I don’t know about you, but with everything going on in the world today, life has felt heavier than usual. I had planned to do a Valentine craft on today’s post, but I think I’ll save that for next week. We built our home in 2007 here in Kaysville, Utah and we love it here! We didn’t move far from our previous home and have lived in Kaysville for 39 years now. We have only lived in three places in our 42 years of marriage. I’m not a fan of change, and once I get comfortable somewhere, I never want to leave.

Building this home with Ronnie was one of the funnest things we’ve ever done. Things were rocky in our marriage at the time and I think we both wondered if we would make it through our two youngest kids teenage years. Thankfully with lots of prayer and professional counseling we not only built our home, but we fortified our marriage at the same time. Every day we would come and check out the progress on the house. We absolutely loved our builder, however each time I wanted to change or add a little something here or there his infamous reply was always, “Well that’s gonna cost you more money.” I wanted to cross stitch that on a pillow and give it to him when we were done. 😊

We had wanted to move for years, but it never worked out. This is one of those instances where looking back, it was all in the Lord’s timing and not ours. He KNEW where we needed to be, and who we needed to surround ourselves with if our marriage was going to survive.

We owe our eternal salvation to this neighborhood! The people here are the most genuine, kind, caring and LIGHT giving people I’ve ever met clustered in this area we love so much!

It was a leap of faith, but sometimes you just have to jump in and start swimming. Ron didn’t have any opinions on what the house looked like, what color it was, how it was designed or decorated.

The only request he had, was a three car garage with one stall going all the way to the back of the house with a smaller garage door on the back of the house for him to drive his John Deere lawn mower in to park.

I tried every day to get him to make more choices, but he said he trusted my decisions and loved how it all turned out when we were done. He really is a gem!

As we did our research before choosing a contractor, we walked through more homes in the process of being built than I can count! It was a cheap date, and became our favorite hobby. Ron would often talk to the sub-contractors to see who the builder was. There were many positive remarks about Pete Lodder, and that’s who we went with. I know some out there didn’t have the same experience we did with him, but when he built our home, we didn’t have any issues. And if we did, he fixed them and made it right.

We went with most of the sub-contractors Pete had used for years, and one of those was Robert W. Speirs Plumbing. We actually knew Robert as he lived in my neighborhood in Layton when I was growing up. I remembered they were good people and so we were happy to use them for all the plumbing in our home.

About a year after we moved in, I was scrubbing the toilet in our master bathroom and noticed what at first looked like a long strand of my blonde hair where the base of the toilet screws to the floor. I hadn’t noticed it before because it was so miniscule it was almost not noticeable.

It was also on the side of the toilet closest to the wall, and unless I got right down close on my hands and knees it was not visible. As I scrubbed, I discovered it wasn’t a hair at all, it was a tiny crack that went all the way across the base of the toilet from the edge to the bowl. However, it didn’t go into the bowl, it was just on the base itself. I called Pete and he came and looked at it. He told me it was not big deal, that it had been a year, and the toilet was most likely out of warranty. He told me if it were him, he wouldn’t worry about it . . . so for the next 18 years I tried not to. I watched it every time I cleaned, and it never changed.

The day before Thanksgiving last year, Ronnie and I were getting ready to go out of town for a few days and I noticed the rug in front of that toilet was damp. I called Ron and asked if he had spilled something on accident there, as it was clearly water, and nothing disgusting. 😊 He said he hadn’t used that toilet at all that morning, and neither had I. I quickly called Robert W. Spier’s Plumbing, and they couldn’t get anyone out to look at it until the following Monday. They told me not to use it and since it was leaking at the base was most likely only leaking when the toilet was flushed and filling back up, it should be fine to wait a few more days. I turned the water off and taped the lid closed just to make sure the toilet didn’t get used at all until they came. I also went downstairs to the unfinished part of the basement below that toilet, and everything looked dry, so I felt fairly confident nothing serious would happen while we were gone.

We hoped it was just the wax seal that had gone bad which would be an easy and not so pricey repair. When Speir’s came the following Monday, he too thought it would just need a new wax seal as we had upgraded all the toilets in our home when we built it. He told us that toilet is one of their best sellers and the one he has in all his bathrooms at his own home. I provided him with extra garage towels I planned to just throw away after, and left him to his work. The germaphobe in me was having a major anxiety attack even thinking about the fact that the toilet had to be taken off and how gross that would be! Ewww . . . Plumbers deserve all the money they earn!

Ken, the plumber came out a few minutes later and told me he was concerned about the crack I had shown him. He told me it was obvious the crack was a defect in the toilet when it was manufactured and had me go back in and look at it. The crack actually went all the way across the entire base of the toilet underneath the bowl where no one would have noticed it was even there. The only thing keeping it from leaking all those years was the wax seal! Luckily nothing had leaked into the sub-floor which was a huge relief. That would have been a nightmare to have to fix. He told me he didn’t feel good about re-setting the toilet with a new wax seal, as the crack could get worse and the toilet could break while someone was sitting on it. Not something I would want to share with the paramedics someday . . . He took pictures of the defective toilet base and said he would take them back and talk to his supervisor to see if anything could be done. I was doubtful that after 18 years, Speir’s or the toilet manufacturer would do anything about it. I figured we would just receive a bill for a brand new toilet base – which is the entire base and bottom part of the toilet that the tank attaches to. He told me, he actually had a brand new base in his truck to take to his next job that he could use, and then go get another one for that job back at the shop after he finished with ours. I had him go ahead and do the new base because I didn’t want to worry about it anymore, and I also didn’t want anyone to get hurt if the toilet broke from the crack. While he was here, he also tightened my bathroom faucet and cleaned the drain in the sink and didn’t charge me for that.

I wasn’t looking forward to the bill, but when it came I was pleasantly shocked and surprised to see that we had only been charged for the time to change the toilet out. All the parts he used were shown and the price listed, but then there was a credit for all of them. We didn’t have to pay anything at all for the base of the toilet, and the other parts he changed out on it!

Who would have thought an old, cracked toilet could be a LIGHT giver! I have been skipping around happily every time I think about this! I don’t know of any business today with this type of integrity! I fully expected to pay for an entire new toilet after learning about the crack. Nothing was wrong with the tank other than it needed new gaskets, and it worked just fine with the new base and bowl which is not much different than the old one.

I will call Speir’s Plumbing for all our plumbing needs forever because of this one experience we had with them. They were great to work with when we built our home 18 years ago, and nothing has changed. They are still great people who are honest and upstanding. If you need any plumbing done, give them a call at 801-546-0522. You might want to add their contact information right into your phone now. Generally when you need a plumber, you need one fast! They are located here in Kaysville, and have been in business since 1961! That alone speaks volumes! https://www.speirsplumbing.com

My wish for you this week is to go around your home and do a thorough check-up on all your plumbing appliances. Make sure nothing is leaking and that everything is working correctly.

It’s never fun when you have to call a repairman, but it’s comforting to know there are still companies out there with integrity who are honest and provide quality work. Integrity brings LIGHT, and I love these guys! You will too if you ever need a plumber!

Have a great week and stay warm!

Love Ya, Les 😊

Life

Integrity and a Toilet