"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
8 January 2004First official home repairOne of those talk-show guys is fond of saying, "If you have a home, you have home repairs." This is, of course, not something I want to think about, but if I'm to avoid being at the mercy of some guy in a battered pickup truck, I need to be able to do some of the simpler tasks myself. Problem: Extremely loose toilet handle — requires jiggling in any position and for any function. Solution: Replace handle/actuator lever. (Float valve was judged to be working correctly.) Tool used: Vise-Grip™, to remove old (and somewhat grungy) apparatus. Time to fix: 6 minutes, not counting trip to Home Depot. Cost: $4.28. I feel better already. Okay, this isn't exactly retrieving the Beagle 2, but frankly, I'd rather not face something incredibly serious just yet. Posted at 8:49 PM to SurlywoodTrackBack: 12:48 AM, 9 January 2004 » T and U from swirlspice A double dose of the Letter of the Day. Toilet Talk at Tenth Muse. Joelle poses a question. Technorati. In case you haven't already looked at it, it's got some nifty info about the world of blogging. Good for both......[read more] I have some experience in replacing toilet tank guts, but the idea of replacing an entire, er, unit fills me with dread. We all have our frontiers. Posted by: McGehee at 6:05 AM on 9 January 2004Two words: wax seal. Posted by: CGHill at 7:20 AM on 9 January 2004Two words: wax seal. Been there and done that . . while he was at it he also replaced most of the "innards" of the stool. My first official repair was a biggie. I was doing laundry and ironing and had both machines going and was nabbing things out of the dryer one at a time to iron them (as needed). Suddenly there was a strange noise and then a geyser of hot water coming from behind the washer. I couldn't get back there to turn it off because it was so hot. I ran out front and shut off the main valve. By this time the laundry area and dining area were both an inch deep and it was creeping quickly towards a carpeted area. I did a pretty good job of containing it and then called a friend and simply said "help" and he came a runnin' :) Went to Home Depot and got me new supposedly unburstable fill hoses while I finished mopping the floor. Once we got those on the washer wouldn't start back up because apparently something had gotten wet that wasn't supposed to. He fixed that too and I was back in business. I was =so= glad I was there for that one! Just imagine if it had happened when I was gone! :( whoo hoo! congrats, and post up some pictures of your victory over entropy if you get a chance. Posted by: rammer at 11:43 PM on 10 January 2004Just what the world needs: photos of a toilet tank. Of the inside of a toilet tank, at that. This particular throne is probably happier than it's been in a while, though; the previous owner had stuffed, not one, but two, bricks into the tank, presumably in the interest of saving water. Unfortunately, the bricks were not wrapped or anything, and were starting to crumble around the edges, which did not augur well for the future of the plumbing, which is why my first official act upon taking command was to toss the bricks into the yard. bricks into the tank Reminds me of a story.... When we lived in Florida, water rationing was ordered due to a drought. Some time later a news stations was interviewing a county official about steps people could take to save water. He mentioned the "bricks in the tank" trick but then added: "Unfortunately, some people don't know the difference between the tank and the bowl." |