My new kitchen sink! So excited, yet so deflated. The mess the grinding of granite created is absurd. I will be cleaning for days, and you all know just how much time I have on my hands these days.
It took about 2 hours to grind out the original sink hole, and there is a fine powder of granite dust all over the house now. I did close all the doors I could, but the four main rooms are just a mess.
This dust takes about three cleanings to remove all of it. Look at that sink water and that was just from wiping down a few cupboards. It sticks to every surface even horizontal ones. Ugh!
After reading last Thursdays comments, I have decided to turn down all work until the end of the month. That way I can get caught up. I just really need to be caught up to feel like I can tackle life right now.
I am hand watering 4 different places right now and taking care of the neighbor's cats. I did not mean to add this much extra to my watering cycle, but they all piled up on top of each other. The neighbor will be home on Friday, and my sister's place will have someone there on Wednesday, so I will be down to my place and Lil sis's man's place which I can water every other day. I have to water most of my stuff every day. This no watering except by hand restriction is getting old really fast.
Also practicing this choir piece for an hour every day. The house is just falling down around me and that really stresses me out.
An example of the dust situation. The first pass with a wet cloth even when you turn it over and over leaves streaks of the dust. It takes three cleanings to get it up.
As long as I am cleaning, I decided to polish the copper, as I wiped off the fine dust. I am only 1/2 done and I spent at least three hours yesterday polishing. But why put it back up there dirty? This kind of project is top down. What a mess!!!!!
You can really see just how dirty the copper is, as I have not hit this section yet. I actually made a list breaking down all the work just in two rooms and then I got discouraged. It is just so much. But I am going to use the how do you eat an elephant approach.
So every 15 minutes I either sew or I clean. Back and forth. Let's see if this works.
Yes any kind of home project is a mess!!! Was it worth it in the end though? Curious why you chose now to do all that!!!
ReplyDeleteOur old sink was a white composite that was 25 years old and it was so stained you could not clean it. Very gross. Joel and his mom bought me a new sink for Christmas and it has been sitting in the garage haunting me.
DeleteBaby steps. Yes do things in increments - that helps it be less stressful. Just remember - you do not have to rush through it - why should you? It isn't eating anything, or costing anything - just take your time. I understand it drives you nuts - but it will eventually get done. It will be worth it all in the end.
ReplyDeleteYes that is how I am approaching. Sewing first.
DeleteSeems like once you start cleaning, you can't stop finding more to clean!! My place is small and you would think it would be easier to clean, but I end up moving the same thins over and over.
ReplyDeleteI know, I swear the dust just moves...
DeleteHave I told you lately that you are Superwoman?!?! I know how hard it is to stop once you get started! Hugs, my dear friend!
ReplyDeleteBoy I needed a hug yesterday!
DeleteCONGRATS on no-more-work-accepted!!!! I soooo hear you on the construction cleaning. We just finished a 'refresh'....flooring/paint/doors/trim/tile in 1 shower. They screwed up something in the shower and we got to have a hole cut in our dining room. Now mind you, I had already done the cleaning and resetting of the dining room because that entire area was completed. Well, imagine my anger when I walked in there to discover a coating of super fine dust on everything in the dining room.....and I had to empty the console of all the dishes because it is on that wall. When I saw him the next day I told him there are no words to express how F-ing angry I am. We are certainly at their mercy aren't we? And I made an exaggerated effort of carrying every dish into the kitchen for washing so that he had to be reminded about 25 times.
ReplyDeleteHang in there. It really does end!
Okay I am sorry but I am laughing because I can just see you defiantly walking back and forth. SUch a MESS!!!!!
DeleteI wish I had known there would be grinding of granite and dust. I would have told you this story.
ReplyDeleteMy stove burned out several times and replacing the elements in the oven and eyes on the top was going to cost almost as much as a new stove. The bad part was that this was a drop-in stove top with oven attached. The only unit to replace it with was about three times the cost of a free-standing stove.
I asked a friend if he could cut the counter top and back splash on both sides of this stove and down to the floor. He said he could. I asked if he could hang plastic in front of the cabinets and down to the floor. He assured me there would not be much dust.
Well, I am not stupid or gullible. So, I got a teen son of a friend to hang sheets of plastic, completely enclosing top cabinets, counters and bottom cabinets. He used tape to attach to top of cabinets. Each sheet was lapped. I could step behind them and work.
There were three doors in the kitchen that each were covered, too, even though I could close the doors. I even covered the two window, one a picture window and the other over the sink. I covered all the cabinets which meant the refrigerator was covered, too.
My friend ridiculed me when he saw what was done. I told him I did not care. Well, as he worked, he had to open a cabinet door on the lower cabinets. I saw lots of dust flying so had him stop. The best I could do with an impatient man excoriating me was to stuff some of the plastic into the cabinet.
When the stove was finally installed, I only had to pull the plastic down. It was coated with fine dust all the way up to the top of the cabinets down to the floor. The piece that had to be stuffed into the open cabinet had about a cup of sawdust, particles and dust. He was amazed that the saw made so much dust!
Since I had this done when the kid was free, it was done on the weekend. My friend came on a Thursday night, I believe. So, for four or five days, My kitchen looked like a ghost moving every time I came into the kitchen. I gladly fought my way behind plastic to do what needed to be done to use my kitchen. The cleaning I had to do was negligible.
One word: plastic
If I had only known...
DeleteSo glad you have learned that "No" is a complete sentence.
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked at the dress on your note pad I enlarged it and am almost positive I had that exact dress pattern when I was young.
I know I did too! It had little shorts underneath.
DeleteHi Kim, I was very glad to hear that you stopped new work. Very good habit to practice. With everything going on, I applaud you turning the work faucet on and off so that you can fit everything else in. I am moving into my new condo/townhouse this week, I hope. It needs updating. I have been so busy the past five months, once I move in, I am thinking I might need to take some time off before I start the renovations (paint, floors, counter tops…). I am wondering if my frantic busy-ness is my way to postpone grief. Probably. We shall see. At this point, my current view is that I am floating on the ocean in a storm and the best I can do is ride it out. However, I am going to attempt to slow down;). As I type this, my dog is snoring beside me, she is a hoot at age 14 1/2 ! Healing sparkles headed to you and Sam! Hilogene in Az.
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes this grief thing is never going to get better. Some days are just very hard and I think the busy is to keep it at bay. Excited for your new place.
DeleteProud of you... after seeing and hearing about your mess. I am so glad our contractor insisted we get our sink and he take it to the place he was getting our counter top from and we didn't have that mess on top of the saw dust from sanding ALL the wood floors and staining and resealing them. WHICH did not hold up on the soft white maple. SIGH.
ReplyDeleteReally, I am sorry all that work and it didn't hold up? Rats!
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