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Fill `Er Up!

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I am living proof that nothing ever goes as easily as it should.

The toilet in my bathroom is ancient.  It’s probably the original toilet from when the bathroom was put in over 100 years ago.  This is a good thing; it has a large tank and this means there are very rarely any issues with it doing its job.  Understanding that this means a bigger water usage, for many years YA and kept a full bottle of water sitting inside the tank to take up space  – this ended when I realized the rust from the bottle’s lid was causing problem.  These days we use other water-saving methods.  You’ll have to use your imagination for this.

In the 30 years that I’ve owned my house, I have been able to fix any toilet issues since most of them have to do with simply replacing parts of the flush assembly.  In fact at any given time I have an extra tank ball in waiting:

But it never fails that any time I mess with the toilet, it takes longer than I think it should. And then there’s the proverbial additional trip to the hardware store.  Before the holidays, the telltale signs that the tank ball was nearing the end of its life began to happen.  As I was considering when I should deal with it, the small metal hook that holds the tank ball to the toilet arm suddenly failed – first time ever.  Since it just straight up broke, I had to purchase a new generic kit and fashion a new hook.  Easy peasy, right?  But the tank kept having trouble filling, so at that point, I replaced the tank ball, which had been sitting on the counter, as I had been intending.  But that didn’t fix it. 

So the Sunday morning after Christmas, I decided to tackle it again.  After watching the various mechanisms through several cycles, I decided that I had fashioned the hook to be too big and it was pulling against the tank ball.  So I made it smaller.  This turned out to be exactly the wrong thing to do.  A bit more internet research uncovered that I should have made it longer, not shorter.  Of course, another trip to the hardware store.  Everything seemed fine for a day or two and then trouble again.  As I was peppering the toilet with salty language, YA poked her head in.  It was then that she mentioned that she had replaced the tank ball the week before.  So when I made my replacement, I had used the older version that she had left on the counter.  Sigh.  It’s been over a week and all seems well.  But I’m still wondering why it’s never as easy as it should be?

Do you have something that needs repeated fixing?

34 thoughts on “Fill `Er Up!”

  1. My Civilization 6 game is buggy. I’m getting error messages that require complete exiting the game. Fortunately, it’s not necessary to start completely over but losing progress on a game turn is annoying.

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  4. The most annoying is that this almost 100-year-old basement has walls of – is it sandstone? – that shed the sand, and it seems like it is in constant need of vacuuming around the edges. Of course, the edges are where you keep the shelving that holds everything, and so those mostly have cloth covers that also hold the sand. Sigh.

    Not a recurring, but (hopefully) one-time glitch – electricity for counter to the right of the sink stopped working last night – only that corner and the circuit breaker showed no problem. Removed the “6-pack” multiple plug that was blocking the plastic wall plate, and finally realized it has a set and re-set button that somehow got tripped. Phew!

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    1. We found in our re-wired kitchen that those new plugs have sensitive set and reset buttons. It gets irritating, but then it prevents electrical fires which are a different level of problem entirely.

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      2. It probably wouldn’t inhibit the interruptor, but it would encourage one to overload the circuit and that would be a problem in itself, especially since many kitchen appliances are high wattage.
        Ground fault interrupters are designed to sense when the current flowing into an appliance does not match the current returning to the ground, indicating a leak somewhere. They’re not the same as a circuit breaker, which limits the load on a circuit.. The fact that the GFI tripped could indicate that one of the appliances plugged into that multiple outlet has a faulty ground.

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  5. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    Most of the chronic repairs at our house occurred in the kitchen, so the major remodel last year got those in one sweep, thank goodness. Now the bathroom needs a new paint job–very shabby in there, as does the entire basement with our family room, guest room, bathroom, studio and office area. The ceiling of that bathroom will require permanent repairs because we repeatedly have done small fixes that worked in the short term, but are now falling apart.

    And then there is my right hip, which requires fixes of physical therapy and cortisone shots while I prepare for a hip replacement. I am looking forward to my career as the Bionic Woman.

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  6. Why does Pippin frequently have colitis? This dog simply has colitis every 3 or 4 weeks. He does like to eat things he shouldn’t but I watch him like a hawk and I like to think I catch everything he shouldn’t swallow before it happens. He’s got it again this morning. It means he wakes me up at whatever time his tummy starts rumbling and becomes agitated until I get out of bed and take him outside. It’s quite a bit of doing at 3 A.M. in winter. When this begins, I hold his food for 12 hours from the last episode, steam some white rice without any butter or oil or flavoring, then start with a tablespoon at a time of white rice. If that goes well for a few hours and he seems hungry, I mix a little of his prescription canned dog food with the rice and try that. Gradually I begin mixing in his solid food, canned food, rice and some warm water. This menu lasts a few days. Then he returns to normal and the cycle begins a few weeks later. He’s 12 years old but his breed can have a long healthy life. His bouts with colitis are having the effect of making me old.

