I'm a plumber!

The internet is a wonderful place. Without it I couldn't bank from home and run my business properly. But over the weekend it served an even bigger purpose, it helped me fix my toilet.

Anyone who knows me, knows that DIY and me don't mix. Actually they really don't mix. It's not for the want of trying, believe me I'll try anything. I'll throw myself head first in to a project, but 9 times out of 10 I end up making a hash of it. I then have to book a professional to come and correct it, which defeats the original objective of doing it myself and keeping the costs down.

Picture the scene. It's 6.45am and I'm just heading into Heart for my Sunday show. I flushed the toilet and... it wouldn't stop!!! I stood there for 10 minutes hoping it would just sort itself out. It didn't. I knew the mains valve was below the cistern, so I found a screw driver and switched it off. (I make it sound like I was calm, trust me I wasn't!) I went on my merry way to work, but couldn't get it out of my mind during the show. So when I finished I hopped on YouTube to see if anybody had posted a video with a fix. It seemed like they had. In fact it seemed like thousands had. Oh the choice! I sifted through the collection until I found a problem that mirrored mine. It looked like I had to replace the whole valve. This is when I had to make a decision. Should I get a professional that would cost upwards of £60 or source the part myself and try and put it in? It was a real dilemma, but in the end I went with me. This could have turned out to be a real disaster!

On the way back from London I visited Wickes and found that there are a plethora of toilet valves. How many do you need??  As a bloke I hate to ask for directions and read instructions, so I picked one out that 'looked nice!'. Luckily this turned out to be the right one. Phew!

I got home, perched my Mac on the side of the bath and played the video. The video was 9 minutes long. When a Bentley's involved that sort of time is well out of the realms of reality. I had to rewind it at least 10 times to 'get it', but I fully fitted the complete valve system without any hiccups! Unbelievable. It only cost me £9. I've included the video below just in case you ever get stuck with the same problem.

Now, with the internets help, I feel like I can do anything! Up next... I'm going to do a complete engine rebuild on my car... Maybe not.