Phil Does Plumbing

When we had a new pump installed in our well, we were told we needed to swap the order of the pump's filter and something else. When Phil had installed the filter, he had gotten the order wrong.

His finger is finally well enough that he can bend it, so after caring for the cows early this morning while the ground was (finally) frozen, he headed up to do this dreaded, but long-awaited, plumbing.

Before we were married, Phil had remodeled a kitchen, taking it down to bare studs and rebuilding from there. During that project he learned that he enjoys electrical work, with the precise wiring and circuits. And he does not enjoy plumbing work, with blow-torches and pipes. I think the main frustration is that with plumbing, if it isn't perfect and he tests it, there's a leak. Which isn't a huge deal except that, in order for joints to fit well, the area needs to be dry, which requires a lot of blow-torching.

Come to think of it, we had a lot of leaks at our house in Boulder. But that, we discovered late in our stay there, was because our house was under about 140psi, rather than the more standard 30-40. We were the first house off the hydrant, and some installer had not regulated our pressure correctly. No wonder we had so many plumbing problems!

Happily, our well does not produce anywhere near 140psi, so Phil did the whole plumbing task in an hour or two. All those months of waiting and dreading, and it didn't even require a trip to the hardware store!

We're thinking on Monday he will be able to begin "real life" again; if it's warm, perhaps laying blocks. If it's cold, perhaps chipping.