A whole new world... in your bathroom

Like a Black & Decker power drill, I've been screwing around for the past week and haven't blogged. Well I'm back-for the day at least-for a quick update.
This week is all about bathroom remodeling. I don't mean replacing a toilet, or painting the walls or changing the toilet paper. I'm talking all of the above. New vanity, faucet, toilet, cabinet, floor tiles, walls, trim...the works.

The colors we were working with are a tan/brown and a black. I was skeptical about using them in a bathroom but it turned out to look very modern/chic. Since sometimes I love to sleep more than I love to make money I slept in Monday morning and missed installing the tile floor and the sink. But just know it looks fabulous even without  my help
When I finally got my lazy act together-Tuesday-I got to work:
Painting and repainting--I really like painting. Stick me alone in a room, throw some headphones in my ears, jamming to some P!nk, paint brush and roller in my hand and I'm golden. An important thing to remember in painting is you first must "cut" the corners and trim with a paintbrush. Ideally, you want to avoid getting any paint on the ceiling, vanity, cabinets, etc. so putting down that magic blue or green painter's tape is a lifesaver. Now, "cutting" the corners DOES NOT involve scissors of any sort. It's kind of like outlining in a coloring book before you begin to color. It just makes life more easier. Then come along with your roller and fill in.
We also put trim around the base of the walls where they meet the tile floor. Using ceramic tiles and a tile cutter we fit them accordingly. Fun fact for the day: The tile cutter (which looks like a circular table saw) has a tray underneath which needs to be filled with water. Why, you may ask?  Great question, kids. It's so the tile doesn't crack when you're trying to cut it. Beware users: water from the moving saw sprays in the air like a leaky hose so watch your face.
The cabinet went up with ease and it was on to the mirror. Now, I wish I could say that this was a piece of cake but like all humans mistakes were made and the measurements for the mirror and the opening in the drywall were off by half an inch. It was like trying to fit a square in a circle--wasn't going to work. After some colorful language by the bossman and some useless suggestions from the peanut gallery (me), it was decided we would simply have to make the opening larger. Out comes the circular saw in goes the mirror. It sounds much easier said than done, trust me when I tell you this. The smoke from the saw set off the fire alarm, which alerted the security system and police and fire department-because we were at a house where no one was home. All in all, the mirror went in. And that, folks, is the most important thing you need to know.
Job finished. Money made. Fire department alerted. Just another day in the life of one HanDeeChic

Too Much of a Good Thing

Today, Bossman and I were at our neighbor's house (Hey "Aunt D"!) putting up a panel underneath her deck so the rain wouldn't collect in one place.

Like sunlight, rain is supposed to be good for grass growth. Too much rain or too much sun, however, is deadly to the grass. So we had to place the panels to direct excess water into a drain.

It's been said that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Now, that certainly is the case here with Aunt D's grass, but I would like to dedicate this post to things that I, personally, do not think you can have too much of. In no particular order, here's my list of top ten things I can never have too much of:

1. Love

2. Happiness

3. Money

4. Free Samples

5. Rest Stops (On a road trip? You kidding me?)

6. Time

7. Crayons and coloring books (Yea, they have to go together)

8. Common Sense

9. Friends

10. Bug Spray (On hand--not on your body at one time. Damn bugs bite me all the time.)

You can dispute me all until you are blue in the face. 

Step on a Crack...Break Your Mother's Back

Park your mother's car on crack in a garage and make an even bigger crack that needs to be fixed...? Okay, I know this is not part of the childhood rhyme-it doesn't even sound pretty-but that's the case today. Deal with it.

It seems, after over 23 years of parking my mom's car in the garage, the concrete floor finally started to shift and crack. While that doesn't sound so great for the garage it does give me something to do today!

Tools used: Bosehammer?, which works like a jackhammer to break up the concrete that needs to be fixed. Stone chisel and mallet-doesn't work as well as the power hammer but it does work. Concrete and trowel, old school tools.

