The Story Of Why We Left Yafo P.4

     In this chapter we will be discussing the alternate methods used to repair our home, which are both cost effective and inefficient. Both the builder and I are guilty of using materials other than the recommended, a previous example would be my front door from, "The Story of Why We Left Yafo P.1" I had repaired it with a plastic bag. At one point or another I am sure we have all come up with preposterous ways to fix an object whether it be with a plastic bag, scotch tape or duct tape we've all done it. Let the next few pictures be an example to all us fix-it-yourself-ers, of what not to do while in these situations. Your best bet is to call a professional ask them what to do or just hire a professional.

exhibit A

     In exhibit A we see cement dripping down the toilet bowl, when we originally moved in the toilet had cement where there should have been bolts into the floor, soon enough it broke free because the floor is an uneven surface due to the fact the builder tiled over top of a wood flooring. So in our first example we have learned that cement is not enough to hold the toilet down, it makes a huge mess of any tile work and if your uncoordinated the toilet bowl. 

exhibit B

exhibit C

     'Cement didn't hold the toilet down, maybe silicone will?' Were these the thoughts running through the builder and my landlord's minds when they decided to secure the toilet to the floor for the second time? At this point I would have bolted the damn thing down like it was meant to be, but they gobbed on the silicone and sat the toilet down.  Exhibit B shows us the result after multiple failed attempts to fasten the toilet with caulking. Okay so the toilet does not just pop out of the silicone on it's own free will, I admit I am the one who dislodged the toilet from it's silicone footing both times and  from the original cement foundation for that matter. All three times of displacing the toilet were accidents caused by my superb gracefulness and my complete lack of clumsiness. The first time I stood up too quickly and my calves uprooted the cement base and it crashed back down grinding the cement connections together with the porcelain toilet and the ceramic tiles it was a dreadful sound. 

     The second and third time when it broke free were both while I was cleaning the bathroom, both times I smashed into the toilet in a similar manor while scrubbing the floor. The toilet really didn't take much force to lift off of it's silicone settings, and that is how we left it, floating around unattached to the floor. In exhibit B you can see the most recent attempt too silicone the toilet to the tiles, with two globs of silicone one where each bolt should have been. In exhibit C the toilet is a few inches away from the wall, since the tank is plastic and slightly flexible if you leaned back on the seat the tank it felt almost like it was reclining or about to snap off. 

exhibit D

     The builder and the landlord of this Yafo piece of work, placed great confidence in the durability and strength of silicone. In the above pictures, exhibit D &E we witness another failure of construction with silicone. The toilet was not the only unlucky object to be mended with caulking the sink also fell victim of this fabrication nightmare of an easy fix-it solution. Exhibit D reveals a big wad of silicone and none to actually seal against water like it was designed for.

  

exhibit E

      Two solitary chunks of caulking were given the responsibility of holding the sink fastened to the wall a task reserved for screws and wall anchors. As you can imagine it certainly didn't take long to disrupt the sink position,(exhibit E). It has been dis-attached for so long I cannot remember who broke it, whether it was Maor or I. Having the sink unconnected to the wall actually made it easier to clean under the sink since I could slide the whole vanity out from the wall and around the bathroom.  

  

    

exhibit Y

exhibit X

     Here in exhibits X,Y and Z we see three more examples of silicone caulking being used in ways it should not. Exhibit X shows the material wrongly used  by stuffing old shower screw holes with it. Exhibit Y shows us what happens when you use silicone to fill holes in drywall and Exhibit Z the builder used it to grout the tiles.

exhibit Z

      The picture above shows us another innovation around the house, my own personal little nightmare lived underneath my sink. In this picture you can see my hot and cold water connecting to my kitchen sink's taps and the waste water drain pipe. They had to cut holes in the cupboard floor to get the pipes in, but underneath the cupboard beyond hole was an abyss; a darkness that spanned. An enternace way  quite possibly into the underworld, cockroaches would make their way up through the hole from God knows where and they would live off the cat food I had kept there. I was also infiltrated by legions of ants entering at this very vunerable access point. The day I discovered their stronghold I took immediate action, I grabbed all the plastic grocery bags that I had saved up and began stuffing them into the holes with the pipes, I started with the drain pipe, and it didn't take too long to fill the tiny gap that was there. However where the waterlines entered the cupboard's posterior there was a much larger space to fill, so I began stuffing plastic bags into the cavern, except they kept disappearing into the blackness of the hole beneath my sink... with my imagination running wild I pictured a giant gruesome hole to a wonderland eating my plastic bags as I feed them through the mouth of the opening. Before long I've stuffed my last plastic bag  into the hole and it is still not clogged, and I imagine the cockroaches would return easier than before with all the new plastic terrain I've given them to climb up to reach their entrance into my cupboard. The situation is getting serious, I reach for the garbage bags and this time bunch the garbage bags together as I stuff them in the chamber, they didn't fall through due to the pressure of them being squished together. I was no longer bombarded by throngs of insects and I continued to safely store cat food there, yet another blunder solved with nylon bags. I still cannot help but wonder how big is the cavity beneath my old sink cupboard ???
to be continued...