Sounds about right!
So, Mrs. Katastrophe got the idea that we needed a new faucet in our bathroom. As usual, she was right, as our home is old and needs a little "fixer upping."
"I got this," I said, summoning up as much male swagger as possible. "It's nothing to pop in a new faucet. Pull the old one out, pop the new one in, hook up the water lines and it'll be done in a jiffy."
Plumbing, my friends, can be humbling.
The old faucet pops out with ease. After I pull out the old faucet, I noticed the ceramic on the sink had chipped off, causing the sink to rust under the base of the old faucet. It's still solid, and will work for now, but I was thinking, "Crud. Gonna need a new sink soon." That little operation I don't know how to do. There's gonna be some money out the window.
The new faucet goes on no problem. Here's where the rant starts. The @#$@#@#$ water connecting lines are too small, and won't fit with the new faucet. On to the local hardware store. They're closed, and going out of business. We go to the local Wally World. They have the correct connector lines, but they're 20" long, and I only need about 6" lines. I'll make it work. Besides, they're braided steel and should last a while. They go on without a hitch.
Water starts flowing, and my wife cheers. I am truly happy that I have accomplished at least part of this task, and we have running water. I feel manly and proud of myself.
Then the drip starts.
It started small at first, at the elbow under the sink that connects the sink drain to the main drain line. Then it began to trickle. The wife runs out to get a bowl to catch the water. She comes back and I *touch* the elbow. Part of it disintegrates in my hand.
Now I have to go back to Wally World and get a new elbow, but I noticed the pipe that IT connects to is corroded and needs replacing, so I'll have to get it, too. More money. Great.
I relay all this to Mrs. Kat, and she says that the faucet looks great, and that we could modernize the bathroom a little bit with a new mirror and some other stuff. More money. Fanfreakin'tastic.
So, my $50.00 faucet replacement "honey do" is now gonna cost me a bathroom remodel of an untold amount. WHAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAAAA!:
Guitars:
Fender 2006 MIM Fender Stratocaster HSS in 3TS
Ibanez RG 570 with a bridge Invader
ESP M II Deluxe with a Tune-o-Matic bridge
Eleanor, the magical, mystical Road Worn wonder Tele
Blackstar HT Club 40
Sounds about right!
Hec yea just bend over and take like a man brother!!!!!
:
"I love being alive and I will be the best man I possibly can. I will take love wherever I find it and offer it to whoever will take it... seek knowledge from those wiser and teach those who wish to learn from me."
"Develop your talent, man, and leave the world something. Records are really gifts from people. To think that an artist would love you enough to share his music with anyone is a beautiful thing."
Duane Skydog Allman
You come to a point in your life when you really don't care what people think about you, you just care what you think about yourself." - Evel Knievel
One word - Outhouse
But you are right. I'd rather be shafted by Paypal than to do plumbing at my house.
"No Tele For you." - The Tele Nazi
Ha! Tele-ish now inbound.
Kat, I feel your pain brother. Shiner's rules for do-it-yourself projects:
1. Estimate how much time the project will take you. Multiply that by 10 to get a more realistic estimate. Be prepared to throw the estimate out the window about halfway through the project.
2. Use the same formula to estimate cost.
3. Use the same formula to estimate the number of trips you'll need to take to Lowe's, Home Depot, Wally World or wherever.
4. After reviewing the above estimates, forget about it, grab a beer, and play guitar.
Guitars and other stringed instruments: Washburn D10S, Washburn EA52SWCE, Washburn Cumberland J28SDL, Washburn D46S12, D'Aquisto Centura, Rover RM-50B Mando
Amps and Cabs: Behringer AT108, Firefly Tube Amph, Blackheart Little Giant BH5H, Shiner's Custom Cab v.1.0
". . . because without beer, things do not seem to go as well . . ." Brother Epp, Capuchin Monastery, Munjor, Kansas 1902
I have been very busy around our new home. The basement bathroom had a strange order. So I started to tear out old carpeting. To my amazement I found several troubling things.
1. A new toilet was installed on top of a second carpet underneath the top carpet layer. Not a good thing to do. The toilet was not secured properly allowing it to move whenever someone was doing any reading or heavy contemplating.
2. The sink/cabinet was also installed on top of the older carpet, nor secured to the wall.
3. The drain line had a small hole after the trap allowing water to drip down and find it's way to the carpet, which was found damp.
4. The small hole in the drain line allowed the fumes from the sewer to leak back into the bathroom, adding to the smell. Changing the complete draining system took 3 trips to the local hardware store alone.
5. Because of the constant water and humidity under the cabinet, the hot and cold shut off valves and plumbing must be changed out.
After tearing out all the carpeting and padding, I find that there must have been an over flow which allowed water to sit under the 2X4s which make up the wall structure.
I have squirted a 50/50 mixture of clorox and water to try an eliminate the order. I was told to look for a product call either "smell begone" or "urine eliminator". According to the hardware employee, if you apply the product in a larger than normal amount, it will find it's way under the 2X4s and eliminate the odor. I hope he is right.
