Yuck! Faucet has been leaking for awhile!

After working through the aforementioned issues in the previous posts we happened upon some water in the middle of the basement.  Jen then noticed that it was coming from the floor above at the kitchen sink.

Since there was a plethora for "stuff" in the cabinet we hadn't noticed a problem until this water in the basement, but when we removed everything we could see that we had quite the mess under the sink.  It appears that the faucet has been leaking for quite awhile, the bottom of the shelf was mushy and black.

So it was time to replace the faucet.  Unfortunatly, the nuts had rusted and were difficult to remove.  Basically I ended up breaking them.  It was not a fun task under the sink with a mucky floor.  Eventually got it off though.

Not sure what all this is, probably minerals from the water...  Not a good look in any case...

The old shut off values wouldn't turn anymore, so I cut them off and soldered on new one.  I have to make sure that the pipes are still properly positioned so that they drain in the winter.  These pipes will move up and down now.

Once the old faucet was off and the new turn off values installed the faucet installed easily and Nick did most of the work.  It is nice to be able to hand off projects to other people.  I am hoping that the new faucet will drain properly, so we might be getting a new one.  The guy at Menards said this is their busiest time of the year!

 

Garbage Disposals don't last forever :(

 Jen was doing some cleaning and went under the sink to grab something and found this!

The garbage disposal had been leaking into a bucket under the sink for who knows how long.  Fortunately, not too long because while the bucket was full, there wasn't a huge mess under the sink.  So after a little research it was determined that garbage disposals last 10-13 years, so right in window for the age of our house.

The easiest solution was to just buy a new one and put it in, rather then monkeying around with trying to fix the old one.  They run from $100 to more...

Here is the new one.  It is 3/4 hp instead of 1/2 hp like the old one.  It has a 10 year warrenty, which speaks to some confidence in the product.  Also, it is quiet, like really quiet.  Like is it doing anything.  Purchase price was $180 at Menards, I was hoping to fit it in the bag for 15% off, but they made the box too big.

I installed it in less then an hour, directions were clear and pretty easy to follow.  As far as crisis go, this one was pretty minor.

RO Water Filter

 Jen has been wanted an RO filter for awhile.  We have some trace amounts to arsenic and other stuff in the water so she thinks it would be a good idea.

I purchased the system about 6 months ago, so it is probably time to install it :)

I choose to install it in the basement and not under the sink for ease of access and to be able to continue to use the area under the sink to store way too much stuff.

The system we got had pretty good directions and overall the system was pretty easy to install.  It takes a very long time for the water to filter, which is why you get the pressure tank.

We went with the 6 stage filter with the alkaline replacement filter at the end.  I had to buy a longer water line to get up to the sink on the first floor.  Not looking forward to filter replacements.

The water tastes fine, Jen seems happy.  The place I noticed the biggest difference was with the ice cubes, they come out much more clear.  We had a soap dispenser in the hole that we repurposed, so I kind of miss that.  Perhaps it is time to try drilling a hole in granite :)

Defrosting the Freezer

 

It is that time of the year again.  We had a coldish day we were able to put out freezer items out on the porch.  The freezer really needed it too!

Rotato, best kitchen gadget ever?

Nick and I were making Apple Cranberry bread last night and I was again allowed to use one of the best kitchen gadgets I have had the pleasure to use.  The Rotato :)  It makes very quick work of pealing, and the side effect of having "apple strings" is not to be dismissed.  A very health snack that Nick will run around eating!  Happy snacking :)