Sigh…it’s always something.
Okay, so out with the old and in with the new. I had some issues getting the cementboard cut to size, but it’ll all be covered with tile anyway and the toilet installation seemed to go just fine…
…until it was time to connect it to water. That’s when I found that the new tank was maybe an inch taller than the old one, and the hose wouldn’t reach.
What makes this especially galling is that I originally installed the toilet without a shut-off valve, a deficiency I definitely intended to fix this time around. Then Wednesday I forgot to buy one. If I had that valve, the hose would fit – it’s that close. Grrrr…
So I loaded up the boys and did what I always do when I need a part quick – I drove over to D&L’s to see what I could bum from D. And D didn’t have a shut-off valve of the proper size either – neither did he have a longer hose. So there I was.
Of course without the shut-off valve, the only way I have of turning water off to the toilet is to shut off water to the cabin. The first cabin shut-off valve was on the pipe coming up from the ground and that turned out to be a very bad idea, freezing-and-breaking-wise. So the new one is eighteen inches underground, and the ground-to-cabin pipe is insulated most extravagantly. I found out this morning that the insulation stuffing the cavity over the valve has pretty much rotted, so I’ll replace that this evening with more from Landlady’s barn.
But you see the problem here – if I can’t reconnect the water to the toilet, and I can’t turn off the flow in that pipe, I can’t turn on the water to the cabin at all. Which means no sink. No bath, no dishwashing. Maybe till Monday or so.
Fortunately, D did have a shut-off valve which, while it wouldn’t fit the toilet hose, would fit the pipe coming up from the floor. So I dodged a bullet there.
Meanwhile, all this was happening on a gloriously beautiful day – which is why I picked it for some relatively heavy work going in and out the door. 75o at 2 this afternoon! In the shade. (Sorry, east coast…) Light breeze, cloudless sky – if every day were like this I’d have to beat tourists away with a hammer.
And while the morning’s work took a bit longer than anticipated, there was still time to do one load of heavy winter clothes that have been piling up before the shadows cover the clotheslines.
It also means that a couple of days without a toilet isn’t any particular disaster. The Plan B chair is not for typical winter mornings. 🙂
Still, even though I’m sweating into a t-shirt in mid-February, I confess to being just a bit irritated.
I feel for you. There is a valve to shut off the water to the toilet here, but I’ve never managed to figure out how to turn it off. The lever won’t move in any direction, no matter what I do, and I don’t want to start assaulting it with tools because I’m terrified I’d break it. Luckily, that toilet needs some attention otherwise, since it has come loose from the floor. Will try to get a plumber in here soon, since nobody I know has any idea how to fix it… or at least, they are not admitting they know. LOL
No need to go without a toilet whilst waiting for that hose. Simply bucket flush two or three times daily. You certainly have enough buckets! Save your last wash water for the job if you haven’t already dumped it.
You can also fill up the tank on the new toilet with your hose.
Those causal chains will trip you up ever time.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Sounds like an army thing to me. 🙂 The wise horseman – or woman – carries spare nails and a hammer. When I did trail riding, I even carried a spare horseshoe, formed by the farrier. Like a spare tire, it would only get me back to base camp and the horse trailers, but it was better than letting my saddle horse go “barefoot.”