# Plumbing



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I know there's a bunch of us ladies here who are good at what's called "man" stuff. 

When I was single, I learned fast about plumbing. Didn't have the money for a plumber back then. So I got me a pipe wrench and I'm all set. I still have mine from 26 years ago.

So I decide that I'm going to take that elbow shower pipe out, and get a diverter (one pipe in, 2 pipes out for shower and handheld) I get on AMAZON and order stuff. The pipe that comes out of the wall, the diverter, the hand hose and shower pipe that connects to the rain-like shower head.

The worst part of this whole thing is keeping your male ends and female ends straight. So I got everything straight. But now I'm thrown off by needing a small extension pipe to come out of the wall. I think one end male and one end female. But, they don't make one and it's a special order piece. So now I`m stuck adding a male to male pipe, and a female to female connector.

. So the piece in the wall female, extention pipe male and male (ends of pipes), connector is female to female, diverter is male to female and male, shower arm is male to male, shower head is female, and hand held hose is male.

The problem that changed everything was that pipe in the wall did not come out far enough. In fact it ended 2 inches before the wall. The other problem was that extension pipes only come male to male. It would have been a whole lot easier if that had been male to female. 

So, anyway, here comes Hubby to help who can't understand what I'm doing, and once he does he now becomes the plumbing literate one and tells me what I need to do. Then there's Lowe's whose helpful helper doesn't understand what I'm doing and when he does, he now becomes the expert, and me, who knows what I'm doing, and also have a Plan B and Plan C in place if I can't find what I need. (Who owns the plumbing wrench here?) I get the 2 parts and get home and tell him they don't stock male to female extension pipes so I had to get 2 parts to make it right. He gets on the internet and says "Here, see? A plumbing supply has the part! I say I already got the parts. He never understood my Plan B, so obviously I must need his help, but I'm not asking for it.

Why do some or more men think that ladies can't possibly think their way out of a paper bag , and if a woman stands in the plumbing department, they Must need help! So I'm mostly ready and wait till Hubby finds out I only need to borrow his stool, LOL


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

And I can reverse this on you a bit. Remember, we're women and we're not supposed to know this stuff. I worked in the parts department of a very large Ford dealership and from time to time I was needed to work the retail parts counter. It was always fun to get these men that came in and broke off the turn signal handle and even with a simple explanation on how to do it most of the men that came in just didn't get it. BTW, these were men that didn't know the difference between a phillips and a flat head screw driver.

I would give up, grab a pair of pliers tell the man to lead me to his car. Pop out his broken one and pop in the new one. 

Or the times men nearly dropped their teeth when I climbed out of the wrecker on a AAA call. 

We women have been doing this kind of thing for years but some men are so sheltered they never encountered women who do more than cook and clean.


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## havasu (Jun 21, 2012)

I applaud you both!

If you ever get into a pinch, please come visit us at www.plumbingforums.com we have many experts who can walk you through anything and everything. I spend several hours a day helping there when I can.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

The way I see it, it works both ways. There has been many times I needed my wife's help on something and she has gladly helped or had a better way of doing things and visa-versa. I was grateful too.
Plumbing is one of those types of jobs that if one person starts it, the same person should finish it. Another person wouldve done the job in a completely different way and so on. Put yourself in the other persons shoes.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

My hat is off to you,ladies!I can't claim the same skills.Can't change a tire but can check and fill fluids.Finished fixing the dryer belt when my husband said I got the wrong one.I was proud of myself for that.I can probably do more but why?I have a husband and he spends too much time playing games,so why shouldn't I have him do it.If he thinks I can do it all,he won't do anything but play his games and go to work.I can't have that!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Well Robin, I wonder if they will admit it to others, LOL

Havasu, I'll have to bookmark that link. I used to deliver papers and while mostly men and I waited for a late truck, I could get all the directions I wanted. One time it was valve cover gaskets. I thank the internet for all the times I've looked up how to...... and it worked. Good tool to use. 

My hubby and I built a 4 stall barn in the 90's. Like a rock. I planned it out down to each nail after checking with the building codes (like snow load). He built a lot of it. That was some feat. 12 x 24. When we moved, we needed a building permit, so I had books and books covering structure with pictures, and just copied them out of the book with tracings, and the guy came once and approved it on the spot. We had started it with 12 6 X6's dug 4 feet down and cemented in. Oh God, we couldn't even drag those things over to the holes. 

