Saturday, December 5, 2009

New toilet!

After some big hints and a little nagging, Austin has replaced the 60-year-old pink toilet in the master bathroom. Besides having a very uncomfortable wooden seat and a weak flush that required plunging a couple times a week, the $5 flapper fix didn't quite work out and resulted in the user having to remove the tank lid and manually push the flapper down after flushing. Plus it didn't seal tight, so water would run in the tank every 30-45 minutes. So it was time.

Of course, as with any home improvement project, it wasn't without some hiccups. The back of the new toilet ran into the radiator, so Austin had to slightly bend the radiator cover to get it in place. Then at 10:30pm on a Friday night he discovered the supply line was a 1/2 inch too short, and he hadn't been able to get the water all the way turned off. A quick run to Wal-mart turned up empty, but luckily he had an extra dishwasher line that was the same size and could be temporarily run into the sink until the hardware store opened in the morning. While putting everything away we discovered all the water had been leaking through the floor and dripping into the basement during the replacement and a minor flood had started. Thankfully, I had just moved a bunch of boxes of books to the other end of the basement that afternoon. Except for a chair cushion that easily dried out, nothing else important got wet. Whew!

Anyway, here are the before and after pictures. The new toilet seat leaves much to be desired, but that can be easily remedied with another trip to Home Depot. The important thing is that it flushes like a dream and uses a fraction of the water. Yay again for handy husbands!

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