I have a Kohler flair lavatory sink faucet. Both the hot and cold started to drip. For a while just moving the handle slightly would stop the drip. However, that no longer works. I was trying to take apart the handle assembly to get to the ceramic valve to see if I could take it to the store to get a replacement. I was able to remote the handle, but seem unable to loosen the bonnet. I have tried with a strap wrench. Just to confirm, does it loosen by turning counter clockwise? Also, the faucet it 12 years old and has never been serviced. Any suggestion for loosening the bonnet? – thanks in advance

i recently had my water pump replaced, and since then both the showers to my house only produce scalding hot water. i turned down the temperature on my water heater to the absolute lowest it will go, and it is still hot.

i have cold water in the sinks and bathtub in both bathrooms, so i am puzzled. each shower control is the same make: a single handle moentrol. when i turn the handle to cold, it is only a trickle that comes out. one of the showers has hardly ever been used, so i don’t know how long the problem has occurred in that line, but the other one has been used on a daily basis and is just now starting to do this.

i thought that the problem may be that i need to either clean or replace the valve cartridge. however now that the 2nd shower is doing the same thing, i’m wondering if the problem is somewhere in the cold water line to both showers. the bathtub is separate from the shower (and has 2 faucets; one for hot, one for cold) and is completely fine, so that is what is puzzling to me. could it be that both showers, with the same make and model of a single handle moentrol, just need the valve cartridges cleaned and/or replaced?

thanks for your help.

I had a great conversation with my son’s third grade teacher. She tells me that he will use a tissue or paper towel to push the button on the water fountain. He’ll leave water running at school so he won’t touch the knobs after washing his hands. When he’s with me in a public bathroom (There are too many sickos in Florida to let him go in the men’s room alone, or I stand in front of the men’s room with the door cracked open.) he refuses to touch the door handle to get out. He’ll use a paper towel, his shirt, or wait for me to open it.

He is afraid of getting cavities, and will never forget to brush his teeth. While that is great, he will totally kill a brand new Oral B toothbrush in one month. The bristles will look like I took it and scrubbed a sidewalk, nearly bent at a 60 degree angle.

He has a fit if anyone touches his food, or drink. I made a sub one day and started eating it. He asked me to make him a half of the same type of sandwich I had. I told him I was only going to eat half any way, and said I would cut off the other end for him. He refused to touch it because I put my germs on it by touching it. I made him another sandwich and he ate it, of course touching it with the same fingers that had touched the unwanted sandwich half.

He washes his hands all the time, but not to the point of cracking or bleeding. In between those times he uses alcohol hand sanitizer.

He constantly bites him lower lip. It can get very dry. He uses a type of chap-stick with cocoa butter in it. He probably uses it about 1x an hour. I use the same kind and I use it 1-2x a day, if that.

Does this sound normal? Some of it sound like OCD to me. I want to make sure I’m not over reacting.

I rented a town home with a property management company 7 weeks ago. The previous tenants who had lived there for over 10 years abandoned it. The first time I was shown the property it was pretty trashed and they had workers there fixing it up. I was told that everything was being fixed or replaced and would be in perfect order by the time I moved in. if I had any problems just to let them know and it would be taken care of.

So I signed a year lease and moved in. however everything had not been fixed and the things that were fix were cheep and done poorly. So for the last 7 weeks this is what I have been dealing with. Stove was not working, air conditioning and heating not working, my front door dead bolt got stuck and I couldn’t open the door, no lock on the garage door, automatic garage door not working, electrical plugs not working, one window will not close or lock, screens broken, no light bulbs in any rooms, toilet lid and handle broken, one toilet that wont stop running, two bathtubs clogged, three sinks clogged, three faucets leaking, they only cleaned the carpet instead of replacing it, so there are stains everywhere and it smells, and on top of all that they were to cheep to hire a painter so the owner had some friends do it, so it looks horrible, bad patches and missed patches everywhere, I have had to clean paint off the floors, cabinets, tile, carpet, fixtures, door knobs, mirrors and take off the painters tape everywhere.

