I Can Haz Skillz
The whole thing began with me deciding to replace the towel rack in the kids bathroom.
Well, I have to admit that the towel rack really did need it: the thing was made of wood, had cracked in a couple of places, and was loose on one end that defied even my replacement of the screw holding it with a good anchor. My mom had given me a couple of towel racks --still in packaging-- that she'd bought and ended up never using, so I thought I could use one of them.
When I got upstairs and compared sizes, I realized that the racks my mom had given me were 18", not a true replacement size of 24". It began to look like I'd have to go buy one myself from Home Depot.
I turned my attention to anything else in the bathroom that needed fixing. Hell, if I was going to fix this, I might as well fix a few other things and save myself a trip later.
Like the toilet.
It has been flushing poorly for a while, and I'd replaced everything else except the flush valve. The flush valve was one of those pains in the neck that was centered on the exit itself --no flapper valve this-- so I would have to take off the fill tank to remove the valve.
In retrospect, I'm glad I did that rather than simply go out and buy the replacement fill valve, because one of the bolts in the rear of the fill tank was rusted shut.
Did I mention the toilet is 29 years old?
At that point, I decided the best thing to do --and the thing that would take the least amount of time-- was to simply replace the whole damn thing.
Then I discovered one of the two bolts holding the toilet to the floor was frozen and wouldn't budge.
After beating the thing all to hell with a Dremel tool, I finally got that bolt out and removed the toilet. That thing was heavy, so heavy my back protested. I managed to get it into the tub so that any water leaking out of the bottom would have a place to go, popped some ibuprofen, and rounded up the kids to go to Home Depot.
Surely, I thought, the newer toilet wouldn't weigh as much; the old one was a 3.3 gallon flusher, and the new ones are 1.28 gallon models.
Boy was I surprised.
I tried to lift the box holding the model we'd selected and couldn't do it. I then called a friend, who met me and the kids at Home Depot and who helped me get the thing onto a cart, into the van, and then up the stairs. We then moved the old toilet down the stairs and into the garage, where I assume my wife will be shocked to find it when she gets home tonight from work. A couple of hours later and after some fussing over just what the hell "do not over tighten" actually meant, and the toilet is installed.
Oh, and the towel rack, the thing that started it all? I replaced it with a double towel rack, which should do the job for a house with five people in it.
If you'll excuse me, I think the ibuprofen is wearing off. Time for another dose.
Well, I have to admit that the towel rack really did need it: the thing was made of wood, had cracked in a couple of places, and was loose on one end that defied even my replacement of the screw holding it with a good anchor. My mom had given me a couple of towel racks --still in packaging-- that she'd bought and ended up never using, so I thought I could use one of them.
When I got upstairs and compared sizes, I realized that the racks my mom had given me were 18", not a true replacement size of 24". It began to look like I'd have to go buy one myself from Home Depot.
I turned my attention to anything else in the bathroom that needed fixing. Hell, if I was going to fix this, I might as well fix a few other things and save myself a trip later.
Like the toilet.
It has been flushing poorly for a while, and I'd replaced everything else except the flush valve. The flush valve was one of those pains in the neck that was centered on the exit itself --no flapper valve this-- so I would have to take off the fill tank to remove the valve.
In retrospect, I'm glad I did that rather than simply go out and buy the replacement fill valve, because one of the bolts in the rear of the fill tank was rusted shut.
Did I mention the toilet is 29 years old?
At that point, I decided the best thing to do --and the thing that would take the least amount of time-- was to simply replace the whole damn thing.
Then I discovered one of the two bolts holding the toilet to the floor was frozen and wouldn't budge.
After beating the thing all to hell with a Dremel tool, I finally got that bolt out and removed the toilet. That thing was heavy, so heavy my back protested. I managed to get it into the tub so that any water leaking out of the bottom would have a place to go, popped some ibuprofen, and rounded up the kids to go to Home Depot.
Surely, I thought, the newer toilet wouldn't weigh as much; the old one was a 3.3 gallon flusher, and the new ones are 1.28 gallon models.
Boy was I surprised.
I tried to lift the box holding the model we'd selected and couldn't do it. I then called a friend, who met me and the kids at Home Depot and who helped me get the thing onto a cart, into the van, and then up the stairs. We then moved the old toilet down the stairs and into the garage, where I assume my wife will be shocked to find it when she gets home tonight from work. A couple of hours later and after some fussing over just what the hell "do not over tighten" actually meant, and the toilet is installed.
Oh, and the towel rack, the thing that started it all? I replaced it with a double towel rack, which should do the job for a house with five people in it.
If you'll excuse me, I think the ibuprofen is wearing off. Time for another dose.