It is time to change the strainer

The same day we replaced the faucet in the kitchen we also replaced the strainer.

The holes in the old strainer were not lined up so we were having issues with food getting caught and stopping up the drain.  Also over time the rubber seal had started to degrade.  It turned into a sort of tacky, tar like goo.

The first step is to remove the drain from the strainer.

Remember to have a bucket handy.  There will be some water in the drain.  Eww… look at the food residue.  According to Wolfy, it wasn’t that bad.  Evidently he has seen a lot worse during his time as a plumber.

Now that the strainer is free from the drain, it should pop out.

Except that our strainer was not installed with the standard plumber’s putty.  Instead, it was siliconed in.

A little bit of force and it was out.  The next step is to make sure the area where the new strainer will sit is clean.  This was a little harder due to the use of silicone.  I needed to use a box knife to clean all the dried silicone from the sink base.

The next step was to make a new snake with plumbers putty.

Then, apply the plumber’s putty snake to the back of the strainer and press lightly.

Put the strainer in the sink and tighten the nut below.

I’m using the wrong tool here but you will need someone to hold the strainer with a pair of needle nose pliers.  Basically you are making sure the three holes stay lined up.

As it is being tightened, the putty will squish up around the edges.

Next step is to reattach the drain.

The last step is the water test.  You need to fill the sink up three times – yes three times and check for any leaks.  Don’t feel bad.  It isn’t that abnormal to have to retighten or even take the drain off (or even the strainer) due to a leak.  Drainage is the toughest thing, according to Wolfy.

After a few days you can clean off the excess plumber’s putty.  And there you have it, a new sink strainer.   Doesn’t it look much better??

Previous Kitchen Posts:

Tiling the Floors

Painting

Bead board

Tiling the Backsplash

Grouting the Backsplash

Under the Cabinet Storage Solution

Installing a New Faucet

Swiss Cheese Sub-Floor

Once the master bathroom was gutted and we were left with an empty space, the hard work started.

First we had to figure out the layout.  After several configurations, we finally found something that we both agreed on and could easily be executed.

The subfloor had to be cut out in several places to run drainage lines to where the shower and tub would be.  One cut ended up being excessive, as there was a miscommunication on where we were putting the shower.

When we were in line with the new location for the drainage, we were able to run the pipes though the floor and cut a hole out where we needed access to attach the two drains together and eventually bring plumbing up from downstairs.

Once that was done, the room slowly began to take shape.  Now that the layout had been decided, it was time to build a wall in between the shower and the tub.  Originally, this was going to be a tub deck, but once that plan got nixed we decided to reuse the frame.  Had we designed it for this function, it would have been taller.

After living with it, I like that it doesn’t go to the ceiling, and while Wolfy would prefer the shower nozzle to be a touch taller, with the height of the shower walls we installed I think we would have been in for a world of trouble (for example when we put an “S” extension in it caused so much water to leak out from over the top it was amazing).

If you notice in the picture above one of the shower walls is going against a window.  We were willing to sacrifice this window for several reasons.  One, this is where it made the most sense to put the shower.  Two, we were left with two windows in the bathroom once this one was removed.  And three, because the two windows next to each other in the picture were originally in two different rooms, they were different sizes, and to me that just looked really awkward.  When they came to redo the siding, they removed this window from the outside and added plywood to the opening, before siding over it.

Previous Master Bathroom Posts:

Gutting the Bathroom

Types of Vino Wall Art

I am so excited.  I have been working on several projects for Wolfy’s birthday.  Now that it has past I can give you a rundown of some great gift (and decorating) ideas.  I will be sharing these projects with you over the next couple of weeks.

The first project I tackled was to add some wine art to our living room.  I went searching on All Posters to find the perfect prints.  I ended up purchasing four (three for Wolfy and one for myself) and today I am going to share the first project I tackled.

