Copper Feel

Jeff from Sewers R Us digs the water trench across the driveway

I learned something today: copper is REALLY expensive. The plumbers claimed not to know there would be two water meters (one for the domestic supply, and a separate one for the fire sprinkler system) and thus two water lines that had to be run from the meters to the house. Which, of course, meant that there would be (yet another!) massive upcharge for running the extra line.

That upcharge would be $35.00 per foot for copper, and still $25.00 per foot for plastic, and we figured that the run would be at least 45 feet, so weren't not talking chump change.

While Frank and his buddy from North Coast Country Water tapped the main and ran 1 1/2" copper to the two new meters, one of the guys who was doing the trenching said if I bought the copper from Home Depot, he'd run it to the house for $300.00. Sure, why not. I drove to Home Depot, where I found out that 1 1/2" copper pipe sells for the princely sum of $7.70 per foot, which is pretty damned expensive, but at least when all is said and done I'll 'only' have to find an extra $800.00 instead of another $1600.00.

Another shock to the system came courtesy of Hector, who had agreed to install the 'bargain' Ronbow corner shower that I bought from Craigslist some 18 months ago in the basement bathroom. It turns out that the shower, which is no longer in production and for which no parts are available, is missing one of its two sliding doors. And it has two bottom rails and no top rail. File this particularly juicy problem under "To be resolved..."

Fortunately I decided a few weeks ago to adopt "It is what it is" as my pithy and practical go-to phrase for construction-related bollocks, so despite all of these seemingly unending setbacks and snafus I am able to continue living a relatively calm, if rather more hectic and frantic than normal, life.