Toilet Tank Leak!

I think everyone knows that I fell at a Halloween Party and sprained my left foot pretty bad. Currently using crutches and a wheelchair. Trying to keep most body weight off of the foot.

So, last night my wife comes home from work and I ask her to empty my plastic urine bottle that I keep by my recliner in the living room. I was sitting in the recliner, waiting for her to come back with it, and all of a sudden I hear her yell "the water in the toilet won't go down, it coming over the edge onto the floor!" I yelled to her, "use the plunger!" She yelled back, "water is pouring out of a hole in the bottom of the tank!" Tank leak!! She was able to get the tank lid off and hold up the flushing unit to stop the water. I'm on crutches, trying to get as fast as I can to the bathroom. The floor had water laying on it and it was starting to get on our bedroom carpet. The complex office had just closed and staff left, so called the office number and left message for emergency maintenance. The maintenance man on-call doesn't live in the complex. He was in traffic on the freeway, but told me he get to us ASAP. Meanwhile, wife is holding this unit up so water won't come out and I'm hobbling around on crutches looking large towels to take to her for the floor. To say the least, we were both pretty frantic! Her hand was getting tired and I couldn't take over b/c the bathroom isn't that big. Finally maintenance showed up and shut off the water outside (meter). It's now fixed, but what an ordeal!

Luckily, my wife was home when this happened.

Believe it or not, this "tank leak" happened to us a few years ago (other bathroom). Only thing was, we were taking a nap in the Master Bedroom and had the door closed when that leak happened. I just happen to get up, walk out in the living room and see a quarter of the living room carpet soaked and heard the leak going in that bathroom. That leak had been going for awhile and our spare bedroom, next to this bathroom, carpet was soaked, closet floor carpet soaked as well as the bathroom floor full of water. This was on a Saturday afternoon and Maintenance was handy. They had to call in a Carpet Cleaning Company to suck the water out of the carpet and put large floor fans on to dry out the floors. Thank God, no damage done to anything.

 

I had that happen last year....you're lucky you live in an apt and don't have to pay the plumbers bill which is $125 just to come out.

 

That's an awful story Cody

 

Yes, one of the advantages of apt living......free maintenance/repairs/appliance replacement. And, no yearly property tax. But, there are also advantages to buying/owning a home.

 

As you get older those advantages disappear...repairs are constant and money drains.

 

Yes. We have a number of residents here, young and old that had to sell their house due to finances.

Then again, a number of my high school graduation class bought their house years ago and it's totally paid off. That, with a nice Pension and added SS, they don't worry about costs of house repair bills. Again, another area where, with enough money, retirement can be mighty nice.

 

Yes, minor repair bills aren't bad but my new AC unit was $5,000 and it's a necessity in Fresno....my daughter paid for it but what would I do if she didn't?

 

Go with a desktop or box fan? We have Central AC, but sometimes use our ceiling fans instead.

 

Unbearable in the summer. For one week I used a fan and someone lent me a portable AC unit. The house was still at 87 degrees.

 

You did good taking the lid off and lifting the fill rod to shut the water off.
Quick tip about plumbing. Almost all toilets, kitchen and bathroom faucets have one of these.


In the US, you turn the handle clockwise to shut the unit off.
For the toilet, follow the chrome pipe coming out of the bottom of the tank.
Kitchen and bath faucets are under sinks in cabinet or vanity.

Something I added to my washer was Floodsafe auto shut-off hoses.
The idea is a washer hose springs a leak and the valve automatically shuts the water off.
Hoses that come with washers are not the best quality most times.
All washers vibrate alittle or shake which can cause hose fatigue.
Easy to install and reasonably priced and I have peace of mind when we are at work or on vacation.

 

Didn't know it got that hot there.

What makes the summer here unbearable for many is the combo of heat and humidity. Thought we could handle it, but it really never happened.

 

Yes, it's almost as hot as Arizona. An entire summer of 100+ temps. I think our highest temp this year was 111-112. It's a dry heat though.

The days I didn't have AC we were about 103!

I can't handle humidity anymore...think I would rather be in an oven than a sauna.

 

Because of all the walking around last night on the crutches, trying to help my wife soak up the water on the bathroom floor, my foot swelled up some. I was on it too much, but had to be. She had to hold the flushing unit up with one hand and toss towels around (I gave her) with the other. Foot is better today.

 

I would just relax today, @Cody Fousnaugh....barring any emergency!

You can imagine why I get so stressed living alone....can't do everything by myself.