Monday, March 15, 2010

Mrs. Plumber

As a renter I have the constant debate of what is worth fixing/replacing when I don’t own the place. I have decided to start doing some of the simple fixes that don’t cost a lot but are worth it if it makes me happy. I mean, just because I don’t own the pace doesn’t mean it isn’t my home.

Today’s challenge was my grungy disgusting bathroom sink knobs. They are that crystal looking acrylic material that is less than desirable. Herein lies the rent vs. own debate. If I owned the place, the whole dang faucet would be replaced but I’m not dropping a hundo on a new faucet. Time to get creative.
First I tried to clean them. My limited plumbing knowledge lead me to believe that I had to crawl under the sink to take them off, but after a quick call to my dad I realized I just had to flip off the top with a screw driver, and unscrew the knob. Duhhh. Cleaning was no match for the years of grossness that was caked on. Believe it or not, my “before” pictures are after cleaning! So the decision was made. Time to replace.

For $12 and 5 minutes of labor, my sink looks (almost) new again. I unscrewed the old knobs and put the new ones on. After screwing them in place and popping on the new cover, the chore was done. It was beyond easy and way rewarding. I only wish I did this a long time ago!