I purchased this print.  I loved the graphic letters and knew it would be perfect for our living room.  I didn’t want to just have it framed, I wanted to do something a little more special.  I decided I would mount the print onto a board.  A trip to Home Depot later I found a 2’x4’ piece of ¼ inch MDF for right around $7.  I also purchased a test container of Jet Black Glidden paint and a can of spray polyurethane.  What I really wanted was the water based product that is similar to poly but I could not find it.   While normal poly has the tendency to turn yellow overtime I think it will be okay for this project.

The first step was to cut the wood down to size.  The print is 16×20 so I cut the board roughly 24×20.  The goal was to create a large matte behind the print.

Once the board was cut, I hit the edges with some sand paper and used the Jet Black paint to cover the MDF.  I painted the front and the edges, making sure to apply it very thick.  Once the paint was on evenly, I ran my brush down the board to create even paint lines that were visible.

Once happy with the look, I stuck the print directly into the wet paint.  Making sure it was centered, I pressed the print down to get all the air bubbles out.  Next time I would use a paint scraper or squeegee to make sure all the bubbles were removed.  I did end up with one once it was dry, but it is hard to notice unless you are looking for it.

Once the paint was dry I applied several light layers of poly until I was happy with the shine.

Then, all that was left was to figure out was where to put it on the wall.  I used a level and then small finish nails in the corners to attach the piece of art to the wall.

Personally, I am exceedingly happy with the way it turned out.  Wolfy was really impressed with it too, so that made my day.

Notice the fabric covered frames?  Here is the how to on those.

I am linking up here.

No More Dripping…

On a shopping trip to Home Depot for spray paint, we found ourselves in the faucet aisle.  I have been keeping an eye out for a new kitchen faucet since we bought the house.  Wolfy has been hesitant to replace the one we had.  Every time I mentioned it, he mentioned how expensive they can be and maybe we should wait awhile.  Yet we kept looking.

 

The one we inherited when we bought had a leaking issue.  When you turned it full off (like it was in the before pictures) there was a steady stream of water.  So we had to back it off to a precarious half on half off position to make sure there was no water coming out.  I was worried we would forget this and turn the water “off” and leave for work and the sink would drip the whole day.  Worse yet our sink that likes to clog would not allow the water to escape and would flood the house.  It wasn’t a promising idea.

 

We decided to bite the bullet and buy a new faucet before we left for our weekend away to Virginia, so the pet sitter would not have to worry about our finicky faucet issue.  To our surprise we found a nice faucet in brushed nickel for $88 from Glacier Bay.  After we got home, we got right down to installing the faucet.  Make sure to follow the instructions included in your new faucet.  But here are the steps we followed…

 

Step 1:

Turn off the water.  Under the sink we have three water valves; the hot, the cold, and the one for the dishwasher.  Wolfy turned off all three.  The hot and cold have to be turned off and he turned off the dishwasher water just to be safe.

 

Step 2:

Unhook the water lines.  Each line will be hooked up to the copper lines that are in the cabinet and to the faucet itself.

 

Step 3:

The next step on our list was to remove the weight that allows the pull out faucet to pull back in.  Depending on the style you may not have this.

 

Step 4:

Remove the nut(s) that are holding the faucet to the sink base.

 

Step 5:

Pull the old faucet out.  You are half way there!!!

 

Step 6:

Remove the o-ring that was under the old faucet and clean the area.  You want to make sure any grease or dirt is gone so the new faucet will seal tight.

 

Step 7:

Set the new faucet in the hole.  Line it up (it is helpful to have two sets of hands) and attach the nut(s) underneath the sink base.  You want to make sure they are tight enough that you can not move the faucet base but you do not want to over tighten it.  Like all o-rings if you over tighten it you can compress the o-ring too much and cause a leak.

Step 8:

Install the new weight.

Step 9:

Attach the water lines.  Remember the water lines will need to be attached to the faucet and to the copper supply lines.  Make sure the cold and hot lines are attached to the appropriate lines, there is nothing worse than having your cold and hot lines backwards and getting hot water instead of cold.  If this happens you will just need to swap them at one end.

