Unplanned Winter Projects

 

You may recall that my Fall & Winter To-Do List didn’t have any projects listed on it, however life has a way of throwing in a few of those whether you like it or not.  Fortunately for me I don’t mind a few projects here and there.

 

The first project I did was to repaint the toilet seat in the upstairs bathroom.  I had apparently scrubbed the finish off so it was looking rather ratty.  I masked it off with a couple trash bags I had cut open to make my own paint drop cloths and then sprayed it with a layer of Rustoleum gloss enamel paint.  After forty eight hours the paint was cured and the seat was ready for use.

 

Still dealing with toilets I ended up re-plumbing the same toilet after the fill valve gave it up and flooded the bathroom floor, into the hallway and my bedroom as well.  I mopped up all the water from the floor and soaked up the carpet with towels and then set box fans up to dry everything thoroughly.  The toilet received a brand new fill valve and we were back in business.

 

After the ceiling dried

First layer

Second layer with a little more "sculpting" to match ceiling texture

Fresh paint

Downstairs in the living room the ceiling received some water damage where the water had pooled.  I was able to get the water out of the ceiling and reattach some sagging drywall tape and mud.  Once everything was all dried out I added some spackle I had out in the garage to fix the texture on the area where I had drained the water as well as the area that had wrinkled.  A little touch up paint and it looked good as new.

 

I am very happy with the final results

Out with the old

When I bought my house in 1995 I discovered that the thermostat that operated the downstairs heating was calibrated ten degrees off.  If it was set at 65° it was actually 75°, if it was set at 55° then it was actually 65°.  It was weird but it worked so I went with it.  For thirty years!  This year, however it decided to stop working altogether at the same time I was dealing with the toilet leak.  On the bright side, at least it only required one trip to the hardware store.

 

In with the new!

While at Home Depot for toilet parts I also picked up a new thermostat which, in all honesty, I had planned to do this task two years earlier when I replaced the thermostats in both bathrooms.  The reason I didn’t was because I was waffling between a straight replacement or a upgrading to a programmable thermostat.  Pushed now to replace it I decided to just go with a straight replacement.  I really don’t need anything fancy.

Before

After

Before

After

My next project was to repair the chip I made in my stovetop when a can of pan spray slipped out of my hand and landed on the edge of the stove (grrrr).  I also had a couple tinier ones on the other from who knows what so I masked off the edges of the stove and touched it up with some of my Rustoleum gloss enamel.  Done!

 

Before

Good prep work = success!

Last, but far from least, was to mask off the front of my dishwasher and repaint the yellowed plastic part along the top.  Once it had dried and cured it now looks like a brand new dishwasher which it practically is since I don’t use it very often.  Hopefully it will continue to work and last me another ten years.  I love how it turned out.

I used a heat lamp to help with the curing process

 

After

Looks so good!

I ended up returning the can of texture as I did not need it
Final cost for plumbing, electrical & drywall repairs - $35! 😮

The beauty of doing your own DIY repairs is the time and money one saves over having to hire an electrician, handyman or a plumber.  Especially as both the toilet and thermostat issues cropped up on a weekend.  I am super grateful to have the knowledge and ability to fix things on my own.  I am also super grateful to have a friend that is a plumber and a friend that is an electrician should I ever need backup.

This and a couple of trash bags I reused as drop cloths plus
the AARP bulletin is all I needed for my no cost kitchen spruce up projects

Being able to spruce up a slightly worn toilet seat and my older appliances to keep them well maintained and looking new is a real bonus.  I am also nutty enough to think this kind of stuff is fun.