That "sinking" feeling

 "Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favor of God to mankind" - Matthew Henry

A week or so ago, I was about to wash my hands in preparation for making a sandwich in the kitchen.  As I lifted the handle for the faucet, a cheap little plastic part snapped off and the water handle came loose in my hand.

The piece that snapped was the little plastic bit held down by the screw in the center of the fixture.

Needless to say, the $2.00 plastic part is no longer made or carried on any hardware store shelf, because that fixture is now 20 years old.  

I made a trip to town with the wife and we purchased a similar fixture, but I hadn't assessed the old one well enough.  I purchased a three-hole fixture, when we needed a single-hole fixture.   That fixture had to go back to town and some stuff happened at work that kept me occupied and tired enough that I didn't feel like replacing the fixture at the end of each day.

Saturday finally arrived, and by that time everyone was tired of washing hands and dishes in the laundry room, so it was time to get it done.  And of course it was a three-hour long shit-show, as I had already suspected it would be. 

First off, the hot water shut-off valve didn't hold very well, so water was leaking the entire time.  I left the hose connected to the leaking shut-off valve with the loose end in a cup, but I knocked the cup over frequently with my head or shoulder.  I ended up working with a soaking-wet back under the sink for quite a while.

The process wasn't made any easier by the fact that the fixture lies between the sink basin and the back of the cabinet.  There's no light and the space is very cramped to get tools up into.  The previous installer had used some pipe thread dope, so none of the fastening nuts would spin off.  I got them as loose as I could, then used a battery powered impact tool to unscrew through the goop while the wife held the fixture above in place using some channel pliers.  It really was an unpleasant job.

The new fixture went in fairly quickly, and it's working very nicely.  As usual, what should be an inexpensive and easily-repairable item becomes a $200.00 complete replacement.  The wife is happy with it though, and that's all that matters to me!