Plumbing Fail Number Six

Okay, I'm not actually sure what number this is when it comes to plumbing snafus. I do know that dealing with plumbing issues is one of my least favorite things. This latest adventure was largely self-inflicted, which just makes it all the more painful.

We have hard water. Seriously hard water. The mineral deposits build up on the faucet screens and send water shooting in every direction but where you want it to wash your hands. A vinegar soak solves the problem, but that requires removing the aerator. Unfortunately, the mineral deposits can make that hard, too.

In the past, my handy-dandy vice grips solved the problem. Okay, they scratched the aerator a bit, but these 80s contractor special faucets have much bigger cosmetic issues than a few scratches. And, worst case, replacement aerators are readily available.

This time around the faucet gave before the mineral deposits. Now, instead of just spraying water around the counter and sink, the busted faucet sprays water around the counter and sink and leaks water back down into the cabinet. Not good. Cue new faucet.

In theory, installing a new faucet is a piece of cake. It involves cramped working conditions and some awkward positions, but putting in a new faucet really isn't hard. Removing the old one? Now that is a royal pain in the patootie. Especially when dealing with contractor-grade, no-name fixtures that have been subjected to decades of our insanely hard water.

The biggest fly in the ointment with this project is removing the nuts that hold the faucet and handles in place. (This is a wide-spread, two-handled faucet.) There's not enough room to get a wrench on them and even if you can, applying leverage while lying on your back and reaching over your head is virtually impossible. I was able to get one of the handle nuts and the drain nut loose with my vice grips. The other handle nut & center faucet nut are being considerably more stubborn.

There are actually some specialty tools for just this purpose. The most common is a spring-loaded basin wrench that looks something like this:

If the darn nuts weren't so thin, this would probably work quite well. As it is, it's tricky to apply the required force to keep it in position while you try to rotate the nut. If the nut is stuck in place...good luck.

The Rigid Faucet Tool can be configured to suit a variety of nut sizes & is a bit easier to use. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit the nuts on these Delta-clone faucets. 

This time around, I came across these basin sockets from an Aussie company. They look awesome...but also don't come in a size big enough for these stupid nuts, even if I could get them here.

So...I got some smaller vice grips and some Liquid Wrench. If that doesn't work, I will resort to drilling/cutting the darn thing loose. The existing faucet is slag, and I'm not overly worried about damaging the counter top...it's an 80s cultured marble number that has not aged well. I want to gut the entire bathroom and start over...but in the meantime, we need a functional faucet!

To be continued...

Zinc Prep Table

Sadly, I don’t have before, during, *or* after photos for this one. Blogging it anyway to remind myself what the gotchas were, as I still intend to replace the guest bath counter. I sacrificed the zinc sheet intended for that purpose to expedite this project, though, so I’ll have to order another. I’m sure Roto Metals won’t complain.

Anyway, I now have a bit more experience with working with sheet metal. This was kind of a get-it-done project, so I wasn’t overly concerned with making it look pretty. Serviceable. I was going for serviceable. Here are some of the things I discovered…

It was more malleable than I expected. But maybe that’s because I’d just been working with galvanized steel. That said, for a relatively light-duty application like the guest bath, I’d be inclined to go with 24 gauge. (This was 22 gauge, .027".) I  don’t expect people to be slamming things down on it, and I suspect that it will be easier to get a clean edge and flat face. For this project, I literally pounded the heck out of it with a hammer without regard to dents and imperfections. Nothing like a DIY project that doubles as stress relief!

While I wasn’t overly concerned with making it look pretty, I was concerned about making sure the corners weren’t dangerous. Instead of simply trimming the corners for a single seam, I opted to wrap around each corner. I’m glad I did, as soldering turned out to be the point of failure in this project. I wrapped, pounded, and filed the corners down with the intent of soldering any remaining edges that didn’t quite meet.

Clearly, I need to level up my soldering skills before I tackle the bathroom countertop. I understand the process and theory, but was unable to heat the zinc edges to the melting point of the solder. The zinc sheet functions as a giant heat sink, my soldering iron was underqualified, and I was probably irrationally concerned about heating the underlying plywood to its combustion point. For my second attempt, I used a heat gun to pre-heat the zinc before trying to solder, but it still stubbornly refused to liquify. I’m sure it didn’t help that I was working outside & it was cool and windy. And it’s entirely possible I need to go back and study Practical Soldering 101.

I tried a couple different adhesives. The Gorilla Glue Heavy Duty Construction adhesive worked, the cheaper stuff didn't. I cleaned the zinc with acetone and roughed it up with some coarse sandpaper before gluing it up and clamping it. Glueing up two shelves at the same time and clamping them face to face with some cross blocks worked well. Ideally, it should stay clamped for 24 hours for the adhesive to cure...I was in a hurry and started in on the edges after about 14 hours. 