I called the property manager, made a list and gave it to him. Yet nothing was taken care of for 3 weeks. Now some of the things have been fixed but not all. I continued to call yet it seemed as if no one communicates with each other nor has there been any follow threw. So I began to clean and fix things myself. I also called a plumber and had him come out and give an estimate. So when it came time for me to pay rent I ask the property manager to take some money off my rent for compensation of what I had been doing, dealing with, fixing, cleaning..ect I also told him about the plumbers estimate. He said that I would not be getting any compensation. Then he had the audacity to say to me that I am simply an anal retentive female that wants everything to be just perfect. All of the things I am complaining about no one would have known unless they lived there. The condition of the place was fine and the previous tenants never complained nor did they ever call him for anything. After that he said no to the plumber I called and that he would call his plumber who was cheaper.

From there I did not hear back from him for 4 days. Then I came home from work and the place was flooded. Due to the running toilet upstairs and clogged drains I spoke about earlier. I had to call a 24 hour plumber pay him 0 cash to fix everything due to it was late at night. The property manager came the next morning told me don’t worry about this month rent till we figure things out. However now I am dealing with people coming to the house everyday, insurance, tests, and this company with fans to dry out the place. I currently have fans all over the place where you can not walk anywhere, they cut holes in all the walls, the fans are so loud I cant sleep, and I am sure my electric bill is going to be crazy. I’ve been cleaning up water, dirt, dust and everything from this mess. Now they took out the fans out, along with the linoleum floors in the bathroom, and cut out all the carpet that got wet. So I am left with a dirty house with holes in the walls, bathroom floors are sticky from removing the linoleum, and to top it off they did not remove any of the tack boards from underneath the carpet. So I continue to step on nails.

I guess you could say I am at a loss and looking for some advice on what to do next. I am not currently being charged rent and they said I would get compensation. However now I have to deal with all this being fixed on top of all the rest. How much compensation will I receive? The funny thing is all of this could have been avoided if the property manager would have listened to me and taken care of all of these thing instead of calling me anal retentive.

Thank you for reading this and any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Before I spend wads of money I wanted to see if I can handle the problem myself.
The hot water in my shower froze and when it unthawed I was unable to turn it off. The bathroom is very small and located on the west side of the house. Only the shower is having the problems. The hot water in the sink turns on fine. I have copper pipes. I know that nothing is busted, just frozen. My question is, do I need to replace the faucet completely(cold water turns on and off fine) or can it be repaired? Also once I get this fixed how do I keep that pipe from freezing again? Our basement is very cold even with the heat on, so is there any kind of insulation I can use to protect the pipe?

Thanks for any advice.
I think they run up from the basement through the wall.

OK OK I know this question has been asked a dozen times but I need something different. The spray bottle doesn’t work, faucet sprayer doesn’t work, tin foil is a joke, and a sticky pad is hilarious but ineffective. I’ve tried locking her in the bathroom for punishment which doesn’t do a thing either. Do I just have a demonic satan cat ( I think that is the case )? Does anyone have any other suggestions. I have even tried putting peppers onto the items she likes to mess with. She has gotten better with not doing it in front of me, now she only gets up there when we can’t see her but because she is sooo fat I can hear her jump down. I can’t handle this anymore.
I am not a cat person, my heart is with dogs, but I have to keep this demon of an animal because it is my fiances. She is about to be put outside to fend for herself. Someone help… I will get rid of the cat which will lead to getting rid of the fiance, but at this point OH WELL!!

In the girls’ bathroom, Savannah sat on the toilet listening in on five girl’s conversation. She couldn’t tell who they were except by their shoes. The girl with the red heels spoke first. Or at least that’s what Savannah thought.
"What’s that one girl’s name." red asked. "Savannah Ripley? Friends with Elisha Carpenter and Holly Drake?"
"The girl who’s really pretty and kind of popular." said a girl with black Chuck Taylor’s.
"Yeah, that’s who I’m talking about." red said. "She’s so annoying. I have her in Biology and she says the dumbest things. I got stuck with her on a presentation to do for Mrs. Cunningham, and she totally freaked when we had to present. Then today, we were watching a video where they had to film under water and she was like, ‘Ooh, they must have used special equipment for it!’"
Skylar. Savannah seethed. Who did she think she was? The popular kids weren’t as nasty as she and her friends were.