 

Step 10:

Turn your water back on and you are done!  We had to tighten the fitting that attached to the pullout faucet on ours but other than that you are ready to enjoy your new faucet.

Previous Posts with details about the kitchen:

Tiling the Floors

Painting

Bead board

Tiling the Backsplash

Grouting the Backsplash

Under the Cabinet Storage Solution

 

I will be linking up here.

Stripe the Walls

I mentioned in a previous post here about my love for the horizontal stripe. It took me a while, but I finally found the perfect place to stripe, the hallway going upstairs.  If any place needed a little whimsy, this area certainly did.

 

We followed the same process we did the last time we horizontally striped an area.  The colors we picked were a shade and sheen apart.  They are actually pale blue in color.  I couldn’t find the paint cans to let you know which color, but if they are found I will post that information.  Two coats of the lighter color went on.  We then decided how many stripes we wanted, marked, and taped them off (after the paint had dried of course).  Then the darker shinier color went on (two coats as well).  Make sure you pull your tape while the paint is still wet!

 

Other projects we tackled on the hallway makeover:

• Paint the brown handrail white.
• Freshen up the white paint on the trim.9
• Give the stairs a new coat using a slip resistant paint (the paint felt like it had sand mixed in it).

 

Over all a much more cheery area, amazing what a few coats of paint can accomplish.

This post has been linked up here.

Grouting

Grouting,  an eye opening experience.  Your tile looked good before (you can see our freshly tiled kitchen here) but once you grout it looks finished.  It goes from “Hey I did a pretty good job” to jaw dropping.

Please excuse the quality of the photos.  Going back though my photo albums, it looks like the only pictures I took were cell phone ones.  Oops.

If you remember, my family helped me tile.  There was much debate when I told them I had bought black grout.  “No!” they said, “You have to use a nice crisp, clean white.”

Gah, all I could see was spaghetti sauce splattering and staining my grout if I used white.  I wanted the black I knew it would tie in with the black appliances. I had the vision that they were lacking.

The grout ended up being a dark grey.  After mixing the black grout, I realized the texture was wrong.  It was way too thin.  Of course I started this project after the hardware stores had closed so I had to improvise.  I had an extra bag of white grout in the basement, so I added just enough to get my grout to a creamy peanut butter consistency.

Grouting is pretty simple.  If you used glass tiles or have very small spaces in between your tiles (like our kitchen floors here) you want to make sure you use unsanded grout.  For glass tiles, this will not scratch the surface, and for tightly spaced tiles, it will be easier to fill all the gaps.  Then you use your float to press the grout into the tiles, going across the gaps in a 45 degree angle.

Once all the spaces are filled, you then want to go over the tiles with a damp sponge.  You are trying to remove the haze, but you want to be careful to not remove the grout from the spaces.  Don’t try to get it completely clean: you won’t at this stage.  The next day you will have to come back and clean the rest of the haze off.

Previous Posts with details about the kitchen:

Tiling the Floors

Painting

Bead board

Tiling the Backsplash

Under the Cabinet Storage Solution

Don’t you hate it when your faucet costs more than your vanity?

The first upgrade done to the downstairs bathroom (other than new tile floors) was to remove the pedestal sink and replace the vanity and faucet.  I don’t have any pictures of the process but it is pretty simple.  First you want to turn off your water.  Then disconnect the supply lines and the drainage lines. Make sure you have a bucket handy to catch the water that will come out of the drain!

Then you can pull the old vanity out and install the new one.  Then you just reverse the process and hook up the drainage and supply lines.  Stop the sink fill it up and check for leaks (three times!).  Make sure to read the directions that come with your new vanity and faucet.

We had to move one of the support bars in the back of the vanity because it was in the way of the plumbing coming out of the wall.

