Broke It, Bent It, Tried To Fix It: Home Improvements

[walnutqueen]

I'd settle for anyone with workable arms and a passing familiarity with basic home improvement.  As long as I don't have to fuck 'em or suck 'em.  So now, I am relegated to proselytizers, which might be worse!!!  We shall see, since a lovely lady and her impeccably dressed teeny grandson knocked at my hovel door and said "You need help with your yard - let me help you".   First time in 30 years anyone has offered.  I am humbled, suspicious, and tentatively grateful ... I told her I was a pagan and she was nonplussed.  Said she saw my pitiful daily efforts and felt bad for me ... This might turn into an epic story - or not.

7 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Better not scroll back in this topic then. 

Don't tempt me (or tease me); I'm actively seeking an heir to Casa de Delorable, and can easily be swayed by someone handy who loves cats & critters.  :-D

Edited April 16, 2017 by walnutqueen

[Maharincess]

I'm telling you, if I was single and about 20 years younger, I'd be stalking our @JTMacc99.  

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

I was also told today that fixing my own lawnmower is hot.

That feeling goes away once you are married to her. ;-)

[Maharincess]

@stewedsquash, L and I have our 28th (living together) anniversary on May 15th and I feel the same way. When he was removing the kitchen cabinets this weekend to prep for our kitchen work, I was sweating and it was cold outside!   Once that tool belt goes on I get very happy. I feel the same way when I see him driving a huge truck too, I likey. 

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

@TATTLETEENY, when I painted my bedroom last year, I did most of it by myself and I am ashamed to say that when my bed gets moved, there will be a big headboard shaped piece on the wall that wasn't painted. My bed never gets moved and I'm planning on living here until I die so I just said hell with it and left it. 

That's perfectly OK! But considering that this dude seemed to have kept all the paint he'd ever used* maybe he could have gone back and done a few swipes when he put the place on the market, haha! 

* Luckily, during one visit with my real estate guy, the seller stopped by and showed me the old paint--and I told him, nuh-uh, you dispose of it when you go; I ain't got time for that mess! Knowing him, he probably just put it in the regular trash.

Edited April 17, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[JTMacc99]

@stewedsquash and @Maharincess, I have a feeling that the one who said to me fixing my own lawnmower was pretty hot in her book is cut from the same cloth as you two. I could do worse.

For both her and my now fully functioning lawnmower, I'm going to live by the advice the owner and CEO of my company dispenses when things seem to be going well, "now just don't fuck it up."

[Quof]

Getting quotes to paint my house (exterior).  Need colour recommendations, folks.

It's a 2 storey house, built in the 1950s.   I'm thinking cherry red, with black doors and shutters, and white or cream trim.   There are no red houses on my street, my neighbours are almost all boring white or beige siding.

[Treehugger]

On 5/27/2017 at 7:41 AM, Quof said:

Getting quotes to paint my house (exterior).  Need colour recommendations, folks.

It's a 2 storey house, built in the 1950s.   I'm thinking cherry red, with black doors and shutters, and white or cream trim.   There are no red houses on my street, my neighbours are almost all boring white or beige siding.

We painted our house last summer.  It's a two story Colonial, built in 1993.  We painted it gray with cream trim and cream garage doors.  I'm loving the cream trim; it is bright but not gleaming white.  So many of our neighbors have commented that they like the gray/cream combination.  I'm partial to cream trim, and I think it would look lovely against the cherry red and black shutters.  

[Bastet]

On 5/27/2017 at 5:41 AM, Quof said:

I'm thinking cherry red, with black doors and shutters, and white or cream trim.  

That sounds good.

My house is a deep yellow, with very dark brown trim and a roof in medium shades of brown.  Almost every house on my block has white trim, so I started with the trim color and went from there.  The color is in my stucco, rather than painted on top of it, so before the stucco dried it looked more orange than yellow; my neighbors might have been alarmed.   

There's a house down the street from my parents that is done in a great brown (can't remember the trim color).  And there's one up the street from me in a shade of green I love (cream trim).  I like pretty much any house color other than pink (because, in general, I like at least several shades of every color other than pink) -- having my stucco sandblasted off, I discovered my house had been pink at some point.  (It was a really pale yellow with white trim [and an awful grey roof] when I moved in.)

