DIY: toilet fill valve

We’ve been hearing disturbing sounds that reverberate throughout our ground floor / kitchen for a few weeks now. It was tied to our powder room and happens whenever the toilet tank fills up.

In the beginning, I attributed it to inconsistent water pressure caused by repairs being made to a large/major water main break a few streets away. The husband, however, thought it had to do with the fill valve - I wasn’t convinced. Whenever it happens, we turn off the supply valve, the noise stops, and we turn it on again. 

A couple of weeks later, I came across a set of reels in FB posted by a plumber content creator and got a name for what we have been experiencing, “water hammering”. And now that I have a name for it and have read / watched more posts, I realize it’s not a benign issue as it may cause joints inside walls to loosen up.

I gave husband the go signal and pushed him to order the replacement valve and we replaced it this weekend and we were able to replace it successfully, thanks to the internet.

It leaked a bit the first time we installed the new part but we redid it and pushed down slightly on the valve while we tightened the locknut underneath the tank. Teflon tape also helped prevent leaks.

So far so good.

Winter Storm Ember

 

This photo was the only photo I took of the aftermath of Winter Storm Ember. Found the footprints interesting, could they be rabbit prints ?

We have not had much snowfall in the recent years so I was so looking forward to this storm. Half of me was excited for the snow and the other half of me was anxious about the cleanup. 

As it turns out, we got around 2 inches of mixed rain/slush/snow and since it was wet slush, we skipped the snow blower and shoveled everything by hand. We got up (relatively) early on Sunday morning so that we can clean up our driveway & sidewalks before we leave for Swe-cha's swimming lessons. 

2023 - a year in review

2023 was a literal roller coaster.

Work: Started the year with a new manager at work which made me look forward to positive changes. Things were still toxic at first but slowly improved. By July, I was no longer the single person on call 24/7. Got promoted twice within several months. I am happy now. 

Family: Got to have a full vacation in California with my entire side of the family in June and also enjoyed Ahya & Family's visit to NJ in August. 

Health: Was normal most of the year but did visit the urgent care a lot towards the last quarter. Went for the first time in September for respiratory issues, followed by shoulder tendinitis in November (also follow ups with the orthopedic doctor). 

Swe-cha took his turn for the flu days 12/22, followed by me on 12/28 and lastly, the husband on 12/31. I am not sad to see the end of 2023 at all.

Here's to hoping and praying that 2024 will be a fruitful and healthy year!

Area rugs

The husband has been picking on our area rug in the dining room for weeks now and keeps talking about wanting to replace it. I wasn't opposed but didn't really feel that it was an urgent need so I didn't really pay attention and just left it to him to handle (and if you know us, this really means that nothing gets done because the husband just talks but doesn't really action on anything).

It wasn't until I sat down on the couch recently that I realized how shabby our living room rug had gotten. The edging on the back perimeter had been falling off but I figured I could glue that back on but I had not noticed until recently that there were areas that were already threadbare (i.e. the material had worn down). With this realization, I took another look at our dining area and agreed that yes, husband does have a point. 

Got a few rugs off of Amazon, these are made of synthetic materials that are non-shedding (for context, the previous living room rug shed A LOT). Not spectacular but not bad at the price-point and will be happy if they last us a few years. 

In retrospect, replacing these rugs is a no-brainer. The old rug in the dining area was from 2014/2015 and the rug in the living area was from 2018. 

Living room rug: 9x12 (next time, a 10x10 would probably be a better fit)

Dining room rug: 8x10

Ikea trip

Swe-cha had no classes today so we all decided to take a day off from work and go to Ikea for meatballs. We haven't been there in years. Husband and I had a plate of meatballs each, Swe-cha had chicken tenders and we shared a slice of chocolate cake.

The meatball entrees are served with peas now and not mixed veggies like last time. But the meatballs are still as good as I remembered.

Decided to walk around the showroom afterwards and boy, Swe-cha got so excited when he saw the beds. 

Every time he saw a bed that he liked, would plop down on it, "Mom, Dad, can I have this bed ?" He also got excited with the bedroom displays - "Mom, Dad, can I have a TV in my room ? Can I have this bed ?"

Sobrang excited.

And no, we didn't buy a bed yet but we did come home with an office chair. We told Swe-cha that we'd have to make plans to move things around before he can get a new (and bigger) bed. 

Dinnerware

Been giving away a lot of things to our local community and one "ISO" post caught my attention. It was a post soliciting everything - cookware, dinnerware, furniture (beds, etc)  - for a family who "literally has nothing at the moment". 

