This year, for Father’s Day, the idea of what to give Zen Master landed on my lap. He’s been wanting a new vanity sink replaced in the guest bathroom, which, hello, is also my bathroom.
It’s the original vanity sink that came with the house, over 30 years old. There’s a baby fist sized crack in the surface of the porcelain and quite frankly, it didn’t bother me in the least.
Superficial things like that don’t bother me because:
- The faucet works just fine.
- The sink is not leaky.
- In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a priority for me.
That’s just how I roll.
Yeah, uh, no…Zen Master’s having none of that.
When he gets fixated with something that really bothers him, it pesters and festers like a black-head pimple.
Yeah, gross, but you get the picture. Oh, boy, so true.
Having the Right Tools
So. Coincidentally the toilet in my bathroom started to leak and after checking out YouTube, I figured that it was coming from the washers inside the toilet bowl.
Ok, just so you know, I’m a pretty handy person, if I do say so myself. If I can DIY it, I absolutely will. Not just because it’s cost effective (which yes, it is), it’s also because I like to fix things. If I can. Now, you can blame Zen Master 100% for my DIY attitude – because he certainly does the same exact thing. I know how to replace the stuff inside the toilet bowl, done it before.
And I volunteer for Habitat for Humanity every year, so I do know how to install floor tiles.
So my confidence in fixing stuff (within reason) is pretty solid.
So, my master plan was to replace the toilet washers and ahem, the vanity sink all. by. myself.
A surprise for Zen Master for Father’s Day.
Let the Repairs Begin
So, three weekends ago, after multiple stock-ups on How-to on YouTube, after multiple trips to Home Depot, I was ready. Zen Master was right there, my trusty sidekick, ready to jump in to help, but constantly reminding me that if it wasn’t for his hand, he would do it himself. (Note: since his stroke, his right hand lost the strength to grip tightly, his tip of his index finger unable to feel or grab or grip anything.)
So, after hours on the floor, beside that damn toilet, trying to remove ONE screw, I gave up. It was too corroded, no matter what I did. The only option to this was …. call a plumber.
So, two weekends ago, I found one (with his own trusty sidekick) literally next door. They were there to fix my neighbor’s water problem, and I just happen to stumble on them when I came home from work one evening. Usually I google people, check out reviews and comments but not this time. I saw this as a gift from the Universe, a sign that it was trying to help me with my bathroom issue.
So I grabbed it with both hands.
They came in a few days later, one to fix the toilet, the other to replace my vanity sink. I had already purchased the new replacement sink, a simple off-the-shelf marble one from Home Depot, with the original intent to replace it myself. But since I got handy people who said they would replace the sink for me as well, hey, who am I to say no?
I may be handy but I’m not stupid.
Maybe Not a Good Idea After All
Fast forward:
- Vanity sink: when we opened the Home Depot box, the marble sink was cracked in two places.
- Toilet: the plumber determined that my leaky toilet issue was worst than he first thought. He needed additional parts for it.
We started the day with two working bathrooms, and now we had only one at the end of this day.
And here’s the best part.
They said they were coming back in a couple of days to fix everything.
They were A. No. Show. How do you like them apples?
So, what happened?
I fixed it. The sink, that is.
I can’t take total credit for it, though. With lots of tutorials from a really awesome guy at Home Depot, I knew in my head what to do. And with a little bit of help from a neighbor, who lifted the heavy marble sink into its spot for us. All I’ve to do now is figure out how to fix the cracks on the walls because the new sink sits lower than the original one. But that’s another story.
The plumber eventually came and fixed the toilet. Now we’re back to having two fully functioning bathrooms.
Thank goodness. Having one bathroom, quite honestly, sucked.
Happy Father’s day!
Sally in the Zen
