We all have plumbing in our homes and some of us fiddle with it when there's issues and others call in professionals. I'm in the former group...most of the time...for small stuff. I suppose I should explain small stuff: replacing a toilet or faucet or taking a faucet apart to change the gaskets. Those are things I'm comfortable doing. One handle showers are a mystery to me. I'm not sure how they come apart and even if the parts are exposed, bathtub and shower faucets, at least modern ones, leave me puzzled.
When I was renting my aunt Bettie's house, there was a serious plumbing issue that originated at the street (or country road.) The main pipe had a leak and the front yard was wet. Of course, I didn't really notice that. What I noticed was the water bill which was about $100 too high. Not being the owner, it isn't something I'd fix but regardless, that is way out of my comfort zone.
My issue, while similar, was more minor. I noticed a slight increase in the water bill. It varies by less than $2 a month; so, when it was $5 higher, I started looking for a leak. It was a tricky one to find as it was so slow I couldn't really hear the water running. Two problems: my hearing isn't what it used to be and I have an ionic breeze wall plugin right next to the toilet. So the hissing that I always hear masked the sound of the water running.
The little flap in the toilet suddenly stopped creating a water tight seal. Well, no problems. I'll turn off the water supply at the toilet until I get around to fixing it. This was the master bath so a bit of a nuisance. If I used the toilet then I had to turn on the faucet to let the tank fill and then turn the water off again. This went on for about two weeks--I have 4 bathrooms and 3 worked fine!
On the day I finally decided to fix the toilet, I thought to myself: "I have a box of old plumbing doodads in the garage. I should check that before I go buy something." So I did and I found a toilet flapper that was maybe 20 years old. I recognized the price tag (and that by itself dates the item). The store is gone but I would've been at my first house, which I sold 17 years ago, when I bought that.
No amount of fiddling with the chain worked. The handle had to be held down for the duration to get it to flush. My sister was over, and she too speaks toilet, and together we concluded that the flap was not buoyant enough.
So off to the home improvement store for a new one. The old one cost $1.79 and a new one was priced at $4.59. A 3 pack was only $10 and I have 4 toilets, so the bulk pack it is.
The new flapper is noticeably lighter than the old one and if I had thought to do it, I would've weighed it before installation. The new flapper worked--the toilet is working properly again.
Old plumbing parts may not work even if the simplest of parts.