A Few Bathroom Reminders

I don't recall exactly when it was (I don't believe it was part of the 2011 bathroom renovation), but at some point we replaced the upstairs shower fixtures. We'd been investigating a possible leak and found out that some of the running up to the tub were basically dissolving ... to the point where the mineralization on the pipe was basically holding the water in more than the pipe in a few places.

As part of that, we had a Price Pfister 20378 three-way diverter installed (at least that's the number stamped on it; I can't find any original documentation) and some nice new old-style faucets that complemented the 1940s look of the bathroom.

So what's the reminder? Next time the ceramic cartridge is failing, the replacement piece that's needed is a Pfister S10-030 cartridge, and it takes a 1¹⁄₃₂ socket to replace. Having the right tools and parts, especially for a project that requires shutting off the water to the whole house, makes things so much easier...

Which leads to another reminder: Next time we have to replace any pipes that lead to a fixture, if there's a way to access things, install a shut-off valve close to said fixture.

Lost in the Walls

C— was working on her art capstone and needed a box cutter. The blade on the one she has was too dull for the work, so we swapped it out for a fresh one. At uni, she disposes of old razorblades by wrapping them in tape before putting them in the trash. (I guess she could also use a sharps container, but that's not the school's usual process.) I started to pull out some duct tape to wrap up the old blade when I had an idea ... C— thought of it at the same time and her eyes lit up!

Like many houses built prior to 1970, there's an odd little slot in the back of the bathroom medicine cabinet. It seems like an odd thing, but before the advent of disposable razors, the safest way to get rid of an old safety razor razorblade was to seal it up somewhere not designed to be opened ... like a wall. Bathrooms commonly had a slit in the medicine cabinet (or even a custom bit of ceramic tile, as seen in this 99% Invisible article) for this purpose.

Your blade is dull, just pop it into the wall! Apparently it's not uncommon nowadays in renovations of old houses to find literal pounds of old blades in a bathroom wall. It's a hazard, and disposal of them can be an issue, but I doubt adding one more blade to our current stash is unlikely to increase the problem significantly.