    The recurring mechanical problem I have is my older washing machine goes off balance quite a bit and I’ve had to have a repairman fix the agitator a couple of times. I don’t use fabric softeners but the person who lived here before me did. The residue of the fabric softener inside the agitator part is really a disgusting sight. You’ll never use fabric softener again if you see it.

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    1. From what I can tell, toilet tanks started to be lowered at the beginning of the twentieth century. Of course that left many high-tank ones in place for decades thereafter. It appears that there is currently a minor vogue for toilets with a high tank being installed. Promoters describe them as quaint and novel and suggest they may add value to a home. Unlikely, if you ask me.

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  8. Morning-
    Any type of plumbing problem makes me nervous. With a lot of repairs, something going wrong isn’t serious. But plumbing…it’s always another trip to the hardware store and the risk of leakage and turning off the water and and and… I freak myself out before I even start!

    Last summer I fixed the lawnmower, then had to fix it again. And again. And again. I think it took me 4 tries before I figured out what was going on.
    The ice maker on the fridge works mostly. But sometimes it doesn’t. And I open the door and wiggle my finger in the sensor and turn it on and off a few times. Then it works again for a while.

    I don’t like things being temperamental like that. So I probably replace or fix if I can.
    Lately, I feel like I’m fighting technology more than I should have too.

    VS, nice that YA fixed it… she could have mentioned that too you.

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  9. VS, it sounds like you experienced my “Rule of Sevens” with your plumbing problem. The Rule of Seven states that any home repair project done by the non-pro homeowner will either take seven times longer than expected or cost seven times more than originally anticipated. I think your toilet adventure qualifies under the “time” factor.

    I codified this rule when it took me about seven hours to remove an old garbage disposal and replace it with a new one. I figured I’d need an hour or so based on my limited plumbing skills and ignorance about disposals.

    Everything went smoothly until I tried to connect the new disposal to the drain. Try as I might, it always came up a fraction short of fitting into the locking mechanism–one of those push-it-in, turn until it clicks into place deals. After hours searching the internet, checking O-rings, and reading and rereading the directions, my wife and I finally figured out that we had put one of the round parts that form the connection in upside down. I flipped it over, tried again, and the new disposal clicked into place. *Grrrrrrrrrrrr*

    Happy Hour started immediately after checking that the disposal didn’t leak. I’m sure I had at least one extra cocktail that day.

    I have many other Rule of Seven stories, but I’d rather forget them. That’s why we almost always hire someone to do repairs, even if it seems easy and cheap to do. Those guys rarely screw up and it’s worth the peace of mind and no aggravation.

    Chris in O-town

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    1. Well I spent $15 on my little adventure so much less expensive than a plumber. However I’m sure the plumber could’ve fixed it in about two minutes so in that case I’m probably 15 times over time wise.

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  10. Our apartment building got a grant to put in all led bulbs. They last only a fraction of the claimed life, especially in ceiling dome lights. Ceilings are 9.5 feet high. So have to call building maintenance man. Great guy but they bought three other buildings here and are overloading him. Since they bought those buildings they have loans to pay off. Which we renters get to do. Rent went up 7%. We have to give them 60 days notice to leave. Got notice of increase 61 days before lease expires on a Holiday. My sons rent in Boise went up 24%.

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  12. Well, Baboons, it is -42° windchill here tonight. One or more of our van tires has lost air due to the cold, so the tire function on or van is lighted up. These are new tires. I hate it when this happens, as it is a royal pain to equalize the tire pressure in the cold.

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  14. The strikeplate for the deadbolt on my front door seems to need repositioning from time to time. I suppose the wood door swells a little in the summer and shrinks in the winter, so in warm weather sometimes I have to throw my weight against the door as I’m turning the key so that everything will line up. But I don’t like it to be too loose, because in the wintertime I want the door to be held firmly against the weatherstripping.

    I also have to reattach the door closer hardware and the wind chain more often than I would like.

    Seems like I just replaced that door closer, but it’s off its mooring again. I hate fussing with it in cold weather. I’ll probably just leave it till spring.

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