Friday, October 17, 2014

oh the joy of home ownership and...yup, the selfie


I woke up yesterday morning to find that the rug in the little bathroom was wet. As was the floor around the toilet.

great

Turned off the water to the toilet, took the rug outside, got a towel and wiped up all the water which kept seeping up from beneath the linoleum tiles and from the bottom of the wall. Eventually got it all dry and stuffed another towel around the baseboard and went about my business waiting to see if more water appeared since I wasn't sure if it was really the toilet leaking or we had a leaky pipe in the wall.

and then I promptly forgot about it

Fast forward to evening when I checked on the towel which was wetter. Not a good sign.

I worried about that all night envisioning having to tear out the wall to get to the leaky pipe. Just what we need. I finally got up a little after six and checked on the little bathroom. The towel was soaking wet and there was water standing on the floor and I could hear a drip drip drip. Checked the toilet and both the bowl and the tank were full.

shit crap damn fuck

Went and got towel number three and while I was wiping up the water I noticed that the base of the toilet had water on it which struck me as an anomaly if the leak was in the wall. Then I noticed that there was a trail of water from the handle on the tank downwards and that was the dripping I heard. Looked at the water level in the tank again and it was up to the handle so I removed enough water from the tank for it to be at it's proper height. No more dripping water noise.

well, that's encouraging

I've been checking on it about every hour or so, wiping up the water that is still seeping up from under the tiles. I went in a minute ago and the towel was wet and water was starting to accumulate on the floor.

shit crap damn fuck

Looked at the handle and once again, water was dripping out. Remember, I turned the water to the toilet off yesterday morning and now the water level has increased back up to the handle.

OK, maybe not so bad

So now I have emptied the toilet bowl and tank, I'm on my fourth towel, and I'm waiting to see if the tank fills up because either I didn't crank the valve off hard enough or the valve is faulty and for sure the innards are faulty since the water level is not supposed to get so high it leaks out the handle.


Of course, it still could be a leaky pipe in the wall.



15 comments:

  1. hoping it's only the stupid toilet. i hate plumbing trouble.

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  2. You know, life is hard enough without plumbing problems. It seems so simple- a source for water, pipes to transport it where it needs to go, some relatively simple technology to make it available when and where we want it and safely confined when it is not needed.
    And yet...
    May it be an easy fix. Said Pollyanna.

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  3. Ugh! We have a leak around the toilet, but it's always the same issue - I have one of those Kaboom contraptions that keeps the toilet bowl clean & every now & then the cap on it gets loose. I just have to remember to check it once a week or so. It's worth the hassle because I HATE to clean the toilet & it does work :)

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  4. You use my favorite phrase.....
    That is my go to when something $$$$$$ losing comes down the road to meet me. I am so sorry about the toilet. Right after we moved into my Father's house I noticed the floor was a little spongy around the toilet. Not good. $2000.00 and a lot of our shared phrase later. Our leak had been going on for years and years. Good thing you caught it.

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  5. I would have replaced everything, but hate it when nothing shows.

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  6. I haven't lived in an apartment for 40 years, but it's time like yours when I wish I could call the Super. We should all have someone who lives in the basement and magically appears when these mysterious things happen to our homes.

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  7. At least your head wasn't IN the toilet...

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  8. Good luck to you. I would try adjusting...never mind, you have tried all that.

    May it be a small thing.

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  9. I hate having to diagnose this kind of stuff without a PhD in house mechanics.

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  10. Call the plumber after hours of your time in trying to get the problem solved. You do not want mold problems.

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  11. There should be a way to set the float level so that the tank won't overfill.

    As for the wall valve, those things are crap. I've even thought about using a regular faucet for a wall valve so I'll have something I can depend upon.

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  12. Oh dear.
    Yes, that’s mild, I know, and I don’t use it much when a stronger phrase will do.

    We had our leaking troubles just the other day. Luckily, they were easily dealt with but we await the plumbers’ bill with a slightly nervous stomach all the same.

    Good luck. Don’t leave it too long. I find that when I don’t repair - or have a problem repaired quickly - the bill tends to get bigger.

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  13. Argh! Nothing like a toilet misbehaving. Never a good thing!

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.