[Quof]

The house now is "Lemon Meringue", a buttery yellow, with a glossy black on the doors and shutters.  I love the black (and god knows how many coats it would take to paint over), so I'm working around that. 

[Maharincess]

I finally have a functioning kitchen again!!  Appliances were delivered yesterday and installed today, cabinets and counters are in. I'm so happy I can cook again!  I'm so sick of take out and microwaveable meals.  I'm making a mini turkey dinner tomorrow to break it in.

I also got my new carpeting installed last week.  I'm taking so much shit from friends and family and strangers on other sites for covering my hardwood floors that were just installed less than 2 years ago.  I hate wood floors, I prefer carpet and only put the wood flooring in because it was easier for my wheelchair and scooter on the wood. I dont really use my wheelchair in the house too much anymore so i wanted my warm carpet back.  Why are people giving me so much crap about it?  They are my floors!   I just don't like wood floors in the house, they're too noisy and cold feeling.  I don't understand why everybody is freaking out on me about it. 

[Bastet]

Congratulations on the kitchen, and being able to cook again!

I love hardwood floors and don't much care for carpet, but I don't understand people giving you a hard time over it.  Bottom line: they're your floors.  But, beyond that, the hardwood you covered up is new, and all you did was put carpet over it; the tack strips don't ruin the floor, so you or anyone else can always pull up the carpet later and have hardwood again without needing to do much repair.  There's no reason for anyone to have a reaction to that.

[walnutqueen]

1 hour ago, Maharincess said:

I finally have a functioning kitchen again!!  Appliances were delivered yesterday and installed today, cabinets and counters are in. I'm so happy I can cook again!  I'm so sick of take out and microwaveable meals.  I'm making a mini turkey dinner tomorrow to break it in.

I also got my new carpeting installed last week.  I'm taking so much shit from friends and family and strangers on other sites for covering my hardwood floors that were just installed less than 2 years ago.  I hate wood floors, I prefer carpet and only put the wood flooring in because it was easier for my wheelchair and scooter on the wood. I dont really use my wheelchair in the house too much anymore so i wanted my warm carpet back.  Why are people giving me so much crap about it?  They are my floors!   I just don't like wood floors in the house, they're too noisy and cold feeling.  I don't understand why everybody is freaking out on me about it. 

Woo-Hoo!  It must be so nice to have your home back to where you like it.  People suck - just tell them you don't need or want their input on your flooring choices, and if they don't like it, they don't have to come over (me, I'd just tell them to go fuck themselves, but I know you're a leetle more socialized!).   ;-)

[DeLurker]

Asked my nephew to come over to help me check out some problems with my sprinklers.  One of the problems I discovered was that the grass had entirely grown over one of the sprinklers so clearing that growth seems to have fixed that one.  The other one with a problem was just gushing water so I knew that the sprinkler head or something was damaged.  After much excavation, we found that the sprinkler head had a broken connector pipe (or whatever the proper terminology is) and that we needed to get the remainder of the connector pipe out of the fitting that attaches to the spine/main pipe (?) for delivering the water.  Sadly, the connector pipe doesn't have enough to grip on to turn it out and every time we try to get a hold of it, just that piece basically crumbles.

I've got to head to the hardware store to see if I can get some kind of pick took to excavate the remaining connector pipe out.

[Sarahendipity]

Delurker if you have a set of hand pruners with a curved blade it works well to get that plastic piece out. (I'm thinking you need to undo the threads and have nothing to grip?) Stick the open pruners in and the sharp blade will give enough purchase to unthread. 

[DeLurker]

Thanks!  I'll give it a try.

[DeLurker]

The part had deteriorated to the point there was no grip.  I ended up buying a set of pick tools and excavating  out.  A total of 3 trips to hardware store, but I got it fixed!

But to spite me, the Sprinkler Gods put another one out of commission.  Grrrrrrr!

I was certain it was working yesterday so double checked with my nephew on that.  He confirmed it was working yesterday.  Oy vey.

[DeLurker]

And now the other sprinkler is working too.  I googled the model of Rainbird sprinkler head to see if I could find a troubleshooting guide.  I did, but it was of limited help.  I did find out how to take the nozzle part off (it is a pop-up job) so did that and ran the sprinkler to make sure water was getting to that sprinkler head (it was).  I took the nozzle apart and looked for any dirt, debris, damage...but could not find anything that looked amiss specifically.  Cleaned it, re-attached it and ran the sprinklers again hoping for the best.

