Bathroom repairs

I have 'fixed' mom's bathroom. There were a number of small repairs needed.

• Bathtub drain

The lever no longer worked and I had to pull it out and replace it with a new one.


• Toilet handle

The handle was old and tight and I had to loosen it so it moved freely.


• Clogged sink pipe

Beyond the trap the pipe is level before it goes into the wall. Over the decades gunk built up and clogged the pipe until the water would only drain slowly.

I took all the pipes apart to the wall. I had to replace one pipe and the trap as the old metal developed a hairline leak after I cleaned it. In the photo below the new parts are the plastic ones.

The level part of the pipe was filled with gunk. I was surprised how full the pipe was, and how the water could even drain through the pipe. I've worked with sewers and septic tanks in the past and this the gunk smelled that sewer smell and had the same potent staining capability.

In the green bowl, here is view of some of the gunk.





• Broken sink faucet handle

One sink handle was broken. An inner plastic piece had broken. The piece is part number 11.




I read the originally brochure and saw that the warranty had expired as it was a limited 2 year warranty and the faucet was eight to ten years old.

When I was at Menards and looking at new faucets, a couple from Saskatchewan told me that they had very good experiences with Moen, the faucet manufacturer. They encouraged me to call Moen. I did and was helped by a cheerful representative who quickly knew which faucet I was talking about, the general dates it was manufactured (mom got the faucet 10 or so years ago), and the piece I was trying to describe.

Moen sent me a new free replacement piece along with instructions on how to fix the faucet. I was happy, and impressed. I installed the replacement piece and now mom's faucet works. I'd buy a Moen faucet again.