Definition: The need to show completed projects on your blog when none exist. Let me explain… renovation is fun… said no one, ever. The fun parts are the planning and the completion, but all that stuff in the middle is messy and frustrating, with the possible exception of using the sledgehammer (more on that in a moment). Now don’t get me wrong, our 1971 charmer has definitely taken a huge step toward this century, but we are tackling smaller projects now all over the house, while I have a strong desire to have an entire room completed, so I can say to my friends, look friends, at my amazing completed room. Ah well… I guess for the moment, I will simply have to say look friends, at this sink I replaced…
That’s right! A brown (not seen in nature, except in some very unpleasant places) bathroom! Jealous much? Well, that is the sink that John and I now share. For the past 15 years, we have been lucky enough, I should say, I have been lucky enough to have my own sink. Sharing a sink with a man is no picnic, especially when it is a brown sink. One day I woke up and said, this cannot go on! I took out my trusty sledgehammer, and I got to work. We have already established my love of sledgehammers. This project sealed the deal.
Let’s begin, but I must warn you that replacing a sink for the uninitiated (me) is nothing to take lightly. You simply have to charge ahead with a take no prisoners attitude and never look back. Step one: I measured the vanity and went online to see what I could find. What I found is that sinks are no longer made with those dimensions (naturally) but I said to myself… what’s an extra inch…
I ordered and paid for my selections online and promptly ran down to the store to pick them up (an awesome service that I was previously unaware of). You stop at the customer service counter (where you will meet mostly dissatisfied customers) they bring you your items, and you run away (a very satisfied customer).
Now for the fun part… I get to use my sledgehammer! As I mentioned, I have never done this before, but thankfully I know enough to turn off the water, disconnect the hot and cold hoses, and loosen the pea trap before I begin. Hammer time…
These things look innocent enough, but trust me… they are not. They did not go gentle into that good night. They held on with both hands and had no intention of letting go! My sledgehammer and I got quite a workout that day! What I didn’t know then, was that that was the easy part…
What came next defies description and produced a string of expletives, but there was no going back now. Thank goodness for YouTube videos! It was highly recommended that the hoses and pop up drain stopper (say that five times fast) (and yes, that is the correct term for the little plug in the bottom of the sink, I googled it) be attached before you place the sink on the vanity. Easier said than done! First of all, the faucet I ordered said it included the hoses (that is part of the reason I chose it) but that was a lie. So… off I go to my neighborhood hardware store to buy hoses… Hello, I’d be happy to help, what size hoses do you need? What??? They come in sizes? What sort of cruel joke is this? I quickly formed a mental image of the original hoses that I had disconnected, in my brain, and as luck would have it, my brain was correct! Hoses attached… check! Now on to the pop up drain stopper… let me tell you, it is no easy task to balance a sink on your lap with the faucet coming out one side and the hoses coming out the other while you try to install a functional pop up drain stopper. Finally, many expletives later, that too is complete. Now all that’s left is to set the sink on the vanity reattach the hoses and the pea trap and we’re golden, right??? Not so fast there… there’s the matter of an extra inch… More expletives!
Why does that puny extra inch become such a huge issue? Because it does… and there is no way that I’m going to let this sink beat me! Back to the hardware store I go. Hello, I would like a very sharp hack saw to hack a certain vanity into submission, why certainly, we have that right over here.
At last! I am ready to set the sink on the vanity and call it a day… but the drain doesn’t line up with the pea trap… Damn you extra inch!!! What to do, what to do? Can’t go forward, can’t go back… stuck! Google… help me! Aha! There is such a thing as a flexible pipe for just this eventuality… who knew? Flexible pipe installed, check! Water lines reattached, check! Final step, turn on the faucets and pray…
Houston, we have lift off!
You may have one final question… what about those spots where the tile had to be removed and you can see the wallboard? My response, do you see the white sink? Yes, but what about the wallboard? DO YOU SEE THE WHITE SINK??? Yes. Â Alright then…
The final final plan here includes gutting said bathroom and starting from scratch, but the temporary final plan includes painting the cabinet white, attaching teal knobs to it, painting the ceiling a soft blue and the walls a soft teal, and of course, sending that brown toilet to the dump!