How innocent requests go bad

[Smart Red]

I have resolved to go through the house room by room and fix or finish everything in each room. I started today with the half bath by the back door.

First I took everything off the walls and out of the cupboard for a good deep cleaning.
ME:"Sweetheart, could you strip off the caulk around the sink so I can replace it with clean caulk?"
HE:"Sure, no problem."
ME:"Do you think you should remove the door so you have more room to work?"
HE:"Done!"
ME:"As long as you're working on the sink, could we fix that small hole in back from a leak (20 years ago)?"
HE:"That shouldn't be hard. I just need to take the shut-offs out. . . take off the sink. . . remove the faucet. . . the cabinet floor is a bit rotted. . . probably need to replace that. . . I can't reach anything in this tiny room. . . I suppose I will need to pull the cabinet out first. . . "
Yes, the caulk is off the sink and wall, but this has become a major project. I'll be back to keep you informed after I decide what color I want to paint the room once everything is out of it. TEE HEE! TEE HEE!

 

[Smart Red]

Notice how neatly the caulk around the sink has been removed? That's my MAN!

As if it matters, we were discussing redoing the master bath later in the day and DS suggested we use the smaller stool in the half bath for the master bathroom and put a new stool in the half bath. That's just in case we can't find a new stool with a shorter, rounded bowl. A new stool with an elongated bowl wouldn't matter in the half-bathroom, but might be a problem with spacing in the master bathroom.

I didn't want to go there, but, well, it does make a lot of sense. Now, a show of hands, please. Who thinks the bathroom floor should be updated as long as the stool is removed anyway?

Who knew the bathroom floor was connected to the kitchen floor? Shouldn't the kitchen floor get a make-over as long as we're tearing out part of the floor? We are talking mid 1970's flooring that has seen better days.

 

[Smart Red]

Here we are getting things back in order. All the decorations are back on the wall.

Just waiting for the sink to be hooked back up.

 

[Smart Red]

Here is my refurbished half-bathroom. Notice the walls are beautiful and everything is back in place. Only the caulking is left to do. Isn't that where we started?

 

[Smart Red]

I forgot the holes! DS put in a new base -- the old one was rotting out -- and a back to cover the plumbing holes.

I will have to stain and seal the new base and back as well as caulk the top.

 

[Nifty]

Wow @Smart Red this is such an inspirational thread! Thanks for all the details and great pics!

You're amazing and I love the idea of going room-by-room!

Can't wait to see more!

 

[Smart Red]

We built this house ourselves about 38 years ago. I know every spot that didn't quite get finished -- or never got started as promised -- and I figured it was time to get these things done.

The floor will stay. With the huge expense of geo-thermal heating and taxes coming up, I think I will keep a low profile on big projects like that for a while. Even so, today DH mentioned tearing up the carpet in the family room and putting down oak flooring. He NEEDS something to keep him busy as long as winter has him stuck inside. I have no problem with any project HE decided needs to be done. I just try not to push him with my projects so much anymore.

Interesting read about your furnace adventures. I would have gone with your solution myself -- that's how this furnace lasted 40 years. We had discussed replacing it a few times, but the unit was a good one and had a lifetime warrantee on the big part. The minor repairs -- fans and heating elements -- once in a while were pretty minimal when the cost of a new unit was weighed. Now the heating chamber (with its lifetime warrantee) is shot. Of course, so is the company that built the furnace and replacement parts for it are not available.

We were also told by our heating guy that the difference in 80% efficiency and 95% efficiency is pretty slight with the way our house was built. The payback just between those two choices would have been nearly as long as your new unit payback would have been.

Until I decided upon the geothermal, our main discussion was to continue with heating oil or put in a propane furnace. I sure wish natural gas was available here in the sticks. Of course, the geothermal should work out the best for us -- if we ever get it installed.

 

[Smart Red]

Oops! Here is the post -- above -- I thought was lost in cyber-space. I forgot where I had posted it.

 

[Smart Red]

Chuckle, chuckle, the bathroom sink is still awaiting caulk. I don't want to open the container until I can get the whole kitchen countertop caulked as well.