It seemed like a simple enough chore for my husband to master, replace the broken toilet seat with the new one I bought. I installed the other one years ago so I knew the task was simple – two plastic lug nuts to be unscrewed.
About 20 minutes later while I was out mowing the grass, my husband came up and asked me where that that trigger thing we use to light the grill. He bent his index finger back and forth, which has become the universal signal for that lighter thingy. I asked him why he needed it.
Well, he used some industrial strenth pliers to try to loosen the lug nuts (wrench anyone?) and had stripped them to nubs. So, he decided the best way to get them off WAS TO MELT THEM OFF! I told him that I didn’t think that would work, but he dismissed me. I handed over the lighter and continued mowing.
He came back a few minutes later and said that didn’t work. Surprise!!! Now the problem is that the lug nuts are soldered to the screw. So he’s decided that what he needs now is a small hack saw to cut them off. I’ve decided what we need is to spend $75 on a professional plumber to come over and solve this mess. This is the third day with no toilet seat with no end in sight.
Got any home improvement stories you’d like to share?
Responses to “Guest Diva: Cindy and the toilet seat”
August 25th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
This is not so much home improvement as Happy Homemaker gone awry. About 20 years ago when I was fresh out of college, I got this “bright” idea to make homemade strawberry jam, including picking the strawberries myself blah blah blah. I was doing that method of sealing them with paraffin and had melted the paraffin over the stove in a seive lined with foil so that it would sit on the edge of the double boiler (over the water) and I could just dispose of the foil easily. WHen I was sealing the jars, I noticed there wasn’t much paraffin but didn’t think much other than that. Then I dumped the water from the bottom of the double boiler down the sink and TA DA! The melted paraffin had leaked into the boiling water and since it was wax, it was clear, like water…until it hardened. Did I tell you this was at my parents’ house and it was Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend…can you get a plumber then? Well, yes, for a pretty penny. We tried a few things to get the sink unclogged (including kerosene–don’t recommend this). No dice. Had a whole weekend with no water in the kitchen sink. The plumber came Tuesday but still no solution. The kitchen faces east and the pipes would heat up all day–the paraffin never would harden enough for the plumber to get it out. There was some discussion of him having to dig up the foundation of the house, but ultimately he just had to push the plug of wax far down to another part of the pipe and replace the pipe through the basement ceiling. My parents were so great about this and never yelled at me or anything. But on every jar, my dad wrote “$1000 Jam”
August 27th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
LOL! I have to commend you on your attitude and respect for your husband to allow him to be in control and learn from his own mistakes. My impatience would not have allowed that toilet seat issue to go on a second day. I guess that is why I am single.
August 9th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
For heaven’s sake, don’t tell him that this girl replaced her own toilet seat a few weeks ago. Speaking of, I paid $20 for the new one and it has sticky tape under the plastic screw things that “holds” the seat to the toilet itself. Regardless of what is going on there, it sounds like velcro and I’m terrified it will just slide right off and take me to the floor with it. Maybe soldering is the way to go in my case!!