In article ,
PGG wrote:

Sigh... Also this is the only bathroom in the house. I figure I can take
3-4 days off to do this job and our inlaws live 0.5 miles away

Considering how much you will spend in lost wages, plus what you
will have to do to repay your inlaws over the years, it would
probably cost you just the same to hire it done. At least that
way it would get done, it would be done nicely, and you will
not have any self-inflicted disasters.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

In article , PGG wrote:

Sigh... Also this is the only bathroom in the house. I figure I can take
3-4 days off to do this job and our inlaws live 0.5 miles away


If you expect to be able to do a complete bathroom remodel in three or four
days, you are in WAAAAAAY over your head.

Best advice I can give you is that the handymen and/or plumbers you've had
looking at this are idiots. Get somebody out to look at it who actually knows
what he's doing. The faucet *can* be fixed (or replaced). You might have to
remove the sink to do it - which probably means cutting out some of the tile
above it - but it *can* be done. Remodeling the entire bathroom to fix a
faucet is just insane.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

That is one odd-looking setup. It looks like an old institutional
sink. I would try everything before ripping it out, including
contacting the maker of the faucet, and getting another plumber out to
look.

Ditto the timeframe to repair everything, it will take a couple weeks
of trial and error and trips to the hardware store.

If it turns out to be impossible to repair the faucet I suggest just
removing the sink and getting a omdern one that takes modern fixtures,
then fill in tile around it, whatever looks more or less OK, and let it
go at that. Losing your only bathroom is really painful.

I don't know that this is the case but even though the sink may be
attached to the wall, the vanity may be supporting it. From the photo,
that sink looks heavy. And I think removing the sink first would make
it easier to remove the vanity.

Just some random thoughts while someone else comes by with more...

Obviously planning is key. Having all the stuff you need ahead of time
will cut down the time that the room is unuseable.

You could do some of the demolition yourself, in the evenings, while
keeping the bathroom useable... pulling up the flooring, for example,
and cleaning up the subfloor [if necessary] to get ready for the new
floor.
A note - If you build up the flooring too much the drainpipe your
toilet connects to will be too short.
You could pull out the vanity and brace the sink [if necessary].

I'm a little unclear on the ceramic tile. Are you going to rip it all
out, or do you want to fill in the notch that'll be left after the sink
is out [or do you want to bring the tile down, if necessary, to meet up
with the new sink]? If you're going to rip it all out, do whatever is
quick [without damaging any wiring or water lines].

Put off whatever you can, like the door moulding. You can do that
later. The moulding looks like regular stock stuff, from what I can
tell in the photo.

If you haven't done drywall before then it probably is best left to a
contractor. They're pretty quick, and getting that smooth flat surface
can be a bear for a first-timer.

"John A. Weeks III" wrote in message
...
Considering how much you will spend in lost wages, plus what you
will have to do to repay your inlaws over the years, it would
probably cost you just the same to hire it done. At least that
way it would get done, it would be done nicely, and you will
not have any self-inflicted disasters.

I've got to agree with Weeks on this one. The potential that an unexpected
problem will occur is enough to make this job one better done by someone
more experienced. I like to do my own work on my home, but one of my better
skills is in knowing my own limitations. I will usually have a professional
to do a job once, if I have not done it before myself. Then, I will watch
what the professional does and ask questions when I don't understand
something. After that, I am confident enough to do it myself, if something
similar should happen again.

I completely lost track. I agree with whoever said the faucet was
fixable. At the most you replace the sink/faucet assembly.

This looks just like the sink in my parent's house and we have looked
long and hard for replacement faucets. This style is no longer made,
your only hope for replacement is an antique plumbing fixture restorer.
Try looking for a supplier on the Old House Journal website.

I'd pull the sink off, replace it with a pedestal that hangs on the wall
for a quick return to functionality and take care of the floor and wall
patching as you have time and money. If you're ambitious, strip the wall
and put up cement board before installing the sink. You can tile at your
leisure, it's easy to move the pedestal to fix the floor.

Roger


Doug Miller wrote:
In article , PGG wrote:

Sigh... Also this is the only bathroom in the house. I figure I can take
3-4 days off to do this job and our inlaws live 0.5 miles away



If you expect to be able to do a complete bathroom remodel in three or four
days, you are in WAAAAAAY over your head.

Best advice I can give you is that the handymen and/or plumbers you've had
looking at this are idiots. Get somebody out to look at it who actually knows
what he's doing. The faucet *can* be fixed (or replaced). You might have to
remove the sink to do it - which probably means cutting out some of the tile
above it - but it *can* be done. Remodeling the entire bathroom to fix a
faucet is just insane.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

"I completely lost track. I agree with whoever said the faucet was
fixable. At the most you replace the sink/faucet assembly."

The OP pointed out that he's had a plumber in and the faucet is not
repairable. To change the faucet requires removing this sink from a
tiled wall that it's fastened to and it's unlikely that a replacement
faucet is even available. And that style sink, which mates to the
cabinet, is no longer made either. So, given the circumstances, I
think he's on the right track.

In article ,
John A. Weeks III wrote:

Considering how much you will spend in lost wages, plus what you
will have to do to repay your inlaws over the years, it would
probably cost you just the same to hire it done. At least that
way it would get done, it would be done nicely, and you will
not have any self-inflicted disasters.


I paid someone to redo my bathroom. It took a lot longer than expected
and there are still little niggling concerns. I wish I would have done it
myself. It's hard to find good help. Even people with good recommendations
can get sloppy when they encounter problems they don't want to deal with.


Dimitri

In article .com,
says...

"I completely lost track. I agree with whoever said the faucet was
fixable. At the most you replace the sink/faucet assembly."

The OP pointed out that he's had a plumber in and the faucet is not
repairable. To change the faucet requires removing this sink from a
tiled wall that it's fastened to and it's unlikely that a replacement
faucet is even available. And that style sink, which mates to the
cabinet, is no longer made either. So, given the circumstances, I
think he's on the right track.


This is a classic problem of a cheeep solution earlier leading to problems
later. That sink is an instutituional sink (available by salvage, I'll bet),
force-fitted into the bathroom to begin with. Did the OP have this put in?

Banty

This is a classic problem of a cheeep solution earlier leading to problems
later. That sink is an instutituional sink (available by salvage, I'll bet),
force-fitted into the bathroom to begin with. Did the OP have this put in?


No, the OP has lived in this house for 18 months and is doing his best to
properly correct many half-assed issues not known to him (or his home
inspector) before purchasing this starter home.

In article , pgg says...



This is a classic problem of a cheeep solution earlier leading to problems
later. That sink is an instutituional sink (available by salvage, I'll bet),
force-fitted into the bathroom to begin with. Did the OP have this put in?


No, the OP has lived in this house for 18 months and is doing his best to
properly correct many half-assed issues not known to him (or his home
inspector) before purchasing this starter home.


OK - I didnt' follow the other thread.

Then he's stuck with some kludges. (Not being judgemental, I had to learn some
interesting stuff on my house, too.) He'll have to use one of the make-shift
solutions described in this thread. But eventually he will need to remodel just
to get out from under this problem completely.

Banty

" This is a classic problem of a cheeep solution earlier leading to
problems
later. That sink is an instutituional sink (available by salvage,
I'll bet),
force-fitted into the bathroom to begin with. Did the OP have this
put in? "


Only a moron would think anyone could have installed the sink/cabinet
in that pic recently.