For the bathroom counter, I think I want to wrap the front edge under far enough that it meets the cabinet base & there are no edges to worry about. A little adhesive and a few screws to secure the underneath flap is probably not a bad idea, though I didn't bother with either for this project. After all the pounding, it stayed in place without assistance.

Overall, working with the sheets was easier than I anticipated. Gloves, of course, were essential, but I managed to fabricate four tops/shelves without injury. 

For the bathroom counter, I think the challenge is going to be bending the edges with more finesse and avoiding unsightly divots in the front edge. Will have to skip the direct hammering, for sure. And figure out how to properly solder the corners...

Locking Up

Tonight's DIY adventure was installing keyed locks on all of the bedroom doors, and a double-keyed deadbolt on the door to the garage.

I opted for Kwikset SmartKey locks. They aren't the cheapest, but they totally deliver on ease-of-use. I actually know how to rekey regular locks. Trust me, the extra $$ are totally worth it if you anticipate needing to rekey the lock. And let's face it, virtually every lock will need to be rekeyed at one point or another.

Are they less secure? Possibly, but  I've watched a locksmith pick a standard deadbolt in just a few minutes so I'm not sure the difference is relevant. There are absolutely more secure options--the question is whether or not that matters for your application.

For my purposes, going with the easily re-keyable option was a no brainer.

The good

Swapping out the existing lever door handles for the keyed knobs was super easy. Under 15 minutes easy, including the bit where I neglected to read and follow the instructions. (I'm way better at writing instructions than actually following them.)

The bad (But thankfully not that bad)

My first attempt at rekeying one of the locks failed. Thankfully, all was not lost. Kwikset has fully anticipated the user failure scenarios and a quick YouTube search revealed a gem entitled 

Recovering a Misprogrammed SmartKey Cylinder. 

Somewhat to my surprise, following said instructions worked on the first attempt. Wow, these documentation folks really seem to know their stuff!

The ugly (Back to rekeying the old-fashioned way?)

Alas, things didn't go quite so smoothly when it came to swapping out the deadbolt lock on the door to the garage. The Kwikset version requires a larger hole than the original contractor-grade unit, and I don't have the requisite hole saw. Even with the right hole saw, sawing said hole is tricky because of  the existing hole. 

I'm thinking that finding a double-keyed lock that is compatible with the existing hole pattern is the better option. Even if it means having to rekey it manually. Did I mention how much I enjoy dealing with all the fiddly bits? Sigh.

Conclusion

The whole point of this blog is that reality often intrudes when you tackle DIY projects. Having to resort to a Plan B (or C, D, E, or F) is not unusual. Successfully completing projects  requires  a mix of creative problem solving, tenacity, elbow grease, and a healthy sense of humor.

Tonight, I accomplished 80% of what I set out to do. Quite easily, in fact. And I've worked out an interim solution for that last bit that, while not ideal, is totally workable for the time being. I'm okay with that. As a wise person I know keeps saying, "Progress over perfection".

Fixing leaky faucets

Last weekend I successfully fixed the leaky toilet in the guest bath. (A straightforward job, except the shut-off valve is stuck. Tom pointed out that I could just shut off the main water supply. Voila! A toilet that doesn't run constantly.)

So today, I decided to tackle the drippy faucets, utilizing the same water-shut-off technique. One of these days we need to replace the shut off valves, but that's a task for another day. (Or, perhaps, for a plumber--I hate working in cramped spaces.)

This was by far the easiest plumbing task I've tackled. The two faucets I fixed are the old style wide-spread two handled faucets with the "crystal" knobs. You pop out the center piece to access the screw that holds the knob on, unscrew it, and lift the handle off. Then, you use the wrench to loosen the nut that holds the cartridge in place.

In theory, you just lift out the cartridge. In practice, I had to use the flat-head screwdriver to pry them loose. When I did the second set, I was able to loosen them a little with the screwdriver, and then grab them with the channel locks and pull them out.

Once I removed the cartridges, I reached in with the needlenose plyers to pull out the seats and springs. I had a moment of panic as I realized that putting the new seats and springs in wasn't nearly as easy as taking the old ones out. That's where the tweezers came into play. I used them to set the spring in place (narrow end up), and then put the seats on top of the springs. It still took a bit of fiddling with my finger to get the seats "seated", but the tweezers helped tremendously.

Then, it was just a matter of putting the new cartridges in place and putting everything back together. There's just one catch: it's not obvious which way to set the cartridges into place. They fit into the slots two ways. If you end up 180 degrees off, you have to turn the knob backwards to turn it on and off. I now understand why the one in our downstairs bath was screwy. I honestly didn't figure out an easy way to tell without putting it back together and turning the knob. At least it's easy to fix--take it back apart, rotate the cartridge 180 degrees, and reassemble.

