Sunday, June 29, 2008

Bouncing Back is Becoming a Tool Belt Diva.

I am not a Toolbelt Diva. In fact, I fully admit, my DIY skills are lacking, mainly due to the fact I never seemed to have the time to learn decent DIY skills, other than painting. Plus I'm afraid of power tools, especially things that cut. BUT I have a list of home projects that need to get done, so it's time to learn new skills, especially since the quotes I've been getting for various home improvement projects are outrageous. I dragged out the circular saw and cut some landscaping ties to size for some planned raised garden beds, I figured out how to divert water from a storm damaged gutter from flooding into my bedroom every time it rains, I put up new brackets in my bedroom for curtain rods (I can use a drill and a screw driver) and the big project was to finally install my new bathroom vanity. I had hoped to convince, bribe, pay my neighbor to re tile my bathroom floor (total square footage is only 27 SF, easy peasy for someone else), when he does his mudroom, but that project is on the books for July 4th weekend and I will be at my part time job that entire weekend, I wanted the sink OUT of my living space today.

I started at 4 PM, and finally gave up at 7:30 PM. I was able to remove the old vanity, disconnect the faucet (I'm using the faucet on the new sink), got the faucet installed on the new vanity top, got the vanity bottom into the bathroom and leveled and then spent the next 90 minutes trying to connect all the plumbing.

Mind you, before I started this project I made a list of all the bits and pieces I would need (new supply lines, drain pipe extensions, washers, caulk, etc) and then went out and bought said supplies. I'm just not getting the drain pipes connected as they should be and I can't get the stopper hooked up to the stopper plunger thing (is that a real phrase, stopper plunger thing?). I can and have installed several sinks and toilets in my life, I'm actually pretty good at it, but for some reason, it's just not happening today.

The good part is I no longer have the vanity sitting in my living room and I really like the way it looks in my bathroom. The bad part is I'm going to spend tomorrow after dinner fixing what I started today. I just have to remember to brush my teeth in the kitchen sink and not in the bathroom. I'll be happy when it's done, because the next project is flooring for my bedroom. I did a little on line research and found flooring I would love to have in my bedroom for less than $225. Remember, I live in a small space, so the cost for the flooring is not that much and if I can get over my fear of things that cut, I can install some pretty awesome bamboo or engineered wood flooring. I did help a friend one time install some Pergo (they did the cutting), so this shouldn't be too bad?

Ah well, I look at it this way, I've just saved myself $125 (the quoted price from the plumber) on sink installation and when it's done, at least I can say I did it myself.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I installed Tundra (the lowcost IKEA version of Pergo) by myself with no experience, including the cutting. I bought and learned how to use a power saw. So proud of myself. You can do it too, especially if you have used a circular saw. That is a major saw! Good luck.

Dawn said...

Good for you! That is great! I am taking some DIY classes offered in my hometown because I need to learn how to tackle some projects myself.

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