What to do on holiday in Saint Martin - Not the plumbing!

 

All my own work: Stick to what you know best!

Some people would consider my absence from this Blog over the past day or two as laziness, malingering or pure procrastination but they would be wrong by a country mile. I have not taken time off to watch the European Football Championships and neither have I been enjoying the 38ºC of sunshine here in Andalucia, Spain, oh no! I have not been posting you properties in Saint Martin and The Caribbean Islands because my own humble property is in need of some TLC, well, a lot and more than TLC.

It all started some months ago when I noticed a trickle of water from the wall, this denotes a possible leak from my water pipes, so, I called the insurance people who promptly came to sort it out 3 weeks later and after much huffing a puffing, the job was done, they replaced 6 inches of pipe and added two more joints. Nice.

A week later I noticed a trickle of water coming from my wall (This is where we get into Groundhog Day mode!) and so I repeated the performance, they came out, replaced 6 inches of pipe, added two more joints and left.  This happened once more and I asked the insurance company to just replace the 5 meters of plastic pipe, they wouldn’t because they said this constituted ‘improvement’ not ‘repair’ Sod them, I would do the job myself!

Now, I’m not what you could call a ‘handy man’ and to me the abbreviation D.I.Y means nothing but I was determined to do this thing myself and I was going to give it a go. I borrowed a mini Kangol Hammer from a friend of mine and started to open the wall up, all 5 meters of it, much to the amazement of my dear wife who thought I had lost the plot and she was also concerned about my lack of knowledge, in short she thought I was going to make a complete pigs ear of the job.

I bought 6 meters of plastic pipe (2 Euros) and a pressure valve to lower the very high water pressure that was causing the leaks (26€) I turned off the mains, attached everything up and “ta-daaaah!” NOTHING! The pressure was so low that the water trickled out of the tap, so I undid the lot and retried only for the same result to occur. I took the valve back to the shop and berated the shopkeeper for selling me a duff piece of equipment; he apologized and gave me a new valve. As it transpires, that worked exactly the same way, the water just trickled out.

Over the next few hours I changed valves, tubes, joints and tools, I swore, cursed, ranted and raved at this seemingly simple job that just wouldn’t work, there was no reason for it not to? Even when I took the valve off and replaced the old pipes the water just trickled out. In frustration I went for a lay down. There then came a moment of clarity, akin to the experience of Saint Paul on the road to Damascus, not a blinding light or the voice of a deity but a quiet thought; ‘maybe you should try farting about with the only joint you have not yet messed with? Maybe that is the answer?” and so I did just that, I bled a remote joint that was hidden in the wall of the kitchen, turned on the taps and all was well once again.

The sense of fulfillment was euphoric, I had beaten this problem using my own brainpower and iron will, I would not be beaten, I had won! I went to bed and slept like a baby, content in the knowledge that man had overcome adversity; the forces of physics were once again shackled by the power of thought.

I got up this morning and the water trickled out of the taps. Life can be a bitch.

Anyway, now my little rant is out of the way please check out our web page for the villas in Saint Martin, I have re-written the page as well and added some extra details that will come in handy.

PS. After many hours of low pressure and not being able to find the solution I spotted a council truck going past with some tubes on the back and half an hour later, by some miracle, the water pressure is back to abnormal! What are the odds of the council fixing the water pipes the same time as I am fitting a pressure regulator? I was born under a bad sign, no doubt about that!

Blog By robbie@myluxuryvillas.com
http://www.myluxuryvillas.com