Dye it

We were given a jogging stroller be one of Dan's coworkers. I didn't think I wanted one, but I've really liked it and I can't remember when we last used the other stroller. It has nice big wheels that let me walk on gravel and even navigate rough terrain in our neighborhood parks. It isn't remotely portable, but I don't need a portable stroller as much as I thought I did. However, being of the free nature, it is worn. When we first got it, we needed to repair the brakes and tires. Last week, the handle bar grip came off.

I bought some tennis racket grip tape to replace the foam that came off.  ($4)

I forgot to take a before picture of the whole stroller, but the fabric was very faded.  I thought that I would try dying it.  I've only tried to dye something once, a pair of shoes, and I wasn't very successful.  I've been afraid of it ever since, but there wasn't much to lose on an ugly stroller that we got for free. 

I bought a bottle of RIT in the purple variety. ($3)  The sun shade was blue and the seat a sort of magenta.  I thought I'd have the most luck with using a color between the two than with trying to match each separately.  I don't remember doing as much work when I tried to dye the shoes before.  Maybe that is why they didn't come out right. 

The steps were 1) Wash the fabric. 

2) Fill the washing machine with hot water. 

3) Poor the dye in and agitate a bit to mix.  Agitate on LOW.  I had it on high and without any load, the dye was splashing up through the lid and all over the floor. 

4) Put in the wet fabric. 

5) Agitate for 30 minutes (if you do it in the sink or a bucket, you have to stir for 30 minutes.  This is the part I don't think I did before.)  I'm not sure I made it the whole time.  There isn't a time setting on the washer and it kept wanting to drain and proceed to the next cycle.  I only caught it and reset it once, so it maybe got 20-25 minutes. 

6) Rinse with cold water until clear.  

7) Wash with detergent.

8) Wash the washing machine with bleach immediately after. 

I put the fabric in the sun to dry.  The most effect was on the top, which was also the most faded.  You can still see some fading on the seat, but the overall color is much nicer.  I think it needed a little more time, but I am satisfied with the result.  I may try dying something again.

I think I can count that as fixing two things since they are mutually exclusive.  Too bad it is still a hit to the budget.  I do have quite a few fixes coming up next that shouldn't cost anything, but I'd need 48 days of these to reclaim my budget.  I really need to get creative to raise funds.

I've got it.  I'll use my credit card points on Lowe's cards.

Day 72, Score: -17 (2 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=55, list total 111), Funds: -$236.76

 

The Tiling Project

I am ready to call it complete, after a little over a week working on the tile repair in my shower.  Actually, it started almost two weeks ago. I stepped into my garage to find a tool for this project and emerged 3 hours later from a much cleaner garage. The organization activities are still going on as of today. The surprising thing is that I really didn't find too many more things that need to be fixed, but I do know where to find a lot more of the pieces and tools for projects already on the list. I think I'll count that as a fix as it has certainly made a lot of things easier in my life and work. To that effect then, I'll need to count the plastic shoe boxes I picked up, 10 for $13. I used all of them.

Four days later, I finally start on the actual work in the bathroom. First, I needed to wrap up a few loose ends. I put up the matching shower head.

I put these plastic clamps on the pipes, just as a, hopefully, preventative measure against the pipes banging, as they do occasionally in the other shower.  

As I looked at this, I was bothered by the symmetry and decided to take out some more tiles. It was difficult to imagine how many was best to get a good pattern and symmetry without taking out all the tile. I liked this also so that I had full access to the studs for installing the backer board. 

I packed insulation into the wall. 

I measured and cut the backer board. It ended up being a little short on the edges, but I think it will be OK. 

Before I installed the backer board in the above picture, I used it to arrange the tiles and make a plan for them.

I marker cuts on the back of the tiles and labeled them so that I'd remember where they go.

The tile saw has a bin to hold water for keeping the tile and saw blade cool as you are cutting it.  It makes a pretty big mess.  Everything gets wet and covered in tile mud and tile chips.  Wear gloves, old clothes, and goggles.  The tile saw was courtesy of my dad who reads my blog.  Thanks Dad! 

Here is a piece of tile lined up to be cut. 

I lay out the tile after it is cut, for visual confirmation.   

It took a couple more days for me to get around to the grouting and by then, I had decided that I needed one more piece cut. While I was doing that, I found the extra floor tiles that the previous owner thoughtfully left behind. I cut pieces from one of these to repair the tile under the dishwasher.  The old dishwasher had feet in these holes.

