Ok, so I've got a house built by a good builder who was a bit cheap on the frills and VERY basic on the basics.. as in the one time I had a plumber in for a leak in the upstairs toilet tank (bad gasket) he just shook his head at the brand name and when I asked how bad it was he smiled and said not terribly, just not top of the line. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Well, all along I've not liked the way the downstairs one flushed. You had to hang onto the handle for ages or it stopped abruptly. Then it takes eons to refill and if any of you have the new 'low flow toilets (out there in the US I think many will, but not sure outside the States what the state of Plumbing is!), you know that sometimes you just gotta flush that thing a bit more than once to get it to do what is SHOULD do the first time. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Ack.. don't get me started.. I can rant on the low flow versus 'water wasting' issue for hours.. LOL [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

Ahem.. well where was I? Well, yesterday I got home and utilized the facilities and as is my wont and custom, did in fact push the lever on the tank to cause a flush to occur... only CRACK! the handle snapped off in my hand as I did. [img]graemlins/1disgust.gif[/img]

Oh JOY! I thought... just what I need...and I promptly moved the little cow in a dress (covers the air freshener... ok.. ok..laugh, but it's cute.. and my grandmother made it... [img]smile.gif[/img] ) and the air freshener and took the tank top off, set it down and reached in to pull the lever up and flush manually. Mission accomplished, I put the tank top on and replaces MS. Cow and her freshener, a lovely Apple Spice fragrance, which will become a LIME non-aersol spray soon. So now I go off about my business, posting and reading mail and making dinner......and of course, inevitably, must utilize said facilities once more....and ACK! Darn handle is still broken...take MS Cow off, remove CAT who found his way to back of toilet to direct my actions there, remove air freshener.... ok.. so by now... you got the picture.. and at 2:00 am when I'm half awake...sigh..folks, it AIN'T PURRTY! [img]tongue.gif[/img] ;) [img]graemlins/toilet.gif[/img]

Today my delightfully helpful roomate brought me a present. A "Handle Repair Kit" to play with! Yippee! Calooo! Callay! I promptly run off to do battle.. err repair my toilet handle. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Remove MS Cow, air freshener, [img]graemlins/kitty2.gif[/img] and cover of tank. I get pliers and try to remove washer/nut from bolt on broken piece of handle. Hmmm.. my hand is not quite big enough to do that one-handed, so I have to place the pliers on with two hands and then have no way to hold the broken piece so it won't spin too... [img]tongue.gif[/img] Ok.. call for roomie who then realizes I'm turning the nut the wrong way...duh.. well it IS in backwards, the way the handles go... (I plead acceptable ignorance.. I'm female ! HAHAHAH.. well and no plumber! )

Throughout all this my cat, Merlin, sat in the sink and peered over my shoulder. He was truly fascinated and when I went off for tools he'd hop onto the seat and peer in to be sure no monsters came out. :D

Ok, so NOW we are getting somewhere... the nut is off, the broken part removed and I take the lever off the stopper chain. Now I say chain but it's really a piece of green rubber with little 'teeth' that catch in the lever. I promptly slide the new handle/lever in and put the chain on and ..oops.. can't slide the washer over that.. gotta remove the chain, put washer on... test, shorten the chain, put top on, try again.. ok, now I realize the lever is too long.. instructions say.. get a hacksaw. AAAAAAAAACK! I have't got one! [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] So I used a razorblade/widget and then broke it off.

Put all that back and got the washer tight and voila! I now have a toilet that flushes and much better than it used to!

Anyone wanna fund my plumbers lessons? ;)

Cloudy, putting a notch in her "Homeowner's list of things you never had to do before in your life but do now" belt.

