Adventures in DIY #1

Last weekend as I walked past the hot water cupboard, I felt an ominous ‘squelch’ underfoot. All sorts of disastrous scenarios played through my head, but on closer inspection, there appeared to be a relatively minor leak in the pipe leading to the cylinder. One hurried phone call to Dad later, the wheels were in motion. It had obviously been leaking for a while, as there was a fair amount of mould creeping up the shelving in the cupboard. Of course the carpet was water damaged, and the crappy MDF skirting boards had soaked up the water and turned to weet-bix.

As it turns out, there was a split in the pipe where it had been bent way beyond its allowable curvature, and the one-way valve was also leaking. It’s surprising given the mickey-mouse installation job that the pipe lasted as long as it did (17 years). I fixed the pipe temporarily with a Hepworth quick-fit pipe joiner (who knew how useful those things could be!), but that still left the dripping valve. Of course it was now after 2 pm on a Saturday, when all of the plumbing supplies stores had closed. Neither Mitre 10 or Placemakers had anything, but a bloke at Placemakers pointed us to Chesters in Ellerslie who turned out to be open. They had the part, and sold it to me at trade rates. Good people – I’d go back there. Back home, a bit of hemp and grease on the threads, and everything is working beautifully.
What could have been a very expensive plumbing call-out ended up costing about $70. Result!