Blow that Dough 2023

[athena53]

We never use the jetted tub, it's just wasted space for us.

Yeah, I found that, too. It was popular in new builds when this house (1995 and my previous one (1985) were built but I never use it and have found that bugs and scum accumulate in the pipes if I don't run it regularly , which I now do when I clean that bathroom.

I originally started doing DIY about 40 years ago after I paid a plumber $85 to fix a leak. It took him 45 minutes. At the time that was close to one day of wages for me.

Plumbing and electrical work intimidate me- because of possible extra expenses if I mess up plumbing work and the possible dangers of electricity. When we wanted to replace the cheap linoleum in one bathroom and the yucky carpet in another with tile in the old house, we thought we had a deal with Home Depot and then they said we'd have to test for asbestos in the linoleum due to the age of the house (at our expense, they couldn't suggest testing labs) and if there were any it would have to be remediated. I did a lot of research- unlikely that it contained asbestos and it was practically fused to the flooring so ripping it up would have let it into the air. Just covering it was perfectly legal. So, I did and saved us about $1,000. When the back porch in this house was enclosed I also tiled the floor. It was 150 square feet and I'll never do that again. It's presentable but anyone who does tiling would see that it screams DIY.

I know my limits.

 

[Librarian]

Cruises

DH retired in '21, me in '22.
Had COVID credits, great offers, friends & relatives who wanted to cruise--NO REGRETS.

Have done:
Hawaii
Alaska
Norway/UK
Northern Europe ("Oktoberfest capitals")
Pacific Coast
Caribbean

2024:
Month Australia/NZ/S Pacific
Month transatlantic & UK

2025: (potentially)
Month transpacific

DD(25)'s car has 120K miles & she bought a house last year...so we have offered to trade her my 2013 Nissan Altima (70K miles) for her 2013 Chevy Malibu. I'll miss that car, but as little as I drive (errands basically), it makes sense. Still cheap to have. If it gets $$$ to maintain, will re-evaluate.
DS28 has a 2013 Hyundai Sonata with low miles & he is considering getting a new car; if he does, will probably take his.

(yep, this is what we do...trade cars amongst the family. Been doing it for years...you always know what you are getting! And Daddy taught me to avoid buying new to get more value--he has been 100% right on that one!
That and "buy one of the cheapest houses in the nicest area you can afford"
Smart man)

 

[Chuckanut]

Yeah, I found that, too. It was popular in new builds when this house (1995 and my previous one (1985) were built but I never use it and have found that bugs and scum accumulate in the pipes if I don't run it regularly , which I now do when I clean that bathroom.

I've seen some space saving tubs that are about 2/3 the floor area of a regular tub, but are also about a foot deeper. You sit on a little platform and bathe. I am told its the same great experience of soaking in a tub.

 

[pacergal]

"buy one of the cheapest houses in the nicest area you can afford''--that was my Dad's motto also!

Looks like you have great travel plans--enjoy.

 

[Teacher Terry]

When I bought my condo my youngest son whose very handy remodeled everything within his abilities. It saved me a ton and looks great. I hired a contractor to enclose my balcony floor to ceiling with glass windows that open and that was 7k and well worth it.

I didn’t have laundry because we have a laundry room but you are allowed to install by using a licensed plumber and getting hoa permission. That cost 2.5k and was definitely worth it also. I decided against a new bathroom because of the cost so my son replaced the toilet, sink, faucet, lights, floor and paint and it’s fine.

 

[Koolau]

Every time I read a story about a $15k or $25k bathroom I thank my lucky stars that I have some decent DIY skills.

Hey! I at least tore out the old stuff.

 

[Music Lover]

Hey! I at least tore out the old stuff.

Every bit helps. Even people that are not handy (I'm not referring to you specifically) can save a lot of money by doing some of the grunt work up front.

