There Should Be A Law

I don’t know what the rule or law is that governs things breaking, like Murphy’s Law.  But whatever it is, I had it tonight.  Kris informed me that the toilet tank in the upstairs bathroom sounded like it was still running.  My initial thought was the chain was kinked, or I needed to slightly adjust the float (or whatever passes for the float now).  Alison said that it had been doing that all day, and also had been doing it a couple of days ago. 

So after dinner I took the top off and saw that the chain was fine, so I figured I just needed to adjust the screw for the shut off valve.  As I turned it, the water kept running, so I thought I must be turning it the wrong way.  Nope.  I tried turning the screw for the float all the way in each direction, but neither way got the water to shut off, so I figured the valve must have worn out, which would require me to replace it.

I headed to Home Depot to get a new tower, and actually found one that would require I only need to replace the refill tower, and not have to change out the flap.  I thought this will take me about 15 minutes to change.  Of course, I was wrong.

Because of the type of toilet we have, I couldn’t simply empty the tank and unscrew the valve tower.  I was required to actually remove the refill tank from the back of the toilet in order to get at the locking nut so I could swap out the valve.  But in addition to that, I had to get at the screw and nuts that were holding the tank on.  It was fine for one of them, but the second was in a location that, because of the sink/vanity, required me to twist my wrist at such as angle as to nearly break it just to get the wrench on the nut.  ARGH!

I began my “replacement” around 6:00 and finished around 8:45.  That finish time includes a 20 minute trip to Home Depot, and 15-20 minutes of clean up time in the bathroom.  It had to be done, since the water wouldn’t shut off but boy, it sure seems as if doing a project like this can just never go smoothly.