Toilet Chain

My kids approach flushing a toilet like it were an Olympic event. As a result, they bust the handles all the time. I keep a ready supply of extra handles on hand so I can get things fixed quick. But the annoying part is: they won't tell me the handle broke! It might sit that way for several days and not one will say anything!

I was sure I had a broken handle today.

Lets start with some Toilet 101 basics. You have a toilet handle

The handle works like a teeter totter: When you push down on one end, the other end (which is a stick inside the tank) raises.

Attached to this stick is a chain.

At the bottom of the chain is a flapper

Lets put it all together... You push down on the handle... the stick rises and pulls the chain with it. The chain lifts the flapper... causing the toilet to flush.

In my case today, the handle did not break as I suspected it had. Instead, the chain disconnected from the stick. I fished the chain out of the bottom of the tank and reconnected it. Life is good once again.

Dripping Shower - Delta 1400 shower

We have two Delta 1400 showers in tne house. One shower has been dripping for a while and has progressively gotten worse. When the second shower started dripping, I decided to do something about it.

My first challenge was with determining my model number. I found it under the handel: Delta 1400. You can contact Delta with tbe model number and they will send a replacement for free. All you have to do is install it!

I will cover tbe installation here.

Step one: Shut off the water to the shower. If your shower doesn't have a shut off? You'll have to shut off the water to the entire house. Remember; Righty tighty (close) and lefty loosey (open).

There is a round metal cover that tells Hot or Cold. Many instructions will tell you to remove the cover (as shown above). However, removing it will require you to recaulk it, and removal is not neccessary. I recommend you do not remove it.

 

Begin by removing the cap on the shower handle. There is a trick to this. The handle features an arrow to the right of the blue bar. On the complete opposite site of the dial (left of the red bar) there should be a place to wedge a flat screwdriver in to pop that cover off.

Once the cover is removed, you can take out the screw holding the handle, and then remove the handle.

 

 

The chrome cylinder cover will slide off. Don't use any tool on it because that will scratch it. Just grab ahold and kinda twist as you pull



There is a white plastic piece on the end that is going to fall off and get in your way, so, just proactively remove it and throw it away - you don't need it anymore.

 

Next, you have to remove the collar. Sometimes this can be removed by hand. Sometimes it get stuck and becomes a nightmare to remove.

 

If it gets stuck? Hit is with some PB Blaster and let it sit for 20-30 minutes.

 



 

You want to be careful that you don't damage the pipes behind the wall by torking it too hard. Put a good fitting pipe wrech on it, put some count-clock-wise pressure on the wrench, and then whack the hell out of the wrench with a hammer or another wrench. Eventually that collar will loosen and begin to turn.

 

Once the collar is off, you are remove the cartridge. The cartridge is held in place by rings that form a but of a suction, so, it will take some effort to pull it out.

I live to get a flat screw driver and help pry the cartridge out.

This picture shows the old cartridge. Just throw it away.

 

Next, clean the opening so the new cartridge can make a good fit

This picture shows the new cartridge

The cartridge will tell you which side is for the "Hot" side and which side is for the "Cold" side. When you insert the cartridge, you want to make sure you have the hot side on the hot side.

 

Insert the cartridge. There is a tab on the side that has to line up to the pipe. And then the last quarter inch is going to require a really good shuv.

 

Reassemble everything. But... before you put the handle back on? You need to make an adjustment. The cartridge can control how much hot water comes out to avoid children from getting burned. The cartridge will probably come with the hot water completely turned off. So, you need to make an adjustment if you want any hot water in your shower. Just pull and twist the white part on the end of the cartridge.

Screw the handle back on. Turn the water back on. And your drip will be gone!

 

Replaced another flapper

It is always handy to keep an extra toilet flapper around to deal with leaky toilets, especially if your house has 3.5 baths. They are easy to replace:

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Sometimes the flapper will just get some dirt or debre on it that will prevent it from sealing. You can try cleaning the flapper if you want, or, it is easier (and not all that expensive) to just replace it.

Clean the tank

Everyone cleans the toilet bowl, but how many of us think to clean the tank?

Even though fresh water flows into the tank, it can be a breading ground for mold, germs, and crud. You can fix that problem by placing cleaning disks in the tank.

There are many different kinds and brands on the market. They all last several weeks, keeping the tank clean, and wash those cleaning chemicles into the bowl.

Kids and Houses

Some days I think I should wear my tool belt and follow my kids around the house - fixing all the things as they break them. Everyday they get a little more creative in the damage they accidentally cause.

After the nightly shower routine, had to fix the toilet flushing chain.

It is funny how the toilet no longer flushes but they don't think to mention it.

Then I screwed the under sink cabinate door hinge back on.

Replaced the bathroom lights.

The shower needs to be re-caulked and painted, because they have started pealing that off. But this is more work than I have time for tonight! At least the gluing and recaulking of the bathroom sink is holding.

I will post some pictures when I get around to fixing the shower. Hopefully I won't see water damage before I can fix it.

Running Toilet

The guy who made the indoor toilet famous was Thomas Crapper. He sold a valve that would refill a toilet bowl with water. Ever since then, his name has been associated with doing your duty in the bathroom. The next time you go to use the Crapper, you can thank Thomas Crapper for not needing to go outdoors.

The invention has evolved over the years, and is not perfect. Parts wear out and need to be replaced. If you hear the toilet running when it shouldn't be? You crapper probably has a bad flapper.

This is what a flapper looks like. It covers the pipe the runs between the tank and the toilet bowl.

When you push down on the toilet handle, it causes the flapper to raise, which releases all the water in the tank causing it to flush into the bowl, and for your waste to flush down the drain.

If that flapper wears out, it will leak.

First step? Shut off the water.

Next, disconnect the flapper chain from the handle and remove the old flapper. Replace the flapper with a new one.

Turn the water back on. That's all

It takes! In just minutes your crapper will be back to tip top shape!

Cleaning the Bathroom Vent Fan

You may have a bathroom vent with a fan on your bathroom ceiling.

If you do, those can become filled with dust and become inefficient and become a fire hazard. You must regularly clean them out.

Start by grabbing the vent cover and pull it strait down. It will only pull down a few inches and then stop.

Next, you have to reach above the vent and find two wires on each side of the vent cover.

Pinch that wire together and pull down. This will release the vent cover allowing it to come completely off.

Using a vacuum, clean the vent  over and the fan area in the ceiling.

It is that easy! Put this on your yearly maintenance list to keep a safe and well running vent fan.

Living The Dream

One of the purposes of this blog is to celebrate all the work involved with home ownership. Today's wonderful task? Cleaning out a clogged drain.

My wife has long curly hair that loves to get stuck in the drain. I usually shower at the gym but when I shower at home and find myself standing in a foot of water? I know we have a problem.

First, I make sure the drain lever is in the open position. Then I take off the drain cover by unscrewing its screw.

Next, I use a turbo snake. This is basically a piece of Velcro attached to a wire. I drop this in the drain, turn it a couple of time, and when I pull it out I have the hair ball clog attached to it.

Yep, home ownership is the American Dream. And I can honestly say that I am living the dream.