So, this morning I get up, use the toilet, flush it, and as I’m shaving, feel water lapping at my feet. And this isn’t the first time this toilet overflowed, but it was going to be the last.
After church, I decide to tackle my plumbing project. First thing- pull the toilet and see what’s under there. Turn off the water, drain the toilet, loosen the bolts, try to lift the toilet. It won’t budge. Try again, harder. Still won’t budge. Try rocking it, nothing. So I stand alongside it and try to give a couple of kicks to break it free.( should I mention again that I hate plumbing, and by now I’m getting kinda mad?) First a couple of gentle kicks. Then I kick it, AND BREAK THE FRIGGIN’ BOWL. So, after a short break, I take a hammer to the rest of it, get everything cleaned up, when I realize that the plumber glued it down with phenoseal. I hate that stuff almost as much as plumbing.
Now I have to replace several tiles that came up with the toilet, set the new toilet, and reconnect the water. But, I’m going away for a couple of days for work. So my DW is going to have to use the toilet in the other bathroom for a couple of days. I’ll deal with it when I get home Weds.
One of these days I’ll learn to leave plumbing projects alone.
Replies
Shep,
I really relate to toilet problems like that.
For reasons I won't get into a plastic medicine bottle got flushed down the toilet and it was lodged in the gooseneck part. I went to remove the toilet, only to do exactly what you did! The toilet hadn't been removed in about 50 years and I assumed that it was just caked with hardened plumbers putty (tha't's what it looked like).
Unfortunately the house was a rental. And the owners would most definitely recognize a new toilet. Fortunately, however, I worked as a carpenter in that neighborhood (it was a planned community about 50 years old and almost all the houses used the same appliances). I just waited until it was time for us to take out an old toilet (we did a lot of bathrooms) and took the old toilet with me and installed it in place of the one I broke.
All worked out in the end!
Good luck!
Tim
LOL..Reminds me of how we picked up a "little" job that required some basic plumbing. We needed the money then and thought, "Heck how hard can it be to replace two broken tiles, a tub and shower faucet and put a new sink top on a cheap vanity?"Well, the tile went ok, although time consuming as we had to saw out the grout with one of those damn little grout saws. THen came the tub faucets -- nothing was done to standard, everything soldered and the fittings didn't match the new -- we had to hunt and hunt around to find something to fit..and cut and resolder...Then the sink. The one peice top came loose ok, we just cut the caulk around the edge and she lifted loose. But the plumbing under the sink. First off, we find that all the waste piping has been patched and soldered together! We have to cut the damn thing, go back to the store and find fittings for that. This took two trips as we had the ID's wrong and couldn't fit what we bought... Then we find that the shut offs for the cold and hot water haven't been moved since MOses and are frozen and yes...they snap. So now we've got running water and we can't find a shut off anywhere. Oh its a condo (I forgot to mention) so we have no way to shut off the water as we have no authority or way to find the mains. And who would at 7pm on a Sunday night?We put the fittings back on best as we can, go the store AGAIN and get new fittings and hurry up and apply them all the while the water pressure is pushing the loose old fittings all to hell and leaking water all over this person's bathroom. And they have a RUG in the vanity bottom that of course is now soaked.Then once we solve that problem, and we revisit the soldered waste pipes again as we had cut at the s pipe and fit the new to the drain thinking we'd at least recycle the drain. NO WAY the customer didn't want that old drain stopper in her NEW sink! So we had to remove that (no small matter as the threads on the bottom were glued, sealed or stripped or something) and GO BACK TO THE DAMN STORE and find a new one to fit to her jimmy-rigged sink drain system. We squeeze out the rug, install everything, clean up and get paid minus a grief deduction by the customer and run the hell out of there.We learned our lesson. Whenever anyone says, "...and we have this little plumbing problem...." we inform that we are not plumbers. Period.
I've learned. The ONLY place i even attempt plumbing repairs now is on my own home.
And evidently I haven't learned enough, 'cause I'm still trying to do plumbing in my own home.
