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Early Retirement Extreme Forums » DIY Skills Questions

1. 

   HSpencer
   

   Master
   Joined: Jul '10
   Posts: 770

   http://www.lowes.com/pd_297849-834-2568.128.020_4294801332_4294937087_?productId=1243285&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Toilets_4294801332_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1

   I spent the better part of today getting and installing the item shown at the above link.

   A toilet, Aka: The crapper, the Porcelain God, the Illuminated Commode, the office chair.

   This started out with my going to Lowe's to replace a toilet seat that had an ugly scratch at the back of it. I have no idea how it got there, probably using too much cleaner on it and it flaking off. But after promising the wife I would do it, I finally got around to it. When I got to Lowe's, I sort of fell in love with this toilet. It was so white and clean and shiny that I just had to have it. I bought the thing, a new "Pure White" baked enameled seat and a new supply line, and so it would all look new, a new supply water valve.
   So home after lunch, I set out to install the whole affair. The iggy-yukkey part was takiing out the old one and cleaning the area, and getting ready to assemble and install the new one.
   Took me a couple hours. About 4 pm I had the thing rockin and rollin. I even put a new "roll" of paper on the holder and promply locked the door. It sat well, and when I was done, the flush was pleasing and fast.
   In the mid 70's, the energy crisis mandated a 1.6 gallon flush on all toilets, installed new or retrofitted. This is a 1.4(actually 1.28) gallon flush model, which is .2 gal less. I can tell you it works like greased bb's. On my old toilet I often had to double flush for a complete eraser of the contents. This one nearly sucks your hat off on the first flush. I can see $$$ savings on the way.
   Now I already knew a lot about toilets. (Apartment Manager 101). I have fixed or replaced lots of both toilets and toilet parts. (Working on SOMEONE else's toilet sucks compared to working on your own). Toilets are really pretty easy to fix, except when the mounting ring breaks off at the floor. That means a toilet "pull", and hoping you can use one of those "repair rings" to refasten it. If the bolt is broken off and the floor is concrete, you could have troubles you don't want.
   All in all I had a really nice Saturday. Some fun DIY. The pride of a new "potty", and a feeling of accomplishment and pleasing the wife by going above and beyond the call of duty.
   (This was by the way "Call of Duty 4, Black Ops").
   If your in the market for and shopping for a nice crapper, I highly recommend the one shown in the link. If any of you lived near me, I would invite you over for a drink and to see my new "Porcelain God",
   (Don't worry--I did not make a Youtube video of the ordeal, and will not be asking you to watch such).

   Posted 2 years ago #
2. 

   George the original one
   

   Expert
   Joined: Jul '10
   Posts: 1,941

   LOL... I never thought I'd enjoy a post about a toilet before!

   My main complaint with residential toilets lately is that the seats are often too close to the ground compared to the industrial ones. Your pride & joy is 16.5" high at the seat, which is excellent.

   Posted 2 years ago #
3. 

   DividendGuy
   

   Master
   Joined: Dec '10
   Posts: 414

   Whew! I'm just glad I rent. I'll never have to purchase a toilet!!!!

   :)

   Posted 2 years ago #
4. 

   HSpencer
   

   Master
   Joined: Jul '10
   Posts: 770

   @George Original

   Yeah, I made sure to get the "elderly and handicapped" model with the right height for a wheelchair to roll right up to it. Now all I will have to do is widen my bathroom door, and install grab bars on two sides of the potty. Then I will be able to be cared for "at home" in lieu of a nursing home. This way I should not need the Long Term Care insurance that the TV says I will one day.
   Actually, were something to happen to my wife first, I have an agreement with my daughter to drop off some Dried Soups, and Tea bags now and then for my sustenance, and I should be able to do the rest!!! By that time I will have enough beer ration stocked up to carry me on in.

   But errr uhhhh no thanks on the Larry King suspenders, as someone mentioned in another thread.

   Posted 2 years ago #
5. 

   AlexOliver
   

   Master
   Joined: Aug '10
   Posts: 461

   If I ever build a house myself, it'll have a composting toilet like the one in the Humanure Handbook.

   Posted 2 years ago #
6. 

   mikeBOS
   

   Master
   Joined: Nov '10
   Posts: 554

   hmmmm, he puts in a new toilet and then invites us over for a drink...

   Thanks H, but I think I'll pass, I gave up drinking out of the commode years ago.

   ;-)

   Posted 2 years ago #
7. 

   M
   

   Journeyman
   Joined: Sep '10
   Posts: 164

   @HSpencer:

   That is one mighty fine crapper you have there. I never thought I would be so inspired by a thread about a toilet. Kind of makes me want to upgrade my own toilet to a nice shiny high efficiency one.

   Posted 2 years ago #
8. 

   slacker
   

   Journeyman
   Joined: Nov '10
   Posts: 110

   @mikeBOS:..a good decision..lol

   @HSpencer: hehe..sounds like you had a lot of fun :)

   Posted 2 years ago #
9. 

   starshard0
   

   Apprentice
   Joined: Aug '10
   Posts: 45

   After spending nearly a year in Afghanistan, there's nothing more pleasing then the sight of an actual toilet. Squatting in a field or over a hole in the ground is an activity with an enjoyability factor approaching zero.