  The girl with the red Chuck Taylor’s laughed. "What a retard."
Savannah felt tear stinging from her eyes. She hated that word Chuck just called her. Retard was a horrible word. That word had been thrown at her in middle school and day camp. Now it was coming back to her.
"She’s dating Carter, right?" a girl wearing Rocket Dogs said.
"Of course." Skylar said. "Everyone knows. If they could broadcast it, they would."
Chuck laughed. "I give them two more weeks. Carter can’t handle drama. As soon as Savannah gets to be on the top of drama, he’ll leave her in a millisecond."
And with that, they left. Savannah banged the door with her fist. All she wanted was to make friends and this was what she was getting. A hate group.

  Sighing, she walked out of the stall. To her surprise, Palma was standing there. She hadn’t even heard Palma walk in. Palma extended her hand for Savannah to hold. She had heard everything.
"Don’t mind them." said Palma. "They don’t know any better. You have us, you know."
"I just want everyone to like me." pleaded Savannah, tears running out of her eyes like a faucet.
Palma chuckled. "Don’t worry, when they saw me, they liep."
"What?" giggled Savannah.
"They ran." Palma said flatly, ushering Savannah out of the bathroom. "You do know, those girls are just jealous of you right?"
Savannah figured that as much, but it still hurt. She didn’t want anyone to be jealous of her. Holly even said being jealous of just caused more trouble. She didn’t want anyone to hate her. She didn’t even like drama. There was no way she would even be apart of it.

  "People call me big-boobed bimbo." said Palma. "They’re like ‘Why are you celebrating Thanksgiving? You’re Dutch.’"
"Why do you?" asked Savannah. "Just curious, that’s all."
"Because half of my family moved here and took on American traditions." smiled Palma. "I love my home, but the U.S. is so much better."
They talked for awhile until the bell rang for fourth period. Since Mr. Austerlitz never counted anyone tardy, Savannah decided to stay there for a few more minutes.
"I have Asperger’s." confided Savannah, waiting for Palma’s reaction.
Palma smiled kindly. "I have OCD. What you have, doesn’t change my opinion about you."
Savannah felt wonderful. Finally someone she told at Paramount besides her teachers about her disorder. Palma understood completely. For she too had a disability. A mutual bond came between the two when they confided in their deepest secrets.

  Rick Perez kept pestering Savannah about how Carter was during in study hall. Every time she was about to say something to Holly, Rick would butt in with his mindless questions. She usually didn’t mind Rick, but that time she was getting agitated with him. She finally had to tell him in a terse voice to talk to her later. Then felt guilty afterward. She hated being rude. That wasn’t the kind of person she was. So she ended up apologizing to him.
"That’s okay." he said. "I can be annoying."
"Now you admit it." Holly said, rolling her eyes.
Lucas Green leaned over to Savannah. "Hey, how come there’s people talking about you? I told them to stop."
"Thanks." smiled Savannah. "I feel like I’m the most hated person in the school."
"No, you’re not." Holly said reassuringly. "We like you."

   Relief fell over Savannah. She knew those were her good friends. They would never hurt her for anything. She didn’t know what she was thinking when listening to Skylar. Skylar was just someone she knew. She didn’t affect her life. Just then Austerlitz walked over with a slip of

We rented this place about a month in a half ago and we have some problems. It’s a duplex and theres people living upstairs.

So right about the time we moved in, we already started getting problems.
The ceiling in the bathroom tends to leak water whenever the people upstairs shower or use the water and we called the landlord and he sent his father in law who I guess fixes things and put in a new ceiling on it, and it looks very sloppy but we dealt with it.

AND still to this day it leaks, and when we called about it, the landlord will tell us he will handle it and called his father in law again to fix it, but he never showed up.

THEN this morning, I wakeup to my parents yammering and I walk out my room and my parents have buckets in the kitchen because the people upstairs have 5 kids, there ALWAYS running around and I guess one of them left the faucet on upstairs which explains the water.
My dad went upstairs to ask why is there water in his kitchen and the woman replies with a laugh and said my kid left the faucet on and thats it. She didn’t even yell at her kids or anything but I don’t care because we don’t need to come to her for our problems anyway.