I wonder why those damme plumbers charge so much
That's alright, I'll pay them. I don't care anymore. As long as the other subs don't tell us how to frame or do finish, we won't tell them how to do plumbing or HVAC!As for on Sundays, I remember when I used to sell cars (and try to fix the junks to sell), we had a rule that we NEVER start a big job on a Sunday or a holiday or you'll be certain to have the garage tied up with an immobile vehicle and nothing accomplished because you broke a tool, snapped a line or need a part to finish and nothing is open.And it would ALWAYS be for want of some tool or part that usually cost less than 5 bucks but is locked behind closed doors!
I keep thinking the same thing.
I'm a pertty bright guy, with good hand skills, so every time something goes wrong with the plumbing in my house, I figure I should be able to handle it. I also don't want to pay a plumber $80-100/ hr.
One of these I'll learn that $80-100 is worth every penny.
Got a call this summer to do some roofing repairs. So after a day of ripping things apart and making many corrections, the HO grabs me as I come down the ladder for the last time and asks if I could also look at a minor leak in the plumbing of a basement vanity. Says it drips a little water and gurgles when it drains. Sure, says I.
Off to the basement to have a look-see. Next trip was to the truck for the camera. <!----><!----><!---->
Same guy that installed this cab and its associated plumbing also laid that new roof which leaked badly from lack of …… uuuummm…….proper "detailing" there, also. I don't know what his strong suit might be, but it ain't roofing……. and it ain't plumbing.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
LOL!!!Well that just shows that there was someone out there DUMBER than we were! Good lord what a mess!Your story about the roof and plumbing being done by the same guy makes me think of customers who say to us, "Why do you want to bring in a plumber? Joe One Ladder says he'll do the bathroom, change the heat system around AND build the addition --- himself! WHy can't you??"I don't argue with those people anymore. I just begrudge whenever I haven't flushed (no pun intended there) them out on the phone prior to an appointment.
I was saying the same thing 3 weeks ago...
We'd come home from our daughters wedding in Las Vegas, to find the water heater (in the back yard, thank you) was pouring, not leaking, from the rusty pressure relief valve. Got in the truck and purchased a new heater, to install myself. Took off the heater enclosure, strap and blanket, disconnected the gas line, one water line, and the last one was an old galv. taking hot water under the house. Being a little intimidated by the idea of breaking this off, I called a plumber. $450 just to change this one pipe! Forget this, what's the worst that can happen? Clamped a wrench onto the pipe, and long story short, I broke the pipe off under the house. Went under the house to get a look, and it was up between floor joists, in a tangled mess of old galvanized, and NO WAY!
After 3 days no hot water, and negotiations with 4 plumbers, a guy came out and replaced the old risers with copper, and put in a new gas shut off for, you guessed it, $450.
I hate plumbing!
Jencar
Nice to see ya back!
You think we'll ever figure out plumbing? Not that I'm planning to try- I like my trim work too much.
And yeah, like in that weight thread, I am packing a little more under the tool belt these days just trimming.
Thought about experimenting with repiping my house (talkin about REAL total immersion in learning a new skill!)but family likes the convenience of an indoor bathroom...they'd kill me if the flux fumes didn't.
I'm hooked on trim, too...
Jen
Got my new toilet set yesterday.
Went pretty smoothly, but still took me 3 tries to get the water hooked up without leaks.
I think it took me about 6 hours, maybe more, to replace the 1 toilet. I can't imagine how long it would take me to replumb an entire house. A year? A decade?
Its good to know your limits :)
I figure it'd take about a week:
1) Turn off water to house
2) Go under house with sawzall and cut out old galvanized
3) Call plumber to come fix it
Easy....:)
LOL
Any plumbing done on a Sunday goes bad.
Guaranteed.
Joe H
For me, it doesn't matter if it's Sunday or any other day- they're all bad if plumbing is involved.
I beg your pardon, Joe - lol.
Several years ago, I went into the garage early on a Sunday morning and was greeted by a faint hissing noise and the smell of warm, damp, air near the water heater. SWMBO and the kids were still asleep, so I left a note, shut the water heater down, and hooked up the garden hose to drain it.