Oh, and then check for drips. The master faucet was still drippy when I first reassembled it. I just repeated the process, made sure the seats didn't have any crud on them, and put them back together.

No more drips!


Tools required: Phillips screwdriver, flat-head screwdriver, needle nose plyers, tweezers, crescent or channel lock wrench.
Project time: 20 minutes
Difficulty level: Easy
PITA rating: Low

Removing and Cleaning Patio Screen Doors

The spiders love the inside of the screens on our patio doors, but we don't love inviting them in every time we close the screens. After wrangling multiple wolf spiders back outside, I decided it was time to remove and clean the screens.

Our screens have rollers on the top and bottom. There are adjustment screws at each corner to raise or lower the rollers. Easy enough, loosen the screws, slide the putty knife in along the bottom edge to push the rollers up, and pull the bottom edge out of the track. Except there's one important thing:

Loosen the screws just enough that you can remove the screen!

Wanting to make sure the rollers would retract, I over-loosened the screws and they fell out when I removed the screen. Didn't seem like a big deal until I went to re-install them & realized that re-threading the screws was non-trivial. In fact, it requires partially removing the screen and disassembling the frame. Doh! I confess to giving up and taking them to the local screen shop. Turned out to be a wise decision--for $15, Templeton Glass saved me a considerable amount of frustration.

Tools Required: Thin putty knife, Philips screwdriver
Project Time: About an hour
Difficulty Level: Easy-Moderate
PITA Rating: Low-Moderate (as long as you don't over-loosen the screws!)

Horizontal Blinds

There are some DIY projects I've done over and over, but still struggle with every time because I forget the "tricks". Installing blinds is one of those. It doesn't help that it typically involves having to reach up over your head to install the hardware. I hate that.

In theory, this is a pretty simple project: all you have to do is install two or three brackets, pop the top rail into the brackets, and remove any extra slats. Easy-peasy, right?

Well...almost. Provided you remember one very critical step that is *not* in the installation instructions. Before you do anything else, THROW AWAY THE INCLUDED SCREWS!

They're absolute garbage. If you try to use them, you will almost certainly strip at least one screw head while installing the brackets. Usually with a half-inch or so to go. (Yes, even if you pre-drill the holes like you're supposed to.) Save yourself the time and aggravation of struggling to remove the damn thing. When you buy your blinds, spend another buck or two and buy some decent screws. Even the ones in the assorted-sizes kits are vastly superior to the ones that come with the blinds. (In most cases, 8 1-1/4" #6 screws are all you need.)

The rest of the process is pretty straightforward. Removing the extra slats and retying all the knots is fiddly and tedious, but not hard. I generally cut the lift cords as long as possible and just stuff the excess into the bottom rail--much better to have them too long, than too short! When you tie them off, make sure the pull cords are adjusted the way you want. (When I installed our kitchen blind, I thought I'd somehow screwed up and cut the lift cords too short--until I realized the pull knobs were dragging on the counter.)

Tools Required: Cordless drill/driver, Flat-head screwdriver, Needlenose pliers, Scissors, Measuring tape, Pencil
Hardware Required: Replacement screws
Project Time: About an hour
Difficulty Level: Easy-Moderate
PITA Rating: Low-Moderate

Bi-fold Closet Doors

The contractor took down the bi-fold doors in the guest room to lay the new flooring. Almost 2 years ago. I've been camping in the guest room so I don't kick my SO's broken leg while I'm sleeping, and finally got sick enough of staring into the (funky, half-painted) closet to tackle re-hanging the doors.

What none of the instructions or videos I looked at bothered to mention is that you adjust the bottom pins (they're screws) to adjust the top clearance. Screw them too far in, and you'll have a big gap between the door and top moulding. Screw them too far out, and the door won't clear the moulding. It's kind of a Goldilocks thing, you want them to be "just right". Lets just say it took several attempts to find the sweet spot. And you have to remove the door to make adjustments. Since I was doing this by myself, that was a PITA.

The other important thing to note is that the position of the pin in the bottom bracket in relation to the top bracket in the track dictates whether or not the door hangs "plumb". Since you have to loosen the top bracket and slide it over so you can pop in the spring loaded pin on top of the door, and then slide it back into place, it's tricky to get it right. Especially, since the position of the pin in the bottom bracket, and the final position of the top bracket also control the left-right position of the door (and whether or not you have too big a gap between the doors, or not enough room to shut them.)

All said and done, it wasn't that hard to hang the doors, but I had to do it several times to get them positioned right. At least I don't have to stare at the ugly closet any more!

Tools Required: Screwdriver
Project Time: 30-45 minutes
Difficulty Level: Easy
PITA Rating: Moderate