So I figure, we have a dinnerware set for 6 (dinner plates, saucers, soup bowls, coffee cups) that we've had stored in the basement for years. We haven't used them in a long time, husband wanted to keep it "just in case" and when I saw the post for a family who "literally has nothing", I convinced husband to just give it away. He agreed.

I reach out to the author of the post to ask if they are still looking for dinnerware and the response I got was "can you send photos ?" 

Hahanapin ko ba sa boxes, mag-u unpack pa ako. If they want photos, then they must not need it so much. Hindi na bale.

Swe Cha's Motivational Phrases

 3/7/2023 from class advisor, Mr S.

"Progress, not perfection."

3/23/2023 at home:

"We don't have to agree all the time. Let's agree to disagree, let us be kind to one another."

Year of the Tiger 2022

I haven't been doing this lately but I am reminded to check it out whenever I encounter adversity.

Since March of this year. Our team has had 3 resignations. N left in March, M left last week and in 2 weeks, G will be leaving. 

The good news is that they've all left to pursue better opportunities. The not-so-good news is that I'm now the most senior "expert".  

Poor J, my manager, in 2 weeks, I'm going to be his best SME and that's really not much. 

Somehow, pulling out my horoscope and seeing it written as such makes me feel a little bit better. 

It talks about opportunities and such, I know there seems to be plenty for all my friends,... I just hope that there's some for me. 

Wish me luck. 

PSEG Gas Line Upgrade Update

March 23, 2022

PSEG came and started working on upgrading our gas line to a high pressure line. 

They dug up part of the curb and some pavers in our front that led to the garage where the main gas line leads into our home.

 

They were done with the upgrade less than a day and left our front looking like this. 

We were told that a contractor was going to come by afterwards to re-set the pavers. So we waited. 

... and waited.

... and waited some more.

Meanwhile, we've had a few (strong) rainy days since then and we've been getting puddles in our basement. Thankfully, the puddles have formed in the area where we have our heavy-duty steel shelving units set up so we had nothing on the floor. We just had to do a lot of wiping and cleaning.

Husband and I have talking about calling PSEG to follow up on repairing our pavers but between work and other things, we couldn't find the right timing to call. 

Last week, someone from PSEG came by and took a photo of that dug-up area. Husband goes to talk to the PSEG crew and was told that their original contractor had reported that "pavers were not available" as a reason so they came over to check. Obviously, the pavers are all there and have been there since they dug them out in March. 

PSEG says that they have replaced their contractor since they found many anomalies and today, a different contractor came and made repairs. 

Hopefully, no more puddles in the basement.

Gotta hand it to PSEG. I'm pleasantly surprised that they did keep track of this and came to follow up even if we had not made any complaints yet. 

Toilet Fill Valve

Bathroom #2's toilet has been continuously running for weeks. 

It started off with a slight trickle that you can barely hear if you're nearby and by week 2, it had worsened to a stronger and continuous streaming that I could hear all day from my home office which was a room away.

I did score a good deal for Kohler Genuine Part Gp1138930 off of Amazon for $15 and got the husband to replace it last Friday.

Thankfully, it wasn't a big job, he was done in around 10 minutes. 

P.S. I was honestly amazed at how fast the husband completed this job. I consider myself handy around the house (relatively) but anything related to toilets make me nervous because of that unfortunate incident when I accidentally cracked one while trying to update the lever.  

I still avoid any toilet-related repairs even though it has been 13 years since then. 
 

Takeout containers

We've been saving takeout containers all these years because I couldn't bear to just throw these (reusable) ones away just after using them once. 

Unfortunately, there hasn't really been much demand for them. I do bring them when we have group parties or gatherings so that people can use them to bring home leftovers instead of using foil and baggies to wrap food but we haven't attended parties in a long time - not since the pandemic started in 2020 anyway.

A few years ago, someone reached out in a community page about containers because she was prepping Thanksgiving meals to give out to the homeless. I must have donated 100+ containers to that person at that time. Hindi na naulit. 

Fast forward to yesterday when I saw this post on a local Moms group. I know it sounds OA but my heart gave a little leap and started fluttering. 

I felt like, "YES!". All my life, I've been prepping for this day.

So I quickly reached out to the poster, turns out their church regularly feeds 150 every Sunday and they're starting a supplemental program to distribute hot soup and chili to the needy. Hence, the soup containers. My contact also mentioned that if we had other sizes and flat containers, she'll take that as well. 

