Look Ma, No Tank!

I may have mentioned the crazy hippie lady who built our house. She may or may not have purchased our plumbing fixtures from the back of a truck (and not even the back of a nice truck). I'm not sure where she managed to find our downstairs toilet. The toilet itself looks new and functional, but it was running all the time, and no amount of adjusting would stop it. So I decided to replace all the parts inside the tank. To start fresh, if you will. This is when I discovered that the downstairs toilet is not a normal toilet; "universal fit" parts will not fit, universally or otherwise. Our toilet does not have a flapper (and by that I don't mean a sassy lady from the 20's). If you know anything about toilets, you will know that this is not normal.

I didn't know anything about plumbing before we bought our house, but necessity has dictated that I learn. I invested in a very handy plumbing book, which covers lots of stuff. It does not, however, cover our style of toilet. I ended up having to order the parts from a plumbing supply dealer in Knoxville, Tennessee. Yeehaw. I was delighted to see that the packaging claimed that it "installs easily." Only 15 easy steps!

I have a very long list of things to do around the house. I was convinced that I'd be able to cross this one off my list this weekend.

I dilligently went through the steps, and replaced not only the flush valve, but also the fill valve and the watter supply line. You know, while I was at it. I wouldn't have normally taken so long, but apparently Conan the Barbarian installed the toilet, and overtightened everything to the point that things had seized up. Choice words were exchanged between myself and the toilet. But I finally got everything put back together, put the tank back on...shiny and new parts waiting to make their debut. I even put thread tape on anything threaded. Mostly because the thread tape helps prevent leaks, but also because it is pink and pretty.

As a final step, I put a few drops of food coloring into the tank, to check for leaks.

A small but distinct leak, matching the food coloring that I had put in the tank, appeared between the base of the toilet and the floor. To quote Homer Simpson, "D'Oh!"

There wasn't even a leak there before! It waited until I had put everything back together. So now I get to disassemble the toilet once again, this time adding a Wax Ring to the mix. I am going to have the biggest plumber's crack this side of the Androscoggin River!