Fab Friday: February 26

Despite no longer being a home owner, nor home ownership being on the near horizon, I still love to think I am a DIY-er.

I have painted, sanded, stained, plastered, screwed, hammered, wired, dug, planted, demolished, and otherwise made any number of projects my own. But I'm always on the look out for suggestions, success stories, and other drool-worthy projects that others have taken on.

Now that I have been subjugated to the class of renter (and am sans HGTV), I have channeled my DIY impulses into Home & Garden style blogs. I found Young House Love about a year ago, and have faithfully followed them ever since. I like their style, their can-do spirit, and I like that they show the process - flaws & all.

And today? Well, today, I love them even more.

Our lovely little rental house has a myriad of problems, one of which is faulty plumbing.

Although the bathroom was "new" when we moved in, the plumbing was poorly done. EX: Big Daddy had to reinstall the shower fixture so that we actually had access to hot water when we wanted to bathe.

I know. Way to go landlord, way to go.

Along with the new plumbing, we received the world's slowest draining bathtub. Removing the drain stop and flushing the pipes helped a bit, but we resigned ourselves to a painfully slow drain. At least it was draining.

Until yesterday. The drain had slowed to a drip, so I jaunted over to the local market and picked up a bottle of our go-to chemical drain unclogger. I let it glug down the drain & then waited the hour (ok, maybe I waited 2) to flush it through with hot water.

But wait, there's more!

Sadly, my go-to failed me & there was no flushing to be found.

No draining = no flushing.

No draining = no flushing + a bathtub of standing water, now filled with flesh eating chemicals.

(not)Awesome.

We plunged and waited. Plunged and waited. After 2 hours we were left with a damp bathtub ringed with dark hair & pink fuzz.

Sick.

(And no, I'm not sure where the fuzz came from, and I'm not interested in dwelling too long on its origin).

Big Daddy had to shower before heading in at 6:30 this morning, and it took 3 HOURS for the tub to near empty.

So Mama rolled up her sleeves and showed that drain who's Boss around here.

I vaguely remembered that Young House Love had done a post about a clogged drain, and a quick search found me what I was looking for.

I followed Sherry's suggestions, and unscrewed the overflow valve, stuck a damp towel in the opening, and plunged like it was my job. It's a good thing it's not my 9-5, as I was not successful in loosening whatever horrific gunk is embedded in those 60 year old pipes.

So then, I moved to step 2: vinegar, baking soda, & hot water. I poured, it bubbled, and I backed away. I let it work, then plunged again.

No go.

I waited, I plunged.

SUCCESS!

I plunged a bit more, then ran hot water. I swear, it works better than ever now.

So, Sherry, John - THANK YOU. And readers - all 4 of you - please hightail it over to Young House Love & enjoy a little DIY on this Fab Friday.

And now, I must disinfect the bathroom with bleach.