"Harlan Messinger" wrote in message
...
Why it takes me so long to get up the steam to start a home improvement
project:

I got a pedestal sink to replace a vanity sink in a powder room. I need to
put in a backer board. I remove some of the drywall and find two plastic
pipes from above, presumably drain pipes, one straight down the middle
between the water supply pipes and one on the left just inside the stud,
and BOTH smack against the back of the drywall.

So, no backer board, hence I trash the pedestal sink, OR I build a
projection in front of the wall and hang the sink from *that* but then I
have to have the sink's supply lines and drainpipe extended forward; and
by then the sink's too far into the room anyway.

Or I can go big time and have all the plumbing *inside* the wall rerouted.
Yeah, right.

How do all of you ever get anything done?


I think about it for a couple of years. Or eight.

The sink in my bathroom is set into the type of wooden counter popular in
homes from the 1950s. Someone tried recoating the sink sometime in the past,
and it's flaking off. Really ugly. No big deal, right? Just replace the
sink. Wrong. The whole counter is covered with standard
4-point-something-inch tiles. And, what are the tiles called that curve over
the edge of a counter? Whatever they are, they also curve over the edges of
the sink. The only way to remove the sink is to smash those trim tiles.

OK - so, replace the tiles, right? They come in plenty of colors. I should
be able to find one that matches the Pepto Bismol pink of the entire
bathroom. Maybe, but until I smash off those tiles, I have no way of knowing
the actual size of the sink. No, it can't be measured from underneath and I
don't wanna discuss why or I'll start drinking in the morning.

So, maybe if the sink doesn't match any "standard" size, I could have one
made by some custom pottery place in FRIGGIN' ITALY for $8000.00. Or,
replace the whole countertop. But, that's another issue. The tile of the
countertop meet the tiles on the wall, and it's all grouted together. And,
the countertop's not a nice, simple rectangle or square. Its front-to-back
dimension tapers as it heads toward the door, or the door wouldn't close.

I could take out the sink and have it recoated correctly, but I'll think
about it for another year while I go fishing.