And it works!  I am ridiculously proud of myself!

[Quof]

Dammit, people, the painters are coming tomorrow and I still haven't landed on my paint colours. Do you know how many shades of black there are?

[MargeGunderson]

41 minutes ago, Quof said:

Dammit, people, the painters are coming tomorrow and I still haven't landed on my paint colours. Do you know how many shades of black there are?

My sympathies! I hate picking out paint colors - there's so much pressure! I had no idea of the many shades of black but considering how many shades of white there are, I shouldn't have been surprised. 

[Drogo]

38 minutes ago, Quof said:

Dammit, people, the painters are coming tomorrow and I still haven't landed on my paint colours. Do you know how many shades of black there are?

I only know that there are 50 shades of grey.

[DeLurker]

Been living with a slow drip from the toilet tank for the last week.  Dad had leaned back against the tank and it put something out of alignment, so when I got to my parents there is a tupperware container beneath where it is dripping.  So Wednesday night, I get to taking the lid off the tank and start poking around to see what can be done.  There's a couple of screws from the inside of the tank that bolt down into the other part (whatever that may be called) and where the drip is coming from is from one of those.  Mom hears me and comes in to see, suggests maybe the screw needs to be tightened.  Since i know zippo about plumbing (although I can make a level with an appropriate length of aquarium tubing or similar), I say "you do it in case it makes it worse".  She does it and it makes it worse.  Now the drip is a drip-drip-drip.

Thursday, I try to think of what will fix it at least temporary and I think marine adhesive.  On second thought, that sounds a bit like overkill, so I ponder alternatives.  I decide to try using denture adhesive and a shotglass to cover the screw so water doesn't get to it,  So off to get Polident while Mom finds a suitable small glass.  I turn off the water supply to the tank, empty it, use a towel to suck up the rest of the water, apply Polident to the top of a small jar Mom found and stick it over the screw.  After about 10 minutes I turn on the water supply and no leaking.  It has been a few days and still no leak so that is a decent temporary fix.  My brother should be able to have a look at it tomorrow so hopefully a more permanent fix is in the near future.

[Spunkygal]

@DeLurker, I get such a kick out of myself when I successfully "MacGyver" something and it works! Good for you!

[Quof]

The seemingly endless rain threw a damper (ha!) on the house painting plans, so they really only got going today.   As I turned the corner on my way home, I thought "oh my god, what if I hate it?".  

It's stunning.  Just the perfect shade of cherry red.   People are slowing down to look as they drive past : )

Edited July 6, 2017 by Quof

[Zola]

I decided to replace four panel doors in my home - 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom. I wanted to buy some good quality solid doors that would last and not warp over time. I also had to remember to buy hinge packs, door handle, locks and latches too.

Living on my own meant that I more or less had to do everything myself, including trimming the doors to size using a planer and sander; I then had to chisel out slots along the sides of the doors to accommodate the hinges. door handles, locking mechanism and backplates. All of which involved careful measuring, drilling, chiselling, sanding etc. And after all that there was still the painting to do next!

Took me over a week to do all four, but they fit perfectly, and look really nice too.

There is something rather gratifying about doing these sorts of jobs on one's own. Thing is though, when my dad comes round this weekend he is bound to spot faults or say something like "Rather than do it like that, what you should have done was......."

But it will do for me, and that's what counts I guess :)

[MargeGunderson]

@Only Zola, I'm seriously impressed! That's a lot of tricky work. I tried to do just one door and gave up pretty quick. 

[Zola]

13 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

@Only Zola, I'm seriously impressed! That's a lot of tricky work. I tried to do just one door and gave up pretty quick. 

 

Thank you. Although to be honest I did practice on the old doors I was removing. So things like chiselling and planing, I learnt by using one of my old doors until I felt comfortable doing the new ones. And of course Google/YouTube is a great source of information/tips too. (Plus, I did actually ask my dad to do this for me ages ago, but he kept on putting it off and putting it off until I decided to do it myself, lol)

[MargeGunderson]

I have finally finished organizing my cleaning closet. Yes, I have a (small) closet almost entirely devoted to cleaning products (with a few cat items thrown in). I installed another shelf, rails/hooks, baskets, bins, and random other stuff. I also broke out the label maker and labeled everything.