Chickenqueen, if you learn to do one thing, you realize how easy it was and was not the big deal hubbies explain it like. Most of what I had to remember was to keep things in the order I took them off.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I was prewired to do the stuff I do much to my mother's chagrin. I was never the frilly dress child, I was the one out playing chicken on my bike and helping my father rebuild an engine in the garage. Like Sem, being single for most of my adult life the option for hiring out was not an option most times. Yes, I could change a fan belt, yes, I changed my own oil and plugs. And as far as I'm concerned there is very little that should be all the man's or woman's responsibility. 

It drives me crazy to see some woman talk about how is her husband going to keep all that lawn mowed and she is a stay at home parent. Talked about a 1950's mind set. 

Now if I could just get my hubs to pay attention to our finances. He's pretty well set on the house thing now but the finances he won't touch. I have no clue what he's going to do if anything happens to me.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Well if anything happens to you, I will guarantee that it won't the first thing on your mind.


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## havasu (Jun 21, 2012)

My g/f's deceased hubby would never set foot in the yard and didn't know which side of the lawn mower to push. I now do all the gardening and mowing of the lawns, but g/f still has to come out and inspect my job. She just can't let go, I guess.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Nice to know there's tomboys out there in chicken land!You can't tend chickens all dressed up,you might get dirty.I was a tomboy as a child,never out grew it.Don't own a dress anymore or even any "girlie" clothes.I have a pair of tennis shoes and flip flops and a pair of sandals,that's it.When my MIL left FIL she left behind more than 100 pairs of shoes-really!I wondered how many she took with her.Who needs more than 100 pairs of shoes?A g/f has over 300 purses-she has a special room to display them.She can't understand how I don't have 1 purse, I have a chain wallet.I always wondered why I wasn't like the other girls,I played in the woods,fished,hunted and didn't like dolls-but I turned out o.k.-just ain't "lady like".


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

havasu said:


> My g/f's deceased hubby would never set foot in the yard and didn't know which side of the lawn mower to push. I now do all the gardening and mowing of the lawns, but g/f still has to come out and inspect my job. She just can't let go, I guess.


It's very, very hard to let go when for years it has been one person's sole responsibility.

FYI, I won't let hubs mow the front yard because I know any decorative plantings will just go poof! How do I know that? He had been out bush hopping a few days before I went out in to the front field. My six foot cherry tree was missing. Guess how that happened. Worse still, he didn't even realize he did it until I asked him what happened.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

chickenqueen said:


> Nice to know there's tomboys out there in chicken land!You can't tend chickens all dressed up,you might get dirty.I was a tomboy as a child,never out grew it.Don't own a dress anymore or even any "girlie" clothes.I have a pair of tennis shoes and flip flops and a pair of sandals,that's it.When my MIL left FIL she left behind more than 100 pairs of shoes-really!I wondered how many she took with her.Who needs more than 100 pairs of shoes?A g/f has over 300 purses-she has a special room to display them.She can't understand how I don't have 1 purse, I have a chain wallet.I always wondered why I wasn't like the other girls,I played in the woods,fished,hunted and didn't like dolls-but I turned out o.k.-just ain't "lady like".


My clothes and fingernails are always dirty when I come in from anywhere.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

havasu said:


> I applaud you both!
> 
> If you ever get into a pinch, please come visit us at www.plumbingforums.com  we have many experts who can walk you through anything and everything. I spend several hours a day helping there when I can.


man, where was this a few back when i totally re-did my shower plumbing and fixtures??? impeccable timing lol


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## havasu (Jun 21, 2012)

Please come over to the forum and tell 'em I sent ya. We have several professionals there all day who volunteer their time in order to help those folks who want to save money. Nothing except a thank you is needed.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Wow. I have it pinned. 

I got it all up and tested for leaks. Less than one hour. Pics to follow.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Well. I had it all going and the shower worked fine. But the hand held shower just sputtered. I tried everything. I was having a problem with a diverter, which is attached to allow a shower and a hand held to get water. I had it set up where the pipe in the wall gets the diverter, then shower arm. Doesn't work that way. In fact, that was having the diverter on backwards. I had to set it up where it's pipe in the wall>shower arm>diverter>shower head and hand held. I would have to add 2 more pieces to make it work the original way I had it. Would look real bad. My head just can't handle simple problems anymore. Glad it's done.


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