Reclaiming the Bathtub, Part 1

The clawfoot tub is a much bigger project. Part of the problem is that it's so heavy I can't move it without lots of help.

 I used a pipe wrench and an adjustable wrench to get most of the pipes apart, but the drain was awful. It's two pieces screwed together. You have to hold one side of the drain in place and twist the other half. I couldn't do it so I rigged up this method:

Slide the pliers into the inside of the drain,

 Then slide a wrench over the pliers to hold it in place.

 Then on the underside of the tub, slide the 2nd wrench into the other half of the drain and then pull the wrenches together. The combined torque was enough to finally get it apart, but it took me an hour. My hands and arms were shaking by the time I was done :/

Then stripper, Comet, steel wool and abrasive pads.

The claw feet are my favorite part but the stripper didn't do the job. My hands are worn out. I am going to sandblast the feet before I paint them.

The Vintage Sink

She's the reason I wanted to buy the property, to be honest. When I walked into that dump, I couldn't think about the location, the lot, the views, or the neighborhood. All I saw was this:

 What was done to her was criminal. The layers of filth, unnecessary putty and paint, the filth:

 The plumbing pipes were wrapped in multiple layers of electrical tape, duct tape, and newspaper. I used my dad's grinder:

 A putty knife to scrape. Comet cleanser. Steel Wool:

I kept scraping some sort of rubbery putty off the surface -- I have no idea what that crap was or why Shorty put it on there.

She's almost there but her smile is missing a few teeth. (She's got chips on the front edge that I'm going to patch with Marine Tex.)

The thing I like best about restoring old things is erasing abuse and replacing it with love. It's not that she'll be perfect -- that's not really the goal.

I can't wait to put her in the cottage in a pretty skirt and shiny new bling!

On Surviving

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me. -Psalm 23

I have blogged about a couple of my friends who have given me support when I needed it desperately. These are the friends that come alongside you when you're broken, to scrape you off the pavement and speak the encouragement you need to hear.

Sometimes you may wonder why God lets these horrible things happen in life. But once you get to the other side of the valley, there are good things waiting for you. There is wisdom and knowledge that you never would have had if you hadn't been stripped of all your defenses. And then it's your turn to help someone coming behind you, who's fallen into the same valley and is just as petrified as you were.

I have a friend in California who called me one night a year ago, in shock. Her husband had attacked her again, and this time there were witnesses. This set off a year-long odyssey into the court system to get custody of her 2 children and move across the country to be near her family. All the while her husband comes around like a wolf, looking for ways to scare her. (And if he's not trying to scare her, he's getting a new girlfriend to make her feel worthless.)

I've been there. She knows that. She also sees where I am now - and that it's possible not only to survive, but to have wonderful things ahead of you.

When she freaks out and sends me a frantic email, I'm there to tell her "I know. It's going to be ok. And if it's not ok, then it's not the end. I'll pray with you. I'm waiting here on the east coast for you and your precious kids. You will find a job. Hold on, don't watch the wolf, keep your eyes fixed upward and just do the next thing."

and

"Forget the furniture and the UHaul -- just get out!" (Like I can't find you a boatload of free furniture once you get here. Priorities, chica!)

And it's when I'm writing to her encouragement, the realization dawns on me: I made it out of the valley. By His grace and not by my own intellect, we survived. I can help someone else now.

I think that's the whole point.

More Etsy art

I know I know.

Sugar Beet Press

It might be slightly less important than the concrete piers or flushing toilets, but still.

It's like having dessert before the vegetables. And there's nobody to stop me! ;)

The Claw Foot Tub Is Never Wrong.

Never.

Sarah Richardson

 It is always perfection.

attic mag

I'm refinishing the tub and sinks, and I was thinking about painting the exterior of the tub something a little more....fun. (tacky?)

Just kidding!

Although I think I am naming the cottage "The Three Little Oysters".

Not kidding.
:)

I've got a DIY bathtub refinishing project, a cabinet build, and I'm still waiting on some information from the building department. Seems like there aren't enough hours in the day. I'm probably going to have to neglect the blog for a while. But at least when I get back here I will have lots of progress to report.

I hope.

Building a Kitchen Cabinet

This post is partly to update my kitchen photos and partly to show what I'm attempting next. Before I try to build monster built in cabinetry at Dawn's house I need to get acquainted with the basics and learn how to use the Shopsmith.

 For posts about the remodeling process you can click on the kitchen tag. For info on paint colors, where I got the hardware, and the process click here.

 Here's the picture I've never shown before. You can see why:

 See that empty hole above the fridge? Don't you think there should be a CABINET there??

I knew it would require a custom cabinet and I didn't have the tools for that before now. This will be the next project, in preparation for Dawn's house. Keepin it real with all the junk, I didn't "stage" the above photo. You probably guessed that. ;)

About Dawn

Dawn lives next door to me. She has a son the same age as my middle kid, and I have had such a good time getting to know her over the past 2 years.

Last year during the great blizzard of '11, we tried to rescue a stray cat that ended up dying in her garage. It was a traumatic bonding experience. Now she's decided to become an emergency foster parent. She has a huge heart for children, the kind of person who has zero enemies.

white built ins

She's got an ex who has never paid any child support. In fact, she told me recently that the court is going to garnish his wages, and he's a little angry because now he can't buy his new girlfriend a big engagement ring.
( )

WallStatements

You know when I discovered she was an awesome person?  The day that my ex husband drove 8 hours to my house, to bring his girlfriend to see the kids and explain that she was going to be their new stepmom. They pulled up, jumped out of the car, gushed all over my kids, and took them out for pizza. (The kids already knew who she was since she started dating Daddy before the divorce. It was a surreal moment for me.)

As they pulled away from the curb, I closed the front door and just stood in my foyer feeling like I was going to vomit all over my shoes.

JPD school of design

My doorbell rang.

It was Dawn, she had been watching the whole scene from her front window.  "She's not better than you."  She opened her arms and I burst into tears and literally cried all over her.

She just knew. I'll never forget that; God rang my doorbell right when I needed it the most.

Standout Cabin Designs

 

Anyway. Dawn is a wonderful person and I love her -- and I'm going to build her something. She wants floor-to-ceiling built ins for her family room. We're going to make it happen.