Perhaps a Ghost

 


Not sure what is going on in our house but it hasn't been enjoyable. A couple weeks before our vacation, I went into the hall bathroom that our daughters use for something and noticed a puddle of water near the toilet. I cleaned it up and flushed the toilet a few times and it never came back so I chalked it up as somebody spilling water from the sink. A few weeks go by and then it happens again.  I repeat cleaning it up and flushing the toilet several times without nary a drop of water coming out and again chalk it up as something else happening. But the very next day my wife uses it and water came out from underneath immediately after she flushed so I finally admitted to myself that I was going to have to yank the toilet. However it was a national holiday followed by a Sunday and so I just put an out of order sign written on blue painters tape adhered to the lid and put it off for a few days. Fortunately we have two other toilets in the house.

As we were enjoying the fire during the blizzard, my mother-in-law mentioned that the toilet in her bathroom suite has leaked a few weeks ago. So if it happens again, she is now supposed to show me and I will have to pull that one as well.

Then last night, my daughter went to fill her glass with water out of the refrigerator tap and discovered that it wasn't getting any power, less than an hour after I had filled my glass from it. I went downstairs and found out that the breaker and two others had been apparently tripped and when I flipped them back on, power was immediately restored. I'm not sure what caused those breakers to trip and why now after nearly a decade of never having that happen. Ghosts perhaps?

So today before writing this, I spent my morning yanking the first toilet and putting in a new wax seal. When I had redone the bathroom years before, I had put in a new synthetic gasket and it had worked well until I guess it didn't anymore. I think the problem was that when I removed the toilet years ago during the remodel process, I had discovered the toilet flange was stripped out and so put a reinforcement ring on it to fix it. The reinforcement ring is two pieces and while a wax ring might have sealed the inconsistencies between the two pieces, the rubber and foam waxless seal didn't, at least not for as long as a wax ring will hopefully seal it. That is my hope anyway. It is now back in place and after several flushes, no leaks. I have taken a hot shower and scoured my body with a brillo pad but still feel unclean after wrestling with a toilet all morning. But I know from experience, the feeling goes away with time... and perhaps another shower or two. 

Now if I can rid my mind of the thought of having to do it again soon with the mother-in-law suite toilet...

Comments

  1. The joys of plumbing. But the guys who do it for a living do not languish in poverty.

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    1. They also can’t be a somewhat germaphobe like me.

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  2. Ed, toilets with their running and potential leaking are endless sources of joy for the homeowner.

    Our plumber is a super nice and engaging guy. Worth every penny we have paid him over the years.

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    1. I have hired a plumber off and on over the years and have never found one I would consider nice or engaging. If I had someone like that in my contacts, I would certainly pay to farm it out.

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  3. Ed, I winced when I saw that photo of the wax ring; I knew what was coming! I hope you didn't scrub yourself raw and I apologize for the chuckle at the mention of your MIL's toilet next. Also, I'm impressed how you handle all this stuff on your own!

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    1. It was a choice we made many years back when after years of focusing on my career, we decided to switch rolls and let my wife focus on her career. As a result, I pay for my keep so to speak by trying to be handy around the house.

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  4. Germaphobe? There's no need to fear Germans any more Ed. They have learnt from the mistakes of the past. Time to move on. Your practical skills make me feel inferior once again so thanks a lot for that!

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    1. I guess I'm not so much of a germaphobe to scare away my German friends, all two of them.

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  5. Sometimes it's best not to think about something too closely. Hopefully that toilet is in good shape now.

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    1. It is now but there is more to the tale that waits for another day.

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  6. I've had to repair a couple of toilets. I'd rather do it myself than hire someone else.

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    1. It is definitely much faster to do it yourself versus wait a week for someone to show up.

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  7. Good grief. When it rains it pours. Hopefully, you've got all that behind you now, for a good long time!

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    1. I didn’t and saved that story for another post.

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  8. OUCH! Now you've got me worried. A few weeks ago I saw some water at the base of the toilet too, but we figured it must be spillage from the bucket of water that Art throws in from the night before. He saves the cold water that comes out before it's warm enough for the shower. Anyway, it doesn't happen consistently so I don't know what's going on with the toilet. I wish you were our neighbor so we could always get advice from you.

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    1. My advice is to just keep an eye on it for awhile. Nice thing about failed waxed rings is that they rarely cause a lot of damage when they break unlike say the fill line to the toilet.

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  9. Plumbing is a REALLY crappy job. My husband hated pulling toilets, like he had to do when one of our daughters put a pencil down it. As you know, the words Wax Ring are painful for me as well.

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    1. We have three toilets and I've pulled them all once while remodeling the bathrooms. I pulled one an additional time when the "ring" the previous owners created with about two tubes of caulking between the tank and the bowl failed in a spectacular way and I had to install a new toilet. Now two more times for this one so I've pulled them six times in ten years, an average I would like to lower dramatically!

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  10. Ugh. The grossest job in the world is replacing toilets. When that water splashes (and no matter how careful you are, it seems to) I just want to vomit.

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    1. I use sponges to get every drop of water out first but it is still a gross job.

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  11. The women in your life appreciate your handywork. We are good at acting like damsels in distress when it involves dirty stuff.

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    1. They all seem pretty cavalier when I tell them I have to pull the toilet again. I don't think any of them has even watched me at all to grasp what a terrible job it is.

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