When it comes to projects around the home, my wife has a law that she always applies.
Real project time expenditure = mean estimated time X 5
Estimate how long it will take me, and then multiply by 5. Whether it's fixing a leaking pipe, or remodeling a whole room, her calculation has never been wrong. The unfailing accuracy of the law could be because I'm just initially optimistic about the time involved. But everyone who knows me would never acquiesce to that claim. More likely the reason is that I'm a perfectionist "Jack of all Trades" which seems to make me a living paradox.
When the remaining bit of copper plumbing in our house started to leak a few months ago, I knew it wouldn't be too long before I would be replacing it. And so it goes with these small repairs, one day you start replacing a copper pipe, and one thing leads to another and you're remodeling the bathroom and getting staples in your head.
Since the plumbing ran up into the attic and down, I replaced it with Pex which I could fish up through the wall. I had to cut some drywall out of the bathroom to make the proper connections. Then re-drywall, patch and paint.
I got to thinking that the old linoleum needed to be replaced, might as well while I had the vanity and toilet out, right? But then discovered that the subfloor was bad also. Here is the new underlayment with holes and joints patched. Red beer cups make great toilet drain plugs.
I decided to try the new "Sharkbite" fittings to connect the Pex to the CPVC. I hope they are as good as the guys at Home Depot report them to be.
So if you ever wonder why I haven't posted anything to my blog in a while, it's probably because I'm working my way down my endless list of needed repairs. At a slow pace of course, perfection takes time.
Real project time expenditure = mean estimated time X 5
Estimate how long it will take me, and then multiply by 5. Whether it's fixing a leaking pipe, or remodeling a whole room, her calculation has never been wrong. The unfailing accuracy of the law could be because I'm just initially optimistic about the time involved. But everyone who knows me would never acquiesce to that claim. More likely the reason is that I'm a perfectionist "Jack of all Trades" which seems to make me a living paradox.
When the remaining bit of copper plumbing in our house started to leak a few months ago, I knew it wouldn't be too long before I would be replacing it. And so it goes with these small repairs, one day you start replacing a copper pipe, and one thing leads to another and you're remodeling the bathroom and getting staples in your head.
So if you ever wonder why I haven't posted anything to my blog in a while, it's probably because I'm working my way down my endless list of needed repairs. At a slow pace of course, perfection takes time.
3 comments:
Spoken like your faher's son -- Perfection takes time. And you are a perfectionist. What's going to happen to that copper pipe behind the new purple and white ones?
Your abilities are amazing!
That's the line for the oil/hot water heating system. It's a closed system so the pipes last a lot longer. Hopefully until we either move out or can afford to replace the whole heating system.
This blog entry is now 100% accurate.
;-)
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