I still hate plumbing!

[jmowreader]

The damn drain system is better than it was. Not perfect, but after lots and lots of snaking, augering, etc., water eventually goes down which is more than I could say a few days ago. We just got in a chemical called Main Line Cleaner, which should deal with the problem.

Next problem. The toilet was leaking around the base, so I went to the store and bought the "Toilet Seal Kit with Bolts." Four bucks and you get one wax washer with a urethane fitting on it, and a bolt set. You need the bolt set. Trust me on this.

I drained the toilet. Unhooked the supply line, and removed the tank from the bowl. I attempted to undo the first bolt with a wrench, but after a few minutes of very foul language gave up and tried vise-grips. Sheared the bolt right off. No problem, sez I, that was gonna happen and I'm prepared.

Next I gotta clean off the old wax. Chisels are your friends. A few minutes of scraping and shoving and the new bolts are in place.

I really tried sticking the wax washer to the toilet like the book says, but it kept falling off, so I just put the washer on the floor flange and guided the toilet down onto it. A little sittin' and squishin' and we're in business.

Now for the nuts. I started to tighten the nuts down but it turns out the base of my toilet was cracked, and when I put a little tension on it part of the base broke off. Crisis time? Maybe...then I looked at it closer, figured out that it wasn't going to leak, and removed the nuts. I went to the toolshed and got my Sika construction sealant. This is an epoxy; when they showed us this at the Charleston lumber roadshow, they glued a handle to a concrete block and picked up the block with it 25 minutes later. Perfect product for this application. Yeah, it stinks to high heaven but it's better than buying a new toilet. I glued the toilet back together, gave it an hour to cure, and torqued down the nuts. Perfect.

I put the water back in, hit "flush," and was greeted by a dry floor. No leaks at all.

But I still hate plumbing.

[pagerbear]

1. You da man!

I'd have been on the phone with the yellow pages in my hands long before even considering doing any of that!

[yorgatron]

2. my dad used to say "you only need to know 2 things to be a plumber"

"shit flows downhill,and payday's friday" i've since learned there's a lt more to it than that...

[Book Lover]

3. What about

Hot's on the left?