[ 06-15-2002, 10:23 PM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

PS, anyone else got a good Home Repair story? :D

CB

LOL! Merlin kept guard, watching out for any toilet intruders! :D

<font color="#0099cc">Fortunately Cloudy, people are realizing that the low flows are actually causing people to use MORE water than regular ones (due to multiple flush sessions) and are relaxing the regulations. A case where a good idea had no basis in the real world [img]smile.gif[/img] or maybe more of us should be vegan and not eat so much bulk [img]smile.gif[/img] hehehehe what a topic [img]smile.gif[/img] Im planning on making a trip to canada to smuggle some REAL toilets back for my home [img]smile.gif[/img] The kind where you have to not stand too close when you flush them or you may get sucked in [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>

I wish i had a cat that could live in the house but sadly my other cat died. :(

<font color="#0099cc">Cloudy [img]smile.gif[/img] Im seriously glad you lived through your experience with the razor knife [img]smile.gif[/img] A lady friend of mine who is also the industrious home owner sort tried to use it for a similar function and turned a simple home repair job into a 12 stitch finger repair job too [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>

OUCH! Well, I just scored it on both sides then snapped it.

I really hated to call a plumber to do this little job! [img]tongue.gif[/img] I mean paying someone that much an hour to do what took about half an hour for me? Nah! Now, if it had been a leak or something more ominous.. I'd have called that Plumber in an instant!

Maybe I need a hacksaw....LOL :D

<font color="snow">Cloudy, I am right in the middle of a similar story! Anyway our dishwasher is broken really badly, and the man who came to fix it couldnt pull it out to see what was wrong with it because the leaking water had swollen the floorboards beneath it. So now we have a broken diswasher that can't be taken out to fix, cant be used, and I have to clean and dry the dishes for my whole family! :(

Any suggestions anyone?</font>

Oh dare you ask! (Great job with the toilet there btw!!) [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

You do need a hacksaw! Tools are the single gal's friend! (the engaged gal's too...the wife's too lol)
Anyway, here's one of mine...
My house in Tucson was old...really old...and the guy I bought it from was the handyman from hell...caulking and duct tape repaired a lot of stuff that was easy to tear out and replace but when I went to put new tile in the bathroom I noticed (while I was down there taking measurements, and mind you, I'm still new to the house) I noticed that the existing tile felt squishy...pulling up the old tile, the floor (wood over concrete) was pulp...well the wood part anyway. It seemed to be the worse around the sink so I checked everything I could out there and nothing leaked but it was too wet for it to be old.
So I walked into the bedroom behind the bathroom and pulled a big framed mirror off the wall....voila'! A hole in the wall!
Voila again! A pipe in between the two walls!
Oh my freaking goodness...the pipe had been cut and repaired with electrical tape! He must have bee4n out of duct tape lol.
Seems when he installed a new vent into the plumbing, he installed it towards the kitchen and thought he could just cut the old one out.
NOT!
I had to wriggle my arm in between the walls and cut out more pipe with just a hacksaw blade (attached to the saw, it didn't fit into the space) and then found out that the plumbing was so old that there weren't any pipes or PVC that I could use to fix it.
*this is where the light bulb went off* ;)
I measured the pipe and went to the auto-parts store where I found a short radiator hose to a Datsun or a Nissan that would fit it perfectly.
A couple of hose clamps and wrenching my wrist to get them tight enough within the confines of the space between two walls and the leak was stopped.
I tore the whole bathroom out from the ceiling to the floor and rebuilt it...tub out in the yard, toilet and sink out in the trash lol...it took me two months to do it alone and work a full time job at the same time (not to mention daily duties like cooking, eating cleaning, laundry, etc). Lucky for me, I had a good friend 2 doors down who would let us use his bathroom for showers and natures calls.
It was beautiful when I was finished. [img]smile.gif[/img] I kinda miss that place.

[ 06-16-2002, 01:52 AM: Message edited by: Moni ]

Focus a fan on the floor around your dishwasher and turn it on high...the floor should recede as it dries out.
Good Luck with that dishwasher! I know firsthand what pains they can be!!

Cloudy that was one awesome story [img]smile.gif[/img] Linda enjoyed it very much too [img]smile.gif[/img] After all the stress this week we both needed a good laugh. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Moni [img]smile.gif[/img] I have to admit using auto parts to fix the problem was sheer genius [img]smile.gif[/img] Too funny [img]smile.gif[/img]

This thread was right on time [img]smile.gif[/img]

if it happens again, just do your business out of the window :D :D

MagiK beat me to it. New toilets are errrr shit! How does it save water when you have to flush 3 times? Bring back a whole truckload from Canada MagiK!

