Haha, your sprinkler story gave me flashbacks to my own plumbing fiasco. A couple years back, I decided to tackle a DIY bathroom remodel at my place. Thought I'd save some cash by doing the plumbing myself—how hard could it be, right?
Well, turns out pretty hard when you don't double-check the water pressure first. I didn't even know pressure reducer valves were a thing back then. So there I was, feeling super proud after installing a shiny new faucet and showerhead. Turned the water back on and BAM—instant indoor water park. Water shooting everywhere, me scrambling around like a cartoon character trying to find the shutoff valve... good times indeed.
After that little adventure, I picked up one of those gauges you mentioned and checked my pressure. It was hovering around 90 psi—not quite your 100 psi nightmare, but still way too high. No wonder my fixtures were acting possessed. Ended up installing a regulator valve (after watching about 20 YouTube tutorials) and things have been smooth sailing ever since.
Moral of the story: never underestimate water pressure or skip steps in plumbing projects. Learned that lesson the soggy way, haha.
Hope your bathroom fix-up goes better than mine did... or at least involves fewer towels and buckets.
Your plumbing adventure definitely resonates—I had a similar experience when I first bought my house. Thought I'd save some money replacing the bathroom sink myself, and... let's just say it wasn't exactly straightforward. I didn't have the pressure issue you described (thankfully!), but aligning pipes correctly turned out to be trickier than anticipated. After a weekend spent wrestling with fittings and multiple trips to the hardware store, I got it sorted out.
You're completely right about double-checking everything beforehand—especially water pressure. It's one of those details that seems minor until suddenly it's not. Good on you for sticking with it and figuring out the regulator valve installation yourself; that's no small feat. DIY plumbing can be intimidating, but once you've tackled something like that, future projects start feeling a bit more manageable.
Hopefully OP's project goes smoother, but either way, these mishaps always make for great stories later on... after everything has dried out, of course.
