My first house fix this winter was our master bathroom toilet. I've been wanting to flush the flimsy thing down the drain since we bought the house.
You see, we put a lot of work into other parts of the house last spring, but took most of the summer off and enjoyed the weather. For some reason I've got a second wind (probably due to crappy weather) and the Lowe's employees are once again recognizing me from multiple trips on the weekends. The toilet seat was target numero uno.
Everything about the toilet worked just fine EXCEPT that the toilet seat and lid were constructed out of a thin plastic. I'm sure it was meant for a child. No 150+ pound adult in their right mind would trust this seat anymore than you'd trust one of those little person chairs in my sister's kindergarten classroom.
So I went to Lowe's (twice actually, because I thought our toilet was oval instead of round) and bought a sturdy hardwood toilet seat with some white veneer. I tested the seat like one would test a watermelon at the grocery store. It hung in front of me amongst a series of toilet seats. I knocked on it. I put my ear up to it and shook it. I punched it. Unfortunately, the Lowe's guy wouldn't cut it open and provide me a sample taste, but I was satisfied enough to make the purchase.
Installation was simple and took just a minute before my new throne was ready. This was no child's seat. I sat down on the seat and shifted my weight around. The sustainability was fantastic. I called Amanda over to try it as well. She looked at me with some hesitation like I was asking her to perform a random drug test in front of me. I assured her that she didn't actually have to do the duty, just sit down on it, and she plopped down to test the new seat. It passed all the tests with flying colors.
We had a new throne. And I, king, had built it. Sorta.