D
Ha! My biggest fear while hubby has been away is THAT drain would clog. If you were here last summer, you may have remembered me freaking over it back then. It's the drain that sweeps away everything that goes through all the water pipes in the house PLUS the drain in our backyard. (Cement backyard, so that drain is important too.)
So for half a year I've been praying that there is no water EVER in front of the downstairs toilet, because it was due to go again (every 6 months to year) and it makes me gag.
Now, this is important -- our downstairs toilet is not in a bathroom. It's on a cement slab so close to the washing machine sink that I can turn on the cold water in the sink while seated on the toilet. To my right, in the very northwest corner of our house is the cap that needs to be pulled off to unclog that drain. (There is a word for that thing under the cap I still can't remember.) It's such a tight squeeze back there, the only way to balance is lean against the west wall and support with an elbow on the toilet seat while pulling up that cap and counterclockwise unscrewing it.
Did you notice? I can explain all that because the rug in front of the toilet did get wet, so I called hubby to learn how to do it and I did it. AND I did it without gagging, which would be impressive in itself IF the drain was clogged.
It's not.
The toilet is old-school (before "low-flo" ever hit the market in any form), but it's really old-school in it doesn't work, except by dumping in water in the bowl to flush. Nothing in the tank. Water in the toilet bowl usually just to stop fumes from coming through, but it does get used in emergencies. (Hasn't been one since hubby's been gone, but specifically because I did NOT want to unclog that pipe-thingy.)
So... no clogged pipe, the only thing I can think of that could leak out of the toilet is the water in the bowl, and the level hasn't gone down since I made sure the level was the right level a couple of weeks ago. That means something else is wrong, right? (Unmechanically inclined in all things, but really bad with pipes and electricity, so this really is me trying to troubleshoot without any knowledge of how to.)
Sooo, the water is coming from that away, BUT the only thing left is the washer and sink. Yup. Used the washer. The only reason I felt wet rug was because I was barefoot and hanging up clothes next to the toilet.
Now, like the toilet, our sink and washer are old-school too. (At least 26 years old because they came with the house, weren't new, and we bought the house 25 years ago, so praying the washer keeps working too. lol)
The sink has no trap, and it's the washer's sink, so I put one of those lint catcher things on the end of the hose that goes into the sink from the washer. Sometimes, I forget to change them after they get too linty, which then tends to spray water over onto the toilet but it also sprays water onto a chest next to the toilet that works as our table/magazine holder/TP holder/junk holder. I personally don't think the lint catcher was that overlinted, but what do I know? I'm the mechanically uninclined one asking for help online, because hubby is eating and I don't want to bother him/gross him out.
There is no water on that chest. I felt-up the toilet for wetness around the bottom, along the pipes behind it, under the tank, and looked at all the pipes between washer and toilet (and trap/cap thingy) so what else can I do?
Because honestly! I really really need to do this load of wash in the washer right now. My luck! Hubby got hanging up shirts before the wetness. I still need clean unmentionables.
Anyone got any ideas of what I might of missed, what I should try, AND is it safe to eat dinner? Because I'm hungry but don't want to barf if this gets even more disgusting!
So for half a year I've been praying that there is no water EVER in front of the downstairs toilet, because it was due to go again (every 6 months to year) and it makes me gag.
Now, this is important -- our downstairs toilet is not in a bathroom. It's on a cement slab so close to the washing machine sink that I can turn on the cold water in the sink while seated on the toilet. To my right, in the very northwest corner of our house is the cap that needs to be pulled off to unclog that drain. (There is a word for that thing under the cap I still can't remember.) It's such a tight squeeze back there, the only way to balance is lean against the west wall and support with an elbow on the toilet seat while pulling up that cap and counterclockwise unscrewing it.
Did you notice? I can explain all that because the rug in front of the toilet did get wet, so I called hubby to learn how to do it and I did it. AND I did it without gagging, which would be impressive in itself IF the drain was clogged.
It's not.
The toilet is old-school (before "low-flo" ever hit the market in any form), but it's really old-school in it doesn't work, except by dumping in water in the bowl to flush. Nothing in the tank. Water in the toilet bowl usually just to stop fumes from coming through, but it does get used in emergencies. (Hasn't been one since hubby's been gone, but specifically because I did NOT want to unclog that pipe-thingy.)
So... no clogged pipe, the only thing I can think of that could leak out of the toilet is the water in the bowl, and the level hasn't gone down since I made sure the level was the right level a couple of weeks ago. That means something else is wrong, right? (Unmechanically inclined in all things, but really bad with pipes and electricity, so this really is me trying to troubleshoot without any knowledge of how to.)
Sooo, the water is coming from that away, BUT the only thing left is the washer and sink. Yup. Used the washer. The only reason I felt wet rug was because I was barefoot and hanging up clothes next to the toilet.
Now, like the toilet, our sink and washer are old-school too. (At least 26 years old because they came with the house, weren't new, and we bought the house 25 years ago, so praying the washer keeps working too. lol)
The sink has no trap, and it's the washer's sink, so I put one of those lint catcher things on the end of the hose that goes into the sink from the washer. Sometimes, I forget to change them after they get too linty, which then tends to spray water over onto the toilet but it also sprays water onto a chest next to the toilet that works as our table/magazine holder/TP holder/junk holder. I personally don't think the lint catcher was that overlinted, but what do I know? I'm the mechanically uninclined one asking for help online, because hubby is eating and I don't want to bother him/gross him out.
There is no water on that chest. I felt-up the toilet for wetness around the bottom, along the pipes behind it, under the tank, and looked at all the pipes between washer and toilet (and trap/cap thingy) so what else can I do?
Because honestly! I really really need to do this load of wash in the washer right now. My luck! Hubby got hanging up shirts before the wetness. I still need clean unmentionables.
Anyone got any ideas of what I might of missed, what I should try, AND is it safe to eat dinner? Because I'm hungry but don't want to barf if this gets even more disgusting!
.
