It's Hammer Time

Moving into an older house has proven to be difficult in the realm of plumbing.  Not to mention, 9 people can be taxing on the best plumbing systems, especially when seven of us are children.  We have had several flooding issues involving the basement and the last two have centered around a sink in the family room.  Many would call this a wet bar.  For me, it was nothing but an eye sore from the day we moved in.  I began dreaming of a sledge hammer the moment I saw it.  The sink would fill from water usage upstairs and then would overflow onto the floor.  Oh, you can only imagine the mess of icky water mingling with food.  Yuck.  So, with the plumbers second trip here, I asked him to just cap the pipes so we could pull out the sink and counter tops.  That was the cheap part of his visit.  I have to admit that the first flood was a result of my youngest putting crayons down the drain.   I had big plans for quickly demolishing everything and then putting in homemade bookshelves.  Alas, the best laid plans...my husband threw out his back.  So, I waited and the longer I waited, the more excited I got.  So, as many of you can relate to, I just couldn't wait anymore.  I enlisted the help of my twelve year old daughter and we proceeded to pound everything apart.

The sink proved to be the hardest part.  The pipes weren't the issue.  It was the sink itself.  It was stuck and not willing to budge.  At one point, my daughter was on her back, with her feet up under the counter, pushing with all of her might.  After what seemed like an eternity and a hammer and screwdriver, we were able to pop it out and lug it away.  Then the fun and sweat began.  Piece by piece we pulled the counter and cabinets apart and took apart the mini raised floor it was sitting on.  We have yet to build the bookshelves, but they will happen at some point.

No before shots, but I love the after:

Of course, all the kids were involved with taking away wood and pulling out nails.  We were a force to be reckoned with and ended the project with a trip to our local dump, which is always a highlight for the kids.  They love throwing things over the edge.