BOLD POWER

Bold Power.



When Debra and I moved into our little house in our little 55+ community, we were immediately happy with the change.  Energy bills decreased, square footage cleaning decreased, yard work decreased and neighborhood noise decreased.

The only thing we didn't like were the two toilets in the house.  They were both two inches shorter than the toilets I had installed in our previous house and they both required three flushes to force the results of certain physiological functions into the pipes that run beneath the street.

Replacing toilets is not one of my favorite chores.  Properly placing the wax ring is particularly problematic for me.  If you don't get it right the first time, the toilet will leak at the base.  But you can't see if the wax ring is properly seated because you can't see it once you install the toilet.  You only know if you've done the job properly if the floor around the toilet is still dry after a few flushes.

So, disliking the task as much as I do, I called a plumber to ask how much he would charge to spare me the hassle.  He told me the first toilet installed would cost $485 and the second one would cost a mere $425.

The part of my brain that processes logic told me that $910 was too much to spend on two toilets.  I would have to make a trip to The Home Depot and surrender to doing the unpleasant task myself while wishin' and a hopin' and a prayin' that the wax rings would not misbehave on my watch.

I installed one toilet last weekend and the other toilet today.  And I paid a whole lot less than $910!  I was careful to use proper body mechanics when lifting.  So, my back is not sore and the floors around each toilet have remained dry.

The best part is that our new toilets need to flushed only once per physiological function.  That's because our new toilets have power.  Bold power.





Usually when an old toilet is removed, the old wax ring sticks to it.  Today, the wax ring remained stuck to the floor.

With the wax ring removed and the residue wax scraped away, the new toilet is ready to be installed.

Placing the wax ring is the trickiest part of the project.  At least, for me.

With the new wax ring adhering to the new toilet, the bowl is very, very carefully placed over the drain pipe before being bolted to the floor.

With the bowl secured to the floor, the tank is attached.

The new toilet is two inches taller than the old toilet, thus eliminating the need to do occasional deep knee bends.

The old toilets will either become landscape art or become land fill debris.