Home > Uncategorized > A weekend wasted on home repairs

A weekend wasted on home repairs

January 19, 2010
From Notes
New sink, assembled,
ready to drop into
hole in counter.
Click to embiggen. 

I spent a good part of the weekend fixing the fridge and installing a new kitchen sink.  Got a little studying done on Saturday and Sunday but otherwise it was this stuff.

The fridge had really clogged up with ice and wouldn’t, you know, “chill”.  I think the root problem was too much stuff crammed into the freezer compartment, but will check it again in a month.  The defrost heater element is very easy to replace if that turns out to have been the problem.  (My DVOM needs a battery so I couldn’t check its impedance.)

Somewhere in the weekend I augured out the bathtub drain, which chose this weekend to become clogged.  The culprit was hair, which points to MrsDoF, not me. 

The sink was suffering from being 30 years old and not much of a sink to begin with.  Luckily I got MrsDoF to accompany me to the lumber yard to help pick out a new faucet.  The old sink was somewhat difficult to remove because the clips had rusted solid.  The old pipes, both water and drain, were both clogged and corroded.

I assembled everything with a view to easier service 30 years from now.  Threads, including sink mounting clips, treated with silicone plumber’s grease.  Pipe fittings, wrapped with PTFE thread seal tape.  Used grey non-adhesive gasket silicone under the edge of the sink against the counter – it is the same color as the stainless steel.  Real good quality faucet.  Replaced crappy old-style service valves (which had frozen into immobility) with the more current ball-type.  The guy at Menard’s said they still sell the old type – people want them because they’re 30 cents cheaper.  This, I don’t understand at all. 

Next up, water heater.  Then furnace and roof.  And paint.  I’ll replace the water heater, and paint the house, myself.  Will bring in contractors for the other items.

( I’ve been controlling chronic muscle pain with daily exercise but without meds I don’t have a solution for arthritis yet so my hands are killing me right now and it’s likely to cost me some sleep tonight.  Will try soaking them in warm water before going to bed.)

Categories: Uncategorized
  1. January 19, 2010 at 05:06 | #1

    Does ibuprofen help arthritis? It’s an anti-inflammatory (it did a great job on tendonitis I had awhile back). It’s not a cure, but it might provide some relief.

    Anyway, sounds like you had a productive weekend.

  2. January 19, 2010 at 07:18 | #2

    It was – and I somehow forgot to mention auguring out the bathtub drain on Saturday morning.  Not one of my favorite tasks.

    And yet it wasn’t.  Tasks I dislike fall outside my “got something done” category.  I didn’t get WordPress installed on my laptop, didn’t get through another chapter on a PhP/MySQL book that I am studying.  New stuff feels like getting something done.  Maintenance seems like a waste of time.  I hate mowing the lawn.

    The answer on ibuprofen is that it helps me a little, but I can’t take enough of it to help a lot.  Of course this varies with individuals.  NSAIDs help a lot, but there’s the whole “internal bleeding, hospitalization, surgery and being laid up for two months last summer” thing, hence my dilemma.

  3. January 19, 2010 at 16:22 | #3

    I have a great deal of respect (and envy) for those who can work with their hands.  My father never seemed able to do much with his hands and he passed his inability and indifference to his children. 

    Only now as I embark on starting my own family and home ownership do I notice my want in skills, and am looking around for ways to make up for it.

    So, my hat is off to you sir!

  4. January 19, 2010 at 19:27 | #4

    Thanks Jonathon!  All I can suggest is go on YouTube and search for “How to” whatever you want to attempt.  Anything you want from “install a sink” to “wire an outlet” is there.

    Cujo359: Wow, I must have been exhausted while writing my previous comment.  I got my NSAIDs mixed up and the sentence should read: “Acetaminophen helps a little, while ibuprofen and other NSAIDs help a lot…”  I must have only been half-awake.

    Alas, that thing about NSAIDs and last summer is still true.  And the same is true of other arthritis medicines so this problem remains.

  5. January 19, 2010 at 20:08 | #5

    I also have arthritis in my hands, and get serious relief from a home paraffin machine (made for manicures).  I dip my hands in the hot paraffin, then take them out and let the wax cool, then strip it off.  If they really ache I do it a couple of times.

  6. January 19, 2010 at 21:43 | #6

    Ditto Jonathon. Which is why the Internet will be my best friend after I purchase a house for the first time.

  7. Chris Rhetts
    January 21, 2010 at 14:02 | #7

    Most of the defrost problems I ran into on fridges were caused by a bad defrost timer.  Some fridges nowadays don’t have timers – but if your’s does, you should be able to find it and a fairly accessible twist knob on the back of it, which allows you to advance the timer manually.  If your fridge freezes over again, advance the timer to defrost (you will hear a click when it reaches this setting) and let it defrost (you may have to repeat this if the frost is severe).  If the fridge defrosts OK, then replace the timer.

  8. January 21, 2010 at 16:02 | #8

    Thinking is that the (overstuffed) load of questionables in the freezer was the problem.
    Appliance maintenance isn’t on our To-Do Lists.

    Once we unpacked frostbite peas and a few things dated 2005 and 2007, unplugged to let the ice melt overnight… Well, the fridge and freezer compartment are holding temps, and clicking off and on properly through the cycles.

    It looks so big and clean now.  Gone are the days we were feeding teenage sons and all their pals.

  9. January 22, 2010 at 19:15 | #9

    Glad you got all that done.  Just keep the taco fixins fresh.  ;)

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