Hacks.

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Sigmund

Sigmund

Waiting in Uber.
Jan 3, 2010
13,979
44,046
In your mirror.
Hi.

Hacks. You gotta to love 'em.

I had a slow/medium leak in my bathtub. I Googled it and most likely it was a washer (that little pink thingy) that had to be replaced. BUT!!!

A hack suggested I put a bucket to catch the leak and use the water to *flush* the toilet! Ha!

Do you have any favorite hacks?

Thank you.

Peace.
 
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hipmamajen

hipmamajen

Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess.
Apr 4, 2008
4,650
6,090
Colorado
I don't know if this counts...

We have a shower upstairs that we had to tear apart years ago to fix some serious plumbing issues. At all times since then, we have been "just about ready to fix that shower" but it never gets done and probably won't any time soon.

For a long time, we used the shower stall as an extra closet. The glass doors shut tightly enough that we could keep the big cat food bags in there and the cats couldn't get to them.

Then, one weekend about 4 years ago, we actually started "fixing the shower," a process which consisted of removing the glass walls and carrying them to the garage. No more cat food closet, now it's just an open area in our bathroom that has a shower floor and torn up walls.

Last year, the showerhead started to leak. For a few months we put a plastic pitcher under it and used that water to (great minds think alike!) flush the toilet, but not just to save the water. Around 3 years ago the toilet stopped flushing completely on its own. It needs a little extra help, so the shower drip was a great time saver.

My husband recently fixed the leaky showerhead, and replaced the toilet tank parts. The shower stayed fixed, the toilet is still not working correctly. Everything swirls nicely, but it never fully clears.

But I just discovered something nifty! Instead of going to the tub and filling up the pitcher to superflush the toilet, if I stick the plunger in while it's swirling it will usually fill enough to overcome whatever issue it has with emptying.

That's my long post on, if nothing else, why you don't want to use the master bathroom at my house.
 
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fljoe0

fljoe0

Cantre Member
Apr 5, 2008
15,859
71,642
62
120 miles S of the Pancake/Waffle line
I'm on a septic system and a few years ago when we were having hurricanes and tropical storms every week, I had massive amounts of standing water around the house causing the septic system to be full. It was difficult to flush the toilets after every rain (and it was raining all the time). So, we had to ration water use as much as possible (at least water that went down the drain) which created a laundry problem. There was no way to wash clothes, it was just too much water going into the delicate system.

So, I bought a 44 gallon heavy duty plastic garbage can and a transfer pump (the kind of pump where you can attach a hose at each end). When it was laundry time, I took the drain from the washing machine and rigged it so it would drain into the garbage can. Then when the can filled with water, I drained the water from the can into the yard using the transfer pump. We had to do this off and on for 3 or 4 months until the water tables dropped enough that the septic system worked properly again.

When the rain was really bad, I did the same thing for taking a shower. I closed the drain in the tub and let the tub fill with water and then sent the water outside through the bathroom window. I had to do a lot of strange things in the summer of 2004. ;-D
 
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Out of Order

Out of Order

Sign of the Times
Feb 9, 2011
29,007
162,154
New Hampster
GNTLGNT said:
...Four?....yep, and that's just a portion of the first six pack in the cart....hmmmm, I may have discovered a reason for my poor putter manipulation...
Click to expand...

Proper use of the putter is critical. Proper use of your driver may result in a hole in one though.

fljoe0 said:
I'm on a septic system and a few years ago when we were having hurricanes and tropical storms every week, I had massive amounts of standing water around the house causing the septic system to be full. It was difficult to flush the toilets after every rain (and it was raining all the time). So, we had to ration water use as much as possible (at least water that went down the drain) which created a laundry problem. There was no way to wash clothes, it was just too much water going into the delicate system.

So, I bought a 44 gallon heavy duty plastic garbage can and a transfer pump (the kind of pump where you can attach a hose at each end). When it was laundry time, I took the drain from the washing machine and rigged it so it would drain into the garbage can. Then when the can filled with water, I drained the water from the can into the yard using the transfer pump. We had to do this off and on for 3 or 4 months until the water tables dropped enough that the septic system worked properly again.

When the rain was really bad, I did the same thing for taking a shower. I closed the drain in the tub and let the tub fill with water and then sent the water outside through the bathroom window. I had to do a lot of strange things in the summer of 2004. ;-D
Click to expand...

Try one of these next time, fljoe0.........

0ad3a52ad2e98c2efa683e8441f4190f.jpg
 
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Lily Sawyer

Lily Sawyer

B-ReadAndWed
Jun 27, 2009
6,625
15,016
South Carolina
fljoe0 said:
I'm on a septic system and a few years ago when we were having hurricanes and tropical storms every week, I had massive amounts of standing water around the house causing the septic system to be full. It was difficult to flush the toilets after every rain (and it was raining all the time). So, we had to ration water use as much as possible (at least water that went down the drain) which created a laundry problem. There was no way to wash clothes, it was just too much water going into the delicate system.

So, I bought a 44 gallon heavy duty plastic garbage can and a transfer pump (the kind of pump where you can attach a hose at each end). When it was laundry time, I took the drain from the washing machine and rigged it so it would drain into the garbage can. Then when the can filled with water, I drained the water from the can into the yard using the transfer pump. We had to do this off and on for 3 or 4 months until the water tables dropped enough that the septic system worked properly again.

When the rain was really bad, I did the same thing for taking a shower. I closed the drain in the tub and let the tub fill with water and then sent the water outside through the bathroom window. I had to do a lot of strange things in the summer of 2004. ;-D
Click to expand...
Sucky, sucky bummer. You were hatin' life - water everywhere, freaky-deaky pipes and hoses all over the map, sloshing and draining and bugs and muck. Bleh.
 
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Neesy

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Sigmund said:
Hi.

Hacks. You gotta to love 'em.

I had a slow/medium leak in my bathtub. I Googled it and most likely it was a washer (that little pink thingy) that had to be replaced. BUT!!!

A hack suggested I put a bucket to catch the leak and use the water to *flush* the toilet! Ha!

Do you have any favorite hacks?

Thank you.

Peace.
Click to expand...
That sounds like something my Dad would have done (rather than fix the tap!) - and yes he would have saved the water to use for flushing the toilet.
(I should mention that as he got older, his Alzheimer's got worse unfortunately).
 
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