Tuesday, March 22, 2011

4 Lessons from latest home improvement project

The project: replace the guts (yeah, that's a technical term) of our bedroom bathroom's toilet. The project went surprisingly well (read: I didn't have to call a plumber). Here a few things that helped:

  • Bringing a cell phone, equipped with photos and video, to the hardware store. I was able to show the guy exactly part was leaking. A video really makes this clear.
  • Have extra microfiber clothes on hand. Step one of the process was to complete drain the toilet's tank. This turned out be trickier said than done, because there was still half an inch of standing water in there when the flapper was removed. Using a microfiber cloth, I was able to sponge up all the water in just a couple of trips. And there was enough grime in the toilet tank, that I was glad I could just toss the cloth when I was done with it.
  • Nitrile Gloves rock. Perhaps a man's man doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. If that's the case, I'll continue to be a girly man, thank you very much.
  • Have patience, patience and more patience. There was 15 steps to changing out the float thingy, and I slowly followed each one, understanding the lingo as I went along. It was tempting to just charge ahead and wing it. Instead, taking it step by step was the only sane way to go.

Now, providing the toilet doesn't leak over the next few hours, I think I can safely call this little adventure a success.

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