Since even before Peter Sellers made the recording of the initiation of a new member to The Ancient Order of Plumbers, jobbing plumbers have been horribly difficult to pin down, no matter how much money you are prepared to give them. Now that every builder in Christendom is throwing up hundreds of horrible little houses on vast brownfield estates, no plumber worth his salt is prepared to get out of bed for less than a 6 month contract.
Having replaced our horrible immersion tank about 5 times in the last 20 years I have decided to fit a little in-line heater which requires no vast tank which will inevitably spring a leak shortly after the guarantee has expired, and having cause a flood by trying to change the last one myself (there being no available plumbers) I vowed to get a professional to do it for me.
One was supposed to come last night - just to assess the water-pressure and general situation - but guess what? He didn't turn up.
We have a little leak on the latest tank, the source of which is hidden by a few inches of polyurethane foam. It is getting worse. It is becoming so bad that I may have to disconnect the whole thing this weekend and then we will have to endure no hot water until someone comes around as promised. That could be weeks or even months.
When I last renewed our contents insurance, I noticed that there was a massive excess on water ingress for any reason, so I guess that this is a problem so commonplace that you now cannot insure against it without punitive excess on the policy.
I just mentioned to Weave that moving house is reckoned to be the most stressful thing you can do (short of murdering your own children in the domestic setting) in the average lifetime. I think that dealing with internal water systems must come a close second.
I agree, that is why i shall never moove again from here.
ReplyDeleteStay in the mountains!
DeleteI've moved about 35 times in my life, but the last move was 14 years ago and I am getting antsy. I've been in one place for far too long. It's a different kind of stress.
ReplyDeletePlumbing can't be as hard as you think. My half brother is a plumber and I can honestly say that he's a moron. With all kinds of tutorials available on the internet I'm sure you can figure out a little heater -- my husband watched something on You Tube and replaced our shower faucet handle and so far (six months later) no leaks.
You do not understand. I know how to do it - I used to do it all the time - I just don't want to. I am a 66 year-old moron who knows how to plumb, but refuses to. Does your half brother read your blog? I bet he doesn't buy your books.
DeleteOh! It's a lifestyle choice. I get it. I feel the exact same way about washing the kitchen floor or any other room. And for sure, I'm not watching any You Tube tutorial on better housekeeping.
DeleteIn fact, my half- brother does not read my blog and no, he has never shown any interest in my books. He's never been to Paris, which is sad and explains the difference between us.
I think that in one way, Americans can be divided into four intellectual types - those that aspire to visit Paris as an almost spiritual destination into the heart of artistic Europe, those that have visited Paris for the same reason, those that have actually lived in Paris (whilst attending the School of America or suchlike) and those who have no desire to set foot outside their own state, let alone country.
DeleteI think the notion of Paris as the epitome of aesthetic sophistication dates back to the 1890s. Now it is just that - a notion.
You may think that you have top notch (and so expensive) insurance. I am banging my head against a French company to at least make an initial payment against a robbery. God knows about a water ingress.
ReplyDeleteNo, my annual premium is about £80 pounds per year, so I am not top notch.
DeletePerhaps I should have said that 'One may think that one has good insurance'. It costs and arm and a leg here.
DeleteI get the feeling that you attempt a minimal approach.
I certainly do with work insurance. I only get a pay-out if I kill someone.
DeleteI often think that instead of encouraging our children to go to Uni we should have encouraged them to be plumbers, joiners and electricians - there always seems to be a shortage.
ReplyDeleteThere will be when all the Poles are chucked out.
DeleteI agree with Weave, wouldnt cost me the fortune it did to put 4 kids through uni. Plus when we have the same plumbing problems and more one of them could fix it. Philosophy/Animal Behaviour/Fine Arts/Sociology what do they fix?????????
ReplyDeleteWe want them to be better than ourselves and someone else's kids to collect the rubbish. Oh well, someone has to do it. There are probably loads of unrecognised geniuses out there collecting rubbish. We have Iraqi doctors who are taxi drivers here now. It is a matter of what life throws at you, no matter how hard your parents try while they are still alive, or what life throws at them.
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