Fixed a leaky toilet with a random washer from my junk drawer - big mistake

I used a rubber washer I found in a pile of old bike parts to replace the flapper seal on my toilet in Phoenix. Three days later it dissolved and flooded my bathroom floor at 2am. Anyone else ever grab a part that looked right and instantly regret it?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret9916d ago

Oh man, I did almost the exact same thing last year! Found a rubber gasket from an old coffee maker and figured it would work as a temporary fix on my kitchen sink faucet. It held up for about a week and then just crumbled into little pieces. Water was spraying everywhere under the sink before I even noticed. The worst part is that it took me forever to figure out what happened because the part was just gone, like it dissolved completely. Now I only buy the proper parts from the hardware store, no matter how much a random washer looks like it fits.

susana6616d ago

Oh, I hear you. My husband once used a cut-up piece of an old yoga mat to patch a hose. It worked great for about two hours until the water pressure blew it right off. Now we keep a little box of actual washers and gaskets under the sink.

the_max15d ago

@margaret99 Did your coffee maker gasket smell like burnt coffee when it failed?