New bathroom but don't want to spend $15k? Take the old fixtures out, put down LVP, and do the painting yourself. And most people can install a toilet or a vanity and new tap. Pay the plumber only for what is needed...rough in, tub installation, shower valves, etc.

 

[finnski1]

Every time I read a story about a $15k or $25k bathroom I thank my lucky stars that I have some decent DIY skills.

Me too. I redid a 6x 12 bathroom about 2 years ago. And I redid everything.
Air hammered out the old tile floor, took out all fixtures, reconfigured all the rough plumbing including adding in a new p trap etc to bring laundry appliances up from the basement, new shower and toilet locations. All new vent for the washing machine plumbing all the way up to the roof to tie in to the main stack. Ran 230 volt electrical with new breaker for dryer.

Laid new Hardiboard on floor. Installed all new tile floor, tile walls for the corner shower. Grout all tiles. All new faucets, shower valve, vessel sink. New supply lines for hot and cold with extra shut off valves. New countertop. Reconfigured vanity by cutting 2 inches off of old and attaching to wall to make floating vanity. New fan(in new location) and lights and wiring.
Hang a few new sheets of drywall, patch existing drywall, repaint all walls.


The best part: total expense of $2200 including glass corner shower, new toilet, tiles, valves, piping, electrical, new exhaust fan, paint, vessel sink, vessel sink faucet, new countertop, shower head etc.

 

[Palmtree]

snip

Way, way beyond the $1,000 I just spent on materials to build a workbench.

Wow. That's going to be one heck of a workbench! I'm still using the one I built around 15 years ago. I thinking you must be using benchcrafted vices. Post a picture of it when you're done.

 

[Koolau]

Every bit helps. Even people that are not handy (I'm not referring to you specifically) can save a lot of money by doing some of the grunt work up front.

New bathroom but don't want to spend $15k? Take the old fixtures out, put down LVP, and do the painting yourself. And most people can install a toilet or a vanity and new tap. Pay the plumber only for what is needed...rough in, tub installation, shower valves, etc.

Yep, we're not very handy, but we do always have implements of destruction laying around (hammers, crowbar, etc.) All 3 of our major reno's, we've done the tear outs. "Not too particular, not too precise" we just rip out cabinets and walls, rusted-out bathtubs, etc.

Not planning to do it again.

 

[Palmtree]

Heading to Barbados in a few day. Full $$$$ for the airfare, not using the points we usually do. Staying at a Lux-condo, not the budget VRBO's we normally stay at. Every day a planned excursion. Sometimes two and many with a private driver. My wife won't tell me the total amount but I'm sure it's going to be WAY over what we usually spend. Oh well. We've been super frugal all our life. Time to BTD!

 

[Music Lover]

I guess those of us talking about DIY isn't really "blow that dough" territory, but that's the only way I could justify spending for a new bathroom or a new deck. So it's blow that dough for my modest means.

 

[flyingaway]

Just booked our last hotel in Banos, Ecuador, for our two week trip to Bogota, Galapagos Islands, Quito, and Banos in late January. I always travel on the cheap side so that we can travel to more places, but this trip may cost a lot of money. We plan to travel a lot in 2024, too bad many places just become not so safe for Americans.

 

[athena53]

I guess those of us talking about DIY isn't really "blow that dough" territory, but that's the only way I could justify spending for a new bathroom or a new deck. So it's blow that dough for my modest means.

I understand- I have a brother who's doing well but very frugal and he and my SIL (a match made in heaven even ~45 years later ) are total DIY. They've ripped out and tiled bathrooms, put in vinyl plank flooring, replace plumbing, etc. SIL re-upholsters furniture and used to make his business suits. They live 1,000 miles away but I've joked I could save $$ by sending DB plane tickets and handing him a To Do list.

Well, I figure I'm providing jobs for local people. Even when I tiled the bathroom floors in the old place neither DH nor I wanted to deal with pulling out the toilet. We hired a guy to take it out and he came back after I tiled.