The grout is shiny new compared to the grout around it.  When it is cured, I may try to work on cleaning the grout in the kitchen, but I don't have any doubt that the new grout will match the old grout soon enough. 

I didn't take many pictures of the grouting process because it was really messy and I needed to work quickly before it dried. I found that I don't really like grout work very much because the more I try to make it look neat, the messier it becomes. That stuff gets everywhere.

First, adhere the tile to the backer board. I used an adhesive/grout combo. I wonder if just grout would be less messy.  After that dries in a day or two, then fill the spaces between the tiles, smooth it, and clean it off the tiles and everything else.  After it dried, I decided that I hadn't put enough on and added some more.

I let it dry three days, then I added a grout sealant, placed the trim pieces and lever, and caulked.   I'm getting better at placing an even bead of caulk. 

I use my finger to gently press it in place and smooth it out.  Too much caulk and this gets messy really fast.  Keep a rag handy to wipe excess caulk off your fingers.  Wipe as much off as you can before washing your hands because it gets really sticky then. 

I'm waiting for the caulk and sealant to dry now.  

I also noticed that I could use this little grout scratching tool to clean up some stubborn places in the grout. A few needed more grout added. I repaired this and some places that needed caulk too.

Before. 

After. 

So, that it 4 things fixed (at least).  $13 for the organization.  $65 for the tile and supplies.  (It could have been lower, but there were some extra supplies that I decided to keep for future work.)

Day 72, Score: -19 (4 new fixed, 1 new broken, total fixed=53, list total 110), Funds: -$229.76

Whew.  I'm glad to have that finished.  Now, how in the world do I fix the hole in the ceiling?!

PS, Forgot to list the new broken item.  The toilet in the second bathroom is out of order again.  This time, the flapper seat inside the tank has come loose and needs to be glued down.  The water to that toilet is off and the tank is outside drying out.

Water, Water Everywhere

OK, it isn't that bad, but the kitchen faucet is leaking and degraded to the point of squirting out at the base when you turned it on. Let's just say, that you couldn't wash your hands at that sink while wearing a silk shirt, not that I ever wear silk shirts anymore. I wouldn't be able to get out the door without a tiny jam hand print on it. I am working really hard to lose the mom jeans and ponytail though, but I digress. 

The hard part was removing the old one which had rusted in place. I turned off the water with the local valves that Hubby installed when he put in the old faucet, so we still had "a drop to drink." I don't remember how long it has been since he did that, maybe 6 or 7 years.

I tried to detach the flexible hoses from the faucet, but look what happened as I was blindly turning the wrench.  I twisted the pipe until it broke.





So, I needed to detach at the valve too. I put a bucket under to catch the water in the hoses.  There were nuts under the sink, holding the faucet assembly in place. I was able to use a socket to detach these. A ratcheting socket wrench is really nice to use when you can't see what you are doing and don't have much space. 

There was a sticky tape holding the assembly on the sink too. I used a putty knife to scrape under and pry it off. Yuck! 


After cleaning, I just followed the directions for the new assembly. It is much better designed and uses heavy plastic pieces, with hand-tightening bolts, where the others were rusted and needed tools in places where it is difficult to reach. They recommended some silicone caulk to seal the base. 


Plastic nut instead of metal.


It came with a new soap dispenser too. I was going to wait until the soap in the old dispenser ran out, but I only needed to wait a day. I started to replace it, thinking it would just be a minute to do, but discovered another rusted nut. I wasn't able to remove it on my own and needed to wait until Hubby got home. After the kids went to bed, he was on bottom and I was on top, with matching pipe wrenches, we took apart the soap dispenser.


I really like the detachable spray nozzle.  I guess I should have removed my dishpan from the picture, but that wouldn't have done anything for the ugly Formica back splash and old sink.  Ah well, it will happen someday and at least now we have a working kitchen faucet.  New kitchen faucet kit, $138. 


Also, another toilet flush handle broke. It was the same type as described in a previous post (Hob Nob) and I fixed it the same way. ($6.78)

It is a good thing that we have three bathrooms, because it seems that one is always breaking. It is a bad thing that we have three bathrooms because as soon as you fix one, another one breaks. This isn't foreshadowing to a future post. I already know that the tile in the second shower is about to collapse, maybe as soon as I finish fixing the master bath shower.


