So I have no water in the house until the shower is fixed... (Bad position to be in...)
The plumbers come out and the special tool breaks trying to remove the remaining seal... ****!!!!
Now they have to break into the wall and install a whole new fixture.... F*CK!!!! :BangHead: :BangHead: :BangHead: :mad: :mad: :mad:
I guess it all works out because the plumbers found that the check valves for the shower fixture were corroded and covered with calcium and frozen in position... (That could be the cause of the back pressure problem that the plumber had 6 weeks ago when he replaced the water heater...) So the seal/cartridge change that I was going to do would not have fixed all of the problems that I was trying to solve...
So now they are replacing the whole fixture and had to break into the wall... Luckily they didn't have to make too big of a hole in the shower wall and have a large oval cover plate that will cover the hole...
But now I'm in over 1k for the repair.... :mad: :BangHead:
I can't return the cartridge assembly that I paid over $300 for because we broke the tool that came in it, plus the plumbing supply store had signs that they were not doing returns... They won't let you in the building, you have to wait in a line outside and they have two tables where their employees serve you outside... You tell them what you need, show them your parts, then they go in the store and bring them out to you on the side walk...
But, the shower and water should be properly fixed and work correctly... Now I should not have to wait over 2 minutes to get hot water in the back bathroom, it should take more like 30 seconds.....