Saturday, August 11, 2007
DIY My Ass
We had a Saturday project on the books today -- regrout one part of our kitchen countertop tiles and see how hard it is, then do the rest. (It's not a big kitchen.) Part of that was to also recaulk the sink area because it really needed it. Really. A lot. We thought we'd have a day long project, let it all dry for 24 hours, cook easy stuff on the BBQ and use nothing we needed to wash. Oy.
Welcome to our new reality show:
Kitchen Klusterfucks!
Starring your hosts, Kurt and Julia!
While we did do research and bought all the right tools, we still had the wrong tools. But I will say it was not quite our fault. The house is 70 years old and the tile is original and therefore the grout is very very thin. So thin that the thin grout saw blade couldn't fit into it. Fack #1. Tried to get a new one, but they are all the same size, crap. So Kurt chipped away at the grout with a spackle knife and it was working (thin enough) but such a pain in the butt. So while he was working away at that, I started on removing the grout around the sink. Which was fine until all the tile started coming off around the sink. Fack #2. I barely touched it. In fact, just pulling the old caulk up loosened it all. So basically the tiles around the edge of the sink were only held on by caulking. The morter had long stopped adhering due to years of water seeping through. Two of the wooden support beams underneath just fell off when I poked them. Nice.
So we look at each other and go "Well?" We don't have a budget for a new kitchen sink or countertops, but we need something. So after a short discussion, we decided to make a quick fix with duct tape. Hooray duct tape! And then start calling people who have done recent sinks/countertops. Ikea is the key word and tomorrow we are going to look at what they have. Then hopefully hire someone in the next few weeks to replace the sink and countertops.
Here is the photographic evidence.
The sink with the tile all gone from the center and the support beams gone.
That's some old sink.
From underneath -- look! Plants! Sheesh.
The very temporary fix which Kurt calls "Post-Modern Catastrophe" or "Nuclear Winter Fix" or a "Ted Kaczynski Special."
Nice, huh? Of course it will leak, but hey, it can't be worse than the tiles that just fell off...
If anyone knows a great kitchen counter top specialist, on the cheap, let us know.
Welcome to our new reality show:
Kitchen Klusterfucks!
Starring your hosts, Kurt and Julia!
While we did do research and bought all the right tools, we still had the wrong tools. But I will say it was not quite our fault. The house is 70 years old and the tile is original and therefore the grout is very very thin. So thin that the thin grout saw blade couldn't fit into it. Fack #1. Tried to get a new one, but they are all the same size, crap. So Kurt chipped away at the grout with a spackle knife and it was working (thin enough) but such a pain in the butt. So while he was working away at that, I started on removing the grout around the sink. Which was fine until all the tile started coming off around the sink. Fack #2. I barely touched it. In fact, just pulling the old caulk up loosened it all. So basically the tiles around the edge of the sink were only held on by caulking. The morter had long stopped adhering due to years of water seeping through. Two of the wooden support beams underneath just fell off when I poked them. Nice.
So we look at each other and go "Well?" We don't have a budget for a new kitchen sink or countertops, but we need something. So after a short discussion, we decided to make a quick fix with duct tape. Hooray duct tape! And then start calling people who have done recent sinks/countertops. Ikea is the key word and tomorrow we are going to look at what they have. Then hopefully hire someone in the next few weeks to replace the sink and countertops.
Here is the photographic evidence.
The sink with the tile all gone from the center and the support beams gone.
That's some old sink.
From underneath -- look! Plants! Sheesh.
The very temporary fix which Kurt calls "Post-Modern Catastrophe" or "Nuclear Winter Fix" or a "Ted Kaczynski Special."
Nice, huh? Of course it will leak, but hey, it can't be worse than the tiles that just fell off...
If anyone knows a great kitchen counter top specialist, on the cheap, let us know.
Permalink posted by Julia @ 8/11/2007 12:34:00 PM 