Over the years I have come to hate plumbing of any kind. Like Kat stated, it always cost more then you think it should, along with more than one trip to the hardware store.
Guitars:
Electric: Washburn HB-30, Squier Tele Custom Deluxe, Jay Turser Strat.
Acoustic: Seagull S6.
AMPs: VOX AD30VT, Peavey Envoy 110.
Modelers: V-AMP 2, Digitech RP-100A.
Pedals: Boss RC-2 Loop Station, Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble, Digitech Bad Monkey, Ibanez DE7 Delay/Echo, DOD VFX40B 7-Band Graphic EQ, Ibanez CS-5 Super Chorus.
Tim, I feel your pain, brother. We had a sewer line crush and had sewage back up into one of the bathrooms last year. That was a fun clean up, with tons of bleach to clean everything out. It's funny (not so much, really) how such small problems seem to expand once you start digging a little.
Guitars:
Fender 2006 MIM Fender Stratocaster HSS in 3TS
Ibanez RG 570 with a bridge Invader
ESP M II Deluxe with a Tune-o-Matic bridge
Eleanor, the magical, mystical Road Worn wonder Tele
Blackstar HT Club 40
Kat, we did the same project here not three weeks ago. Ours started with the daughter "tossing" something in the cabinet under the sink, breaking the old sink trap pipe. Got a new pipe. Connector to sink also rusted out. Took it apart. Sink corroded and chipped. Got a new sink. Faucet connectors shot. New faucet.
I count my lucky stars..... my wife used to work maintenance/repair at a rental apartment complex, where she learned to do plumbing!:
When I get pi$$ed enough, knuckles bleeding, cussing up a storm.....she says "Here, let me take a look at it"..........This is where we go to the last half of step 4 in Shiner's post.
Guitars
Wilburn Versatare, '52 FrankenTele(Fender licensed parts), Fender USA Roadhouse Strat, Fender USA Standard B-bender Telecaster, Agile AL 3000 w/ WCR pickups, Ibanez MIJ V300 Acoustic, Squier Precision Bass,
Amps
Ceriatone Overtone Special, Musicman 212 Sixty-Five, Fender Blues Jr., Peavey Classic 30, Fender Super Reverb, Traynor YCV-40 WR Anniversary w/ matching 1x12 ext. cab, Epiphone SoCal 50w head w/ matching 4x12 cab (Lady Luck speakers), Avatar 2x12 semi-open back cab w/ Celestion speakers
Pedals
Digitech Bad Monkey, Digitech Jamman, DVM's ZYS, Goodrich volume pedal
Yeah we spend more time running around for projects than we do actually accomplishing anything. I feel your pain man.
Guitars/Bass - MIM Fender Classic 50s Strat, MIM Fender Standard Strat, Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Epi '56 Gold Top Les Paul, Martin DSR acoustic, Sigma Martin Auditorium electric/acoustic, Squier Jazz Bass.
Amps/Cabinets/Modelers - Model 2558 50 watt Marshall Silver Anniversary Jubilee combo w/ Celestion Vintage 30s, 4x12 Marshall cabinet w/25 watt Greenback Celestions, Fender Blues Junior w/ a couple of Billm mods, Line 6 POD 2.0, Roland Micro Cube
Pedals/Effects - Cry Baby Classic Wah, Boss TU-2, Boss NS-2, Boss RC-2 Loop Station, Ross Compressor, MXR Micro Amp, Danelectro FAB Echo, Danelectro FAB Chorus, Danelectro Chicken Salad, Marshall Guv'nor Plus, Marshall Echohead, Duhvoodooman's Zonkin' Yellow Screamer, Digitech Digiverb, Digitech Bad Monkey, Dunlop Fuzz Face, Homemade Loop Bypass pedal, Duhvoodooman's Sonic Tonic (Maxon SD-9 clone +), Voodoo Labs Superfuzz
Anything that has to do with plumbing in a 20+ year old house will suck big time.
We need a new shower liner as the moron that owned the house before us must have been the worst "handy" man in the world and cheap to. So we have had this yellow (used to be white) nasty shower insert for over 3 years now and fighting all the mildew and mold that tends to sprout up off it in a matter of hours no matter how much bleach we use, also when you run your hand over it and feel the "tiled" wall underneath I now know why it was covered he must have tried to tile himself and did a horrible job so the easiest thing to do was simply cover it. So after thinking about this little barrel of monkey's for a week or two I did the only thing possible.. Called a professional to do it.
So new shower for me due March 24 with a lifetime warranty
I learned my lesson with our laundry sink..
I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
-- Jimi Hendrix
Musical Equipment
1993 USA Fender Strat Plus
200? Michael Kelly Hybrid
2002 Gretsch G3100 Historical Series
Crate BV60 Combo
Boss ME-20 Multi Effect Pedal
Recording Equipment
Mac G5 2.3 Duo Core
160 & 500 GB Drives
4.5 GB Ram
iControl (M-Audio)
Studiophile AV40 (M-Audio)
TonePort UX2
Logic Studio 8
That's right... support your local economy! Well worth the peace-O-mind to have a job done right (on the first attempt).Originally Posted by Jampy
MURPHY'S LAW (that whatever can go wrong, WILL) applies to almost ANY home improvement project, no matter how seemingly simple. Most MEN understand this. Most wives don't!!! And therein lies the rub. The great thing about hiring somebody to do it is that if something goes wrong, you call them and they come back until they get it right!! : Which of course, gives US less stress and more time to play guitar.
