In May 2005 we moved into this house from the old 14-room (small rooms) home that we lived in about a km from here. The old place, as most of you know was bitterly cold in the winter due to the mud and thatch walls drying, and "gapping" where the major vertical support beams met the walls. The wind would whip through the house, water in a glass left by our bed would have a rime of ice on it in the morning.
I used to do aerobics in the early mornings, wearing a toque and socks on my hands until I (ME) warmed up from the activity since the house sure as hell wasn't going to warm up. It used to be -8C (about 20F) in the back part of the house where the TV was.
We would use massive industrial-strength kerosene heaters to heat the front part where we spent almost all of our lives (kitchen, bathroom, and a room where my computer was), but for the rest... well, other than going to get something (hands freezing as we dug around in boxes or through drawers), or to watch a movie, we didn't heat it.
Then we moved to this place and it is infinitely better, though the unheated parts of the house (hallway, bathroom, restrooms, second floor) still drop to +3-4C (about 40F) when it's really cold outside (by Japanese standards). The insulation in the walls is a blue styrofoam (1" thick?), and the windows are all single pane so the heat still escapes quite efficiently in winter while the heat seeps in during the summer quite un-nicely bringing the inside to +38C (about 100F). This is not an "eco-friendly" home, and very few Japanese homes are. I hope the new ones are much better than this generation of homes, but something tells me probably not...
This house is probably about 15 years old now, which would be quite new by N.A. standards; however by Japanese standards, when houses are buit to be rebuilt every 35-40 years, it's getting on in age which means that...
Since stuff changes here so quickly, most of the fixtures (toilet, sink, etc.) are no longer supported by the company who built the home and those who installed this stuff. Things change really fast here (like fashions).
The last couple of years the faucet in the kitchen sink has been starting a slow leak up top. When the water is turned on, it seeps out around the base of the spigot. It's getting worse. When I went to Canada at year-end I was really worried about this because I was unable to actually turn the water OFF under the sink, even though I had turned off the taps down there!
I tried last year to get someone to come and look at it, but the plumber who lives in my old neighbourhood said that he works on different unit systems (Inax) and couldnt help me. He suggested I call the toll-free number on the door of the system kitchen unit. I tried and tried but nobody answers. So I started asking the neighbours... and true to Japanese form, nobody knows. And that's all I'm going to say about that aspect of "Japanese awareness".
Since coming back from Canada (I left lots of towels wrapped around the base of the faucet, and they were soaked when I returned) I have noted that the leakage has increased. I have to squeeze out the towel I leave there permanently once or twice a day. This concerns me.
I went outside and turned off the water to the entire house because although I could turn off the cold water pipe under the sink, the hot water one keeps running (conclusion: cracked, or rotted rubber washer in system, or rust preventing complete closure).
Now I am working under the sink tightening everything up in hopes this will stop the water from coming out on top.
If that doesn't work, since nobody around here seems to know anything at all about who made these houses in this neighbourhood 15 years ago, and who to contact for maintenance (even the owner has no idea and asked me to ask around the neighbourhood *rolls eyes*), I am going to have to take a big chance, take it all apart, go to the home center and PRAY that there will be rubber washers there to replace the ones that are in here.
I know what the problem is (thanks to studying my "fix anything ever built by humankind" Dad as I grew up); but since I'm not a plumber, although I have far too many tools for my own good, I don't have plumbing tools on hand (who does?)
What a wonderful adventure! I'll let you know if my tightening of the connections underneath solves the problem (temporarily I guess), or if, when I go back outside and turn the water on, everything comes shooting up into the kitchen!
I think I just may wear my shoes inside the house and come running back in, be prepared to run back out again in case that is what happens. I know I'll probably get another black mark in the neighbourhood black book for doing this (shoes on in house), but you know what? I don't give a phkkk! At least I'm being proactive about it, which is more than I can say about everyone else who lives in a house built about the same time, in the same neighbourhood, by the same housing firm!
Here we go....
I love you!
Cam
P.S. I better go for a pee first.... oh yeah! I can't flush! Well, there's always the great outdoors!
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