May 29, 2015

  • Looking for a Plumber

    I was not ready to come back from vacation. As soon as we unlocked the doors we did what most travelers do after 4 hours in the car on a toll road without any rest stops that were lit or manned - we headed to the bathrooms. That was when we discovered the problems. The upstairs master bath toilet wouldn't flush. Pushing down on the handle did nothing. As I examined the tank innards I saw that the chain that connects the flapper to the metal bar on the handle was off. I fished it out and pulled to flush. The issue was the hole on the metal bar of the handle had rusted through so that the chain had nothing to hold it to the bar. It had 3 holes and all three were now notches. Meanwhile in the downstairs half bath, Sparky was encountering a different problem. The toilet wouldn't flush it just would weakly leak a little water. Sparky examined the inside of the tank. The flapper was no longer attached to the metal piece that went up and down. He was able to lift the flapper to flush the toilet and reattach the flapper to the metal piece. Unfortunately it wouldn't stay attached. My first thought was "Why now and why me?" My second thought was - we need a plumber. I might of said that second thing out loud. Sparky assured me that he could remedy the situation. I was skeptical. It required a trip to the store to purchase replacement parts. Sparky spent several hours making repairs on the toilets and muttering under his breath. We are now back to functional facilities. We aren't sure what went on while we were gone but there was a lot of cleanup to be dealt with (especially in the kitchen! Because we are still trying to catch up, I will leave you with this poem for the May 2015 Scavenger Hunt using the prompt - harp.

    The harp is sweet with dulcet tones
    When plucked with dainty hands
    But shrews are often said to harp
    At men’s poor thought out plans

Comments (20)

  • Too bad we aren't a bit closer; Brett can fix those kinds of problems pretty quickly. One of our toilets was held together with a safety pin for about a year.

    • They are all fixed now. Sparky takes some sort of perverse pride in attempting to DIY plumbing. After success he struts and puffs out his chest. It is almost worth the aggravation to see him so proud of himself...

  • Well I have several plumbers in the family.:) I've heard them muttering too! :D

    • Hehe! Our facility plumber is generally silent but there have been moments of frustration when he has muttered. He tries hard to be very professional so I've never actually been able to make out any words... sounds more like Yosemite Sam - rasafrasadraganab---pipe!

  • I see this all the time. Come home from any trip, and there are things not right in the house. Why is that?

    • I'm blaming it on the sons. We forgot to admonish them not to weigh the washer! (sort of an inside joke)

  • My son's toilet, in our Phoenix house, had to have a part shipped from the manufacturer in Ohio, before the four people who depended on it could make proper use of it.

  • Both at the same time?! Ugh. Glad they're fixed now.

  • I have 3 toilets in my house -- all 3 need flapper treatment!

    • Yikes!! I'm hoping the water bill isn't too high due to the one leaking around the flapper and running for who knows how long while we were gone!! With your water shortage the toilet repair seems imperative!

  • While living in Africa, we had a broken toilet at the worst time. I was 9 months pregnant with our 4th child. We had a family of 6 staying with us. Lucky for us, there were lots of trees around. Finally the mission builder found out the problem. Their toddler (who is now one of our pastors) had dropped his sister's hairbrush in it, and it caught just around the bend. Thankfully, it was removed and the toilet was functioning before our son was born at home.

    • Ha! Why do kids do that?! My nephew flushed anything he could get his hands on - a solo cup, a hand towel, a pacifier (not his), a couple of bath toys... the mystery was solved when he tried to flush a paperback book!

  • Oh no! I would definitely have called the plumber. Mohamed doesn't know the ABCs of plumbing. you are lucky that your husband could take care of the situation.

  • Awww ~ I just hate problems like that ~ they are never timely ~ sigh ~

  • it sounds to me as if you did very well with your repairs... who needs a plumber :) besides they charge from the moment they leave their shop... not just by the job.

    • True but sometimes a problem is one that requires a professional. We were lucky that Sparky was able to get everything functioning again!

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