I almost forgot, I tightened the toilet seat in the second bathroom and added this adhesive foam which it supposed to keep it from slipping loose again. $2.50  I think I could have done this with some foam and glue or tape from the garage and not spent the $.


Day 68, Score: -19 (3 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=49, list total 107), Funds: -$171.76


I'm not having any luck with raising funds on Craigslist and the projects lately are expensive, but necessary.  The tiling project is taking several days, but isn't as expensive in the $ sense, just a hit to the score.  I think the game part of the Fixit project has lost its edge.  In three months, I've shown that I can fix things faster than they break, but I can't fix one thing every day and still be a full time homemaker.  I may be able to still reclaim my score.  I'm more likely to bring the budget back.  My main accomplishment is feeling like I'm gaining control of my life.  Fixing even a little thing feels so good that the motivation it took to fix the one thing spreads to fixing other things, creating, planning, organizing, simplifying, living.  I can enjoy spending a Saturday evening playing with Play-Doh with my kids instead of feeling tired by the weight of the things not done.  The clutter is clearing.

The Fixit Box

I have a box on my desk with random bits and pieces of things that broke or need attention.  I had about 30 minutes to work on something before the kids' nap time ended yesterday, so I took out the box to see what I could accomplish.  The first thing I did was throw out about 5 things that were no longer useful to fix and a few pieces of things that I already threw out.  I left a couple of pieces in there that go to something, but I'm not sure what.  Some are things that need batteries or picture updates.  Here are the things I worked on.

I love this little turtle.  I think I picked it up at a garage sale somewhere.  His little head and tail wiggle.  The tail came off when someone was playing with him and the piece that attached his tail to the body is lost, though it does still have a loop on it. 

It looks like the head is attached with two loops linked together. 

I used a little nail to make a loop, first driving it in with a hammer and then bending it around with a pair of pliers.  Before closing it off, I slipped the tail on the loop, then bent it the rest of the way.

You can't see in the picture, but he is happily wagging his tail.

The next is one of my favorite Christmas ornaments that lost its hanger.  There is a little hole in the top of the middle wise man's head.  I think there was a nail or a pin there. 

I just used a piece of clear fishing line and super glue to make a loop out of that hole, so it doesn't look like something is coming out of his head.

This is a toy microphone that goes to a toy guitar.  The last thing my son sang on it before it broke was "Hey Good Lookin'," by Hank Williams.  I just used super glue again.

And one more super glue fix, one of my favorite magnets that lost it's magnet.  It has been a while since this broke.  We haven't had a cat in about 3 years.  Maybe I can give this to someone else to appreciate. 

I used two magnets because it is a heavy ornament and I thought it would be more useful with more magnetism.

Unfortunately, I didn't make sure that the two magnets were flush with each other.  One magnet will hold it, but not with the other interfering with the connection.  This one goes back in the fixit box until I figure out something else to do with it or decide to toss it.

 Still, 3 out of 4 in 20 minutes isn't bad.  I have another broken item to add to the list.  The handle grip on the jogging stroller fell off.  I think I have some tennis racket grip tape that I can use (if I can find it).  I was also thinking of trying to dye the faded fabric on the seat.
 
Day 59, Score: -13 (3 new fixed, 1 new broken, total fixed=46, list total 106), Funds: -$69.48

In For A Penny, In For A Pound.

In For A Penny, In For A Pound.

Etymology
Originally with reference to the fact that if one owed a penny, one might as well owe a pound, as the penalties for non-payment were virtually identical in severity.

The story, if you haven't already read it, is that I had a leak dripping through the downstairs ceiling.  I couldn't figure out why.  I called a plumber.  He charged me $185 to knock a bigger hole in my ceiling, knock a hole in the bathroom tile, point out that the hot water valve stem wasn't tightened (but not tighten it), and then recommend that I needed to change it our because it wouldn't last much longer (true).  He gave me an estimate for about $700 to put in a single handle valve (not three handle) and another $100 on top of that to come back and put the trim (handles) on after the tile was complete, which they don't do but he can recommend someone.  That $100 part was the real insult.  Anyway, it led to this idea for a blog, so there is always a silver lining.

I really wanted to fix the shower last month, but the time got away from me.  I really wanted to do it the week before last, but I lost a whole day because of the holiday, which doesn't really feel like a day off to me.  You know, mom duties.  The kids were in summer camp the rest of the week and I did accomplish a lot, like watching chick flicks during lunch and while working on finances, and some other stuff that is in another blog entry. 

