And the Kitchen sink

Dog had us trained not to leave anything within his reach, exspecially trash, or anything edible. He is fine, while we are at home. It''s when we are gone that he will get into things. Most often taking it to his most favorite spot in the house and shredding it, my bed. A box of Hot Chocolate envelopes, shredded on my bed, no powder, he licked it all up. I was surprised that he didn't get sick as chocolate is supposed to be very bad for pets. Packs of gum, crackers, candy, he isn't too picky except he won't take fruit unless you peel and slice it for him.

When he first moved in we quickly learned we could not have a trash bin, so we instead use a plastic grocery bag in one side of the sink. He isn't tall enough to get into the sink. So the right side of the sink tends to accumulate grunge in the drain as seldom any water is run into that side.

Rinsing the dishes the other night I noticed the sink a bit messier than usual so naturally I grabbed my scrubby and a bit of soap and went at it. It looked so nice and clean that I decided it was time to clean that grungy right side, took out the trash even though the bag was nowhere near full, turned on the water and got busy with my scrubby.

The sink bowl cleaned up quick and easy, the drain fitting thing, not so much. I had to break out my heavy stainless wire scrubby and leaned on it. It still didn't look so bright and shiny but instead looked more like flaked off chrome. Looking a bit closer I noticed what looked like a couple of small as in less than 1/4 inch, HOLES?

Holy Moly, those ARE holes, and water was now leaking below into the cabinet!

Qwap!!

So today I made a stop at the local Hardware Store/Lumberyard for a nice new drain fitting thingy. Of course they had three or four of them and I didn't take my reading glasses along so I could see the difference. I took the two heavier ones to the counter and talked with the Lady there. Asked which of these are made in America as I couldn't read the packages without my other glasses. She pointed out the name of the company and the U.S. City where they are located. I said I've seen a number of product labeled like that, the BOX may have been American but where was the PART made? She looked a bit closer and found a spot that clearly spelled out "Made In China".

She searched the other one, the heaviest one, and found that it was made in Taiwan. I told her Taiwan has been making imported products far longer than those we have been importing from China, they have already gone through a lot of product improvements, and that fitting is quite a bit heavier than the China one. Check out and go home.

Since the weather cooled last Fall I haven't been outside much other than to get in my truck to go anywhere. Never did get around to raking the leaves from our 60 odd trees. I had to trudge through inches of leaves out to the Barn. My big red toolbox is out there, it won't fit in my cluttered garage. Retired Mechanic, I have lots and lots of nice shiny chrome 'stuff' so I can take apart most anything. Two BIG pairs of pliers should be adequate for this job. Oh, and a small flashlight so I can see better under there.

In the kitchen I found out my knees don't want to bend welll, it was difficult to get down on the floor, hard to bend over and get under the sink. The clamp nut on the drain pipe, plastic, came loose easy enough. Loooking up I learned the old fitting was of some stupid design. Instead of a clamp nut on the flange it had a separate collar with a couple of push screws. Qwap, I didn't get a screwdriver and since these are vertical I couldn't even see if they were straight blade or phillips. Mo matter which screwdriver I get I'm sure it would be the wrong one. Another trip to the Barn? Nah, the clamp ring is 'plastic'. With my BIG pliers I can just break it apart. Done. Got it all apart and a bit more cleaning to get all the old sealant away. New fitting is gasketed so no messing with sealants. That's an improvement.

Somehow the new fitting turns out to be an inch SHORTER than the old one. Seems the vertical pipe doesn't want to stretch out that extra inch to fit. Qwap! Another trip to the hardware store. Oh, and it sort of looks like the horizontal pipe isn't directly under the fitting either, like when I did this about 20 years ago I might not have looked at it quite so straight on. I better get another one of those as I'm sure that if I don't, it won't fit so well and the gasket won't seal and I'll have a new leak.

Finally found both pieces at the hardware store. One was hiding further down the aisle way away from the rest of the pipes. I got all plastic again as I get very irritated when the metal ones corrode. Generally I HATE Plastic, but when it comes to plumbing areas not in the sunlight, it actually works pretty well. Of course they didn't have the vertical pipe in the length that I needed. Either way too short, or way too long. Big empty hook that I figured was the size I needed. I went with the longer one, figuring I could cut it much easier than trying to stretch the shorter one.

Go home, managed to get back down on the floor with my flashlight and a felt pen. Gotta figure out just how long to cut this thing. Mark it and manage to get back up. Am I going to go out to the Barn again for a small saw? Nah, this thing is plastic and this serrated steak knife is sharp, sorta saw blade shaped. COOL! Well, it is NOT a saw, but with enough effort, and time, and energy, it will cut plastic. Maybe not soo perfectly neat straight and clean, but it's plastic,, and it will work, and nobody is ever going to see it unless they take the drain apart. It fit and screwed together AND most importantly, it doesn't leak. And I didn't have to replace the horizontal pipe, GREAT, as that one has the Reverse Osmosis drain drilled into it. That one WOULD have made me have to go out to the Barn again for a drill.

So the right side of the sink drain is all nice and shiny again!

Finally.

Sp mod Cas