Well crap

Yesterday, I had a few things to tackle around the house while R was at work.  One of them was to take a look at his bathroom toilet that had moved off-center a bit.  It did the same thing a year or more ago and we were able to loosen the bolts, shift the commode, and re-tighten them.  When I tried it yesterday the nuts wouldn’t loosen (rusted or corroded in place) and one of the bolts was way too wiggly without coming out.  I knew they needed replacing but had reached the end of my comfort zone and skill set so I sent a text to R, “Houston, we have a problem”. 

Last night he got home and looked to see what we needed parts-wise.  New bolts and nuts for sure, a wax ring since we had to pull the toilet, and possibly a new shut-off valve for the supply line.  He had had a long day and was pretty annoyed with another repair on the horizon but I didn’t really do anything to cause the issue except to stupidly bring it to the top of the agenda on a holiday weekend.  We grabbed a McSupper and ran to get the parts (minus the shut-off valve).  It had a fairly slow drip that we could manage with a container to catch the water.  We decided to tackle the job after a night’s sleep.

I slept poorly, wondering how in the heck we were going to get the toilet pulled and went over multiple worst-case scenarios.  With his replaced knee and troublesome hips, I wasn’t sure he had the muscle to do it in our super-tiny bathroom.  And we know I am zero help.  I did come up with a few ideas and safety protocols that he agreed were good. Turns out, the old guy still has the upper-body strength of a 40-year old and after we drained the toilet he had very little trouble lifting it out.  It probably weighed 70 pounds (I looked it up) so I was impressed.  All those years of working under vehicles lifting heavy parts into place left him with a fair number of muscles with strong memories.

But….the flange was broken so the new bolts and wax ring weren’t going to solve the problem.  We don’t have the skills or the tools to replace the flange so are at least smart enough not to try.  We put everything back together (with the new parts) so we have two working bathrooms for now which makes for a much happier marriage.

The plan now is to call the plumber on Monday.  Maybe even opt for a higher-seated toilet that will make it easier for my old guy to get on and off. We gave it our best shot but sometimes you have to know when to punt. We figured out we didn’t break anything — it was already broken — and everything we did accomplish was done correctly.  We’ll take the win there.

That’s how it goes sometimes.  And sometimes, that’s how it goes a lot of the time.  Well crap.