How I Spent February 14th

Bet you thought this post would be about Valentine's Day, didn't  you? Fooled you! This is about bathrooms. Oh, yes indeedy, bathrooms. I have two. Two old bathrooms. One old bathroom and one very old bathroom. One very old bathroom and a 13 year old boy. 

I also have a sister, Casey, who makes Handy Andy look like he's all thumbs. Casey can fix, repair, replace, or renovate just about anything. She's laid wood floors in her house. She's tiled bathrooms, she's fixed toilets, she hangs ceiling fans ... she may not be Suzy Homemaker but she is Little Miss Fixit.

Me - I've got the number of every plumber, electrician, and repairman within 100 miles. I call and they might come. Casey just rolls her eyes.

A month ago, Eric, the 13 year old boy, had a run in with the pedestal sink in the very old bathroom. Eric was uninjured but the pedestal sink was hanging at 45 degree angle. The drain pipe did not survive.

I was not about to let my baby sister outdo me in anything. I thought about it for a couple of weeks and decided that if she can fix the plumbing, I can fix the plumbing and save myself about $80 in the process. So off to Lowe's. I browse, I look, I am totally confused. So I track down a guy in a red vest and he sells me $5.00 worth of pipes and brackets to reattach the sink to the wall.

I put stored my purchases under the sink - in the bag. I didn't want to rush into anything. After all, plumbing is one the great mysteries of life. One I never wanted to delve into - that's why God created plumbers just for me.

I pulled out the bag and ripped of the old, broken pieces. I started putting the pipes together and they didn't fit. I had two threaded pieces that were supposed to go together and no way to connect them.

Being the really smart person that I am, I checked to see if the sink brackets fit. They didn't. The sink is about two inches too far from the wall. So I thought as long as I am at Lowe's I'll pick up a hunk of 2X4 and a hacksaw because one of the pieces was too long to fit properly. So I gather up all my pieces of pipe and head to the store.

I explained my dilemma to another man wearing a red vest. He rolled his eyes (I do cause a it of eye-rolling, don't I?) as he explained 3 times that I didn't need to use a connector with threads at both ends, just the washer and the little ring. The fourth time he explained it got it! Okay, just because the other guy sold it to me didn't me I had to use it! Told you I'm smart. Especially in the area of plumbing.

I bought my hacksaw (because I can't find the one I already own).  I also bought a flashlight and the batteries to go in it (because the 3 flashlights I already have were sucked up in a beam of light by aliens). And a really neat scraper to get the wall paper of the kitchen walls (another story for another day) and some long screws to attach to the 2X4 to the wall(because I needed them). So for $75 or so I left  Lowe's. Without the 2X4. Their scrap bin was empty and their saw was broken. Off to Home Depot for $1.00 worth of wood.

I found my 2X4. I had it cut to size (free  - no charge for the first cut) and we're headed to the check out. Past the clearance aisle. Where I found the tub faucet that matches the one on the sink. On sale! Marked down! No longer $189 - now only $98! I got out of Home Depot for a mere $106.54.

I got the sink put back together. It is firmly attached to the wall - at least until Eric decides to  do pull ups off the rim again. And I totaled up the cost:

Six hours (including the shopping time)

Parts                                   $  5.00
Good stuff from Lowe's             75.00
More plumbing from HD         106.54
the cost of the tiles, etc to install the new faucet - Lord only knows
My baby sister's eyeballs staying put - PRICELESS

Comments

[TracyAnn]

Ahhh... the thrill of finding the tub faucet on sale! All do it yourselfers know that a good sale always produces the next project. The only thing better is when a really cool tool is on sale and then you get to conjure up the next project to justify buying the tool! Love you!

[Cindy Lee]

First off, thanks so much for your comforting comments on my blog and I'm so sorry for your losses! I'm so incredibly proud of your accomplishment with the bathroom sink so I need you and Casey to come to Nebraska to help me "fix" stuff (mostly Casey, since you bragged on her so eloquently) and you HAVE to come along for the entertainment, just hearing your stories would keep me in a good mood as we "fix up" this little "fixer upper" that I swore I would never buy but that's a whole nother story! Again, HUGE Congrats on your sink accomplishment I would still be throwing all the *@##%#$* - that was french for "stuff" - across the room and probably crying because I'm so inadequate in the "fixin'" department - oh well, any plans for a visit to rural Nebraska any time soon? WITH Casey, even though I'm very proud of you, back-up is nice, dontcha think? I have a kitchen counter and sinks that need replacing, a bathroom that needs painting, a fence to put up, porch and trim that needs painting, etc., etc., etc....oh well, it'll all get done eventually, lol! thanks for the chuckle at your escapades - love and big hugs, Cindy Lee