It's Shower Time!

Yesterday, Jonathan, Ethan, and Dad Baker (who is in town for a visit) went to Cincinnati to see a Reds game (read: indoctrinate Ethan).  Our friend Josh and his son Patrick went too.  Caleb (who was deemed too young to sit through the game) had preschool, so I anticipated a quiet day with Anelise, getting things done around the house.  First I had to go to the post office.  On my way there, I realized I was going right by Lowes, and maybe I should see if I can find the stuff I need to fix our leaky bathtub faucet.

The first guy I talked to at Lowes was downright rude.  But I found new handles and a new spout, knowing I wouldn't know what I needed for the repair until I went home and looked at what we had there.  Then I came home and started watching videos on how to repair the leak.  I turned off the water to the house (because I don't have a shut-off valve to the shower), and removed the three handles and trim pieces (with some tools and a little muscle help from our neighbor).  Then I removed the stems and seats.  I could see that the rubber gaskets on the stems were very worn, and likely the cause of the leaking.  So off Anelise and I went, back to Lowes, with the stems I'd just removed.  I found a different guy who was very helpful in finding the correct replacement stems.  Unfortunately, they only had one.  So we went to another Lowes, and bought the other one I needed (I didn't replace the diverter stem).  After we were home, we grabbed some lunch and picked up Caleb from school.  Then I put Anelise down for a nap and set up Caleb with a video before picking up the project again.  I put the new seats and the new stems in.  And I got the new spout on.  But I discovered that the metal trim pieces (the metal part that goes between the handle and the wall) wasn't compatible with my stems.  Grr.  At this point, I couldn't go anywhere, because Anelise was napping, and I couldn't get anything done around the house, because there was no water.  No shower, no laundry, no dishes.  So I repaired the screens on our sliding doors.  :)   After Anelise woke up, we went to a plumbing supply store, where I got what I needed to finish the job.  I put the new trim pieces on, put the new handles on, and turned the water back on.  No leaks!!!  Within 5 minutes, the guys were home from the game.  They were very impressed with my work in the bathroom.  It wasn't the quiet day I'd anticipated, but I'm very pleased that the project is done and the problem is fixed.  And since I hadn't been able to do dishes or start dinner, Dad took us all out to Chile Verde, which was the perfect reward for my hard work! 

One sad note:  Ethan came home from Cincinnati with a fever and a sore throat.  :(