Part Four
Drains
Water comes into a house under pressure and leaves by gravity, and that difference shapes everything in this part. A drain cannot be forced. It can only be kept clear, kept sloping and kept sealed. We begin at the fixture, with the plunger and the hand snake, and move outward: the trap under the sink, the chemicals you are better off without, the smell that has several causes and one rule about leaving, the line that carries the whole house to the street, and the tank at the end of the pipe for those who have one. The further you go from the fixture, the less of the work is yours. By the time the pipe reaches the yard, your job is mostly knowing who to call, and what not to open.