Just how long does a toilet last these days?

How about refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, and dryers? Are common household fixtures built to last anymore?

My co-workers and I have been struggling with a leaky toilet of late. As these things tend to happen, it started as a small problem and grew to a much larger one.

A few quick fixes failed to achieve lasting results, and soon experts in the field of maintenance had to be called in. I like to think of them as the “toilet cavalry.”

“Yeah, the innards of this toilet are completely shot,” he told us. “Gonna completely rebuild it and she’ll be good as new.”

After a quick trip to the hardware store and an hour or so of work, she was indeed as good as new — for about two solid weeks.

Forgive me if I use terms that are a bit too technical while I explain what’s wrong, but the flapper thingy down at the bottom of the tank keeps coming unhinged from the tall pipe thingy it’s attached to, and the chain attached to the flapper thingy keeps breaking. As a result, the flusher thingy on the front of the tank just flops around like a chicken with a broken neck because the chain it was attached to was apparently made of tissue.

In short, she runs like Niagara Falls after each and every flush, if you can get her to flush at all. If that’s “good as new,” I’d rather have an old toilet.

In my home, I do have an old toilet. Two of them in fact. No waiting.

I’ve had to rebuild their innards a time or two, and with each successive upgrade, I’ve noticed the parts I’m using seem to get cheaper and cheaper and need to be replaced more often, almost as if — gasp — they’re designed that way on purpose.

Could it possibly be that the international toilet industry has a secret plot to keep us buying replacement parts every two weeks? Have they figured out a way to — forgive me — flush more and more money out of our pockets?

I, for one, miss the ball thingy on a steel rod that floated on top of the water in the tank right next to the Tidy-Bowl man’s boat. Those were the days of quality.

On the appliance side of life, I count myself fortunate. My washing machine has entered its twentieth year of service with practically no problems. My dryer was replaced about nine years ago.

My refrigerator has been with me since the fall of 2009. Skeptics told me I’d be lucky to get five years of service out of a new one, but so far she’s serving me well for a less expensive model. My parents had an expensive one that only lasted three years.

My oven came with the house when I bought it in 1991. She’s an ‘89 model, and though I flirt with the idea of scrapping her for a new one, I keep coming back to the same question:

Why?

Why would you unload a quality appliance that continues to work well just to see something new in your kitchen? I’d rather wait until I have to say goodbye. That day will come soon enough.

So how long are your appliances supposed to last?

Many of you could tell me stories of wonderful antiques still in service in your homes. Many others could tell me of the customer complaint letters you sent to companies that sold you a lemon.

Appliances are like cars. There’s no fool-proof way to tell if you’re getting a good one or a bad one. Chevrolet has made some wonderful cars through the years. They also made the Vega.

But I am putting the toilet industry on notice. I’ve got my eye on you, among other things.

Kent Bernhardt lives in Salisbury.