So I approach this crack, which resembles the San Andreas fault line, with my baby jackhammer and go to work. Although it probably shook 40 percent of my brain cells out of my head, the power chisel did the job. Psh, That crack didn't stand a chance. Boss told me to knock on the floor in order to check which part of the concrete needed to be broken up. The sound's were either hollow-like (if broken) or solid (if-well, solid). After this interesting tidbit of advice Bossman left me to knock on the garage floor alone. Now I can't know for sure, but I bet I looked like the sharpest nail in the toolbox to people who were passing by.

Knock Knock.

Who's there?

No one. You're knocking on a concrete floor, idiot.

After using the chisel and mallet to hammer out the small stuff that was left behind, I swept the debris away and was ready to fill in the huge rift I now created in the garage. It made me think of that saying: "Sometimes things get worse before they get better" (or something like that). Well, in this case the big crevasse now ahead of me, looked much worse than the crack. So, it was time to make it better.

Water, concrete, mix, fill, repeat. After this concrete mix dries, a vinyl concrete will be spread over it for a stronger hold. Viola! Crack is filled. 

In conclusion, children, Step on a crack and break your mother's back. Fix the crack using a chisel, mallet, concrete and trowel...Don't forget to knock. Got it?

Good.

Labor Free Day!

Okay, so the 1st post is ironically on Labor Day when I have been told by the boss--my dad--we will not be working. If you think I'm complaining you are poorly mistaken.
On this wonderful holiday, my awesome boss, although not paying me in cash today, did bestow on me some new tools for my orange toolbox:

1. An awl. Pronounced -something you'd say if you were looking at something really cute or sad "Awww!". So I really enjoy saying it. Hopefully, I'll also enjoy using it. Anyway, an "Awww!", for my purposes, is used for making holes in wood or other things in order to more easily put a hole, screw, nail, etc. into it. I used an Awww! the first time a couple weeks ago when beginning to screw a hole into part of an air conditioner so the water would drain. So now I have my own  Awww! Pictures to follow.
2. My next brand new tool is a wire brush, which I was told not to rub on my hands because it would probably cut them up and hurt pretty bad. The brush, which looks nothing like any hair brush I own, though I'd love to see someone try to run it through their hair, is made up of steel wire bristles. From what I understand, it's used to brush crap away from wires to help the conductivity. I'm thinking maybe the crap on my car battery, too? That tool wasn't as much fun as my Awww!
3. Next, we have the wire stripper. This baby is cool--I like using this. It kind of looks like a pair of little pliers to me. It's used to strip a wire-duh. Place the wire stripper on an electrical wire, clamp down, and pull away toward the end. The rubbery covering of the wire-insulation, for technical purposes-will be stripped away. SHAZAM--wire stripper.
4. The fourth tool I received is appropriately placed here since it's a 4 piece chisel set. I have been informed by bossman dad that these chisels are not to be used on concrete-important to note, since tomorrow I will be chiseling up the concrete in the garage. The chisels for concrete are made up of something stronger, such as stone. My chisels, however, will be used mainly for wood. Not much else to say about these, except they just look like over-sized flathead screwdrivers.
5. The electrical outlet tester is not so much fun to me. I'm NOT too proud to admit that working with electricity makes me a little uneasy, since I haven't worked with it enough to master it. Anyway, this seems to go into the outlet to check if the electricity is grounded, neutral, open, etc. Though I don't really know what any of that means yet. It has a guide on it with lots of rows of three circles that are either yellow, red or not filled in-This kind of reminds me of that game Mastermind, where you have to guess the code of the different color pegs. 
But like I said--to me, electricity is no game. 

6. Finally, we have the most important tool in my toolbox--GLOVES! Although I am probably handier than your average girl and maybe a bit more 'dude-ish' too, I still don't like calluses on my hands-which are still surprisingly soft, thank you very much. I also don't like touching gross things, like nasty centipedes when I'm doing landscaping jobs. (Though I'll never admit that one to my boss-dad, since it's my sister who he considers too girly.) And I certainly don't want to cut my fingers on anything. So, like any good construction/carpentry/landscaping gal, I loves my gloves.

That's all folks. Those are my 6 new tools and Labor Day gifts. Happy Labor Day to all the hardworking and the not so hardworking people out there. Enjoy it. :-)

HanDeeChic