Easy. Right. Sure it is.

[calimac]

It's actually been at least a couple of years that I've wanted to replace the seat on our inner upstairs toilet. We bought a new seat, but I found the process of removing the old one to be defeating, and figured I'd wait until we next needed a plumber for something substantive. That didn't happen, and then the seat started falling apart.

I decided to make another stab at this supposedly simple household task. I checked instructions online. First step, use a screwdriver to pop open the plastic caps over the bolts. Half an hour later, much scraping and gouging of the caps, no success. I called the plumbers we'd used before. They were incredulous that I couldn't perform a simple task like changing a toilet seat, and even more incredulous that I couldn't open the caps. But they wouldn't offer any advice on how to get past the problem, and house calls start at $130. Try a handyman, they said.

When I reached a reportedly competent handyman on the phone, he was willing to offer advice. If the caps wouldn't pop open, try pulling them with a pliers. Pull how?, I asked. They're rounded; nothing to grab on to. Getting past his tendency to accuse me of arguing with him when all I was doing was trying to make sense of his advice, he kindly warned me that if he did come out to do the job he'd charge almost as much as the plumbers would, plus, like all competent handymen, he's fantastically overbooked.

So I called a different plumber, who came this morning. Without any input from me, he ignored the caps and started out attacking the nuts underneath with his pliers. Then he gave up, and eventually sawed the plastic caps off with a portable circular electric saw. Not so easy or simple after all, was it?

Anyway, the job got done, and he charged $40. Worth it in elbow grease alone.

Comments

[wild-patience.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you got this taken care of, dear. I tried about a year ago when you were out of town. I came to the conclusion that the bolts were rusted and would never move. Yes, I think a saw was definitely the only solution.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I've replaced the toilet seats here several times. We have two bathrooms in the condo, both of which were upgraded by me, and one needed redoing again when Carole hurt her knee and I installed railings on the john.

The first time, the bolts were rusted. Fortunately, not as rusted as to require an electric saw. I used two pliers, one above and one below, and forced the bolts to unscrew. They were reluctant, and it took a while. Not pleasant, but I did it on my own.

*confetti*

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

That's always very gratifying, when you can do it yourself, successfully. I suspect your job would have been beyond me, not so much because I only have one pair of pliers (obviously I could buy a second one), but because I'm the kind of guy who only has one pair of pliers, if you see what I mean. It was relieving to me to find how hard this job turned out to be, and the same has been true on some other occasions. If the job is simply beyond one's capacities, there's no guilt at failing to do it.

On the other hand, some things I can do. I was pleased at replacing the tank-filling gizmo in the other toilet myself, and only when the ancient water pipe began to leak when turning it back on, after all the flexing needed in the job, did I call a plumber, because I was smart enough to know that I couldn't replace that myself.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Indeed. You have to know your limits.

My mother was the DIY person in the house, as she spent most of her life in engineering/interior design/construction. I have lots of tools around here, including a mallet and an electric screwdriver. I constructed all of the Ikea-level projects with a minimum of fuss (and very little cussing) and (of course) do all the computer upgrades. I don't consider myself all that ept, just that I like to work the puzzle and don't have a lot of money.

But for the big projects, I call the condo's handyman. Just before Carole hurt her knee, the entire commode needed replacing. I asked him to do it. He said, "pick one out, I'll get it and install it". So Carole and I went toilet shopping at the Home Depot. An odd, nest-building, experience.

But we did, and he did, and it turned out to be a good thing. When she hurt her knee, I put in the railings. Much easier than installing a new seat in the old commode had been.