Wanna See My Plumber’s Crack?
(image found here)
Remember back in the early 80s, the painter pants? Any idea where a girl could get some plumber pants? Oh, that’s right, any low-rise jeans will show my butt-crack quite nicely. Well, get ready to see my ass, world (not a pretty sight, btw), because guess what I did yesterday? I fixed the toilet. That’s right, me. I’m disproportionately proud of myself. Why is my pride disproportionate? Because it was a really simple fix.
The stupid toilet has had a slow leak for a long time now, where the tank drains a bit, then fills, drains, fills, on and on and on, I think about a hundred gallons a day (based on comparisons between our water bill vs. old water bills). We are not very handy people around here. Our idea of handy is to pay someone to fix things for us. Sadly, I’m just not one of those gifted people who can look at something and figure out how it works. Actually, I’m not someone who generally even cares how something works, which is probably a large part of the problem. Usually I put things together incorrectly 2 or 3 times before I realize how they’re supposed to fit together. Sometimes more. Usually, much sweat and swearing is involved. It’s why I have a desk job.
So, when I got frustrated by the never-ending draining of the tank yesterday, I opened it up, and I realized that when I pressed down on the seal, the leak stopped. I realized that something was preventing it from sealing properly. It’s a fairly new piece, so it wasn’t worn. So what was it? Well, the little chain connecting the handle to the seal was just barely too short. Just barely. Every once in awhile, it would pull enough that the seal was broken, and the water was leaking through. So I moved the clip from one little link in that little chain to the very next link, and guess what happened? That’s right…no more draining. No more slow leak. No more wasted water.
Problem solved (so far…I hope…). Yay me!
10 Comments
lilalia
Good for you. It is the feeling of pride you are experiencing that makes handiwork so much fun for others. My father could fix anything from a ships motor to leaky sink. His first present to me when I moved into my own apartment was a tool kit. And gosh, I really was touched with the gesture.
Autumn's Mom
I guess the lesson here is to always at least take a look. I used to be more handy than I am now. I’ve gotten lazy in my old age 😉 Yay you!
Kristen
Ohhh – you’ve got to love accomplishments like that! Woo-hoo!
Angie
Hey, I’m impressed! Not sure I’ve even ever taken the lid off the tank before.
Starshine
Yea, you, indeed! I’d be proud, too. I think we’re wired in similar ways.
Linda Atkins
Nice work! (I would be delighted, too, if I figured something like that out.)
M.Green
Thanks to you, I now know how to fix a leaky toilet tank -my Dad isn’t handy at all, yet he would fix things around the house for hours until the job was done!
Ted
And to think we were looking to buy a new toilet … and maybe one with a TV. 😉
Karen MEG
Aw, J, you should have blogged about this sooner… I would have told you about the “missing” link (sorry)… if that’s one thing I cannot stand is the leak… we’ve had two toilets go through similar seal issues and I got so sick of the phantom flushing.
Must admit, the hubs replaced the entire receptacles; I just fine tuned…
Good for you, tho, going into that tank is, uh, mighty intimidating the first time!!
lalunas
Good job, I guess Geni got a full view of the butt crack. I did notice that the style of pants for the new season are set back up to the waist instead of the hip.