Happy New Year!
We made it back to Wisconsin after our holiday travels. On the day before New Year’s Eve, Wade and I were at The 1885 House until 11:00 pm, getting the flooring and trim in. I even seated my first toilet (which my dad taught me to do over Christmas)! We put the vanity in and got everything plumbed in.
On New Year’s Eve, I went to the house to check that my plumbing was good to go (it was my first time), and to do a final wipe-down before signing the lease with our new tenants that afternoon. It was the worst case scenario. The sink was leaking, the toilet was leaking, the prospective tenants emailed that they no longer wanted the unit. I was sitting on the living room floor about to dissolve into tears when Wade walked in with the wine, house plant, and welcome card for the cancelled lease signing.
We finished a few projects and went home to The Maple House to take New Year’s Day off, because why not?
On the 2nd, I was back at it. I realized that the toilet wasn’t leaking from the base (thank god!), the bolts that attach the tank to the bowl has a slow leak, a few drops an hour. That, with the major leak from above and some minor condensing from the vent, and it’s no wonder the subfloor under the toilet was in such bad shape. That, and particle board absorbs water like a sponge. I went to Home Depot and got the tank to bowl kit and also decided to replace all the innards of the toilet. The kit was only 14 bucks, so I might as well. I spent almost a full day cleaning the inside of the tank, getting everything replaced, bolting the tank and bowl together (I was super paranoid the entire process that I might crack the porcelain), and stopping frequently to watch YouTube tutorials to make sure I was on track. I had a hiccup with the toilet continuously running because I screwed the toilet floater the wrong way and put it too high. Commence, two hours of watching YouTube and reading This Old House articles to find a solution. Oh, I screwed left, not right on the assembly. Oops. Problem solved. While the toilet was separated, I was able to clean literally every inch of that toilet, inside and out. It looks new and so shiny. While we were replacing everything, we got a new toilet seat/cover and a fresh, shiny chrome flush handle to match the rest of the bathroom hardware. It looks so polished. And to date, not a drop of water has exited that toilet except the cast iron drain.
Now the sink. Looking back, I’m a bit embarrassed that it took so many tries and so much time and effort, but it’s a way to learn, and I don’t know what I don’t know. So, on New Year’s Eve, I found the water leak #1. And it was coming from everywhere. Every joint including the drain itself. I completed disassembled and reassembled it. This time, my plumbing joints weren’t leaking! Yay! But the drain was leaking. That was leak #2. I disassembled everything again and realized that the drain assembly had a small crack in it! This must be where the leak is! Off to Home Depot I went to get a new drain assembly. I redid everything, then excitedly ran the water, confident in my problem solving abilities. None of the plumbing leaked! But the drain was still leaking. That was leak #3. I disassembled everything again and noticed I had a drain designed for an overflow sink. I looked at the sink. No overflow. You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. I went back to Home Depot and bought the one type of drain that was not designed for overflow sinks…I guess they’re not that common. I got back to The 1885 House, reassembled everything and low and behold. It worked. No leakage. And it only took me four tries. I looked at the drain I had removed from the sink and in addition to the small crack, it was a drain designed for an overflow sink. There must have been a slow leak from here. That would explain the water damage in the vanity.
But the bathroom is done! I got everything cleaned! We even cut out the hole in the wall to properly inset the medicine cabinet. It had been previously mounted on the wall, with much protrusion and head hitting hazard. The bathroom is so fresh and adorable. The checkerboard floor came out great. I love it!
I got the unit relisted and have already scheduled a few showings. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