On Friday afternoon, I thought that I'd at least start a plan for fixing, though it was not a good time to shut off water and really start anything.  I was just going to remove the handles so that I could have better access to the piping for measurements.  I had a hard time removing the hot water handle and remembered how it can right off after the hot water had been running for a while last time, so I turned on the hot water.  After a while, I turned it off, but it wouldn't turn off, just kept running.

Uh oh. 

I ran down to turn the water off, gathered my tools and went to work.  The cheap, old valve stems had finally failed completely.  2 o'clock on a Friday afternoon looked like a good time to fix the shower after all. 

I needed to take out more tile.  I used a little crow bar and a hammer.






I hoped that would be enough, but the instructions said a minimum of 6 inches between the valve and the tub spout. 






I took the old tub spout off using a pipe wrench.







It is only about 5 inches.  I need to take out more tiles and pipe.








That should be enough.







Around three o'clock, I discovered that the $85 kit I bought, though I knew it was a low end, was just awful. The instructions were bad. The tub spout was plastic!

What do I do?  I only have two hours of the day left until the weekend.  I "press on", to quote Phileas Fogg from Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 days".


I cut some pipe.  I think the pipe cutter is a really nifty tool.  It is a little clamp with a blade in it.  Clamp it to the pipe, then turn the clamp around the pipe until it starts to get loose, tighten it, turn it, tighten it, turn it...until it cuts through.





I cut my hand on the jagged tile pieces.  I started out wearing gloves, now where did they go?

While nursing my hand, I decided that I really don't want to install this kit.  I already went through problems of having another cheap kit wear out.

I returned it.  I bought a new one for $172.  Much better, but the bronzed look doesn't match the tub drain pieces, which are a shiny chrome look.  I wonder if I can replace those.


Four o'clock, removed more tile and read instructions.  Worked on a plan for installing a board for mounting the valve.  I started looking around and thinking, "I'm already tearing apart my bathroom, maybe I should finally replace this ugly tile." 

Then, it was five o'clock and hubby was home with the kids and the water is still off.  We went out to get hamburgers, then made a stop at Lowe's to get caps for the pipes.  This would give me a couple of days to figure out how much I wanted to commit to this project.

By Sunday night, I decided that it wasn't in the time or money budget to tile the whole bathroom, especially not the time budget, though I do have some new ideas for what I want to do, when I can.  On Monday morning, Hubby took my daughter to daycare and my son stayed home to "help".

Water off.  Cut board and braced it to the studs.  Notice the caps I put on the pipes, which now need to come off. 

They are glued on, so I need to cut the pipes.  My helper is taking pictures.

Measure the pipes.  Cut more pipes.  Clean the pipes with steel wool.

I'm using the old tub spout elbow and pipe since it is already the correct length and there is nothing wrong with the pipe.  I just cut it from the old assembly, cleaned the end and put an adapter on.  On some of the older pipes, I needed to file them down a little bit to fit the new pieces and even then I used a hammer to force them on.

About this time, I noticed the stool I was sitting on was wobbly.  I found that the screws were loose.  I feel like that sometimes.  I which I had such a handy tool for restoring my mental state.  Anyway, that is another fix to add to my count.





Check the assembly one more time before gluing. 

Did I forget to mention that I'm not soldering the pipes?  Well, the wall behind the tile is the outside of my house, on the second story.  Frankly, and maybe Shirley too, I'm afraid of burning a hole through the siding.  Hubby has used JB Weld on a couple of plumbing projects and says it is tops.  So that is what I'm using.

Check the spacing too.  The line on the sticker needs to be within 1/2 inch of the finished wall.  It is about 1/3 of an inch.

I had to work fast to get everything in place before the glue dried.  Sometime in the middle of this, I had a sick feeling in my stomach that I couldn't undo mistakes this way as I could if I were soldering (sweating) the pipes, and any mistakes would be expensive.

Four hours later, no mistakes, and I did have a few ideas in case there was one.  Now for the tile...

I counted the first kit I bought a while back against my budget, so I'm returning the funds.  I also bought piping, lumber, and hardware...$20.40

Day 58, Score: -15 (2 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=43, list total 101), Funds: -$74.48

See what I mean about it not being in the budget.  I am tempted to excuse myself on this item because really I'm saving $600 by doing it myself, but it isn't so big that I can't get back on track.  Maybe Craigslist can help.