Life's Pressure Relief
I heard a foreboding sound behind the bathroom wall—the sound of water running, which isn’t good news if you’re not using water at the time. Mom built her home in 1977, and my grandfather conveniently installed all the plumbing on one wall of the 600-square-foot cabin. So, now we only had to figure out what had broken. Tom, my husband/volunteer plumber, donned his work clothes—the fact that it was Labor Day made it extra special. Imagine paying a real plumber on a holiday! All I had to do was run for tools and toss them in his direction under the cabin. He had to slither on his back twenty feet to reach the pooled water. He discovered the source: a failed pressure relief valve. A much simpler repair than soldering leaking pipes. A replacement was in stock at our local plumbing supply—which, thankfully, was open on Labor Day. He quickly returned with the new valve. I held Grandpa’s old valve in my hand. It had faithfully done its job for decades. Just as water lines need pre...