Monday, January 21, 2013

Construction Projects

We have about a dozen ongoing projects at our house at the moment, but the two most pressing ones are finishing our deck and fixing our Master Bathroom toilet. I am "in charge" of both projects and decided at Christmas that both would be complete before my birthday in March.

Project 1: Master Bathroom Toilet needs new Fill Valve

I attacked this one
the weekend after Christmas. Got all the right parts, followed the instructions to the letter, tested the new valve, works great. Went to put on the new handle, old one is on really tight. Used my Plumber's Wrench (yes I have one), still not budging. Tapped the old handle with a rubber mallet one tiny time to get it moving and......
Water everywhere, toilet broken, mass chaos. Good news is, the toilet is fixed, because we bought a new one.
 
Project 2: Finish the Deck
 
This project has stretched over a few months and with the weather getting cold is taking a lot longer than I thought. However, I do have some help with this one:

 
Tom is always available to lend a hand. And, as you can see in the background, with his help I am nearly finished with this project. The lesson is, it always helps to have someone smarter than you helping out!


Wednesday, January 2, 2013