BTW, I also got rid of the nasty popcorn ceilings in that house. It would have cost a bundle. Slow and monotonous work but I was so thrilled with the results it was worth it.

 

[Koolau]

I guess those of us talking about DIY isn't really "blow that dough" territory, but that's the only way I could justify spending for a new bathroom or a new deck. So it's blow that dough for my modest means.

Hey! If it's BTD to you, then it is BTD!!

 

[Koolau]

I understand- I have a brother who's doing well but very frugal and he and my SIL (a match made in heaven even ~45 years later ) are total DIY. They've ripped out and tiled bathrooms, put in vinyl plank flooring, replace plumbing, etc. SIL re-upholsters furniture and used to make his business suits. They live 1,000 miles away but I've joked I could save $$ by sending DB plane tickets and handing him a To Do list.

I've actually considered doing this with a handyman we know on the mainland. I figure he could w*rk all week, stay in the guest room, explore the Island on the week ends and go home with a pile of my cash. Everybody wins (except local handymen who are difficult to find and more difficult to pay.)

 

[timbervest]

Just got back from 10 days in Iceland with DS. Great weather, good food and drink, and very friendly people. Got out just before the volcano started to rumble!

 

[braumeister]

Just got back from 10 days in Iceland with DS. Great weather, good food and drink, and very friendly people. Got out just before the volcano started to rumble!

Welcome back. It's certainly a marvelous country; I've been there many times.

The current situation hits home especially for me, since back in July I drove all over the peninsula and had a wonderful lunch in Grindavik (now completely evacuated). The eruptions had just begun a few days before, and the town wasn't in danger then, but people were hiking for miles to get close to the initial fissure.

 

[audreyh1]

Man, sure looks cold! Glad you missed the volcano.

Iceland is geologically interesting because it is on an ocean spreading center. Land does not normally appear on such a location. Usually volcanos appear at subduction zones where ocean floor is subducting underneath another plate, or at hotspots like Hawaii and Yellowstone.

OK it turn out that there is a hotspot there - the Iceland Plume - which is responsible for the land formation. A hotspot right on a diverging plate boundary!

 

[braumeister]

Iceland has greeted several new islands in the past century. I got to fly over the largest, Surtsey, back when it was so new it was still smoking. Amazing place.

 

[athena53]

OK it turn out that there is a hotspot there - the Iceland Plume - which is responsible for the land formation. A hotspot right on a diverging plate boundary!

Iceland is wonderful. I'm thinking of making a trip in 2025, which would be my third. You just have to remind yourself that the factor that makes the scenery so spectacular and the water in the geothermal pools so comfy is also the factor that makes traveling there a crapshoot!

And yet another BTD: I need a dental implant. It will be my eighth. It was sort of my choice but the dentist agreed- crown fell off the tooth, taking some of what little was left of the tooth with it. Dentist had to drill out a bit of decay, leaving even less. He cemented the old crown back on but doubts it will stick for very long. He's darn good and I know he'd do as well as anyone fitting a new crown but the process for me is white-knuckle, even with anaesthetic (grinding the tooth down to make a fresh surface) and that might not hold, either.

I'm just grateful I have the resources to make that choice.

 

[audreyh1]

Hotspots are very cool! (and hot)

 

[flyingaway]

Just booked tickets to Cancun, Mexico. This time to stay in Playa del Carmen. Having been to Cancun several times and want to be somewhere else.

 

[Kings over Queens]

I was just looking at a short trip to cancun, guys weekend type thing with my son.

 

[Pointby2]

Just got back from 10 days in Iceland with DS. Great weather, good food and drink, and very friendly people. Got out just before the volcano started to rumble!

View attachment 47689

You must have been there the same week as us! After reading about all the terrible weather it was a huge relief to have amazing weather while we were there. Had a great time too, even if was only for five days! We'd already been to Scotland and London, so I couldn't convince my DW to spend any more time than that.