Tomorrow I'm going to tackle under the kitchen sink.   

[Zola]

In preparation for the winter months I finally decided to do some repointing of one of my exterior garage walls that was in need of some long-standing TLC.

I have never repointed before, but the job in hand only covered a couple of square metres of brickwork prep. The difficult bit was mixing the mortar (sand, cement and water), to the right consistency, and applying quickly enough before it dried; and the dirtiest part of the job was scraping out the old crumbling mortar from between the affected brickwork area.

It's taken most of this morning to do this, and it's still not complete as I want to add some additional mortar in the more corroded area, and hopefully end up with a "weather struck" finish (thanks, YouTube!)

If it all looks okay and doesn't fall apart after 10 minutes, I might repoint a few more vulnerable areas, such as my exterior conservatory and kitchen walls.

It's quite therapeutic in one respect, and fairly easy to do. 

Edited July 29, 2017 by Only Zola

[DisneyBoy]

I'm in a rather old, badly maintained building and mice have been an issue for years. The landlord has also just received a complaint regarding cockroaches (thankfully not on my floor) and has decided to fumigate. A team will go through the entire building and the spray will be targeting the cockroaches specifically, from what he explained, though he thinks it will also kill off the mice. Will it?

 

I have a million questions, having never gone through this before. I have a lot of books and other things in boxes from a recent move. Will this spray go through the cardboard (or wet it?) I also have wall-to-wall carpeting. Will it absorb this spray? Will bedspreads and curtains? Am I going to have to air out and wash everything?

And just how toxic is this stuff for me?

When they spray, do they open every cupboard and closet?

Do they just stand in the middle of the apartment and fill it with a cloud of poison that disperses everywhere or meticulously spray down every surface, room by room?

If it happened to you, did you ever feel comfortable in your place again or were you expecting to get cancer? 

Stressed.

[NutMeg]

@DisneyBoy, when I lived in Bangkok, there was a monthly visit from pest control in my (well managed) condo. It wasn't fumigation but rather some mix being sprayed with nozzles, along the walls, and in corners, with a particular focus on balconies/plant areas, kitchen and bathrooms (any place where there was water, thus pipes). As I understand it, it was meant to prevent cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes, and other critters. It was very mild, odorless and didn't affect humans or pests (nor furniture, carpets, etc.). I don't think insect treatments will affect mice either, so you might schedule a specific mice treatment at the same time and be done with it in one go. Good luck! 

[Guest]

So I'm embarking on a kitchen remodel including new cabinets, countertops, backsplash, lighting, and paint.  Basically everything but the tile floor and most of the appliances which are newish

I'm at the stage where I am verifying the drawings , measurements, and quote is consistent with the stuff I picked and not screwed up but haven't committed to anything.

Anyone have any lessons learned?  Questions they wished they asked before starting a kitchen remodel?

[Zola]

Ergonomics is pretty key; that and lighting, access to electrical power points and drainage in case of emergencies. 

You can have the best thought-out kitchen in the world, but none of that matters because you're always going to be dependent on the electric, gas and water feeds (both in and out for water drainage). So try to factor in ease-of-access to these things should something go wrong in order to avoid having to rip out some of your new surrounds.

Plenty of light (both natural and electrical) should also be considered for obvious reasons; so ceiling spotlights might work for you, and plenty of windows (this will also help remove any additional condensation from cooking).

Also consider the "golden triangle" - the placement of the sink, dishwasher and/or fridge, cooker in relation to your cooking area. They all need to be pretty close together to avoid mess and help with convenience. Also consider where to put your waste bin. Needs to be fairly close to the "golden triangle" but preferably hidden (out of sight out of mind)

Depending on the size of your kitchen, consider high traffic areas - usually the fridge, the microwave, the sink etc. So make sure there's plenty of space/access; don't clutter. Also consider where to put fire extinguishers, and consider modes of escape should - god forbid - there be a fire.

These are just a few points I had drilled into me from my kitchen planner; focus on the smaller details.

Good luck  

[Guest]

Thanks @Only Zola

The thoughts about not having to rip out anything if something goes wrong with electrical, etc is a good one.

