Update: I (Sorta) Rock

Well, let's just say if I were a plumber, I would be either out of business in a week or the single most expensive tradesperson on the planet.

In fairness to me (always a noble goal), any job in a 150 year old house is not going to be routine.  You're always dealing with 150 years of other peoples' faulty measurements, jury-rigged solutions, and plain "close enough for gummint work" construction techniques.  Add to that changes in technology (ABS plastic pipes instead of steel or lead, for example) and you have a recipe for turning any half-day job into 12 hours or more.

The part of the job I expected to be the most difficult was actually a breeze.  Taking out the old toilet was quick and easy - a couple of screws, a little force, and it came right out. 

That was the first time I said "Oh ... shit." 

Because where it had been was now an ugly hole.  Generations of half-assed home repair dorks had essentially laid a succession of sub-floors and floors around the old doll, rather than disturb the plumbing.  Which is fine if your new toilet has the same footprint as your old one. 

Mine didn't, of course.

So before I could install anything I had to go out to my shop and faithfully shape a plywood patch to fill the gaping wound in the floor, complete with accurate hole for the piping.  Then I had to put the terlet in place, make sure everything was properly sealed and watertight, and hook up the waterline.  It was fussy work, took several trips back and forth to the hardware store to match new and old technology, but finally, just before supper, I was done.

As it happened, my plumber - the aforementioned Cecil - dropped over right around then because we've had a persistent leak in our outside faucet and it required his specialized tools and knowledge.  I got him to look over my handiwork and he pronounced it "Just fine."

So, I rock.  I rock slowly, and methodically, and you couldn't afford to pay me to rock by the hour, but I rock nonetheless.

The only real excitement of the day came when Cecil got to work putting in a shut-off valve for the outside faucet.  To do that, he had to close off the water, which he did - but nobody thought to check and see who might be, say, in the shower at that moment.

It was Allie.  She was not impressed. 

Cecil, a God-fearing, decent, quiet-spoken man, may have learned some new words today.  Honestly - I have no idea where she gets that potty mouth.

Comments

[Squirl]

I love that you said terlet. I have an aunt who calls it a terlet.

Doing work on an old home like that must be hard. Plumbing is bad enough by itself without other people's cobble-jobs.

[Closet Metro]

The fact that this post includes the word "shop" to describe a place, instead of the act of spending money is further proof that You Do Rock.

[Amanda B.]

But Oooooh, a 150 year old house!! Yumminess.

[wordgirl]

The fact that you were able to do it in a day is very, Very impressive. I doff my hat in your general direction!

Of course you rock. Isn't that the hallmark of a Renaissance man?

[Kylz]

Ok, see, now I think that does rock! I'd call my dad. I'm so crap when it comes to stuff like this.

[kalki]

I think Allie rocks. And you, too. But mostly Allie. :)

[Ern]

Oh, I would have killed my dad, and the plumber and everyone else in my general vicinity if the shower got turned off while I was IN it! That is sooo much worse than an accidental terlet flush.

And you do rock, btw, since there is still a flushable terlet to be used.

[Bucky Four-Eyes]

Good for you for the terlet (and Squirl - remember, we also have cousins who call it a "tarlet") install.
Bad, bad dad for fuckin' with your daughter's shower water supply.

[Nils]

To reiterate - and my darlin' daughter Allie missed this essential point, too - it was not *I* who cut off her water. In fact, at the time, *I* was wrapped around the toilet bowl upstairs like Bucky's worst prom date. Totally, completely innocent - but still worthy of being cussed out by my sewer-mouthed daughter.

And Kalki just thinks Allie rocks because Allie is a much younger version of Kalki.

[Bucky Four-Eyes]

Oh, snap!

(and my prom date is wrapped around another man now, thank you very much)

[AL]

Can I please point out that what made me so mad was not that I was in the shower. The thing that pissed me off was that I MADE A POINT of going upstairs, saying "Dad, is there water?" After receiving the go-ahead, I proceeded to get in the shower, which was turned off MID-SHAVE. THAT is why I was pissed. Because while a surprise stop to your water supply is annoying, being freezing cold and covered in shave gel? Sucks.

[Ern]

Maybe this incident takes the great Cecil down a few notches on the worlds' best plumbers list?

[Nils]

It did for Allie, but I still think he's the cat's ass, and I pay the bills.

[bobblehead hillbilly]

We had an episode like that after we moved into our house. Turns out the toilet had leaked for many years. The previous owners solution was to raise up the toilet and shim it with several layers of linolium. I ended up replacing the whole floor right down to the floor joists. We also have the plumbing that goes steel to copper to pvc then back to steel with pipes that end in the middle of the room with a cap on the end. I tell you, some peoples handy work leaves alot to be desired.

[WeeDram]

I have a rule about plumbing: If after 15 minutes I can't visualize myself getting the job done, I call a plumber. It's worth the cash, and I preserve the number of cuss words alotted to my life plan.