Sarah's Guide to Toilet Repair

Our toilet isn't running all night or anything, it just has a thing-a-majig inside that gets stuck and won't fill the toilet at all. Lately, I have left the lid of the tank off which is a temporary fix to the problem. All you have to to is give this lever a nudge almost every time we want to flush. Now I am ready to fix the problem and replace the part completely. It is plastic and toilet parts are really cheap from my limited knowledge. I have replaced handles and levers in the past.

I am woman. I repair toilets!

By the way, my wonderful husband would love to help, but he works out of town a lot and there isn't room for 2 people in our micro tiny bathroom. I also enjoy the challenge more than he would. Don't hate. He just married well.

I want to remove the mechanism from the toilet before I go to the home improvement store so I can carry it around in a plastic bag and compare. This works best for me. So step one is to turn off the water to the toilet. It is just a knob right? NO. It is a magic knob that is very hard to turn for my lady-like hands and zero upper body strength. I can get it MOSTLY shut off, but not all the way. Meanwhile, it is maintaining a trickle of water that is slowly dribbling into the toilet.

I head downstairs and can't find another shutoff knob just for the bathroom. I know where the ones for the outside spigots are. I know where the knob for the clothes washer is. I just can't find one for the bathroom. I say "screw it" and shut off the water to the entire house. NO PROBLEM. I disassemble the toilet with glee only to realize that the little bit of water left in the bottom of the tank is a lot more than I anticipated.

I grab the nearest hand towel and dry some of the water, but you will quickly realize that I am NOT a man and I love my pristine white bath towels too much to ruin on a toilet repair. Instead I grab the pile of old undershirts that I am meaning to turn into rags anyway and dry the bathroom floor. I have the part in hand, and now I am ready to head to the store!

I need a shower first. But I shut off the water to the house and if I turn on the water, the valve I couldn't shut off will just start trickling all over the bathroom floor. No shower just yet. I have to go shopping all dirty. I do have some chilled drinking water in the refrigerator. I will brush my teeth with that and go shopping.

Hopping in the car sounds soooo easy most days, but the car has an electrical problem that will be repaired tomorrow. This means I have to open the hood and reconnect the battery before can go anywhere. Wow, this whole project is taking a lot longer than I thought. I'm so glad I thought ahead enough to use the bathroom before starting the project.

(Trip to the store happens)

Okay, I had a few errands to run while I was out so it took me 2 hours to pick up the part for the toilet. I stopped at:

Joanne Fabrics
Hallmark
Lowes
Carters
PetSmart
Pet Supplies Plus
Veterinarian

The part I was looking for is called a toilet fill valve. It cost me $7.48 and was very easy to find. By the time I was done, I wanted to pick up lunch too, but I had to use the restroom and this was a trip I only like to make at home if you know what I mean. I don't want to eat until I use the restroom and I can't use the restroom until the toilet is fixed. I had some real motivation by now.

I got home and had the toilet put back together and the water on in about 19 minutes.

I am proud of myself. That was fun.