• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • WRESTLING WITH GOD BOOK
  • CONTACT

Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

When the Rough-In Plumbing and Electrical Are Things of Beauty

March 22, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

When the Rough-In Plumbing and Electrical Are Things of Beauty copper-pipes-new-bath
When the rough-in plumbing and electrical are things of beauty. These gorgeous new copper pipes will bring hot water to the stall shower that’s replacing our awkward old tub-shower. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The upstairs bath redo is underway. At last. The rough-in plumbing went in this week, followed by the rough-in electrical.

They call this work rough — maybe that’s because it’s destined to be hidden away out of sight behind slabs of sheet rock.

In time, the plumber and the electrician will come back to install the shiny stuff — the chrome faucets, the lighted make-up mirror — and the rough stuff will be forgotten.

And that’s too bad — because, if you look closely, all those roughed-in pipes and wires are a sight to see.

You can see the plumber’s mind at work in the copper pipe, in its turns and runs and soldered joints. You can see the electrician’s intent in his swaths of wire and tidy splices nestled in their junction boxes.

I’m putting together photos of all this action. And when I get ready to leave the house, I’ll hand them over to the new owner so they’ll know they’ve bought a thing of beauty.

More home improvement projects at “Yay. Our Garden Remodel Is Done. Come Take a Walk.”  Also “Five Things I Like Best About My Kitchen.”

When the Rough-In Plumbing and Electrical Are Things of Beauty plumbing-and-electrical-roughed-in
Progress! The plumbing is roughed in and so is the electrical with its swaths of wire. The house was built around 1952, and the studs and subfloor have aged. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Filed Under: A Case of the Human Condition, House and Garden, Older and Older

Share This with a Friend

Share

If you enjoyed this, get my Latest Riffs on Life!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone. [convertkit form=1389962]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

GET MY Riffs on Life BY EMAIL

True stories often told through a humorous lens–because you just can't make them up!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone.

 

LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

I Brake for Floor Plans — I Like to See How Those Other People Live

Floor plan of condo on East 86 Street, Manhattan, with three bedrooms and 3.5 baths.

It’s Sunday morning. I pull the New York Times Magazine from the fat stack of newspapers on the breakfast table, fully intending to read the informative, thought-provoking articles inside. But I get no farther than page two, because that’s where the real estate ads are – the ones with the floor plans. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

Robert Tharratt portrait. Man with beard and glasses. World War II vets. Barbara Newhall photo

How Three World War II POWs Saved Each Other’s Lives

Family photos in frames on bedroom dresser. Photo by BF Newhall

Feng Shui Tip for the Writing Room and the Bedroom — Your Mother’s Not Allowed, and Neither Are the Kids

Shepherd Bliss of the men's movement. photo by shepherd bliss

Shepherd Bliss and Men’s Secrets — No Women Allowed

writer's block is addressed insightfully in Jane Anne Staw's book Unstuck

The Writing Room: Writer’s Block and the Toxic Reader

MORE DON'T MISS!

© 2009–2025 Barbara Falconer Newhall All rights reserved. · Log in