Beware of DIY Projects on Friday Afternoon

Based on my experience, I strongly encourage you to not plan a "do it yourself" project on a Friday afternoon. Of course, that is when most people plan to do their home projects. They get home from work on Friday afternoon, and they see forty-eight hours of free time ahead of them. Why not plan to re-model the living room during time? Why not fix the leaky faucet in the kitchen then? Why not install new flooring in the bathroom?

I will tell you why.

It might even be one of those Murphy laws. If you plan to do a home project on a Friday afternoon, you will make a terrible mess of things, and you will not be able to get a professional to fix it for you until Monday morning. Let me tell my experience, and you can judge for yourself. I had a leak in the kitchen. Actually, water was leaking from the drain. I figure out that the drain needs to be resealed. That seems simple. I read the book on house projects, and it tells me exactly what I need, and how to do it. So I start in on the project. I turn off the water. I start to unscrew the drain, so I can lift it up and put in the plumber's putty to seal it. Apparently, I was too strong, but the PVC pipe under the sink cracks.

That is a problem.

And, of course, while my trusted book of household projects tells me how to fix it, I don't have a clue what they are talking about. So, I call a plumber, and ask if he can come and fix the pipe. On a Friday afternoon, his answer is, he can't come until Monday morning. For the rest of that weekend, my family did not have a kitchen sink. Of course, that meant we could not wash dishes, which meant we could not eat in the house, which meant, of course, eating out for every meal. Total cost to repair a leak in the sink: $450 (including the $2.99 for plumber's putty).

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