 

Salt and Pepper Pork Chops

I've been on a quest to get good Salt and Pepper Pork Chops. We've been getting them from our Chinese restaurant on Sundays but I haven't found one that's perfect. 

N.C.'s is fatty.

Q.D.'s is sometimes too spicy for the husband. 

Husband also does not like the bones that are all over the meat pieces.

and last night, I finally made MadeWithLau's Daddy Lau's Salt and Pepper Pork Chops and I am still in awe because I have not made anything *this* good in a long long time.

I prepped this dish in the exact same way that they showed in their video, making sure to pound the pork pieces with the back of my knife. The pork came out really nice and tender. 

The taste and seasoning was perfect. 

Columbia

I splurged on a Columbia coat for Swe-cha this year because we have been getting very cold days ( temps in the 10s - 20s) and his usual winter coat that I get from Costco just isn't going to cut it.

The coat is really nice and thick. I am assuming that it feels comfy too because Swe-cha has not been complaining. 

Unfortunately, after washing it a few days ago, it came out of the wash looking like this, there was a rip just below the armpit along one side. 

I was so hinayang so I started checking out Columbia's warranty policy. Turns out they have a limited lifetime warranty - I actually read about people sending 12 year old coats. 

As it turns out, since it's only been a month since we got this, this coat is still within the return period and the service rep I talked to sent me a pre-paid postage label. 

I've since reordered the same item. Hope that we get the new one before the deadline for sending this ripped coat back (Or that we get warmer weather by then so Swe-cha can use his Costco coat). 

Draft Covers 2021/2022

We woke up to 18 degree weather today and my first thought was "sulit na the Columbia jacket I got for Swe-cha". As the day  went on, the temp did climb a little bit to a high of 38 F and boy, despite the heater running full blast, the house was FREEZING.

And with that, we finally hauled our lazy bottoms up and started putting up our vent draft covers.

I don't know why we keep putting off these covers until the cold becomes unbearable. I bet we'd be saving so much energy if we put them up early - perhaps, even as soon as we're done with the AC season. 

I was also still dealing with the laundry left over from my family's visit. I started with the bath towels and sheets last week and continued with the comforters today. And it being 18 degrees out, the basement was unbearable. I also did feel a huge draft coming into the basement from the window beside the freezer. 

I swear, when I opened the freezer to pull out gyudon for dinner, I couldn't tell which was colder - the air coming from the freezer or the air/wind blowing in from the window draft.

... and yes, our basement still has to be finished. I do count a major win today in that I finally convinced the husband to help me fashion a window cover for that drafty window.  I planned to use plastic window / door sealing sheets initially but thought cardboard might be a sturdier option. We've lost a light source so I guess we'll deal with this in the spring. 

In any case, the basement immediately felt less cold and I bet this is going to do loads of good for the upstairs living area too. 

EZ Pass Trivia

EZ Pass Trivia: when you go through toll booths and see a "GO TOLL UNPAID" message, it means that your EZ Pass device is no longer working - probably out of batteries - and needs to be replaced. Toll still gets charged to my account anyway because my license plates are registered. 

Patio roof

 On 12/6/2021, I happened to look out our bedroom window and saw these.

 

We have just had a very strong rainstorm recently and that uncovered the problem that we had in the patio roof. The edges, apparently, had been rotting for some time. 

We reached out to our roofer, Flex Construction, and were able to quickly schedule a repair. 

Work included:

- removal of the old shingles

- repair of around 3 ft of plywood on the edge of the roof

- ice shield on the roof

- install 30 year shingles on the roof

- removal of debris 

  

Total cost: $3000 

Also paid extra $100 to clean gutters - Flex flushed out all our gutters.  

*note - We asked Flex to check out our house roof and he found and repaired missing shingles on our roof and also said that our roof is generally still in good shape. We should be able to get another year out of it. (Hopefully, more -- my wishful thinking).

Sad

Lost another friend from my BBS days today.

Was just literally exchanging messages with him yesterday and he's gone now. Heart attack daw.

RIP, A.

Dishwasher

Last weekend was the busiest we've had in a long time. We accomplished so much, our muscles are still protesting right now. 

The first project we tackled was the dishwasher. The old dishwasher, the Miele, has been broken for months and the husband finally decided on what replacement model he wants. 

The husband fell in love with the Bosch 500 series because it had a 3rd rack and the auto-vent feature which, I think, means that when it is done with the cycle, it will open the door automatically to vent out the steam. 

