Efiwym, my wife, and I discussed getting new countertops in the kitchen. I even got pricing from the place where you can save big money, but it never materialized. We decided it would be best to spend the money now to fix a clogged drain tile, install a new stamped concrete patio and regrade the back yard so we would not have a swamp after it rained.
So, delaying the countertops meant not replacing the sink and faucet. I did not believe we would have any issues, but that things eventually go bad. That is what happened one weeknight. The faucet sprung a leak. I was not sure what I was doing in the kitchen while Efiwym was preparing supper. I am usually in the way, and I would sense she wanted me out of her way. Her facial expressions usually give it away, even though she would deny it.
Nonetheless, I was standing by the sink, doing something with the faucet and suddenly water was spraying on the window blinds. The hose for the pull-out faucet head had a leak. I was not sure when the leak started, but it had to start after I filled the coffee maker in the morning. There did not seem to be a lot of water under the sink where the water would go with the head inserted into the faucet.
It was a weeknight, and I only do my best DIY work on the weekends. I need a short-term fix until Saturday. I tried some of that original, (not a knock-off) super strong, waterproof tape that can patch, bond, seal, and repair virtually anything. However, a pull-out faucet hose was an exception. So, I decided to leave the faucet head pulled out, so leaking water would go into the sink. That solution was way too short-term.
After supper, I pulled everything out of the cabinet below the sink and put the items on the dinette table. Seeing those things sitting out on the table would drive me crazy and motivate me to fix the problem asap.
I took a quick peak under the sink to see what mess I was getting in to. Of course, waste pipes and a garbage disposal would be in the way. Couple those obstructions with me trying to maneuver an old, overweight body into a supine position would make for a horrible DIY project.
I did some preparation work which required me to shut the water off. Fortunately, I put in shutoffs the last time I installed a kitchen faucet. Why would the builder NOT install shutoffs for all the faucets in the house? Maybe to save, I do not know, a few bucks and aggravate the buyer sometime in the future.
Now, we would need to get water from the refrigerator dispenser and wash any items in the powder room sink. Again, more motivation to get this project done. It just could not wait for the weekend.
Efiwym and I spent that night perusing the Internet for a new faucet. The faucet must be a single handled, pullout or pull down faucet in white and cheap. White was not going to happen. That color is not readily available and sometimes more expensive. Go figure. So, we settled for black (for now).
Efiwym found a fairly inexpensive black faucet with a matching soap dispenser. The best part of this faucet was you could install it from the top. No crawling underneath to tighten down the faucet. We just needed to find a matching cover for the dishwasher air gap and we found it at another big-box hardware store. So, in the morning I would go to a place that knows home improvement and another where I could save big money.
Well…things suddenly changed. Efiwym says, out of the blue, “an oil rubbed bronze faucet would match the other things in the kitchen.” She was not wrong, but we were okay with black for now. We could replace it when we got new countertops. The bronze one she found was more expensive and needed to be installed from underneath. But we could save it and use it with our new countertops.
Decision made. In the morning, I would just go to the place where I could save big money and buy the oil rubbed bronze faucet with the soap dispenser and a matching air gap cover.