   Posted 2 years ago #
10. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    starshard0,
    A Small point that I wish to make. Squatting may not be an enjoyable activity, but you've unwittingly given yourself a lot of health advantages by doing so:

    http://www.naturesplatform.com/health_benefits.html
    http://www.jcrows.com/squatting.html
    Sites Share the same pictures, but information presented is a bit different.

    And Bruce Lee pays tribute to the "squat" in "Way of the Dragon" ;-)

    http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2010/03/way-of-dragon-retold-part-2.html
    <comment left on the blog>
    bruce lee squatting on the toilet is actually a joke for chinese people. Many Chinese people had never used western style toilets, being more used to 'squat' toilets. So upon being confronted with a western style toilet, they would do what BL did (squat on top of the toilet). So the joke comes from the recognition of this familiar experience.

    Posted 2 years ago #
11. 

    YoungAndWise
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 151

    I remember when I my family had to go over to the Philippines to visit family, and I remebered that over taking a crap was so different. You had a hole in the ground, and you take a crap in it then you got a bucket of water and poured water down the "drain".

    Posted 2 years ago #
12. 

    HSpencer
    

    Master
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 770

    There is a lot to be also said for the "little house behind the house". Yes, I am old enough to remember when some folk we knew had them.
    These were best enjoyed on a warm sunny day, hopefully the holes had recently been "limed". If so positioned, or wooded, one could sometimes leave the door open (helped with the enjoyment factor). Some even had an upgraded seat, or at least a varnished and smoothed one. The sounds of the birds singing, the warm sun, the woods in springtime, the radiance of it all---makes one's heart skip. I liked a snake free path up to the little house if possible, or an absence of scorpions and spiders within. A warm welcome on the door was also nice. If quite hot outside, a nice chilled cup of well water afterwards was pleasant. I never knew how the ladies "did" it, or how they made it a lady like event. You needed the lime and lots of it. People failing to properly lime their outhouses was akin to people never cleaning their modern bathrooms. Memories.
    Memories from the corner of my mind. Precious memories.

    Posted 2 years ago #
13. 

    HSpencer
    

    Master
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 770

    Another memory was during Army exercises in the USA, we would often have contract "porta potties" or sometimes called "job johnnies". Needless to say these got to stinking pretty bad after a few days use by a unit of 200 soldiers.
    If things were going pretty well and the unit was doing well, we would try and catch an officer using one in the late of the evening. We would slip up carefully and band the door closed with a tie down strap from one of the vehicles. We would then bang on the potty with sticks and scream a lot of vile things, and sometimes we would even turn the potty over. This got some officers up and going to say the least, and they began to fear even using the thing. However most were pretty good about it, and we focused on new LT's just out of OCS. Some brave trooper would eventually snap the tie down strap open and let them out.
    The next morning the CO would call out of ranks the officer who had been "captured", and have a mock ceremony making them the "Outhouse Commander".
    Just some more good memories!!!

    Posted 2 years ago #
14. 

    BeyondtheWrap
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 266

    When I was in Japan I used the squat toilet a few times. (I much preferred their more-technologically-advanced-than-ours Western-style toilets that had warm seats and bidets.) I was scared to use the squat toilet most of the time because I was afraid that my pants would get in the way.

    Posted 2 years ago #
15. 

    veganprimate
    

    Novice
    Joined: Nov '10
    Posts: 29

    Speaking of pants getting in the way, that brings up a memory.

    I was at the Gettysburg battlefield with some relatives, and my aunt and I had to use the bathrooms, but the ones we saw were closed. We decided to just find some cover and go outside.

    I had recently figured out how to pee in the woods without splashing my shoes or getting my pants wet and I was bragging about it.

    However, I was wearing overalls and had mental lapse and didn't think to keep the flap out of the way. I missed my shoes and missed my pants, but I got the flap of the overalls soaking wet.

    Posted 2 years ago #
16. 

    starshard0
    

    Apprentice
    Joined: Aug '10
    Posts: 45

    @Surio You make a good point about the health benefits of squatting. It's probably only uncomfortable to me because I grew up with the western style seat toilets.

    Posted 2 years ago #
17. 

    AlexK
    

    Journeyman
    Joined: Jul '10
    Posts: 115

    Once I had to use a squat toilet on a train in Thailand (a very bumpy train!). The funny thing is I could see the tracks passing below me through the hole. After that I noticed brown lines on the tracks just outside the rails. In the crowded cities there were people preparing food on the ground just a few feet from the tracks. Sometimes it's best to not think about such things.

    Posted 2 years ago #
18. 

    Surio
    

    Sorcerer
    Joined: Dec '10
    Posts: 601

    @starshard0,
    Hey, no worries! :-) I merely highlighted those points, so it is a more bearable experience by focussing the mind on the benefits for you (and others' maybe) next time such a situation arises. ;-)

    Ironically, most modern houses in India are also equipped with the western toilets these days :-/

    So, sometimes, I myself am forced to pay my tributes to "Bruce's move" to keep in practice for and for the health benefits!

    Posted 2 years ago #

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