After we did about 4 1/2 loads of dishes, the kitchen was habitable again by Friday evening. We went on a much needed date on Sat. and came home happy and content around 10:00. "I'll just clean out the sink before I go to bed" I thought, WRONG... the sound of water gushing out of the pipes under the sink greeted my tired ears. We apparently had a slow leak from the previous 3 removals of our trap, and the sink had been slowly dripping into my mop bucket, (conveniently located) and now at last, a giant gush of water went through the floor, into the basement below, right on top of our family scrapbooks. Yes they had page protectors , but they don't protect much from overhead water. Well, after feverish cleaning, and cutting out of basement carpeting, we fell exhausted into out beds around 12:30.
Since all this had happened we have decided to go ahead with a tiny and as cheap as possible kitchen counter remodel. DH reasoned that since he was going to have to replace all the under sink plumbing anyway, he might as well replace the sink (50s cool looking, but impossible to get parts for the leaking, broken hardware) and really, why not do the counter as well? We had already been saving for these items, and since we had a sink from a friend, he went full steam ahead. So now the kitchen is about 1/2 done. We have the counter top cut to the right length, most of the plumbing ready, and the sink hole is ready to be drilled. Doesn't sound like much does it? But, My Amazing SuperHubby got home around 3:45 or 4:00 on Monday, and that's when we started. The old counter (ancient Formica) was ripped up, the Formica glued to the wall peeled off, and the 250 Lb cast iron double sink was sloowly dragged out. That was a chore! Today we had to get a new counter top, because the first was a mite too short and we picked up the fittings for the sink, so we were back to work at about 1:30. So really, we haven't been working on the actual project that long.
I am SOO looking forward to cleaning the counter!! It has no seams, so wiping it up should be a breeze. Our counter is slanted toward the sink, but whoever remodeled in the 50's had not realized that and just slapped on Formica. When the counter top hit the sink edge about 1/2 inch lower than it should have been, they just gummed it full of caulk. Sooo every time I tried to clean it, all the gunk would end up in that valley of caulk. The counter was beginning to actually swell from all the years of water dripping into there, so when we took it off we were thankful when the cabinets seemed just fine.
When this project is done, I am hope to reline all the cabinets etc. They are ukky too, but at least no one can see the linoleum tiles attached to the shelves with brass furniture tacks.
God is Good!
PS.. Oh Fooey! I just realized that when DH took the sink to the metal place, he left my good dishtowel stuffed in the drain to keep plaster dust from falling into the plumbing. :-)
See the curve on the sink ? Impossible to find a replacement for the original fittings.. Ours had the same curved back. Lovely, but you can't replace the cracked & pitted faceplate.
