IBS is not a day in the park. You know that. For millions of suffers, their doctors have run painful test after test. Then they hand over the little Rx prescription to keep you plugging along.

If none of these materials is available to you you can always elect slow drain to soak rags or towels in hot water and wrap them around the frozen pipe. This will probably take longer than any of the methods previously mentioned.

There are two, one on each side of the toilet, closet bolts which hold the toilet to the floor. If there are caps over the bolts, remove or pop them open. Using a small crescent wrench unscrew the nuts from the bolts. Alternate side to side when unscrewing this will be much more important when reinstalling the water line repair bolts but alternate anyhow.



One other common design that is considered "washerless" was made famous by Delta and copied by several other makers. It uses little "cup" seals that fit over springs recessed in the back of the valve body. The springs press these "seals" against the cartridge and regulate the flow through little tapered openings in the cartridge. If you have one of these and it's dripping, changing these springs and seals will usually correct it. Here's a tip. Once you have the cartridge out of the way, insert a phillips screwdriver into the seal and pop both the seal and spring out. Stick the new ones on the end of the screwdriver to help guide them into place. This is especially helpful if you don't have long slender fingers.

Depending on your repair job you might need a bucket that will fit below the sink trap, as well as some rags and newspaper. Masking tape is useful for labeling and for wrapping around the heads of the wrench to protect your chrome tap handles. Rubber gloves are recommended, particularly when working with the toilet, but there are greases and glues that you may not want on your hands.

Ventilation and insulation are important throughout your house, and especially in crawl spaces and attics. If you have a crawl space in your home, it's best to water line repair the floor with a good quality, heavy-duty plastic. Inside your home, make sure to use the exhaust fans found in most kitchens, bathroom and laundry rooms.

When doing the install on a water heater, keep an eye out for unconnected pipes. A commonly missed pipe is the one that leads out from the area for drainage. It is probably a recirculation pipe; that helps your water remain heated without wasting too much water.

Water leak detectors can keep your home safe. They can give you the peace of mind knowing that you won't come home to a house full of water. It is a lot less expensive to buy a water detector than it is to pay thousands of dollars in home repair costs.