So we ran into a little problem. And by little I mean kind of big.

The bathroom floors look great but without a toilet it’s not really helpful. The problem: the flange is well below the tile floor. Our regular plumber told us we are in “jerry rig” world and apart from a whole new pipe line he wouldn’t touch it. He said to try the jumbo wax ring. Didn’t work. Lead pipes suck like that.

So we researched. We found a promising product called Set-Rite. We are hopeful it’s the best thing since sliced bread and will be our miracle worker.

Thinking it would be an easy install was a mistake. Tiles had to be chopped away from opening. Tiles broke. New tiles installed. New tiles need grout. You see where I’m going with this.

Today was a week and a day without our usual toilet operational. We’ve been using “scary basement toilet” next the the washer and dryer. Other than inconvenient it’s perfectly fine.

But seriously. I just want my toilet back. The cool vanity I can wait on. The toilet I miss. A lot.

Gonna try to post regular updates here. I know you all want to see the real life and times of a DIY family and how long our projects take (and I am not completely throwing my 3 and 5 years olds under the bus; just 90% the reason we get delayed).

The intentional piece here is finding and installing a product that will make our toilet work without spending over $500 for a new pipe (which also means tiles get destroyed again).

Sometimes I think we are crazy tackling what we do. This is one of those times.

More on this crazy DIY bathroom rehab later this weekend…