THE TOILET FROM HELL…

I consider myself extremely handy, when it comes to fixing things around the house, and since we own a rental income property, as well as our primary here in Naples, Florida, I guess that I had better be handy. There is always something that is need of repair between the homes, plus I have done a significant amount of work for listing clients, whose homes are needing minor work to get them in shape to sell.

Over the years and with all the properties that we have had, as well as the properties that I have listed, I truly cannot think of anything that I haven’t had my hand in with regard to replacing or fixing. I have installed electrical outlets, ceiling fans, and hot water heaters, although I have to tell you that electricity isn’t my favorite thing to mess with. I have done my share of plumbing work, fixed tons of pipe leaks and installed countless toilets. (The things that we do for not only ourselves, but our clients as well!)

Well I recently met my match in a Kohler toilet in one of the guest areas in my home that needed a new flapper. While trying to remove the old flapper, I broke off one of the nipples on the side of the fill valve that holds it. No problem, I’ll just run out to Sunshine Ace Hardware, our local hardware store about 2 miles away and buy a new fill valve with flapper, ($6.00). I love our Ace Hardware because there is always someone to help you and even the gals are as knowledgeable as the guys…it’s amazing!

So I return with the new fill valve, (I have the toilet tank off from the base,) and in a matter of minutes, I have the new valve installed. I bolt the tank to the toilet, I check everything, (it all seems fine,) fill the tank, flush it and and we are good to go. All of a sudden realize that I’m hearing a small leaking sound as the water is slowly draining out of the tank.

No problem, I’ll just un-bolt the tank and re-do everything again, reset the seal and bolt it all back together. Well after six different attempts, (and several trips to the local plumbing supply house because I kept breaking or tearing the tank to bowl seal,) I decided that I’d had enough. I was hot,sweaty and very angry that I couldn’t get it right. I finally called a plumber and in less than an hour he had it operating correctly.

Along the way, I learned a few things. First, Kohler Toilets require Kohler parts to operate properly and second, sometimes it’s best to just let a professional take care of it. Despite the fact that I think I’m pretty handy, in this case it would have saved time, aggravation and even money!