Felt like grunting when using this baby.  Just like Tim, The Tool Man Taylor, which is what got me in trouble. — Felt like grunting when using this baby. Just like Tim, The Tool Man Taylor, which is what got me in trouble.

I screwed up our shower by being overzealous with a Sawzall. My intentions were well intended, but it doesn't change the fact our shower was out of commission for a week. Lucky for me, my husband's Mendota office has a shower.

The original problem a leaky facet causing extreme rust marks.  I've become a pro at cleaning this, but thought stop the leak less rust to clean. — The original problem a leaky facet causing extreme rust marks. I've become a pro at cleaning this, but thought stop the leak less rust to clean.

My shower gets massive rust stains because of our well water. Yes, a new water softener would help, but money sets priorities. So I'll scrub for now putting money to other things in this Old home. So my plan, fix the leaky hot water tap. I did my research by reading a section in Dare To Repair by Julie Sussman & Stephanie Glakas-Tent.

A great book for any self respecting woman to learn basic home repair.

I also did extensive Internet research watching several repair videos on fixing leaky tub facets. It all looked pretty straight forward. What I failed to take into account is an old house can complicate things. I decided I would replace both cold & hot water since I was getting a drip from the spout too. The cold water came off easy as pie. The hot water screw stripped in two seconds flat because it was rusted. Replacement handles easy to come by so losing the white knobs no great loss.

That is where my bright idea for the Sawzall came into play. Just cut the handle off I thought no big. I will admit that using a Sawzall scared the crap out of me. I had a job to get done so I put on my big girl panties & headed into the great unknown. I should have stayed scared.

The Sawzall came to life in my hands & I felt the POWER. Oh how I loved the sound, the vibration & I was lost. The Sawzall was so much easier to use than I thought & I was hypnotized by the power in my hands.

I cut into the handle & far deeper than I should have. Right into the bonnet, which I learned was a big no-no.

This is a bonnet which is not water tight with a big Sawzall cut in it.

I went looking for a replacement bonnet at local & big box hardware stores with no luck. At this point I had to swallow my pride & ask for help from my Father or Brother-in laws who are plumbers. Gabe, my brother-in law came through, finding a replacement bonnet on Amazon.

I so wanted to do this all on my own. I didn't want to ask for help from my professional in-laws, knowing this will be a story that will be told at every family gathering. I screwed up big time & deserve the ribbing. In fact, it was my brother-in-law who said to my husband. "Don't leave your wife alone with a Sawzall." I deserve that, but I also deserve some credit.

I'm a stay at home mom, while my husband works his butt off. He is often up & gone before the sun rises. He gets home around 6:30 pm & logs close to 60 plus work hours. Fixing a leaky faucet on a weekend is understandably not high on his priority list. Nor does he find it fun or rewarding like I do. So I went about becoming more self-sufficient & taking some of the load off my husband.

I am genuinely fascinated by how things work & love to learn new things. I learned that a Sawzall was not the right tool for this job. I no longer fear the Sawzall. I learned how a hot & cold water taps really work. I learned all the proper names of of a working facet. I made a mistake & learned from it.

I have had more success than failure in working in this old home. At 44 I learned a thing or two about basic plumbing. I beat myself up over this Sawzall saga. My husband & daughter were more than understanding about it. My Father really helped by saying to me "The only people who don't make mistakes are the people who do nothing."