Kimmies Do It Yourself

This is a test.....not sure I followed it correctly but we will see what this trackback party thing is all about! Angela and Gayla are writing about it and researching it....so I will test it!

OK, frustrating morning for a Do it yourself plumbing job...we are taking out an old small sink and putting in a utility type. Sounds easy enough. We Bought the "special kit" with all that you need to change out the trap...except for the utility sink has and outy instead of an inny. (male instead of female). Ok just go to the hardware and get an adapter....10 minutes later I locate the bin that says 1 1/2 to 1 1/4, Bingo, grabbed it and back to the shop. Guess what? someone had put the wrong stock in the wrong bin GRRRRRR it was even labeled incorrectly. So lessonn of this monday morning plumbing extravaganza is~~~~~~~~take a tape with you and make sure your self!

Oh, by the way the utility sink that we are putting in sells for about 89.00 at Menards. I found it at a local thrift type shop for $ 15.00. Like new condition. I always check there for just about anything I need to purchase. Last year I was able to get a 12 gallon shop vac for $20.00, a weed eater for $15.00 and a circular saw for $10.00. They are all still working!

My daughter just married this past Saturday. I was able to find all kinds of creativeness I didn't know I had. I thought I would post a few ideas for anyone wanting to save some money.

The Flowers...my daughter wanted to have real flowers for her bouquet and since I had never done anything like that I thought I would just pay the florist....Way wrong answer. One of the least expensive florists in my neighbor hood wanted to charge me $70.00 to put it together and this did not include the $30.00 the flowers cost. Let's just say I Googled for instructions and it took me about an hour to put it together.

The key is the little green zip strips, you put a few flowers together and zip it, trim and then add more. Green floral tape, then ribbon.

I did all of the other flowers in silk and after looking through a few wedding books to see some ideas I just started putting them together by using floral wire and floral tape. I saved a bundle by doing this. I did most of them in the evenings while watching TV or movies.

Friday was a lovely day of toilet overflow at the shop. Of course none of the guys who work for me know anything about plunging a toilet let alone unclogging and/or replacing a toilet. Well I borrowed a "snake" from my mom and dad and attempted to unclog the toilet. Nope wasn't happening. Funny, a clogged toilet is kind of like life sometimes....you can only do so much plunging and it still doesn't help! We can so easily fill our days and minutes until we are ready to just explode. Sometimes our explosions can be as nasty as the toilet overflowing....anywayAfter the snake didn't work, we ended up renting one of the big units for less than $40.00 and Walaa, gross, but unclogged. We went ahead and replaced the aged toilet with one that is called "Toilet Express" made by Briggs. Everything you need but the water. Pretty easy to install. In conclusion after spending $120.00 the toilet flushes fine. (if you do this yourself be sure to have air freshner close by.) Sometimes it can be scary to jump into the unknow, but I figured we saved about $200.00. I have this big phobia about calling in "Professionals", sure, I know there is a time when you must, but it has been by experience that the Professionals charge a "professional price" for something that a person can do on there own if they just rise to the challenge. One of my employees thought it would be worth $50 to pay the plumber to come in and fix a small leak at the kitchen faucet, 30 minutes later and $125 dollars for one fitting and about 15 minutes he said "Professional Price" for something I could of done for 1 trip to the local hardware store and about a .92 fitting. Lesson learned the hard way for the pocket!.If you have the $200.00 to spend, and you have a weak stomach, then by all means, pay the plumber.