DIY non event/waste of a day

[gbb]

Wahhhhh shoulda stayed in bed..
If you want boring with a little tale...excuse the gratuitous use of FFS..
Ive got a rank bad back again...so what's the wife decide she wants ?...new worktops and sink in the kitchen. Oh well, they're not that bad but what the hell.
Down to B&Q, find the worktops she likes...and yes, they're the extra deep, extra HEAVY ones .
Gets them cut instore to all the right lengths (a good service). Finds a sink and taps...just shy of £300 for the lot. Paid, struggled to the car with the trolley, cleared the boot, struggled to get the first lump in (bear in mind my bad back)...only another 6 lumps to get in FFS. Then realise they're damaged, partly where they've cut them, mostly on the back...jagged chips out of the top surface, poor manufacturing.
FFS...back in the shop, wait 40 minutes while they decide to refund me (they dont usually cos they've been cut. Refunded, chucks the sink etc in the car...home.
Home...FFS, i've lost one of the wastes...ring B&Q, yes, you left them on the trolley. 'Them ?'
Yes, you left the taps as well....jesus...i didn't even miss them.
Cycles 12 miles round trip to pick them up.
Home..starts to rip out existing sink..places new one in hole...FFS, it doesnt fit, the holes too big. Obvious really, but in all the messing i hadnt thought about that, i WAS going to cut new holes in new worktop.
Put it all back together, the wastes now leaking and its getting close to closing time. Luckily enough, i found a seal that fitted.
Now the stopcocks got a wee leak. Its old and it should seal itself, it has before.
The pipes took two attempts to get them tight enough not to weep.
The spare bedrooms got a new sink in it till i can find time to do it all again.
I have a spare lump of the existing worktop under the spare bed...i could replace just that section of worktop ...its 90mm too short.
The refitted sink wont sit properly now, the anchors got knackered when removing them, gratuitious use of silicone required.
I've wasted half a day for a non event....and i've got it all to do again.

On the plus side...i got an extra 12 miles cycling in...small compensation, but result !!!!
See...always find the silver lining in a cloud, thats me.

 

[Milo]

I put up some shelves in the cupboard under the stairs this year. Still going.

 

[Archie_tect]

Everything's for a purpose.... keep telling yourself.

 

[Maz]

Home..starts to rip out existing sink..places new one in hole...FFS, it doesnt fit, the holes too big. Obvious really, but in all the messing i hadnt thought about that, i WAS going to cut new holes in new worktop.

Yip, been there, done that. So I feel for you!

 

[postman]

I have found a job goes better if you really want to do it.Otherwise it turns tits up.

 

[biggs682]

doing a job you dont want to do , it aint fun .

like postman says its alway easier doing a job you want to do or like doing

 

[BigonaBianchi]

B&Q quoted my over £10k for my big kitchen design...I finally got it done and fitted to a better spec for just shy of £6k. I renovated a run down place this summer and each time i went to b&Q it was a mistake. At least Wickes and Jewsons know their stuff for the most part and are prepared to help..B&Q seem to be populated by kids who have no/little knowledge or interest in helping customers. Just my expereince.

 

[vernon]

B&Q quoted my over £10k for my big kitchen design...I finally got it done and fitted to a better spec for just shy of £6k. I renovated a run down place this summer and each time i went to b&Q it was a mistake. At least Wickes and Jewsons know their stuff for the most part and are prepared to help..B&Q seem to be populated by kids who have no/little knowledge or interest in helping customers. Just my expereince.

Fitted kitchens are a gold mine. I saw the trade prices for doors and carcases and saw a huge disparity between them and what I paid for my kitchen even factoring in two workmen's wages.

 

[PBancroft]

Anything which scares people by being "difficult" or gives the impression of being hard work is lucrative. People will spend a fortune to get silly stuff done. I prefer the DIY route.

Never put in a new kitchen worktop though. That looks difficult, not to mention bloody hard work.

 

[gbb]

Yep, unexpected jobs, they're the worst. I do need to psyche myself up to a job, then i'm fine, but my heart wasn't in it, i wasn't prepared properly.
TBF BigonaB, i don't think anyone else does a cutting service like B&Q, its brilliant, you can't reproduce those cuts yourself. The problem was with the quality of the worktops, poor bonding. Asking them advice ?, no, you're right, but i don't anyway, i'm usually quite proficient at DIY. Gawld knows what went wrong this time, brain was in shutdown i think.

I overhauled the kitchen myself maybe 10 years ago. It cost circa £3K then, nothing too flash, new units, flooring, plumbing, decorating etc etc. Took me 4 days solid, sometimes 14/16 hours a day. I always said, i got sick to death of every last screw and nail i had to fit. I even wrote on a wall behind a cupboard ...'NEVER AGAIN' . I can see why some people baulk at the idea, its a really big job. Had the worktops replaced twice already, doors were all replaced last year and all the carcasses are still ok.

Worktops aren't too bad PBankroft, its everything else that goes with it. Joints, edges, sinks, cutting round cables or pipes, siliconeing (ooer that doesnt look right), its all in the detail.

Or am i just getting too old for all the hard work I don't have the drive for it like i used to. Christ, listen to me. I'm only 53, but the constant back ache makes me feel 73 sometimes.