hear me roar. However, roar all you want, it doesn’t make you a plumber…
Upstairs toilet - POS plastic chain inside the tank snapped off… The downstairs toilet got jealous of the potential attention for the upstairs and decided to start running. So, off to the hardware store.
Walk in and was quickly directed to the “toilet tank guts” section. Locate a new flapper with a METAL chain for upstairs. Inquire as to what to do about the downstairs issue.
“Ah, worn washers.”
*blank stare* *blink, blink* “Um, how do I take care of that?”
He told me how to take it apart, and what part to bring back in so they can find the right replacement. Of course those are not standardized, so trying to just blindly pick one is a bad idea. Once upstairs toilet is done and working, I will take apart the downstairs one and go back tomorrow with the pieces.
He also reminds me to shut off the water before taking things apart. Some may be offended by being given such basic instructions, but hey, I know I do look that stupid, LOL. (I am smart enough to know better than to try and have both taken apart at once, though.)
Well, I get home, replace POS part with good part, and sonofabitch internal shutoff valve/washer/whatever goes out on the upstairs toilet. (However, the part I did replace works wonderfully.) Now, the guts on this one were from one of those kits, so I guess I just get one of those and just replace that whole section. Hope the guy at the hardware store can explain how to do that…
So, I still have one busted toilet upstairs, one wasting water downstairs, and two more trips to the hardware store ahead of me. Upside is that it is just down the street from little bro’s house, where I have to be at some point every day anyhow.