I’m getting REAL sick of this place. It was poorly painted, theres only heat in the living room and the ceiling is ready to fall on us.

Should I take this problem to the landlord or just call the city?
Any other options?

I’ve had Bemis (yeah, like Max Bemis, if any of you know who that is…) for about 2 weeks now. I’ve tried handling him quite a bit, but every time he lays a big one right on my arm… and pees, too. He’s a feeder rat, and the only reason I say that makes a difference at all is because he’s pretty big, and has his big ol’ balls, too, so I’m assuming he’s an adult, or close to it. I bought him from a pet store who was, again, selling him as a feeder. He was never really handled, and was just put in a box with a few others and taken care of. So every time he comes out of the cage, he goes to the bathroom all over whatever he’s in at the time. The little guy is like a leaky faucet… his waste just doesn’t stop coming out…

Anyway, what I’m wondering is, since he’s an adult, and is obviously quite afraid of human contact (he’ll approach my hand, sniff it, take food from it, etc. but always runs away, even if I don’t make a move on him), can anyone give some tips on taming him?
Huh, I didn’t know about the urinating thing… Thanks, Ally!

where do I begin…part of this is venting and part of this is to hear of other experiences/results or opinions from someone in the field. I appreciate all the time it takes to read through and any input! Thank you!
On May 24th at 11am I was sitting in my Pittsburgh 2nd floor apartment when my fiancé and I began to hear water trickling in our bathroom. When we entered we found that where there had previously been an old water leak stain on the ceiling there was now a steady stream of water coursing down our walls. Which turned into a waterfall that literally flowed out of our ceiling and into the next room which is the kitchen. During this time we were attempting to remove our belongings from the path of destruction with little avail. 12 ceiling tiles burst causing roughly 1/2 to 1" of water to well up in our bathroom, kitchen, and about 1/4 of our adjoining living room.

The neighbor directly above us ran down stairs saying that as his wife turned off the faucet in their bathroom sink the handle flew off, spraying her with hot water. As they reached below to turn off the pipe, it also burst thereby flooding our entire apartment below them.

The landlord never returned our call in spite of the emergency but we did track down the maintenance worker. He did little more than walking upstairs to our apartments, saying F*&k a lot, and reassured us that when we returned from our two day trip all would be fixed.

We arrived home on the 27th of May we found that our apartment had not been TOUCHED. For the three days we were gone water had set-in the apartment and no windows we opened. The stench was horrible and as soon as I walked in my fiancé got a migraine from the mold that had been flushed out from behind the walls.

We immediately went downstairs to confront the landlord and found that he had not even BEEN in the apartment for three days he just let it sit.

In his vain attempt to appease us he insisted that we would be reimbursed for our losses in front of several witnesses and also in a voicemail.

The insurance men came and told the landlord everything needed to be replaced. There is mold crawling throughout the walls and floors and water had set stagnant for days.

So…for one month my fiancé and I were without a bathroom sink, ceiling, and floor. The "floor" consisted of literally rotten black water logged wood. This scenario was the same in the kitchen and 1/4 of the living room.

We attempted to cook in the kitchen a few times during this month but each time anything moved or the people upstairs walked across their floor we would have flakes of drywall, mold, rotten insulation fall into our food and throughout our kitchen.

One month went by with NO work to our apartment, and then within a week they had hired a maintenance man to come in and "cover up" the problem. However we have had 3 separate leaks since then. But our landlord is trying to say that it is fixed??

At any rate after their shoddy work, lack of work, and the poor integrity of this building we have decided to move out, we gave the landlord notice of our July1 moving date 6 days ago.
Although our last lease was month to month, we haven’t signed one since April, and we haven’t paid rent for June the landlord is trying to say we owe for not giving notice (Although he agrees we shouldn’t pay for the time our apartment was not fixed(May24th-Jun19th)
How can we give notice to a problem that was beyond our control? And we are not on a lease, and even if we were there is clause in the lease which states that if the apartment is damaged or could cause harm to others the tenant has the right to end the lease and move.
How can he think he’s getting away with this? What can I do?