While it drained, I went to the hardware store and picked up some galvanized nipples and fittings. When I got back, my neighbor was out and asked what I was up to. When I told him, he rolled his eyes and told me that it was gonna cost me a fortune to get a plumber out on Sunday. I laughed and told him that it was gonna cost me maybe $5.00 and about 30 minutes of my time. Sure enough, 30 minutes later I was refilling the water heater.
We had the house re-piped in copper about five years later and my repair work was holding up just fine. No, I didn't do the re-pipe work. I was still working as an engineer and didn't have the time. Besides, I really hate crawling around under houses - lol.
for all the "gone wrong plumbing" there is but one rule "sheat flows downhill"
as you guys know i do everything I can myself... one i have time and two 90% of the time I hire someone they know less then me and don't care even 10% as much...
I've replaced at least 10 hot water heaters in the last 2-3 years... just cause friends & relations call me and ask "is $1200.00 too much to pay for a new water heater" which about always sends me to the supply house to spend $3-400.00 on a new heater and $40 on supplies... I don't even sweat em in any more i use the SS braided lines with compression fittings... (ie the $40) I know I always get flamed on this but it usually takes me a max 2hr and i have to hunt the heater & parts... and I've saved a friend or family 800 or 900 bucks.... oh i always buy the new longer fill tube... just cause i was always told it'd make the heater last 2x as long
p
"there is but one rule "sheat flows downhill"Not at my house.It goes uphill about 20 ft." oh i always buy the new longer fill tube... just cause i was always told it'd make the heater last 2x as long"A fill tube has nothing to do with the life of the WH (except when it breaks down). You can't be in one any longer than the tank requires.Maybe you are thinkign about the anode rod.
Plumbers rule #2: never bite your finger nails.
Wannabe plumbers cardinal rule: NEVER do plumbing on a Sunday.
Gives me the shimmies and shakes just thinking about it!!!
Unnumbered rules:
never work over an open drain
If it is not already sh** it will probably turn to ----
good ones!!!
Plumbing has always been alchemy for me. I never got my head around the whole pipe sweating thing...YIKES!!!
BTW, I've been hearing rumblings of a new method of joining copper with an epoxy product instead of solder...heard anything about this?
I think someone here was talking about that new epoxy system awhile ago. it sounds good to me.
If you're lucky, you might find something in the archives.
There was a thread about this a few weeks ago. Someone in Oakland, CA (just up the road from me) was using it and had problems with small leaks.
Personally, I wouldn't use it until it was approved by code. No way am I gonna deliberately set myself up for a bunch of re-work - lol.
They do have fittings now that are preloaded with solder, just clean the pipe, flux (I guess although the flux may be in fitting), slip it on and heat. Have not used them, BIL say his buddy had used some and was happy.
Yeah, but I STILL hate plumbing!!!
In the words of one of the "Little Rascals". "Me too neither."
Wasn't that actually "Me too neither uh huh."? - lol
If you want solderless---- they have pro-press
copper fittings with an O ring in them & a crimping tool
Don't feel too bad....I've got 438 Phenosealed toilets to remove & reinstall...
FWIW, heating the stuff upwith a torch helps greatly.......
Guy just replaced my truck windshield the other day. Took the usual hook blade to top and side seal then pulls out this tool that looks like a recip saw with a blade that looks like a three" drywall blade except thinner. Sprays a little glass cleaner and zip the windshield is out. Called it an Extractor I think. Believe it was Milwaukee. Evidently short stroke may be more like a lightweight rotary hammer in hammer mode.
If I had that many to take out I would look for a magic bullet.
I told the plumber to buy a Multimaster....but these hotels subs are cheap Bast88ids, and the torch seems to do the job.....
Queen City as in Charlotte?
I guess it depends on if one is charging by the job or hour. I have not encountered the sealer you were talking about. I prefer to not cook things any more than I have to.
I thought about using my MultiMaster to cut thru the Phenoseal...
after I broke the toilet. Isn't hindsight wonderful?
I've got 20-20 in my rearview mirror too