Husband fixing things in the house - is it worth it

Parent Cafe
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<p>I used chisels and flat screw drivers to cut my rusty faucet washers. It took more than 4 hours to get the old faucet out. Not enough room to turn the tools and to put my body under the tiny space under the sink was the major problem. I did not wear goggles because I was impatient.</p>

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<p>interesteddad – This wasn’t a matter of right tools, wrong tools. There was about a quarter inch between the u-pipe and the faucet attachment. Even if you could get some kind of wrench up there, there was no way to turn it. He tried everything but standing on his head. After we removed it, we found that the nuts and bolts were welded so even if he could have reached it, it wouldn’t have done any good. I’ve done a fair bit of faucet replacement (and other minor handywork) and I’ve never seen anything like it…not even in our old farmhouse where <em>nothing</em> was standard. </p>

<p>Oldfort – [DEWALT</a> DW304PK : 10.0 Amp Reciprocating Saw Kit](<a href=“http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=8339]DEWALT”>http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=8339) See if one of your friends or relations has one you can borrow. Or call the equipment rental place.</p>

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<p>Just food for thought, lol. I have often accused my husband of “faking” incompetence, so that I won’t let him do anything, and I’ll do it myself, or get someone in to do it!!! He laughs it off, but…I wonder!!! lol He’s not above doing something like that! He’s come home to seeing me on a 10’ ladder changing recessed lightbulbs…what does he say?? Oh be careful, you don’t wanna fall! haha…I usually screech out some inhuman sound, cause I am not cool with heights!!</p>

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<p>I always like to spend at least 10 hours on a project before I convince myself to bring in a professional. :smiley: Sometimes it costs a bit more (to fix the damage) but the lessons unlearned are priceless!</p>

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<p>I don’t know about lessons learned/unlearned! My husband and I see the world so very differently, so I don’t know what might be being learned. I approach problems pretty analytically, you know, change one variable at a time; he is, shall we say, more holistic in his approach…plus my understanding of physics is very different from his.</p>

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<p>I was lucky on the one I did. After futzing with the basin wrench for a bit, I tried just using my hand. It felt like the nut would never budge, but it started to slowly release from the accumulated plumbers putty and I was able to loosen it by hand on both sides of the faucet. Once that happened, it was clear sailing. Getting the old one out is always the crux of the climb on a plumbing repair!</p>

<p>I breathed a sigh of relief because I had already been starting to ponder how I would go about cutting the faucet assembly out if I had to.</p>

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<p>Wow, I need a nap, just realized DNA does not correspond with Dont Know About. Sheesh!!!</p>

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<p>EEE gads…Men and their need to “fiddle-fart”…at least that is what I call it when my DH works around the house. When we moved to our new home-I put my foot down and said this time we use our checks to pay someone to install the new faucet-it will be cheaper in the long run! Besides, isn’t that what checks are for???</p>

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<p>chainsaw…lol</p>

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<p>With the Home Depot run, we have two additional tools now.</p>

<p>Status - one sink basin is out(we have two), the faucet is out, one handle is out, the other one is stuck. H is going to let it sit over night(not sure what it would do), and will continue to battle the other handle tomorrow. D2 has moved all of her toiletries into my bathroom for the long battle ahead. </p>

<p>I went up to the battle ground this evening and stared at the sink basin. D2 said, “You are not going to fix it by staring at it.”</p>

<p>This afternoon I ordered a new gas dryer online, when it got to check out where it asked “Appliance install and dispose existing appliance?” I checked yes without even asking H.</p>

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<p>This is a basin wrench.</p>

<p>[Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://www.egemakine.com/images/ridgid/Basin_Wrench_3C.jpg[/url]”>http://www.egemakine.com/images/ridgid/Basin_Wrench_3C.jpg](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.egemakine.com/images/ridgid/Basin_Wrench_3C.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.egemakine.com/161-Basin-Wrenches.html&usg=__MQUl1vpupZK8kT28ZF_nmEObdmc=&h=613&w=1802&sz=69&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=xtND0_iQUokuGM:&tbnh=51&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbasin%2Bwrench%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.egemakine.com/images/ridgid/Basin_Wrench_3C.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.egemakine.com/161-Basin-Wrenches.html&usg=__MQUl1vpupZK8kT28ZF_nmEObdmc=&h=613&w=1802&sz=69&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=xtND0_iQUokuGM:&tbnh=51&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbasin%2Bwrench%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1)</a></p>

<p>This is a handle puller</p>

<p><a href=“http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31RA0S7HHCL._SL500_AA280_.jpg[/url]”>http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31RA0S7HHCL._SL500_AA280_.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This is a sledgehammer
<a href=“http://www.warwicksu.com/asset/event/4004/sledgehammer.jpg[/url]”>Error;

<p>:rolleyes:</p>

<p>Good Luck.</p>

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<p>oldfort–so you got to buy a new gas dryer. My h just called a repairman for ours last week. At $250 it is supposedly fixed. W/ not too much more money we could have had a new one. But h thinks it’s still new (15 yrs old) and I think we need a new one. </p>

<p>At least he did not try to repair it. We have enough “not so great” repairs he has done around here. Cheaper-yes, professional-no.</p>

<p>Well…not replacing the dryer is green. We do not need old fixable dryers in our land fills I guess!!</p>

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<p>My dh has made some wonderfully useful items for me…but he thinks molding is something you find on old bread and as long as something is functional who cares what it looks like. I like finished edges and the occasional lick of paint so that’s my part in all this. So together we are a great team!</p>

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<p>MEN, they cannot multitask. I have to make appointments with my husband to do a project. There is nothing spontaneous about doing the project. Very pragmatic, planned out and little baby steps all the way. It takes weeks. When we remodelled our kitchen, a very small area needed paint. I took a week off during spring break to help, I should have stayed at work. It literally took 3 weeks to do.</p>

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<p>Oldfort:</p>

<p>I’m sorry for what you’re going through, but I can’t help laughing as I type. Now I feel so lucky that H does not think he is particularly handy and is quite happy calling in the repairman for whatever needs fixing. I used to think that if we were handier, we could save tons of money, but I guess not. :)</p>