DIY Fiday

It was cold again in the morning and the air was thick, like it was going to rain or get foggy. But, it didn’t do either and the sun burned it off by the time I took my morning walkabout.

I went to Lowe’s at lunch and bought the vanity I picked out for the bathroom. There was only one problem: it wouldn’t fit in the car! I should have thought that through, I guess... So, I ended up paying a $60 delivery fee to have them bring it to the house on Saturday. I stopped on the way back at the Newburgh Grill and had a cup of chicken noodle soup and a patty melt and still got back to work 10 minutes early.

Work was work in the afternoon, with a LOT of us yawning. But, it was finally the magic 5:00 PM and I headed home. I treated the cats and, while they were preoccupied, stripped the bed. I put the bedding and my bathrobe into the washer to officially start the weekend.

Then I grabbed an empty laundry basket and took everything out of the existing bathroom vanity. I put that in the office along with a smaller basket of stuff that was in the two drawers. I pulled out the drawers and put them in the living room (I don’t want to trip on anything during my late-night darkened bathroom visits).

Then I paid some bills online (today was payday) and filled out my weekend ToDo list. Next, I sent in my order to Gardener’s Supply for some stuff I’ve been wanting. I made a cup of coffee and watched the end of the Nightly News.

The washer buzzer went off, so I switched the load to the dryer. I thought about starting another load, then thought better of it. I watched a DIY taped show for encouragement and then went off to demo the bath.

I removed the water lines and disconnected the drain pipe. I cut through the silicone sealant all around the edge of the sink. I found the two bolts that held the base to the wall and unscrewed them. Then I manhandled (as much as a spinal-fused old man can manhandle) the sink top and cabinet away from the wall.

Of course, the flexible duct that went from the wall out to the register in the kickboard (I think you can see it in the “Before” photo taken from the tub) pulled out and broke.

I got the handcart and took the sink out to the garage and then the base cabinet. I’ll take off the faucet tomorrow.

I put the trap back on the drain and added water as the smell was bad. Then I mopped the floor and walls once, just to get the major crud off so I could survey the damage.

My worst fears were realized with the heating duct. I had imagined that when the house was built, there was just a large sink mounted to the wall (which, judging from the number of holes in the tile was true) and the original heat vent was in the tile floor (which is why I was searching for a vanity with legs.). But, no, of course not. The bathroom apparently had one of those old humongous wall vents.

And, worse yet, one of the tiles that will be outside the new vanity’s sides was broken and a part of it is missing. However, this is low to the floor, so whatever fix I come up with will not be that noticeable.

What will be noticeable is the hole they drilled higher up through another tile to bolt the old vanity to the wall.

I’d like to think these are not “problems” but rather “opportunities!” Yeah, I really, really would like to think that...

However, it was after 9:00 PM and I was tired and hungry. So, I added pepper rings, black olives, red pepper flakes and more cheese to a DiGiorno classic thin crust pizza supreme and popped it in the oven.

While it was baking, I remade the bed. Once it was baked and cut, I ate most of it watching another DIY show (to calm my fears) and then went to bed.