That Dripping Spout

Oh, that dripping spout. It’s story time. Sadly, this is a true story of how something really small can mushroom into a huge ordeal of headaches. This has been a trying winter thus far. Between health issues, beg bugs, and renovations, I am glad the worst appears to be over (I hope). However, there were still some loose ends to tie up. Loose ends that, in all fairness, were quite minor.

The renovations on my bathroom shower look great. The only problem has been a continuously dripping spout in the bath tub. There was no dripping prior to the installation of new pipes and faucets. But the tub spout just kept on dripping despite the valve being turned off.

So, I called up the company that installed the shower, pipes, and faucets, and let them know what the problem was. They sent a service guy to my apartment the following week. I was glad they were sending someone to fix the problem. All that dripping is a waste of water.

The worker showed up the next Monday. The first thing he asked was if he could use the toilet. I could tell he had to go really bad. So, sure no problem. After that, he took apart the spout and valve. He said there was possibly debris stuck somewhere in there that was preventing the internal valves from fully closing. That made sense.

He placed it all back together, ran the water, and said it was good. No more dripping. About 20 minutes after he left, I checked the shower again. Sure enough, the tub spout was still dripping constantly! Strike one!

I called back the company and they were going to send another service worker the next Monday to take a look at the spout. Thus, another week of constant dripping. It sucks because you really do want these kinds of things to be perfect. Especially, after all the time, money, and anticipation you put into it.

Another different worker showed up the next Monday. The first thing he asked was if he could use the toilet. I could tell he had to go really bad. What again? Another one? Does this company not give their employees bathroom breaks? So, sure no problem. I just really want this dripping spout problem fixed.

However, he never made it to the toilet. Instead, he shits his pants right there in my apartment and had to leave right away. Strike two!

What the heck is going on!? Why can’t I just have this problem fixed! I was dismayed at first. But I guess you have to laugh at it or else you’d cry. In fact, I laughed that very night at it, even though this meant I had to wait another week for someone to return to fix the problem. So, another week of constant dripping.

Another worker showed up the next Monday. The first thing he asked was if I watched the Super Bowl (I didn’t). The second thing he asked was if he could use the toilet… Yeah, sure go ahead.

The good news was, he actually did fix the spout. The dripping stopped completely. The bad news, he tried to unclog my bath tub by shooting compressed air down the pipe like bullets multiple times with some kind of plunger gun. This broke the pipe completely and caused a large leak. Strike Three! You’re out!

Seriously, all he had to do was change the cartage to fix the spout; a simple job that would have taken less than 15 minutes. So, now the company had to send plumbers in to repair the pipe the service guy broke. It took two days (and I couldn’t use the bathroom shower or sink). They had to cut a hole in my floor and replace the entire pipe from the tub drain to the main line. They left me with another mess that I had to clean up afterword.

This whole winter really sucks. If I had to look for a silver lining to all of this, I guess there are two. First, I didn’t have to pay for the plumbing repairs since the company took responsibility. Second, all the 50+ year old pipes have now been replaced with brand new pipes, probably for the first time.

In my 5 years of living at this apartment building I have had 3 major leak episodes, including one that caused my ceiling to collapse. So far, I had not had to pay for repairs due to building policy and this last episode of service worker ignorance. The company paid the repair bill. Thus, from top to bottom, all the pipes in my bathroom have pretty much been replaced with new ones over the past 5 years.

Thus, ends the saga of that dripping spout. One small problem turning into one huge ordeal. I am hoping that this is the end of any more of these problems. However, this is a tough winter as I move from one disaster to another so I don’t know what’s coming next. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? I think so. But right now, I am wondering what lies beyond the light at the end of the tunnel?

Either way, I am navigating my way through all of this. Tackling one problem at a time. This is life. Shit happens (sometimes literally). Got to keep moving forward!