Commode, Copper, Cashmere?

You didn't think you'd see it, did you? Another post about a repair project. The mind boggles!

I was visiting friends in Fargo yesterday when I received a call from my realtor. I was excited, thinking it was an offer or something, but no. The house was being shown and there was water on the floor in the bathroom from some sort of toilet leak. I think this house just knows when I'm in town and needs to have my attention.

I swung by the house to take a look and see where the water was leaking. Fortunately it was up top and not at the base of the toilet. I wasn't about to go pulling everything apart down to the floor! The coupling between the tank and the bowl was leaking due to a faulty seal, so off I went to the 'Depot for parts.

The part was surprisingly easy to find so I picked it up and then grabbed some insulation for the copper pipes that lead to the kitchen sink. Somebody in their P.O. wisdom installed the pipes right next to the foundation wall where they like to sit and freeze in the winter. I don't know if I blogged about running downstairs during the coldest parts of Jan/Feb with a hair dryer to get the water running again, but I did it a couple times. After some unnecessary browsing through tile and lighting (I can't help myself) I made my purchases and went back to the house.

The water didn't need to be turned off because I hadn't paid a water bill for quite a few months. Strange how I wasn't getting the bills in New York, huh. Later I had to visit the city office to get the water turned back on, but that's another story entirely.

I luckily found a screwdriver and pliers in the basement to use for the job. I really wasn't prepared to be doing house projects yesterday as evidenced by my skinny jeans and cashmere blend turtleneck. Yeah, I was elbows deep in a toilet wearing cashmere. Typical me, right?

Here I am with my toilet supplies, found pliers, and inappropriate housework attire:

I removed the leaky coupling and did my best to catch all of the water in an old mug that I found abandoned in a cabinet. After I dried everything off I dropped in the new coupling and bam, I was done. Easy.

Out with the old:

In with the new:The "under bowl" shot.Next I made my way down to the basement with my insulation to wrap up the copper pipes. I failed to do a spiderweb check and, as I crawled my way over to the pipes, I quickly found myself completely covered with them. In my hair, eyes, mouth, and all over my sweater. After a nice little freak-out session I put up the insulation and ran back upstairs.

I took some photos...

I took some videos...

Then I left, praying that nothing else breaks until it sells!

Basement Evils

Today I ventured down to the basement to see if I could try to fix my dryer. About half way through disassembling it all to take out the faulty heating element I decided to give up and just hire someone to do the job. I'm sorry, I just don't have the patience for that right now!

But, while I was busy screwing parts back together, my roommate started taking a shower upstairs right above me. Not a problem you'd think, but subsequently I began taking a shower too. Yes, maybe I need one, but I'd prefer to take mine on my own schedule. What was once a small leak at the shower's drain seems to have lead to a bigger problem here. I took a little video so you can understand my situation. Sorry for the poor lighting conditions.


It looks like replacing that shower stall might just be moving up to a sooner project. I'll be caulking soon, if nothing else.

I'll also have to tell the roommates to not take showers while the dryer guy is downstairs! Gotta love the house...

Get a 'Handle' on that Rain!

Ok, sorry for the pun. This post is mainly about a doorknob, but first things first. Last night at about 3am there was a pretty big thundersorm and I caught some footage of my living room water feature. Enjoy.

Yeah, sucks huh?

I contacted the roofer who "repaired" the flashing around the chimney and he's coming out to take a look on Saturday.

Well back to the doorknob. I've been in my house for over a month now, so I figured it was about time to put a doorknob on the front door. Nope, didn't have one. All it had was a deadbolt and a couple of window sash pulls, one inside and one out. I'm really hoping that my roommates are surprised. Hooray for small accomplishments!

Here's what it looked like to start with:

Starting to cut the holes back in (they were filled in with plaster):

Holes completed:Doorknob! Success!

I also started sanding down the walls in my room so I can get them primed and painted. I'm really anxious to get that space done and my furniture moved in so I can have some sort of sanctuary from my own house!