We also didn't bother looking for an integrated dishwasher since this model was available in a stainless steel finish and will match our other appliances. We did take off the cabinet panel from the old dishwasher and saved it in case we may have some use for it again in the future. 

This was purchased from Home Depot and with this, we also got a universal dishwasher installation kit and a Bosch drain pipe extension kit. HD tried to sell me an electrical outlet but I declined because I was 100% sure that there was already a wall outlet for the dishwasher. We did have to buy an extra elbow compression fitting for the hot water supply.

We were hit with a challenge early on in the process. Before starting anything, I suggested to the husband that we push the dishwasher in and see how it fits so that we can adjust the feet to the level we want.

Oops. That's when we find out that it does not fit. There is enough clearance between the granite counter top and the floor, but there is this piece of cabinetry / trim that is blocking the appliance.

Yes, we lowered everything. Yes, we tried tilting the dishwasher so that we can push that metal back under the trim but the appliance top sort of curves upwards towards the middle and that will get stuck too.

Husband and I spent the next 10-20 minutes sitting on the floor, just staring at the dishwasher and contemplating what we can do next. We were also alternating between laughing hard and trying not to cry. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. At some point, I swear, I was going to suggest we just leave it in the middle of the kitchen. 

Husband then tried to pry out that piece of trim. It was nailed and glued securely on both ends and also has another 1" x 1/2" piece of wood backing and support it from the back. 

At this point, I suggested getting a multi tool. I went to our neighborhood Harbor Freight store and got a Chicago Electric Oscillating Multi tool kit for $22.97 (clearance price). We were able to cut off that piece of offending wood. Soon, we were back in business.

The rest of the install went smoothly.

Husband did later check the dimensions of other dishwashers and the obvious size choices have to do with the width - 24" or 18". He randomly picked different brands and all required the same clearance as the Bosch so technically, we could've bought any brand and still hit the same problem. 

That wood trim was really something we had to remove.

And yes, that is the protective sticker, we haven't removed it yet. 

September 2021 Artwork

 The robots along the side are from I Know It.

"Look, Mom, I finished a math worksheet, I earned a stamp!"

(Note that he also made the worksheet himself).

This has a Good Boy --- Naughty chart at the bottom. 

... supposed to be a boxing ring. I think the photo is upside-down.

4th Full Bathroom

Ever since we moved into our BHC home, we've always wanted to get our 4th BR bath gutted and remodeled but as it turns out 8 years later, we've grown more practical and so we decided to just have the fixtures updated. 

We made a wishlist of what we wanted done, since are skipping the entire remodel and the list we came down to was:

- replace toilet - we went with a recommendation from friend E's plumber for a toilet that flushes really well. Keeping our fingers crossed that this one is good and doesn't get blocked. That awful bluish-green shade is also so dated and hurts my eyes.

- replace bathroom vanity, countertop and faucet

- replace shower head with a wider head and one that comes with a hose

We got a few quotes from different contractors.

M, the rude one who would've cut out pipes in the wrong spot unnecessarily if I hadn't insisted he check again, quoted $500, labor only

THC, was at $1500, labor only. Too expensive.

Jeff, our handyman since our condo days, quoted $550. 

We decided to go with Jeff and I will mention that we also decided to just keep the existing countertop and vanity as they're a special compact size and was expensive to replace. 

And as with most of our projects, we forgot to take good "before" shots so this is all I have. (sometimes, I feel so relieved that we do not depend on social media for our livelihood... we'd starve!). 

I took this "in progress" shot when Jeff stepped out quickly to his truck to get some supplies and I remembered that we didn't have any "before" photos. At this time, he's done all the replacements and only had the cleanup left. 

Total cost:

- Water Pik Shower Head - ~$40 (Costco)

- Sink faucet - ~$54 (Home Depot)

- Toilet, tank & seat - $396 (Wallington Plumbing Supply)

- Labor - $450 (Jeff)

- LED lights for the bathroom mirror (vanity) and the ceiling light / exhaust

When all was done, hubby asked, "What do you want to do about the bathroom lights ?" I had no plans, I honestly didn't even notice that the bulbs in the bathroom were still warm yellow lights. I thought we'd replaced all the bulbs in the whole house but these were obviously left untouched since we never use this bathroom anyway. 

Husband did find LED daylight bulbs (candelabra and regular socket) in our stockpile and they made a lot of difference. The bathroom looks so much brighter and bigger.