There isn't much I can do about the layout without moving walls and plumbing and its generally good enough as is so I'm going to leave it. 

Anyone have opinions on the pull out garbage can base cabinets?

Interior cabinet stuff you with you'd upgraded to or wish you hadn't wasted the money on?

Under cabinet lighting good or a waste of money?

[Mountainair]

10 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

Under cabinet lighting good or a waste of money?

OMG! I've posted here sporadically about my own renovations. We started our project 2 years ago. Tearing down walls, turning the kitchen into our master bedroom and our MB into the kitchen on our 1940s farm house. The kitchen started from scratch and we installed under cabinet lighting and  I don't know how I ever lived without it- that and my pot filler!

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

OMG! I've posted here sporadically about my own renovations. We started our project 2 years ago. Tearing down walls, turning the kitchen into our master bedroom and our MB into the kitchen on our 1940s farm house. The kitchen started from scratch and we installed under cabinet lighting and  I don't know how I ever lived without it- that and my pot filler!

What's a pot filler?

[Mountainair]

One of these. It's not like it's a long way to the sink from my oven but it's so nice to not have to fill up heavy pots of water and carry them back and forth. It's totally a luxury item and I also like being able to fill up my coffee pot tank from it. Of course we started over from studs so adding the additional plumbing wasn't a problem. 

Edited August 9, 2017 by Mountainair

[Moose135]

I've never seen one of those before, @Mountainair.  I will second your love for under cabinet lights!

[Zola]

Another vote for under cabinet lights!

They make a huge difference to the appearance of a kitchen especially when not in use and you have the lights on just for display purposes.

The wiring can be a bit of a hassle, although you can get individual USB lights that work just as well. Then there's the consideration about shape  - puck-shape or bar? Either way, they're definitely worth having!

[Bastet]

Under-cabinet lights are great, but depending on what you want them for - accent vs. task lighting, primarily - you may find the battery-operated, remote controlled lights suit your purposes without need for integrated (wired) lights these days.

[NutMeg]

I'm thinking of at some stage taking some classes on DIY. Which skill would you say would be more helpful in general, plumbing, electricity (that one scares me the most right now), carpenter, other?

[Zola]

19 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

I'm thinking of at some stage taking some classes on DIY. Which skill would you say would be more helpful in general, plumbing, electricity (that one scares me the most right now), carpenter, other?

Apart from very basic DIY jobs involving electrics, I would shy way from that potentially lethal area and focus on the more practical aspects of DIY. 

i learnt from my dad how to do carpentry for such jobs as trimming, planing and sanding doors, frames, tables and chairs etc. He then told me about drilling and what kinds of drill bits to use (wood, metal, masonry, SDS, countersink etc); and the different kinds of wall surfaces (plasterboard, chipboard, brick etc). And then there's plumbing - changing taps, replacing pipework, fixing toilet cisterns, even replacing sink units.

These are all fairly general and not overly difficult or dangerous - just patience, common sense and an eye for detail and accuracy is all that's needed. Am pretty sure others here will offer more ideas.

Electrics are a different ball game, and I would suggest you get some professional advice on how far to take that. 

[NutMeg]

28 minutes ago, Only Zola said:

Apart from very basic DIY jobs involving electrics, I would shy way from that potentially lethal area and focus on the more practical aspects of DIY. 

i learnt from my dad how to do carpentry for such jobs as trimming, planing and sanding doors, frames, tables and chairs etc. He then told me about drilling and what kinds of drill bits to use (wood, metal, masonry, SDS, countersink etc); and the different kinds of wall surfaces (plasterboard, chipboard, brick etc). And then there's plumbing - changing taps, replacing pipework, fixing toilet cisterns, even replacing sink units.

These are all fairly general and not overly difficult or dangerous - just patience, common sense and an eye for detail and accuracy is all that's needed. Am pretty sure others here will offer more ideas.

Electrics are a different ball game, and I would suggest you get some professional advice on how far to take that. 

Thanks, that's about what I was thinking (because electricity scares me!!!!). Just out of curiosity, I know of people who bought furniture that were good quality, with pattern in the wood, but looked seriously distressed, sanded and polished them, and to to my amazement they were like fairy tale gorgeous. Are there any criteria to look for when buying old (I mean really old) wood furniture that can tell you they'll be gorgeous after sanding, polishing, waxing, etc.)?    