Well I look at it this way.Originally Posted by Rocket
Job is going to cost $3000.00 that includes EVERYTHING and I have it all in writing. The job will be done in one day and I have that in writing to.
No for me to do it myself.
Insert $1200.00
repairs $150.00
Gas spent driving to HD ten times $50.00
Beer (due to stress) $25.00
The satisfaction that I took on a job i should have never even looked at "Priceless"
$3000.00 well spent in my book, I know where to draw the line, plus they offer a product I could NEVER get my hands on, the quality is second to none and there workmanship is top notch.
To end this my Girlfriend is very happy..
I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
-- Jimi Hendrix
Musical Equipment
1993 USA Fender Strat Plus
200? Michael Kelly Hybrid
2002 Gretsch G3100 Historical Series
Crate BV60 Combo
Boss ME-20 Multi Effect Pedal
Recording Equipment
Mac G5 2.3 Duo Core
160 & 500 GB Drives
4.5 GB Ram
iControl (M-Audio)
Studiophile AV40 (M-Audio)
TonePort UX2
Logic Studio 8
Ah yes the beauty of home ownership,I feel your pain.Sumi
I'm sorry Kat, but I did laugh...a little anyway...
I have done several remodels on homes I bought for that purpose...buy 'em, fix 'em, and flip 'em. Plus I've owned several rentals and four homes of my own as well.
You learn after a while....
Now whenever I approach a job like this, I check everything in line that could possibly break, rot, crack, or just plain go wrong. If I don't know what I need exactly, I bring the old parts with me. Now the jobs go pretty routinely.
Oh yeah, another thing...
Never, ever, tempt the gods of home repair by arrogantly saying, "No problem, easy job. I'll have it done in a jiffy". Many a mere mortal has met his end testing the gods this way...
Rocket hits the nail on the head again.Originally Posted by Rocket
We all tend to have our own sweet ways:
- If it ain't broke don't fix it. = No problem 'til it breaks THEN you need to SPEND big time (albeit for a professional... or the usually higher cost of fixing your own mistakes as you go).
- Regular (annual, biannual, whatever) inspections and maintenance. = Hey, it's maintained and if there's a problem it's spotted and fixed. Bit of a no brainer... but only implemented by the VERY few.
Sorry guys, I'm an engineer and a detail freak. I always get an inward smile when my colleagues ask me when I'm going to get a new car and in the same breath are complaining about their 6 month old one. It's also fun to park my very clean, shiny and throbbing-with-power little (19 year old) car beside theirs (for the hell of it). I guess all in all it's just great that everyone's so different - stops us from getting bored. :
Cal
Baby Principle: ..If it stinks, change it...
Guitars: ..Washburn D13S + Washburn R308S..
Man, I'm glad I'm not alone here...
My house was built in 1952, and moved to it's current position in sometime in the 60's. The house has been remodeled twice. Since moving in we've resided the exterior, painted the exterior, and started working on getting the landscaping up to snuff, which included the purchase of a chainsaw (pounds chest and grunts). Ms. Kat has embarked on several "accent wall" adventures (&*^%^$ cable decorating shows).
I'll keep everyone posted on how the rest of the replacement goes... I'm going to the local hardware store for the going out of business sale tomorrow.
Guitars:
Fender 2006 MIM Fender Stratocaster HSS in 3TS
Ibanez RG 570 with a bridge Invader
ESP M II Deluxe with a Tune-o-Matic bridge
Eleanor, the magical, mystical Road Worn wonder Tele
Blackstar HT Club 40
No you are far from aloneOriginally Posted by Katastrophe
I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
-- Jimi Hendrix
Musical Equipment
1993 USA Fender Strat Plus
200? Michael Kelly Hybrid
2002 Gretsch G3100 Historical Series
Crate BV60 Combo
Boss ME-20 Multi Effect Pedal
Recording Equipment
Mac G5 2.3 Duo Core
160 & 500 GB Drives
4.5 GB Ram
iControl (M-Audio)
Studiophile AV40 (M-Audio)
TonePort UX2
Logic Studio 8
I used to work for a plumber...and it plain out sucks....but when the job needs to be done at the Kazztic casa.....I can get in there and get it done and save money that can be spent on bourbon and guitars.
Guitars: 2002 Les Paul Studio Limited Color's Edition | 2004 Greg Bennett Avion Les Paul Copy | S101 Telecaster project | 2004 Washburn D46 Acoustic
Amplification: Epiphone Valve Jr. Head and Cabinet | VOX AD30VT
Effects: Rocktron Delay | BBE Free Fuzz | Big Muff Pi | Boss Flanger | Bad Monkey | Jekyll and Hyde | Cry Baby Wah | Boss EQ | Behrenger TU300 Tuner |