Venetian Pink

The tank of the downstairs bathroom (the Men’s Room) cracked and so we decided to replace it. How does a tank crack? The toilet is right beside where Roto-Rooter does their work (might I once again comment on the ONE THOUSAND NON-NEGOTIABLE DOLLARS we spent on Roto-Rooter in our first few weeks in the house? not over it). In any case, we needed to replace the toilet.

So, what if… just what if… we took the white toilet from the pink bathroom —  to the Men’s Room? What would the possibilities be…?

At this point we had turned the water off. The shut-off valve had been leaking all over the floor. The shut off valve then crumbles (we’ve actually replaced 10 shut-off valves in the house.  the last owner was just not minding the details). Hubby comes to me, frustrated, saying we need to go to the store and get a new shut off valve, it’s about 9 at night. Omm, can’t do it. I’ve had three beers and, growing up in the “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk” 80s I don’t drive if I’ve been drinking. Just don’t do it. Wouldn’t MADD be proud? Hubby washes up with bottled water. Sorry, Hubby.

So, the next morning at 6 a.m. we’re sitting in the Home Despot parking lot waiting for it to open. I’m wearing a coat over what I slept in. We get a new shut off valve, go back home, put it on, Hubby turns on the water to the house. Me? OK, not a licensed plumber. I turn the shut-off valve on. It is not attached to anything. A geiser of pressured water sprays everything – me, the ceiling, the wallpaper, the floor. Hubby thinks this is hilarious. He thinks it is positively hysterical that someone would turn on a water valve when it is not attached to anything. He asks what I was trying to accomplish by turning on the shut-off valve. Well, in fact, I can’t pinpoint exactly what I was thinking would happen. I do remember wanting to know if the shut-off valve would turn, as the last one didn’t do that so well. I growl and hiss and get the laundry basket to fill up with my wet clothes and all the soaking towels that cleaned up the bathroom ceiling and wallpaper and tile and floor.

Where does “Venetian Pink” come in? OK, that totally awesome plumbing supply store owner I told you about? We came in and said we needed a pink toilet and he asked when our house was built and we said 1959 and he said there were 3 shades of pink toilets being used at that time, could we bring in something from the bathroom so he could match it? I brought in a loose tile and he nailed it: Venetian Pink.

So, the toilet finally went in. Problem: toilet leaked a little. After tightening it all down real good…

it broke. That little crack didn’t look so bad to me, but look how the tank lines up with the tiles. Hubby assures me it in unusable. One antique Venetian Pink toilet down the drain. That day was the day this blog entry was to go live. Instead, it was the day we placed an order for a new base and accepted that we won’t have a toilet in the pink bathroom for awhile.  It wouldn’t be a home fix-it story without something getting busted, now would it?

FAST FORWARD ABOUT TWO WEEKS

We had the broken toilet for about a week before our awesome antique-dealing plumbing supply owner came through. This one went in without a hitch. Ladies and Gentleman: Venetian Pink

Please note the pink shirt and the pink pocket square in his blazer.

If you need to know where we got the pink toilet in particular, just email sonya @ plumlovely.com and I’ll tell you.  I don’t want to print his name and contact info on the blog.

Couldn’t leave off without a visit to the

Men’s Room:

Note: Fancy groomsman towel, 1.25 gallon jug of that orange hand cleaner, rags all over the place, and on the left there? That’s monogrammed toilet paper. Ladies and gentlemen, I present: The Men’s Room.