I've posted in other threads that we have laid down some laminate flooring in our dining room.

I've also put some baseboard mouldings to finish it off nicely. Now, I have to figure something out to clean up the look of the sliding door sill/frame/whatchamacallit.

Another project started this weekend was our downstairs "powder room." My wife decided that the sink had to go, and wanted a pedestal type lavatory. She wanted to save the cabinet to sell at a garage sale, but unfortunately, since I'm "new" to home improvement, I got frustrated with it and got out the Estwing persuader.

Once I got the sink and cabinet out in 20 pieces, I noticed there was 4 layers of linoleum on the floor. Since we wanted to redo that floor also, out came the toilet. Fortunately, the bathroom is next to the front door, so not much puddle was made. The funny part though, was (I know you're supposed to turn the toilet upside down) I left it outside on our carport pad and a half hour later when I went to flip it over, it was frozen stuck. Cold weather lately. Then, up came the lino. Quick sweep, then vacuum, done for the day.

The next day (yesterday) down went the new floor. That was the easy part. Putting the toilet back on went okay once I got it removed from the concrete slab outside. I start looking at the plumbing, and think "what did she get me into?" Say you are looking at the old sink, the hot and cold come up from the floor. The drain goes down, through the trap, and out to the LEFT WALL! Not under and BEHIND the sink like you would think.

So, today I figured I would start cutting into the wall and move the drainage plumbing to where it should be. Well, I removed about 5 square feet of drywall and realized that I couldn't move the plumbing safely. I don't want to pay a plumber either, so I put up new drywall, and had to rethink the plumbing thing again. I decided to run the plumbing outside the wall and box it in with an easily removable enclosure.

Then, I decide to "test fit" the new pedestal sink, and find 75% of the mounting hardware to be not there, here, or anywhere.

So, now our bathroom has to wait until next weekend, when I don't have to work, and I have time to get the missing hardware.

Sorry about the length. Any similar/funny home improvement stories from anyone else out there?

 

That stuff is never as easy as you would first think,

 

I hear you. Theres always something that crops up unexpectedly ..and I gather this is an older home...like mine. Always a surprise when you get into plumbing. I do most of my own work too...and trying to move a drain is no easy task. I hope 'outside the wall' is still in the house. - to avoid exterior exposure...
The 'sliding door sill/frame/whatchamacallit'..is that for the floor...coz you could get a piece of 'threshhold' molding/transition piece to fill in.... or is it a molding issue for the frame. - More molding....- Just an idea...

 

On the subject--

I had part of a wall removed in my raised house. Unfortunately, my half-way-do-a-job dad was involved, and the contractor didn't take out the sill plate--dad kept insisting that "I'll take care of it!"

Well, 4 years later, I still have a sillplate sticking 3/4" out of the floor. Any suggestions on how to trim it down without damaging my hardwood floors?

 

Concerning the sink, I would use the steel braided flexable hoses to connect the shut of valves to the sink controls - makes life a whole lot easier. I would also give the toilet a VERY thorough exam to make sure the ice didn't crack it - cold porcelain is very brittle.

Good luck!

 

My wife saw an artical in her "home decorating" mag with plank flooring using plywood.. After tryin in vain to discourage this she "asked" me to do it

I measured the floor, figured out how much plywood I would need. "We" moved all the funiture out of the room. Tore up all the old carpeting, padding, ANOTHER LAYER OF CARPET , another layer of padding (I'm getting really ), a layer of lanolium. Get it all cleaned up loaded into the truck. While heading to the "dump" (burn pile) blow out a rear tire .

Get the truck moving get to the "dump", empty truck, blow the power steering belt , OK no worries I can steer a 77 Highboy without PS, . Get home, cut all the plywood into 12" strips. Thats it for the day, Im pooped.

Get up Sunday morning start laying ~planks~ onto the floor. I get almost half dine and my wife "decides" she dont like it and wants to go back to carpet

 

At that point I would say ok and hand her the tools.

 

Dayum bubba! I'm suprised you ain't writing to the board from behind bars! LOL!

 

Sounds like some of the jobs around our house.
Welcome to the CLUB !!!!!!!!!!

 

sounds like fun....remodeling parents house...looking at new wiring, plumbing, insulation, drywall the whole 9 yards...no big deal for me since i do it for a living anyways..just doesn't leave much time for the truck

 

(Other Bower) Funny story time:
While at my mom's house last week, my husband and my uncle installed a new outlet in the bathroom. They had to run new wiring up the wall and into the attic. While up there, they found a VERY large snakeskin near the attic door, and my mom had heard noise up there recently, so naturally she was a little freaked out.
We tried to tell her the snake was nonpoisonous, and it would leave when it got hungry, but she was nervous about meeting Mr. Snake next time she went upstairs.
Here's the funny thing: she has one of those drop-down attic doors with the folding stairs. She also has a droplight hanging up there, with a cord she keeps coiled on the steps, so when she pulls down the door she can grab the cord and plug it in before going up the stairs.
She pulls down the door, long black cord falls out of attic on head...you probably heard her at your house...

 

Last week I decided to surprise my mom by redoing her Formica counter tops and installing new sink and faucet. I had Saturday to Friday to get it all done with New Years on Thursday. I start out by gutting the sink, disposal, drains, and immediately have to sweat on a couple of shut off valves so I can turn the water back on while I work. I attach a 1/2" oak board to the front of the existing counters and planned on laminating a new layer of Formica over the old one. I bought a "new" environmentally friendly glue and wrestled with a 5 x 12' sheet of Formica that wouldn't stay down for about a half hour before I pulled the whole thing up in disgust and threw it away!! Wednesday morning I got on the horn and found another sheet in town and bought a gallon of the obnoxious glue and everything went well from there on. She never found out about the wasted sheet and I finished Friday night, which was a full week of evenings and the holiday!!! Plus I was $100 bucks lighter for the Formica! Oh well, live and learn.

 

My wife and I decided we wanted to renovate our living room.

So, we have the contractor out to knock down walls, put in new sheet rock, recessed lights, etc. Total cost $6000.

Then we put down hardwood flooring - about 700 square feet. We pick it out and, since she's pregnant, I install it (carpet removal, floor prep, wood cutting, installation, etc.). Takes a week of evenings and the weekend. Total cost $4000.

Then we paint. House looks great.

Four weeks later, Houston floods. I get 4 inches of water in my house. The floor boards swell, warp, and buckle. The sheet rock gets soaked. I spend the next two weeks removing everything I just put in.

Luckily, we had flood insurance that paid for everything.

 

.
Best suggestion would be a belt sander if you got one. - or even an orbital one would do. You could mask down a strip of hardboard/masonite..or the like on either side of the sillplate to protect the floor.. that would leave you 1/4" lip to plane down...

 

My dad acquired some new houses in June of 2003. Since then, both of them have seen new wiring (it was **** and tube) new plumbing, upgraded to 3/4" line, over the 1/2" line that was there, and insulation, as both of the houses were built to be fireplace heated. Now they both have forced air/natural gas heat.

The next project is to re-side the front house with Masonite, wonderful stuff, looks great and goes up easy, also is easy to paint.

The problem is that it is January, and we have to live in the house at the same time. I did reside another home of ours last summer, and that was 2700 square feet, a little under twice the size of this one. That took us about 12 long days. We are supposed to have good weather for about 5 days, and working really hard we might get it done, but its gonna hurt us bad if it gets cold, in Montana, in January.