Things my house has taught me.

1. How to disassemble and replace all the moving parts in a toilet tank.
2. How to caulk a window pane into a window frame.
3. There is a type of pipe known as Orangeburg. It is a bituminized fiber pipe.
4. Bituminized = impregnated with, or covered with bitumen.
5. Bitumen = a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation.
6. Fiber = In this case, cellulose fiber. Wood. Paper.
7. Orangeburg, after many years, is prone to soften and deform with age, allowing infiltration and root intrusion.
8. My house is 48 years old. For Orangeburg, this qualifies as “many years”.
9. Plumbers make way more money than I do.