Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Making the faucet fit

I was so excited when I got my faucet in the mail from CSN.  I got THIS one.
It called for a 4" holes and that is what mine were, so I thought it'd be fine.

But what I had was (3) 1" holes... and what I mainly needed was just a single 1.5" hole in the middle.  With the water supply lines and the screw to secure it, it just wouldn't come close to fitting.  I could dress all the kids (30 minutes), load them into the car (10 minutes), drive to Home Depot (20 minute), unload the kids (5 minutes), buy a 1.5" carbide bit (15 minutes + $20), drive home (20 minutes), and unload the kids (10 minutes).  That's almost 2 HOURS!!! (and $20 plus gas) So I just decided to use what I had.
I do not own a hack saw... shameful,  I know. 

So I took my wood saw and SLOWLY sawed 1/8" deep into the porcelan.  This took about 30 minutes but it seriously felt like forever, especially when 30 minutes = 1/8" progress!  
That's ONE HOUR and  $0.  A much better choice!

Then I could start chipping away with my wood chisel, I know, fully equipped with all the RIGHT tools (**rolls eyes**) This took another 30 minutes and was quite messy with porcelain chips flying EVERYWHERE. I went about half way down, then turned it upside-down and started chipping from the bottom.

I sanded the edges and there you have it... ugly as can be!

But the faucet now FITS... and you can't see any ugliness at all.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this faucet, so old fashioned looking. All the old fashioned looking ones I would find had  cold and hot levers. With kids, I am just afraid they would only turn on the hot and scald their lil' hands.  So, I can't wait to get it all hooked up!

And I'm waiting for my February remodeling budget allotment, which is why the walls are still lacking drywall and beadboard. 

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