Can we talk about the time I spent 6 hours fixing a toilet fill valve that should have taken 20 minutes?

Rented out my old place in Austin after moving, and the tenant said the toilet was running nonstop. I figured I'd swap the fill valve quick, but the shutoff valve crumbled in my hand and I spent the next 5 hours driving to three hardware stores for a replacement fitting and mopping up water that leaked into the kitchen ceiling below. Has anyone else had a simple fix turn into a half-day disaster because of one old pipe or valve?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.xena1mo ago

...and my buddy James had basically the same thing happen with his water heater. He thought he was just swapping out a rusty drain valve, but the whole thing was so corroded it snapped off flush with the tank. He spent the next four hours trying to get the broken piece out, finally had to call a plumber who just cut the whole tank and put in a new one. That "20 minute" job cost him like $800.

gray629d ago

Wait, the plumber just cut the whole tank and put in a new one? That's insane. Like, James really spent four hours trying to fix it himself, only to have a plumber come in and basically say "nah, we're done with this whole thing" and yank it out? Ngl, that $800 bill stings, but honestly, the time he wasted probably made it feel even worse. I can't imagine watching a plumber just cut into your water heater like it's a bad pumpkin. Tbh, I'd be so mad at myself for not just calling someone right away.

gibson.elizabeth29d ago

@kim.xena I see it a little differently. Sometimes that $800 is cheaper than the frustration and lost time of wrestling with something that's clearly past its useful life.