We have had nothing but bad plumbing luck at our little red cabin.



You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I was fretting because the septic vault was full and we were having trouble finding someone to come pump it out. Well, the septic guy did us a big favor and got there and pumped it out before the next renters showed up, so that was a relief. But those renters didn't stay there because their overflow guests decided to commute instead of sleeping over. Fine by us.

The next renters were there five nights and like a fool I let her talk me into hooking up the washing machine in case they wanted to do laundry. I figured no big deal, how much wash could they do, and we'd keep an eye on the septic level.

After they left I noticed a bucket under the kitchen sink drain and thought maybe Mr. Troutbend had noticed some leak and put it there. Turned out it was put there by the guests and they didn't mention it to us.

This morning Mr. Tbend comes in and says: "We've got real trouble over at the red cabin. The septic is even fuller than it was that other time."

Holy crap (almost literally). People are coming to stay there for two nights starting tomorrow and the septic guys are usually booked up weeks in advance.

We figured out that a gasket had failed in the toilet so it was running all the time and filled up the septic vault (1250 gallons) assisted by the guests taking God knows how many showers a day and doing God knows how much laundry. People from town have no sense for what it's like to be on a septic system and how to conserve water.

I told Mr. Tbend to also kindly address any issues with the kitchen sink drain now because it was totally wrapped in duct tape, which could be hiding any number of problems, and it seems to leak any time someone stays there. He discovered that things weren't attached: one pipe to another, etc. I was put out at him for not figuring this out back when he was working on the house before people were scheduled to come, but didn't tell him because too late for that.

He went to Home Depot - 25 miles away - and came back with a toilet insides kit that was supposed to fit any toilet, but didn't fit this one and parts for the sink. He pulled out the old toilet insides and took them to Ace Hardware 6 miles away to see if there was a gasket that would fit, but no. So now the toilet is all apart with no easy solution in sight.

Meanwhile, Mr. Angel-Sent-By-God-in-Response-to-Prayer Septic guy shows up and pumps it out. Bless his heart, he only had a few hours notice.

And Mr. Tbend manages to get the kitchen sink all put back together, the first time ever he has gotten the parts right on the first try. So our worries would be over except the toilet is in pieces and we may not be able to fix it.

I'm starting to wonder if this particular model of toilet, which we had installed by a plumber in 2005 was a discontinued model and the smartest thing to do would be to just replace the whole thing and hope those insides don't become obsolete. But it seems incredible that after all these years of toilets being repairable with a kit all of a sudden they are unique and no parts available. Folks are going to be spending far too much time replacing them just because of a leaking gasket.

Where it stands: He has given up for the day, and tomorrow will drive 25 miles to Lowe's to see if they have what he needs. If it isn't done when the people show up, I will put them in the Brown cabin for one night and they will have to move to the red cabin for the second night because the Brown is rented for the weekend. If we can't fix the current toilet, we'll have to buy a new one.

PS: we are removing the washing machine.