I made a discovery last weekend whilst on my continuous quest to clean the basement. I found a small box buried in the back that had plumbing fittings that I must have bought some time ago. Underneath the fittings, there was an old bathtub faucet that I saved for whatever reasons. I removed the ***** and realized that the faucet comes apart. I unthreaded the hot water valve (or whatever that part is called) and discovered why it was leaking. The washer that seals the valve and the screw that held it in was missing. So I went to Home Depot and found that they have replacement parts for faucets. I bought a variety of washer sizes and a replacement valve. Now I know how my Dad fixed the faucets over the years; not sure why he never told or showed me how to do that.

 

Handy skills to have, excuse the dishes. This is a 1928 farm sink and what might be a Craftsman faucet. I replace the washers in this faucet at least once a year. I really need to find a hot stem because the threads are quite sharp. The cold stem is fine, I imagine that the faucet is similar in age as the sink.
We purchased this sink and faucet many years ago in a shop in downtown Portland Oregon. The store has many stories of everything imaginable removed from old homes torn down for different property use. There are several of these types of reuse stores in the city areas, another has cabinets, doors, windows and used lumber.

 

So that faucet is currently in the scrap metal pile. I successfully replaced the cold and hot water valve; but the spout is what killed it. You can't see it in the picture, but the back side of the spout is completely corroded. It looked like it was threaded in there somehow; so I tried to unthread it off the faucet assembly. I ended up loosening the chrome housing behind it. So, I took it outside and heated it up with a torch. Then put it in a vice and tried to unthread it. That resulted in the spout twisting and breaking apart. The plastic stem inside melted and broke apart too. So naturally, I took a hammer and tried to shock it; but all that did was deform the chrome housing and broke more of the spout off. I concluded that perhaps the spout is sweated on there and was not meant to be removed. I watched YouTube vids for this kind of faucet and there are only 2 methods in which the spout is connected. Too bad, as I was hoping to have a backup for the current faucet. I bought a fancy faucet a decade ago; but I was saving that for the time when I fully renovate the upstairs bathroom; and have the clawfoot tub restored.

On a different note; as I was cleaning the basement after killing the faucet; I discovered some old engine oil that was lying underneath a pile of assorted junk. Looks like the oil containers have been leaking because the floor is wet underneath. My Dad tried to blame me; but a few of those containers were metal cans of oil that can only be opened with a can opener. I have never seen metal cans of oil being sold in my lifetime; so it must be his. Probably from the days when he was running the '53 F-250. So I will clean that up next weekend and start measuring out that section for Uline shelving. That should get things off the floor and organized.

 

I remember cardboard oil cans with metal tops and bottoms. We used a push in spout with a sharp edge to open the can. My dad had a fancy screw in one the worked on the same principle. I worked at a service station where the cans of oil were displayed in a rack with roll up sides between the pumps. A couple times the rack would get bumped by a car and we would have to chase the cans rolling across the parking lot. We would also turn these cans upside down on a funnel over a barrel to drain. This was the free oil barrel so employees could change their own oil in their cars.

 

Being pretty much the same age as Andy, I can remember both fully metal cans and cardboard cans with the metal ends. My dad had one of the spouts like Andy described, but it disappeared somewhere over time. When I started helping him work on cars after my 3 oldest brothers left home, we just used a can opener and a funnel. He thought one of my brothers took the metal spout and he was probably right. I suspect #2 brother.

 

@ 02 LW300 Nothing is free anymore unfortunately. My Dad harps on that all the time; not offering free concessions at your job isn't as cost effective as the bean counters think. My former Director at my current job complained about the cost of the Keurig and the K-cups that we got for the office through our OfficeDepot account. My current Director asked him how much his Starbucks latte cost; then asked him to do some simple math and calculate how much 25 of those lattes would cost him. Then compare the cost of the K-cups; that conversation ended right then and there.

@ Rubehayseed sounds like you need to get Peter Faulk on the phone. He'll figure out who took that spout.

 

He's pretty dead isn't he?

 

Two of my older brothers are dead, derf. The oldest (who I miss a lot) died in 2014, the second oldest (whom I don't miss) died last year. He was not a good person.

 

Yah; Peter Falk died in 2011; a year before my Grandmother passed away. I love the Columbo series; even the late '80s reboot.

My apologies Rubehayseed; I didn't mean to bring that up.

 

Rube,

Alas, I do remember...
C bone---I brought up death not you. If anything it's on me