Cloudy and Moni theres a few things I need fixed around here, if you could swing by I'd be grateful [img]smile.gif[/img]

Focus a fan on the floor around your dishwasher and turn it on high...the floor should recede as it dries out.
Good Luck with that dishwasher! I know firsthand what pains they can be!!</font>[/QUOTE]<font color="snow">I'll suggest that to my parents, I just hope that the feet of the dishwasher aren`t dug into the wet boards now :/</font>

Scholarcs,
If the floor isn't cheap particle board (like the one in my old bathroom was lol) it should be OK...even if the feet have dug into it a little, they can still use a crow bar to lift the front and shorten the (hopefully adjustable!) feet. :D

Earthdog,
I am glad you got a kick out of the story! That mess has to be the worst of all repairs I made while I lived there. [img]smile.gif[/img]

LoA,
What do you pay? ;)

[ 06-16-2002, 07:21 AM: Message edited by: Moni ]

Great story, Moni! I've seen so many old places with similar problems! I lived in one before building this house and we had light switches that didn't work anything.. or at least didn't seem too, pipes that were sealed off, holes in the floor where pipes USED to be... yup, old houses can be LOTS of fun! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Scholarcs, definitely tell your folks to dry out the floor. A heater of some sort aimed at the base of the dishwasher could help, then, as Moni pointed out, try a crowbar! :D

Earthdog! Wonderful! [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img] Maybe I'll tell the one about the 'sump pump from the black depths....' later! LOL, now THAT was a repair that tried my patience!

LoA, what? You'd rather flush ONCE than 3 times per use? Silly male, how efficient...LOL Really, I DO see that we aren't saving much water with the 'low flow' version. As for your chores, hey! Weren't you gonna put a drop ceiling in my basement?! ;)

[ 06-16-2002, 09:23 AM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

Ha! I have full flushers here but resale value on the Canadians toilets.... :D

And Cloudy and Moni, I pay very well for home service! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So now I know I can just import them from your place! [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

Yes a full flushing is available at Big Paulys Place [img]smile.gif[/img] At a mimimum bargain price too! ;)

We live in a house built in 1923 so I can relate to you folks. But the guy next door has a house built in the 19th Century, and HE had a problem. He came out the back door one night to let his little poodle, who was blind, out to do her business. The little dog scampered out - and disappeared. He heard a splash and ran to get a flashlight. This revealed the litttle dog swimming frantically in a LARGE pool of water where his back porch used to be. Turned out that an old cistern that he didn't know was there had collapsed, taking his entire back porch with it. He had to pay for fill and foundation repairs. And a new back porch.

Whoa! So was the dog ok, Attalus? What a way to find a cistern! LOL
Guess I'm glad my house is only 5 yrs old and built on land that was a meadow before it was bought years ago for developing.

Well, they rescued it that night, but it died shortly thereafter (it was old). He decided to redo the whole house, and he is still working on it, about 10 months, I guess. Poor guy, I feel sorry for him.

LOL, it absolutely cracks me up that you guys think that's old ;)
A lot of the housing in London is late 19th century - we consider that modern ;) and most of the remaining housing is 1920s or '30s Now if I was living in a 17th century cottage, that would be quite old [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I'll have you know the house I live in is over 20 years old! [img]tongue.gif[/img] Errr oh yea you knew that. But I have a pool here! Anyone can come by and swim all they want! Isnt that right Epona? ;)

Erm yeah, great pool Pauly - is that on Moni & Cloudy's repairs list? ;) How in the heck did it get in that state anyway?

i know, Epona, I know. Once, in London, I was talking to a pharmacist and I mentioned that in my town in Texas, we have the longest consecutively run pharmacy in the state, and he took me outside to show me the cornerstone of his building, and it read "1726." I guess that they made houses better back then. But, my point wasn't that my house was that old, just needed some repairs. And, I suspect that you would be as appalled at finding your back porch replaced by a pool of black water.

Oh of course! It would be awful! I wasn't trying to detract at all from the seriousness of that incident [img]smile.gif[/img] My apartment was built in 1975 and had a leaking roof recently, I can appreciate how it feels!
Most of the houses in London need work doing to them, I'm probably gonna be buying a victorian house soon. I have been in some that are lopsided due to structural problems like a crazy house at a fair (obviously I won't buy one like that!)

