Jay the Home Improvement Guy

Today we had some plumbers come to the house to start a job we had taken bids for back in the fall. They have their work cut out for them, replacing the copper gas lines under our pier and beam home with the more up-to-date variety. By way of aside, we will be without hot water for a couple days due to the need to shut off the gas during this operation. Well, about an hour after they arrived, we discovered a major leak under the sink in Abigail’s bathroom, which had unfortunately soaked the cabinet in which the plumbing was housed to the point of damaging it. Then in almost the same moment, the toilet in that same bath (and the only toilet in the house Jay has not replaced since we moved in) decided to give up the ghost. We joked to the poor plumbers that we suspected they might be quietly going around the house sabotaging things!

Well, anyway, as I write this, my manly man is replacing that dead toilet. Just lugging the heavy thing outside to dispose of it is a chore in and of itself. He hopes to finish installing the new toilet this evening, and at least begin work on the faucet which had also deteriorated to the point of needing replacement (hence the leak). Before we lived here, Jay had never learned to deal with plumbing issues or do a number of things that he has in these past seven months managed to get himself up to speed on. All of us around here are reaping the benefits of his hard work, and the house’s condition is improving, little by little.

Of course, it’s easy for me to say – after all, I’m the one doing the delicate typing while he splashes around in the toilet muck – but I feel such a sense of satisfaction every time we accomplish something which improves and beautifies our home. It is very hard work, but so rewarding. And I am very, very proud of my favorite home improvement guy.