I Needed a Plumber, but thought I could do it!!

I discovered our toilet in the bathroom running a little constantly. I decided to turn off the water at the shut off valve. An hour later it was still running, so I realized the valve wasn't shutting down. Then I noticed water running out the holding tank. It was a small drip. I got out my handy tools to tighten the seal.

Hmmm, I discoverd I shouldn't have! It started running out. I was quick to yell for Charlotte's help. She came with a small bucket to catch the water and towels to clean up.

It was 6:30 and I was not calling a plumber after hours. So I decided to watch a you tube video on how to fix it for the evening. All I needed to do was take off the old shut off valve and get the water turned off. Well I am not strong enough to do that!  I did get the tank drained of water, so it was ready for the plumber.

It still was dripping at the shut off valve so we solved that problem. We turned off the water to the house. We were smart enough to get containers filled to have water and flush the toilets.  Taking showers this morning we turned the water on and kept empty the water bucket every 15 minutes.

Here is where I feel blessed, I called one of my ex students (a plumber). He came after he got off work to rescue me. He showed me how to fix it and made some other suggestion: don't use Clorox tank tablets, pour 1/4 cup of vinegar down all drains once a week (not the chemical drain cleaners) even the garbage disposal. He hates garbage disposals because they cause so many drain problems....he was so funny telling me things. I guess you say I got schooled on plumbing issues. He said the company would require him to charge $140 for today's service...he only asked $25 for parts!!! Don't worry I paid him for all his advice!!