The maintenance of these older homes is much like our watches- particularly the ones with long NLA parts (like UG, Bulova, Longines etc). The network of suppliers abs tradesmen with the passion is the same- just on a larger scale.
I had a full blockage in my bathroom sink at the junction in the wall at the tub. It couldn’t be snaked, it was rock hard and all the drain lines are cast iron- so it had to be cut at the blockage. There is a hatch above the stairs behind the tub but the chrome plated J-trap galvanized pipe off the sink that goes into the wall had finally failed (I discovered this while trying to plunge the sink and the back
-pressure blew the j-trap out and water started spraying from behind the pedestal sink)- the pipe crumbled in my hand.
I had one very well respected plumbing company tell me they had to rip out my tile wall across to the tub, trough a hole in the plaster on lathe in the stair hall and cut the frame for the paneled door hatch above the stairs- I was devastated. Plus, parts for my pedestal sink were no longer available and they could provide me with a modern replacement and do all PVC out from the wall. Cost would have been around $2.5k and having the tile and plaster work redone was up to me...I wanted to fυcking cry.
I called another company that is known for working with these older homes and recommended by the plumbing supply shop I deal with for parts and fixtures ( a third generation business that hoarded American Standard parts when the company sold off the last of their historic stock).
The second plumbing company said they could do they work but they had an 8 week backlog and I would have to wait- so we did- brushing teeth in the kitchen sink, all hygiene things sitting next to the knife block on the kitchen counter.
When they finally came, they brought all the parts needed to fix my sink- all old stock American Standard (they got them from the guy I deal with). They cut a 9x9” hole in the wall in the linen closet and with two of them working together, were able to work the pipe out of the wall without touching any of the plaster or tile work. They replaced all the historic parts in kind and snaked all the lines down- and even added a clean-out behind the sink which it did not have before. Total cost for the job was $1.3k and I didn’t have to do anything to repair the house other than get a trap door for the linen closet. And all the visible plumbing from the wall to the sink is still chrome as it was.
I know- this is totally off topic, but not so much that the parallel can’t be made that if you have the network of people and patience to do the legwork, you can have restorative work done (on a house or watch) with little to no visible signs of the work and it will only enhance the value of the house/watch and your enjoyment of it. And it was totally worth brushing my teeth in the kitchen sink for 8 weeks to keep my tile, my plaster and my chrome plumbing.