Both the vanity and the faucet were purchased at Home Depot.  There was a sale running on the vanity so it ended up costing less than the faucet.  But wow talk about a difference!

Gut Job

Did you notice that two family members were missing during the kitchen backsplash post?  Wolfy and my dad were in the house, but they were not helping us.  Instead they were upstairs gutting the bathroom!

It was supposed to be a pretty simple job.  Take out the toilet, shower, vanity, and done.  Instead, after some quick measurements, it was determined that the shower we had already purchased would not fit in this space.  After a quick conference, it was decided that the bathroom would need to be expanded.

Next to the upstairs bathroom was a small room that looked like it used to be a bedroom.  The layout is very strange.  There is a large open area that at one point used to be a living area. Due to the way the power is laid out (and the odd cabinet) the added on dormer looks like it used to be a kitchen. Evidently the upstairs used to be either an income or mother in law’s suite.

The guys did a pretty good job I’d say.  It took almost a year for us to get from start to finish on the upstairs master suite.  Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing all the ups and downs with you.

Small change – huge impact

Remember when we painted we left the bottom third of the room untouched?  That is because we wanted to add some details to the house (actually we were stumped on how to fix the cracked and damaged plaster walls and this was the fix).  Honey, I have an idea!  Let’s do bead board panels on the bottom third.  We can add a chair rail on top and baseboard on the bottom!  And that is what we did.

The bead board paneling we used was very similar to this product from Menards.  The chair rail and baseboard came in the standard primed builders pack.

The install was pretty simple. I will have two sets of directions for you: the way we did it, and after living with it for three years, the way we would have done it.

The way we did it:

• Measure, cut, and finish nail baseboard to the wall.
• Set bead board on top of baseboard.  Measure and mark any cuts needed.  Use a Multi-Tool (or as we call it at the Den the Vibrating Tool).  Apply some liquid nails or similar product to the back of the panels, we actually used Loctite Trim & Paneling Construction Adhesive.  Install the panel to the wall and use finish nails to hold in place.
• Measure, cut, and finish nail the chair rail on the top edge of the bead board.
• Caulk and paint (still haven’t done this yet).

Now, for how we should have done it.

• Measure and cut the bead board to fit the first section of wall.  Like stated above apply an adhesive to the back and finish nail in place.
• Measure, cut, and finish nail baseboard to the bottom of the bead board flush with the floor.
• Measure, cut, and finish nail chair rail to the top of the bead board.
• Caulk and paint.

It looks nice.  It really does.  There are issues.  For example, where we set the bead board on top of the baseboard looks a little off.  Also, the edges are starting to get dinged up on the corners.  While I stated how it should have been done, if I knew a Doctor that had a time machine and could get a do over, I would have board and batten installed instead. I would have put MDF on the bottom third of the walls and used 1X4s as decorative touches.

Here are some good tutorials on board and batten from Ana-White and Young House Love.

There are a ton of other great ones out there: here is a link to a Google search for board and batten.

So, will we redo ours?  Maybe, maybe not.  It really depends on how it looks once I get around to caulking and painting it.  I hope we can live with it; there are better things for my marriage than telling Wolfy we are going to rip this out and start over.

Previous Living Room Posts

I have linked up to:

Polka Dots on Parade / Handy Man Crafty Woman

Storage in the oddest places

While spray painting the sliders, I had an idea.  Wolfy had emptied the cabinet under the sink to work on some plumbing. I realized our system of just shoving everything under there really wasn’t working anymore.  I threw away and combined what I could.  I then took three shoe boxes outside.  Since I had the spray paint out, I gave them a coat of white paint.  Remember thin coats and keep moving.  Once they were dry, I moved them under the sink and filled them up with bottles.  A much better solution.  For maybe 10 minutes of work, our sink area became a whole lot easier to use.  You could also cover the boxes with paper or fabric if you have some.  Or even leave them plain, after all, who else really looks under the sink?