My house came with the original cast iron, claw footed tub. The enamel has a few worn spots, the outside has been partially (WTF, partially- but that status was repeated throughout the house) painted, and the indeterminate strength of the floorboards prevents me ever filling it to soak in diva style (although it does provide a comfier bath than a more modern, straight sided tub). All things considered, I like the tub, and people claim to be jealous of it. However, it lacked one essential- a shower.
After filing the deed (and the mortgage) on my 23rd birthday, Dad and I stopped at a supply house to purchase a shower set-up. This is NOT an item you'll find at your local Home Depot, because people who are installing these tubs now either have an additional stand-alone shower, or an adjacent wall through which to run pipes for a shower. I have neither. The house was built over a century before the advent of indoor plumbing, so a room was repurposed, and the tub kind of sits along a wall, not near either end of the room. (The remodel I have in my head will fix this problem, but hell if I know when that one will happen.) So, I have three shower curtains, which have to be cut to fit, and with which I occasionally do battle while showering, because they tend to billow. But, it works, We were lucky, both in locating a reasonably priced setup, and in removing the original faucets with no massive breakage. That was 17 years ago, this month.
I am quite the expert at dis- and reassembling my faucets to replace gaskets, and clean out decades of gunk. Of course, given the number of times I have had to do so, it's not surprising that I could do it in my sleep. And, since I didn't have the money for a top-of-the-line shower, it, too has needed attention over the years. However, I now have to buck up and buy a new one. The old innards of the tub eat the washers more quickly than I can replace them (OK, that's only because I procrastinate) and I ignore the leakby problem for too long, until the day I have to run from the second floor bath to the basement to shut the water down, and truck RIGHT THEN to the hardware store for a replacement. That's if I'm not on my way to work. Regardless, at that point it has to be (well, it should be) done before my next shower, because even I'm not willing to turn my shower on and off from the basement for any length of time. (For the record, four days seems to be my limit. Yup, I am lazy enough - and get into such a state of denial - that to avoid the tedious disassembly, trial and error at the hardware store, and reassembly, I WILL descend and climb the two flights, brave my cave of a basement, and possibly have someone find out I'm performing this ludicrous maneuver for four days until I realise that the Plumbing Fairy is not coming.
But, I digress. I need a new shower. I fixed it four times last year. Do you know what happens when you repeatedly take apart cheap plumbing fixtures? The screws strip, the housing for the gasket breaks, and they just don't go back together anymore. So, after I had to call my father to help me mickey-mouse it in December, I resigned myself to the need for replacement. However, it was nearing Christmas and I was going to Disney World the first of the year- so money was a consideration (more than usual). Further, as you may have gathered, I'm just plain lazy and sick of the whole process. Denial is a wonderful thing, until you have to run to the basement again.
Which is where I will be, almost certainly, within a week's time. Since December, there has been a set of channel locks, an adjustable wrench, and two screwdrivers next to the tub. I clean around them. I'm used to this sort of state of affairs. It is now March. No excuses, I just don't wanna do it. Because this time, I have to take the whole thing off, and risk damaging the tub, the very old fittings, or both. And, barring no major complications, there WILL BE something. There always is. No 5 minute project gets done around here without at least a 4 hour delay due to old house complications. So, I dither. I avoid it. My daily pep talk to the faucet, gently coaxing it not to fail, alternates with threats against its family. I should have bought a new one yesterday, and installed it today. Maybe tomorrow. -Tea
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