Little victories

Finished my first plumbing job this afternoon, after several days of "how the hell is that supposed to connect to that": Changing a p trap (launches video) underneath one of the bathroom sinks.

A few days ago, I dropped two of my four necklace charms down a sink drain while unclasping the necklace (yeah, yeah, I know never to remove jewelry right above a sink, but it was 4 a.m.). I knew dropping rings down drains was a common annoyance, so I figured there must be instructions online, perhaps at wikihow.com, on ways to retrieve them. After trolling for solutions, I came to the conclusion that (1) they were in the p trap, (2) WTF I don't even know what a p trap is, and (3) I would have to remove aforementioned p trap to get them out -- built-up hair, muck and all.

The instructions for removing the p trap were straightforward enough. But I found out the hard way the existing plumbing was old and corroded when I went to undo the p trap connections. The trap broke off in my hand with not much effort. My BF was not happy, but I managed to convince him that the pipe was so worn and corroded that better to find out now than to have it unexpectedly fail and burst on us sometime in the near future.

I was determined to learn to change it myself. My online research convinced me that it's an easy job, like fixing a toilet, for which you shouldn't call a plumber. And I'd feel guilty shelling out $300 for a plumber to change $20-$30 worth of parts. This afternoon, on my third trip to Lowe's for parts, I reached in my purse to pull out $6 for a nondescript plastic pipe that would serve as an extension between two other pipes.

"Looks like someone's changing a trap," the gentleman behind me said.

He was a crusty old guy in a white undershirt and jeans who looked like a military retiree, which immediately reminded me of my Dad. Before I'd read about p traps, I never would have been able to look at that generic piece of plastic pipe and told you what it was for.

"Well, trying to, anyway," I said with a smile. "I've been here three times now for various things, but I think I got it now. I'm definitely learning how to do this the hard way."

"That's how I learned 20 years ago. Only way you're gonna learn is to do it."

Several trips to Lowe's for extensions, PVC adapters and gaskets, plus several hours of research time later, the trap has been replaced. And I'm proud to say it's not leaking (yet). I'm keeping towels under there for a few days, just in case. (Oh yeah, and I got both charms back.)