A Weekend with the Marx Family...

The Marx family wanted to replace their broken pedestal sink in the half-bath on the main level of their home with a vanity. We told them we would purchase the vanity for their anniversary present and Claude would help them put it in. They picked out a vanity and purchased it. Then they picked the faucet that would go with it. Once they had all pieces in place, we set up to come on Friday, July 6th and work that day, spend the night, watch Bailey and Michael do the Firecracker 5K on Saturday morning, then finish the bathroom project Saturday afternoon. It was a good plan, a really good plan.

This is the before picture taken Friday afternoon. The sink had a big crack and broken piece in the ceramic. 

First, Claude figured out how to get the sink disconnected and out of the bathroom. Bless his heart.  

The next trick was to get the mirror off the wall. Turns out it was glued in place. Claude managed to get it off the wall with minimal damage and the mirror did not break. Yippee!!. 

Then Claude opened the box with the new vanity and sink in it. Big box. Been standing in the entry way for a while. When he took the Styrofoam protection out, the sink in the box was completely cracked and broken. Oh my goodness. Andie call Lowe's and explained what we found. They said it was not a problem. They actually had one in a box on the sales floor they could exchange for them. Michael loaded the box and was off to Lowe's to make the exchange. 

In the meantime the wall was spackled where the mirror came off and painted. The other walls were painted. The trim was painted.  Andie was so very happy with the colors she chose. 

Saturday morning we all went early to Westport, Kentucky to watch Bailey and Michael run the Firecracker 5K. Bailey took a Cross Country class after school. Hayden did this for two years when he was in 4th and 5th grade. The class works the kids up to running a 5K while giving them instructions about how a runner eats and works out to be ready to run. The end of the class is everyone participating in the Firecracker 5K. Michael ran both years with Hayden. This year he would run with Bailey. 

Here are a few pictures from the Firecracker 5K.

Saturday would be a trial to get everything back together. 

Michael and Claude set the new vanity in place and realized it had a shelf in the bottom with a drawer under the shelf. The height of the shelf was a problem with the pipe that brings the water to the sink and where it curves up. Goodness. Michael called some friends and borrowed a saw so they could cut a bit out of the shelf. They managed to do this and still keep the drawer in tact as well as leave most of the shelf in usable condition. 

Claude had Michael get different hoses. I think the ones they had were too short and they also needed to be out of a different fiber. Michael brought the right hoses back. Claude put them in the sink so he could just set the sink on the top of the vanity and not have to work around all those tiny places. After setting the sink in place, he got back down on the floor to attach them to the wall things. One of the hoses was too short. How could this be? They were both labeled the same. I checked to be sure. One was obviously mislabeled. Claude had Andie call Michael again to tell him the problem and ask him to bring another hose. Michael did this just as the hardware store was closing. Fortunately, when Michael got home, they were able to get the hoses connected.

The toilet went back in place just fine. Thank heavens!

Here is a picture of the new vanity in place. Andie still has to find a new mirror that she likes for the spot. That will happen...eventually.

The family is very happy with their new vanity. They have been washing hands in the kitchen sink while the old one didn't work. Now they have to learn a new habit and use the bathroom sink again. It really looks nice.