Down The Toilet

This house we live in, built in 1961, was pretty much original when we moved in. The tub had been resurfaced and the master shower must of had a plumbing leak sometime in the 70’s judging by the beefy mauve and brown tiles. The owners had carpeted over hardwood but the carpet I pulled up was definitely from the late 60’s or early 70's. .

I went to work and replaced both toilets (one pink and one too old) pretty quick. I bought the same model Kohler for both except one was standard and one was elongated. The new spare bath toilet had an issue from the start. Each time it was flushed it squirted clean water out of the bowl onto the wall behind it if the lid was open, or onto the lid and toilet seat if it was closed. I made a number of calls to Kohler early on but was so busy that I didn’t get it worked out. Basically, I tolerated it.

Finally, I set aside an unlimited amount of time to “fix it”. The guy from Kohler assured me it was the flush valve and even though I knew he was wrong, he gave me no options. The new valve came and I replaced it. Not a hard job, took me an hour total plus one purchased tool.Of course, it didn’t fix the problem. The back wall was still wet.

I got insistent with the next agent. They finally agreed to send me a whole new toilet bowl. That would have been terrific IF it hadn’t arrived shattered into pieces. Someone dropped that sucker. I called again. They agreed to send me another new bowl with their “preferred shipper”.  That was a great option (not sure why the first one wasn't sent that way) but now I was going to not only incur the time and effort of installation but also the cost to get rid two toilets, one defective and one smashed to bits, at the dump. She said that I could submit a bill to Kohler and that I could be refunded up to $300.00  Finally got that new bowl. Emptied and removed the tank AGAIN, pulled the old bowl off, installed the new one, reinstalled the tank and “lo and behold” a toilet that does not bathe the wall behind it. 

I don't love working with plumbing. I dislike working with toilets but our local plumbers cost $300.00 to walk in the door and by the quarter hour after that.

I did the work and I did submit a bill. The bill was from my own personal marketing company, for the time I spent doing all that toilet work when I could have been working at my business. Just got a deposit in my account from Kohler for $300.00. 

I’m not super thrilled with them but I’m not a hater. They followed through. Eventually.