Back in Business

We've been trying to get projects done around the house. Saturday, Janice came over and watched Andrew (he slept a fair amount of the time) and we sanded the baseboards ... yes, the ones that were out in the garage during TG'09. We're hoping to get them back on in the near future.

But, I also fixed our toilet, which had been out of commission since soon after Tanya departed, if memory serves me correct. This was not a major repair, the toilet in the master bathroom needed a new lever. We are sure we have one somewhere (we bought two when we last made the fix to the guest bath toilet). But, we couldn't locate it. Finally, we picked one up at Lowe's when we were there for our pre-emergence purchase.

We got the one for the Mansfield #35 and it looked a lot like the one that was in there when we moved in. However, after installing it, we decided to go a while longer with the toilet out of service. The lever for the #35 is a 9-inch blue plastic lever, with a plastic washer that never gets tight. And, the crappy plastic washer is the least of your worries.

When the toilet first when out many years ago, it was due to failure of the stupid blue plastic rod. The sucker just broke. I'm amazed it lasted as long as it did, actually. After installing the replacement this last time and watching the flushing process, the stress (via the strain) - or, maybe the moment via the deflection - were apparent. We were amazed it didn't fail EVERY flush! So, rather than wait for the inevitable and be out $5, we took it off and took it back.

Rather than opt for the "correct" replacement lever, we went with the 10" metal lever for old-style Mansfield toilets. This is the same wrong piece we fixed the hall bath toilet with. Replace a 9" with a 10"? Yeah, I know ... it doesn't work. You have to modify the 10" by turning it into [or in to ... maybe : - )] a 9" because you can't feed it through the flushing mechanism at its original length. But, now, I have a quick solution to the problem. Using tin snips, I score the lever at one of the holes an inch in. If you have one, you'll be able to locate this location. Then, all you need is a pair of pliers and a little muscle to pop the end off. Discard the little piece and use the remainder as the lever.

Why didn't I just buy a 9" metal one? I asked myself the same thing ... then I looked for a 9" metal one that would work with our toilet. They don't have any at Lowe's.