Why I love my new house

[Maitre]

New houses are more work than fun, I'm finding out. I'm hoping the fun starts next summer when I can actually begin to really enjoy my backyard deck and pool.

Tonight I made a trip to ye olde hardware store and bought a few things for some small projects. I replaced the low-flow showerhead in the downstairs bathroom with a regular one, caulked the basement windows, swapped the plastic dryer vent tube with a metal one, put locks on the sheds in my backyard, tarped and bungied my pool filter, and bought a barbecue cover for my naked grill.

edit: and now I think I need to make a trip to a plumbing supply store. Two of my three toilets are running constantly unless I jiggle the handles, and even then they seem to run every now and then. I was told by a plumbing friend of mine that it's likely deteriorated flappers. He suggested that I replace them by turning off the water to the target toilets and removing the chain/flapper and bringing them to a plumbing place to match them up with new ones, and then reinstall. Is this a proper course of action with a running toilet?

I actually just finished doing that for the four toilets I've got. In two cases the flapper replacement was enough. In the third one, I had to replace the whole flush valve assembly (same principle as replacing the flapper, but a bit more involved: you have to remove the tank from the base in order to unscrew the thing and then install the new one and return the tank to the base). The last one needed a new fill valve also (easier repair than the flush valve because you can leave the tank attached, but still involves unscrewing the supply line and draining the tank). One thought on the subject: once you positino the chain with the appropriate tension, cut off the excess. I forgot to do that on one of the toilets and got a lecture from my wife about how my actions didn't fix the problem, but when I opened up the lid I found that the end of the excess chain had fallen in the way of the flapper and prevented it from sealing. As ShadowHM points out, supply costs are low for the flapper only route, but a full kit (full flush valve and fill valve replacement) only cost me $15-20. Not sure cause I got some other stuff at the home store that day as well (including a new electric range/oven).