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Handyman Hopeful The joys and pitfalls of ‘do-it-yourself ’ projects

PHOTOS BY RACHAEL SANTILLAN

Sooner or later, the temptation will be too much.

The temptation is a home improvement project, the do-it-yourself variety.

After all, you’ve got all those tools, you’re reasonably intelligent, and the prospect is good that you can save a lot of money by undertaking a home improvement task.

Let me save you the agony.

I’ve accomplished a few minor projects around the house, although I wouldn’t consider myself a handyman by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve repaired a washing machine and dryer, replaced the workings of a toilet a few times, and repaired a lamp.

I’ve had a few disasters, like the time I was re-puttying some window panes and broke six of them. I had to learn how to replace glass very quickly.

Fortunately, I had my trusty Reader’s Digest home repairs book to help me out. What projects I have accomplished, I owe to that series of books. The instructions are simple to read and understand and the chapters are well-illustrated. The books have more than paid for themselves.

I admire men and women who are good at home improvement projects. Almost anyone can paint, but I’ve never had the nerve to try wallpapering. I know I’d never be able to get it on straight.

When I lived in Thomasville, I had a friend who was good at repairs and home improvement projects. There was nothing he couldn’t do, from carpentry to wiring. I mentioned one day how much I wished I could be like him, and he told me that I could, that the secret to do-it-yourself projects was simple.

“Just study carefully the way something is put together,” he said. “Before you start, just sit down and think about it.”

That gave me the courage to undertake my biggest single project.

I hated my kitchen. I didn’t like the floor linoleum. I didn’t like the countertops, and I was tired of looking at the sink, which had several large chips in the porcelain.

I decided to remodel. It was my first and last remodeling effort.

I had the floor professionally done because it looked a little beyond my capabilities.

I decided to tackle replacing the sink and refinishing the countertops.

I took a week of vacation from work, figuring that’s about the amount of time the project would require.

Next, I studied the project and decided to put tile on the countertops and install a stainless steel sink last.

I went to a tile store and picked out some that would match my new flooring and I was ready to start.

The first step was preparing the surface of the countertops, removing the old and leveling the surface for the new.

That’s when problem one arose. The old countertops were floor linoleum and the adhesive used was as hard as granite.
It took three days just to break the linoleum loose and get the surface ready for smoothing.

I was already having second thoughts about the whole project.

I rented a belt sander and went to work. Three days later I was still sanding. Whatever that stuff was, it was like trying to sandpaper concrete. I finally had to resort to a hammer
and chisel.

This do-it-yourself business wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

The tiling process wasn’t all that difficult. I measured carefully and was fairly precise in cutting and fitting the tiles. That was the good news.

I used an adhesive to cement the tiles in place, grouted the grooves and cleaned the tiles, a time-consuming job.

Now it was time for the sink.

That turned out to be the easiest part and the one I screwed up the most.

Plumbing, I discovered, is a lot like playing with Tinker toys. PVC pipe is easy to work with. I know because I used enough of it.

I had forgotten to follow the golden rule and study what you are doing.

There was a down side to all of this.

The one-week project took a bit longer than estimated. It was more like three weeks.

But the countertops looked good, the sink functioned just fine and I carried a great deal of satisfaction for a long time.

I’m so satisfied that I’ve never undertaken a major home improvement project since.

Once is quite enough, thank you. n