Muhahhaha!

I have claimed glorious victory over the guest toilet, which has been out of commission since we moved into our home.

I had to replace the valve coming out of the wall, but when I went to Home Depot this morning, I was confused and unprepared for the 200 different valve types: Was it steel or copper?  Was it 1/2 inch or 3/8 inch?  Was it CPVC (and what is CPVC)? 

I also needed the hose that goes from the valve into the toilet tank, and there were many varieties of those as well. 

Thankfully, a Home Depot man asked if I needed help–I told him yes–and he asked me a few questions about the toilet: “Does it have a nut around the valve?” 
“Yes,” I replied.  So he then told me which valve and hose to use and how to replace it–this was invaluable as it involved keeping the nut that was already around the pipe coming out of the wall and not using the nut that came with the new valve.

I turned off the water, wrenched off the old valve and the put on the new one, wrapping teflon tape over the threads–the directions didn’t say to do that but I figured it’s always a good idea.  Then, the first moment of truth came to see if the old pipe and the new valve would leak.  I turned the water back on from outside while Katie watched the valve, and it didn’t leak!

Now I hooked the new hose onto the valve and reseated the toilet tank on top of the bowl–this had been the connection that was leaking before–and I opened up the valve to fill the tank…and waited for the water to start dripping over the side, but it didn’t!

Our guest toilet now works, so the bathroom is usable, and people don’t have to go through our master bedroom to use the toilet anymore.  When it was all said and done, it cost me about $40 in supplies and about 12 hours of work.  But, on the positive side, I learned all about how toilets work and what can go wrong with them.

Thanks St. Joseph and Jesus!