[Bastet]

See, I would put electricity at the top of your list, because it shouldn't be scary.  If you learned the fundamentals of electricity and plumbing, you'd be able to handle a lot of repairs yourself (and you'd have the necessary knowledge base to properly evaluate anyone you might hire to take on the more advanced jobs).

[Zola]

17 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

Thanks, that's about what I was thinking (because electricity scares me!!!!). Just out of curiosity, I know of people who bought furniture that were good quality, with pattern in the wood, but looked seriously distressed, sanded and polished them, and to to my amazement they were like fairy tale gorgeous. Are there any criteria to look for when buying old (I mean really old) wood furniture that can tell you they'll be gorgeous after sanding, polishing, waxing, etc.)?    

I am no expert in furniture restoration, although i suspect it may have something to do with "French Polishing", or at least that's one particular aspect; there might be others.

https://www.jmfrenchpolishing.co.uk/how-it-works

Edited August 9, 2017 by Only Zola

[NutMeg]

10 minutes ago, Bastet said:

See, I would put electricity at the top of your list, because it shouldn't be scary.  If you learned the fundamentals of electricity and plumbing, you'd be able to handle a lot of repairs yourself (and you'd have the necessary knowledge base to properly evaluate anyone you might hire to take on the more advanced jobs).

Yes, that's the one I thought it would be beneficial to handle first, because it is what scares me the most and therefore what I'd like to handle the latest, which is weird because in areas where I'm confident I'm happy to start with the worst and once that's done the rest is smooth sailing. So now I think that it would indeed be good to master electricity (and my fear of it) first - while also exploring wood restoration in parallel, just for kicks.  

13 minutes ago, Only Zola said:

I am not expert in furniture restoration, although i suspect it may have something to do with "French Polishing", or at least that's one particular aspect; there might be others.

https://www.jmfrenchpolishing.co.uk/how-it-works

Interesting link, thanks

[Zola]

12 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

Yes, that's the one I thought it would be beneficial to handle first, because it is what scares me the most and therefore what I'd like to handle the latest, which is weird because in areas where I'm confident I'm happy to start with the worst and once that's done the rest is smooth sailing. So now I think that it would indeed be good to master electricity (and my fear of it) first - while also exploring wood restoration in parallel, just for kicks.  

Interesting link, thanks

Whatever works for you :)

Personally I kept advanced electrics till last and just focused on the areas i mentioned in my previous post in order to build up my skills and become competent and more importantly, confident with the job at hand. I then focused on electrics, circuit diagrams, consumer units, voltmeters, multimeters, and basic rewiring, adding spurs, power sockets etc

Still quite scary and demands complete attention, but hugely satisfying, and all above only a fraction of the cost compared to getting a pro to do it (i should add that here in the UK there is only so much an unqualified person can do for home improvements in terms of major electrics. There's various regulations and approved certificates required; plus there's always the risk of your home insurance company taking a dim view if you do your own electrics and you ultimately do damage to your own home that the insurance people may not pay out on. Perhaps the rules are different over in the US?) 

[MargeGunderson]

@NutMeg, thanks to the advice and encouragement from the lovely folks on this board, I successfully removed a light fixture and installed a new one (posts a few pages back, from Jan/Feb this year). The first time was little scary, but once I realized I wasn't going to be electrocuted, it was pretty easy! There are also some good tutorials on the web - I liked the one on the DIY Playbook.

[ennui]

On 7/29/2017 at 10:02 AM, DisneyBoy said:

mice have been an issue for years

Dryer sheets, like Bounce. Rodents don't like the scent. People who store their cars over the winter use them to keep the mice away. (Or, even better, get a cat.)

[DeLurker]

The water flow diverter in the kids' bathroom decided to stop working over the summer.  A quick google let me know what the problem was and multiple sites indicated a blind one handed sloth could successfully change out the faucet.

I successfully removed the tub faucet and went off to Lowe's.  Got a replacement and some caulk.  

Replacing it took much longer than the est. 10-20 minutes as my mechanical skills and comprehension are ground level at best.

It has been replaced and appears to work, but I am holding off on doing the final caulking until tomorrow.  My nephew, exceptionally mechanically inclined, will be by for dinner so I'll make him double check my work.