What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[saysfaa]

The next best alternative we'd thought of so far is to run a garden hose through the house to the toilet. Then plug the side jets, and the drain hole, around the end of the hose. And take the flapper off. Then turn the hose on up siphon jet.

Or run a flexible tube down the flapper hole, through the toilet, past the cap and out the siphon hole. Drain the toilet. Wait until everything is dry, dab super glue on the end of the tubing. Then try to hit the cap with the glue spot. Let that cure. Then pull the tubing out through the flapper hole.

We took it outside and ran the hose into it from each side while turning it every which way. And turning it every which way without the hose running. And decided it must have the hole(s) in the middle of the wall(s). We decided, again, to replace it.

The day before, I went to Harbor Freight and to Mennards (Mennards usually has more selection in the store than Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, or general hardware or lumber stores). I bought two inspection mirrors, a chem light, a grabber, a borescope, and 5 ft of tubing I thought would be flexible enough to bend through the spaces and stiff enough to push through them.

Yesterday, I choked at spending the money, and tried again for a few hours with shop vac blowing and vacuuming, the tubing, the mirror, and turning it. Dh nixed using the borescope - even if we saw anything, it wouldn't help.

The tubing won't bend around the corners with just pushing. I tried anyway. The grabber is too weak and too small (bigger one was longer but not grabber part is the same). It is obviously less able to go around the corners than the tubing, so I didn't use it. And decided, again, to replace the toilet.

And, again, choked at spending the money. And remembered the idea of gluing it out of the way. But all day, I couldn't hear it rattle and it didn't come back where I could touch it.

So, I ordered the replacement. The same thing. In the same color - special order because of the color so it is not returnable or cancelable. I returned the unused tools.

Then, afterwards at the knitting club, one of the people said their son dropped the cap of a gatorade bottle into the innards of their toilet and they were able to get it out with bent pipe cleaners. But they could see the cap through the hole under the flapper. It took a long time of trying. Smaller cap too, I note. It doesn't matter anymore.

 

[saysfaa]

It was very embarrassing wondering what the neighbors thought of us washing our toilet in the backyard.

Or ... I'm not sure which feeling is stronger at this point.

 

[sourland]

It was very embarrassing wondering what the neighbors thought of us washing our toilet in the backyard.

Or ... I'm not sure which feeling is stronger at this point.

Choose

 

[saysfaa]

That is what dh said. After I lost my temper when I saw them filming. Well, thought I did anyway.

I'm trying to choose

At least they probably think we had dropped a wedding ring or something into it. Not a cheap plastic cap. So maybe they won't put it on the internet.

 

[gtaus]

We took it outside and ran the hose into it from each side while turning it every which way. And turning it every which way without the hose running. And decided it must have the hole(s) in the middle of the wall(s). We decided, again, to replace it.

Sounds like you put a lot of time and effort into removing that cap with not much but frustration to show for it. That's too bad. I guess that's why the plumber said it was not worth his time to try to get the cap out. At $100+ per hour rate for a plumber's time, it probably makes more sense to replace the toilet. Any idea how much time you spent trying to get out that cap?

Back in the day, I used to do computer repairs. But we only would do warranty repairs. People would ask me how much it would cost to repair their 2- or 3-year-old computer and I would have to tell them they were better off getting a new computer because the value of their 3-year-old computer was no longer worth the time charged to fix it. At that time, basically any home computer that was out of warranty was not worth fixing unless you could do it yourself. Probably the same situation today. That's why you just don't see any electronic repair shops in town anymore.

Nobody likes hearing that their 3-year-old computer is not worth fixing. But the reality was that they could buy a new computer, for less money, and with a warranty for less than what the repair cost would be.

Frugal Tip - Consider Going Battery with Outdoor Tools

I used to get only 2 or 3 years use out of most of my outdoor lawn gas tools, like my grass trimmers and push mowers. The carbs would foul up over our long winters and then in the spring not want to start or run properly. It would cost more to have the grass trimmer serviced at the shop than it was to buy a new trimmer with a warranty.

About 15 years ago, I decided to try out some battery-operated grass trimmers and a small battery push mower. At the time, they were not as strong or powerful as the gas engines, but they got the job done none the less. Long story short, I still am using that same battery grass trimmer and push mower, but they work even better today with the improvements in battery technology.

Since then, I have expanded to using battery snow blowers, chainsaws, tillers, and cultivators. Never regretted a single battery outdoor tool purchase. Unless you make your living with those outdoor tools, chances are you will save a lot of money going with batteries over gas. I certainly did.

FWIW, I asked our local Fleet repair shop what people are buying. The professionals are still buying the gas equipment for the extended run time, but the guy at the store told me that most homeowners buy the battery tools. That sounds about right to me.

 

[saysfaa]

...Any idea how much time you spent trying to get out that cap? ...

It depends on which parts of the time spent on that toilet count as trying to get the cap out. Anyway, it would be a rough guess.

Maybe 8 hours off and on over a week's time looking at websites trying to find what could make a toilet have an intermittent weak flow to get to "might be the flapper or inflow mechanism."

Maybe two hours figuring out which model we have, which parts it needs. Maybe three hours figuring out how to clean the inflow mechanism (watching videos is slow).

Ten minutes listening to my friend's husband talk about how to fix toilets. Which directly led to finding the actual problem.

Three hours talking to my friend's husband, my brother, and my sister, and writing/reading here about how to solve the problem.

Two hours of me looking at options at Mennard's of replacing the toilet. Another hour and a half of going back to Mennard's with dh.

Two hours finding the shop vac, gathering rags and towels, figuring out how to plug the side jets, plunging it dry (many times because of the supply valve not working completely).

One hour trying the shop vac.

One hour (times two people) trying the hose from outside.

Two hours trying the shop vac again.

At least eight hours looking for how this model works, like where the spaces inside are, or anything else that might help. It might have been a lot more.

Two hours showing dh the most helpful pictures I found in that eight hours, and watching him play with the video of the water going through a transparent model... trying to slow it down enough to make sense of it.

Half hour texting our kids about any other ideas to try.

One hour looking for a plumber and arranging a service call.

One hour while the plumber was here.

Two hours (of two people) of trying outside. Includes getting it outside, dragging the hose back out, turning the water on to the spigot (it was after hard freezes so hose/spigot were winterized), and rewinterizing the hose/spigot.

Two hours (off and on for two days) devoted to dh talking me off the cliff regarding the neighbors filming us and the related frustrations of living near other people that were dragged up. And whether the people we bought the house from knew there was a problem and frustrations related to that.

Ten minutes asking plumber for a quote. Twenty minutes asking supply company for a quote. Ten minutes following up with the plumber after not getting his quote for six days.

Three hours trying again because I choked on the quotes.

Fifteen minutes to place the order.

So, about 45 hours of my time, about 7 hours of dh's time directly, unknown amounts of other people's time.

All of it would have been worth it if it had worked. The quote from the plumber is $1020 (materials and labor). That is (would have been) more than $20 per hour; more than I made at any of the jobs I've had even if I don't count things like taxes and the costs of working.

I thought it was a lot of mark up based on the quote from the supply house ($742 for just the toilet) until I added up what else is needed, even besides driving over to pick it up.

I don't regret trying even though it didn't work.