Monday, March 14, 2011

how my brain works - toilet seals

I am totally neurotic.  You all know this.  Here is an example of how my brain works. 

When our contractor tore out the bathroom, he mentioned that the toilet had a slow leak.  No huge damage to the subflooring, so it wasn't a big deal.  He just mentioned it. 

Because I am always trying to learn more about how plumbing works (Seriously, it is interesting.  Did you know sinks needed venting???  Fascinating.),  I asked him, "How would I know when a toilet has a leak?  What did I miss?"  His answer, "You wouldn't necessarily know if it was a small leak." 

This type of information is extremely alarming to me.  The unknown = scary.

You see, I have four toilets in my house.  If that one was leaking and I didn't know it, how do I know if the other ones are leaking too? 

What if they are slowly leaking and damaging all the flooring, but the leaks are not showing up on the ceiling below?
What if one day a toilet falls through the ceiling? 
What if we need to get the floors and subfloors fixed and it costs one million dollars? 

Surely, I would then kick myself for not having gotten them re-sealed when I was informed that one of them was leaking.  Surely that was a warning sign from the gods of responsible home maintenance!

So I asked my contractor, "If this were your house, would you check out these toilet seals?"  He smiled, laughed a little and said, "Of course!" 

The contractor will be back in a few weeks to re-seal my toilets with the "rolls royce" of wax toilet seals.  Until then, every time someone flushes I can just hear a little trickle of water leaking down into my flooring and plaster ceilings. 

My mind is a scary place.

2 comments:

  1. I worry more about what's 'leaking'. Is it clean water... or not clean water, if you know what I mean. Yuck.

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  2. Having leaks, small or otherwise, can be worrisome. The reason is that you have no idea how much damage it might do to your house in the long run. It’s better to be meticulous with regard to one's plumbing system, than have to pay for repairs in the future.

    Evon Brow @ Athens Plumbing

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