The washing machine input hose is dripping where it joins the cold water pipe.

That'll mean a new washer.

Luckily I always keep spare washers, and a complete spare hose just in case.

Spares are what successful plumbing DIY is all about

When I changed my washing machine, the valve controlling water inlet crumbled in my hand..

I sorted it out with a pair of pliers.

I am going to tackle this today

When I unscrewed the collar, loads of water came out, causing me to panic temporarily till I remembered that it was just water that had been standing in the pipe upstairs.

Luckily I had a bucket underneath the tap, and I soon had a new washer fitted and everything screwed back together nice and watertight.

I've just had to replace the washer on the other end of the hose. I had the bucket ready this time, so I wasn't caught out by the water.

That reminds me, I've been meaning to start a thread about when you turn the kitchen sink tap on and something in the sink (like a right-way-up spoon) makes the water splash back on you.

I hate it when that happens

My new-ish flat is very bad for that.

The pressure for the kitchen taps is terrifically powerful and nearly anything left in the sink is prone to create a ricochet of water directly in my face and down my front.

A couple of days ago it was a bl*nking j-cloth.



The bathroom taps (about 8' away), by contrast however, dribble pathetically when the v*lve is open fullly.

Often the kitchen cold tap is directly connected to the mains, and the others run from a cold water tank.

Not in my house though, all my cold taps are directly connected

There's a leak coming through the wall. I had this before, and the guy who owns it lives in Saudi Arabia. His management company was contacted by mine, to get his insurance details to mine. 

And his side walked off leaving a bill of several thousand, and a subsequent increased premium and excess cap to me. I even had to have the decorative plasterwork replaced because it had seeped through all that. I saw him last summer and we had a screaming match in the street about his total lack of regard. 

Now it's coming through again, a slowly spreading stain the colour of rusty water. How am I going to get anyone to come round and fix that when we're all self isolating? I could probably cry if I let myself.

F************, my toilet cistern top exploded off with pressure and a Niagara Falls of water emerged. £220 call out. Waiting in now. My son is sitting on the side of the bath with an instruction to keep flushing every time the cistern gets three quarters full - that takes about three minutes all in. I'm in the sitting room having a fag. Why couldn't this have happened during daytime call out rates?

Well thank god that's sorted, after a short but sweet fashion. £300 plus labour and parts. We have no running water until 10am.

I realised in the middle of speaking to the rather sexy young Romanian plumber in the middle of my spotlit bathroom that I'd completely removed my eye make-up, was covered in my very greasy neck night cream, and hadn't brushed my hair in a way that disguises the as yet unattended to greys.

Wide awake and waiting in for him to re-arrive and complete the job. Lashings of mascara, and a smoky black kohl over a hard liquid line this morning. I'll casual it up with my green and white Breton stripe facemask, to go well with my large gold Croydon hoops, white vest, no bra, and slim grey tracksuit bottoms. All for that simple girl at home look.

I think once that's all sorted I might just go back to bed. I have a feeling it's going to be one of those days.

I noticed water coming out of the overflow pipe yesterday, so I checked the cold-water tank. Just as I suspected, the float was up to its old tricks again, floating too high so that the water didn't turn off soon enough.

I unscrewed it and replaced it with a bigger float that I bought last year in readiness for this situation. That fixed it.

I've got someone coming to fit a new water meter tomorrow afternoon

I had a long discussion with Thames Water yesterday about having a water meter fitted.

Coincidence, or something altogether more sinister?