So, you're probably saying, why doesn't my wife, the engineer, fix it. She could though it's not her specialty and frankly she doesn't have the time. So I called the plumber.

One hour later out he came. Friendly guy, they always are. He went into the bathroom and verified the leak.

"You have a leak!" he said.

Fireworks and crowd cheers - he was one-for-one.

"Probably just the washer. This should be easy and cheap," he said.

But first things first, sign the form which said by his very presence I owe him $49. Second things second, turn off the water which we did. Hmmm, still leaked. Turned off the main and opened all the faucets. Still leaked but it slowed until...nothing.

He took off the handles and removed the cylinders. He shook his head.

"This is serious," he intoned with a grave look. "Your washers are completely shot and the cylinders aren't looking too good. They'll need to be replaced."

"OK," I said seeing a simple washer replacement mutate into something more expensive.

"And, frankly your water pressure is too high. Your regulator needs to be replaced or you'll keep getting leaks. After I change out the cylinders, if you still have a leak you may also need a new system. And that will be expensive because we'll need a couple of plumbers and have to rip a hole in the wall."

"Then," I said softly, looking at him with shotgun eyes, "replacing the cylinders better fix the leak."

He coughed "Right!" and got to work. 1/2 hour later - new cyclinders and no leak. Still it was over $250. He packed up.

He turned back to me.

"If you decide to replace the regulator we can apply 1/2 of the cost from today but you have only 90 days to decide," he pitched.

Any one know a good plumber in the West San Fernando Valley?