I got up early today, excited about
finally being able to have my own access to the internet again. The
technician was scheduled to arrive sometime between noon and 4. I
had at least six hours to wait. I started working on the kitchen sink
right away.
I measured the width of the sink rim to
determine the size of the hole I needed to cut. Drew it out, at size,
on paper. Cut that out, and used it - first, to figure out where the
hole needed to go - then, to trace the outline of that hole onto the
counter itself. Put a super big bit into my screw gun, and drilled a
pilot hole big enough for the blade of my jigsaw to fit through. Got
out my jigsaw and began cutting away.
I love my jigsaw. Unlike the circular
saw, it's light and relatively easy for me to control. It's also
really old. It only has two speeds: on and off. It's really powerful,
really loud, and has a really raw feel compared to all of the more
modern jigsaws I've used. It was a castoff from someone who had moved
onto something a little more sleek and refined. It has become one of
the most used, and therefore most loved tools I've owned over the
years. More than any other tool I've owned, it's also taught me to
simply relax, stop pushing so hard, and just let it do the job it was
designed to do. I like that it stands up for itself to me this way.
Right now, I am letting it take it's own
sweet time to cut the hole for my kitchen sink. It growls along,
slowly but surely making its way down each side, and asking me at
every corner to back off, and give it a little more room so it can
make the turn. I do. As we get to the end, it starts shuddering to
let me know it expects a little support in order to get through the
last two inches. I reach under the counter to lift the piece that's
going to fall to the floor once we're done, and finish the cut.
The sink fits perfectly. It's just a bar
sink, so it's small, but just the right size for my kitchen. I find
the clips I need to secure it to the counter, get that done, and move
on to getting its drain done.
This is a two step process. The first
part involves giving the drain the immediate outlet, p-trap, and stand
pipe it needs to reach the sanitary line. The second part involves
getting the sanitary line in, running it to the main septic line, and
attaching it there.
I knew the second part was going to be a
lot of work. I thought the line installed by the previous owner to
drain this sink was pretty makeshift at best. I was planning to
remove it altogether, and replace it with a more streamlined
arrangement that brought it up through the floor right under the sink
itself.
It was the first part - the part that was
supposed to be really easy - that ended up giving me the most trouble
in the end. I have done this part a hundred times. You just secure
the outlet pipe to the sink drain with the little screw-on collar
that holds its gasket in place. Secure the p-trap to the outlet pipe
with same kind of little screw-on collar. Twist and turn everything
around until you get the straight line between the p-trap and the
sanitary line you need in order to connect those.
Easy breezy. If you've ever had to go
under your sink, and take everything apart to look for something or
fix a clog, you've pretty much done this job yourself.
My problem involves parts. Remember me
telling you about the hundred or so very special parts you need to
get your sink hooked up to the sanitary line? I didn't have the right
ones. The sink was here when I moved in. I'd scavenged a bathroom
sink I'd found curbside for the outlet pipe, p-trap, gaskets, and
screw collars I knew I was going to need. I'd just done this job for
my sister, and had been given a bag of various parts by her neighbor
that I'd brought along as well. Out of all those parts, I couldn't
find an outlet pipe/gasket/collar combination that actually worked
with my sink. Specifically, I couldn't find a gasket that wouldn't
simply push itself through the collar under pressure, and just fall
out on the floor.
I literally spent two hours, sitting on
the floor, in front of the sink, trying every possible combination I
could make in the hope of hitting upon one that would actually work.
I never did. In the end, I made do. I assembled the combination that
worked best, used a lot of teflon tape to secure the collar to the
sink drain, tightened as much as I could without losing the gasket,
then laid a thick bead of silicone around the bottom to both hold it
in place and keep it from leaking. I was counting on gravity - on
water preferring to drain rather than pool - to make it work until I
could afford the parts I obviously needed to get the job done right.
The sanitary line was a cakewalk by
comparison.
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