[ 06-16-2002, 07:42 PM: Message edited by: Epona ]

You wouldnt buy a crazy house Epona?????? Whats wrong with you? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

On another note about how 'old' things are relatively, I used to have a Canadian flatmate. She had some friends come over from Canada, and I took them all to the Museum of London (visit it if you're ever over here, it's great!).

On the way, we went past part of the old city walls. I pointed out to the guests which parts were 'old' and which were 'modern' because there had been some reconstruction. My flatmate turned to me and said 'Look Laura, you'll have to explain what you mean by old and modern because to us, 100 years ago is old'. We all had a good laugh when I explained that the old parts were Roman (1st century AD) and the 'modern' parts were 17th Century.

LOL, well I can see the attraction - your furniture sliding down toward one wall etc. Perhaps if I got one I could open it up for paid tours, maybe that would help me pay the mortgage [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

Ah, Victorian. I once lived in a little town to the south of here that boasts a huge number of houses built during Victoria's reign. 186, which doesn't sound like a lot, but there are only 17,000 people living there. The "town sport" is renovating these, and some real "gingerbread carpentry" do some of them have. Two of my friends lived in one, and they were so "period" that they wouldn't install central heat or air. I recall the man answering the door in December in a coat and hat.

Yea but think of the sex partys you could have in a crazy house!

Don't put ideas into my head ;) [img]tongue.gif[/img]

<font color="snow">Well we finally got ours out! And the guy did use a crobar or some kind of lever, thanks for the help Moni and Cloudy ;) Now we just need to get the floorboards repaired and the dishwasher fixed [img]tongue.gif[/img] </font>

[img]graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]
YAY!!!!! That's great news!
I hope it gets fixed soon so you can say "Dishpan Hands Begone!" :D
(I still wash pots, pans and plastics in the sink but it sure beats having to wash and dry everything by hand!) [img]smile.gif[/img]
I am happy your troubles are soon to end. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

<font color="snow">aww gee thanks, I would die if I had to do any more dishes ;) </font>

LOL Yes they can if you look at them the right way ;) [img]smile.gif[/img]

Similar problems...lol...yeah that one was a doozy! Not only was the hole in the bedroom wall 8 inches away from the pipe but the cut he had made in the pipe had left it so jagged and butchered it was unreal! I wonder if he actually believed that the electrical tape would work? LOL

In that same house, I called the phone company out to put new wiring in and asked the guy while he was there if he'd remove a jack from one wall that I knew I'd never use.
I heard him chuckle a few seconds after he started...right before he told me "Well you could have done this yourself!"
"No I couldn't have." I told him, "I might have gotten zapped."
He laughed and pointed at the wall while he repeated himself "No, you could have done this yourself!"
I looked to see what he was talking about and the darned jack had just been screwed into the wall! Just the jack! No phone lines anywhere near it! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
I guess the guy didn't have any place to put it?! [img]graemlins/1dizzy.gif[/img]
[img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

Interesting insight into your life Cloudy - thank you for sharing.

the flush system in the US is very different from the UK. There is something disgustingly mesmeric about watching the contents of your toilet go round, and round and round before disappearing down the hole. [img]smile.gif[/img] In the UK the water just rushes in and makes everything disappear, perhaps that uses more water.

Wors toilet experience is in Crete. The toilet paper doesn't go into the bowl because it would clog the pipes. It goes into a container by the toilet.

That freaked me out the first time I went to Greece. Seems completely bizarre to me, but then Greeks probably think a lot of the stuff we do is weird. Nothing to do with toilets, but I remember waiting on a jetty for a ferry for 3 hours. I was thinking 'it's late, where the ■■■■ is the ferry?' but everyone else was just completely calm about it. The ferry turned up eventually, what more could you want? Compare that to the scenes at Waterloo station if the 17:32 fast train to Portsmouth Harbour doesn't leave until 17:33.

Oh and I noticed the US/UK difference in flushing. Another strange one. [img]graemlins/saywhat.gif[/img]

In my first house, we had a toilet with the tank way up on the wall, about eye level. That thing flushed more completely and used less water than any I've had, since.