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Last weekend, after learning about the problems we were having with our plumbing, my dad, Bob, hopped on the next plane to Los Angeles to come to our rescue. Hey, if anyone out there wants to fly over 2000 miles to work on our house they can have their own corner on our website, too!
The Bob of Bob’s Corner
Things literally started off with a bang. I was jolted out of bed at the crack of dawn, actually it wasn’t even dawn yet, by a loud banging coming from our back porch. Bam! Bam! BAM! David bolted upright into a sitting position, eyes wide, and muttered, “What the hell is that?”
“It’s my Dad. He’s an earlier riser and still on Indiana time. Three hours ahead.” BAm! BAm! BAm!
“What do you think he’s doing down there?”
When I crawled out of bed a few hours later I found out. My dad was happily installing our half bath toilet. I still have no idea why there was so much banging involved?
Dad needed a part for the toilet so we went to Home Depot. Thus, began our ritual for the weekend. Do a few hours of work, not have the right part or necessary tool, hop in the car and drive to Home Depot. Inevitably, the Home Depot wouldn’t have what we looking for so we’d jump back in the car and go to a different Home Depot location.
I don’t know about other parts of the country but shopping at Home Depot in Los Angeles is not a fun experience. You suffer long lines, not being able to find what you need because the items are poorly stocked and/or mislabeled, it takes a long time to track down someone to help you, and you just hope the person that you find will actually have the knowledge to help you. After a couple of trips I sent David and Dad off to Home Depot without me.
While at Home Depot, David and my dad would buy hot dogs from the vendors set up in the Home Depot parking lot. After patronizing three different Home Depot locations on eight or nine occasions, buying a hot dog each time, Dad became a Home Depot hot dog connoisseur of sorts. For anyone in the Los Angeles area, my dad recommends the spicy Polish hot dog from the Home Depot on Sunset Blvd. I guess he should know…
Between all the visits to Home Depot and eating hot dogs Dad got a lot of work done.
The toilet was installed.
Dad and his “assistant” working on moving the water pipes and setting up the drain for the washing machine.
Installing water pipes.
An unhappy moment in Bob’s Corner. Dad realizing that we need to go to Home Depot one more time! But, then we reminded him of the hot dogs and he perked up.
The heavens part and angels sing. We have been without a washer and dryer since the beginning of August. Not any more, everything is now hooked up and working. No more trips to the Laundromat. Halleluiah!
Our final project was completed half an hour before we had to get Dad to the airport for his flight home. We relocated the valves for the bathroom sink from sticking out of the baseboard to up higher on the wall.
For anyone out there who is interested, I think all it would take is a plane ticket and a package of hot dogs to get Bob in your corner.
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January 20th, 2005 - 5:29 pm
Those are some pretty large holes in the wall behind you and the washing machine! What happened? Are you adding sconces?
January 20th, 2005 - 5:58 pm
Oh, yes. Aren’t the those holes in the wall lovely?
We do intend to install sconces. There is a top piece of molding that goes across the top of the window. When the carpenter was going to install that piece we realized that where we intended to place the sconces wouldn’t work because it would be covered by the window trim. So, they had to be moved.
The electrician cut HUGE holes in the drywall to move the sconces. I decided while we were at it why not have an additional plug installed (that’s the other big hole you see behind me)? Big mistake.
Somehow when the electrician installed the additional plug he hit the wall so hard that he damaged and split the outside clapboard siding in that area.
This back porch has been one step forward two steps backward every step of the way…
January 20th, 2005 - 6:24 pm
What a very nice and handy Dad you have! You are very lucky, my Dad is a great man and good at many things, but home repair is not one of them. Count your blessings!
January 20th, 2005 - 9:42 pm
You should learn from your experiences at Home Depot and shop at local hardware stores in your neighborhood! There must be several independently owned stores near you and they contribute to the neighborhood so much more than Home Depot. Try to funnel some of your income back into West Adams!
P.S…I’ve been a voyeur on your blog for a few weeks now and so many episodes have hit close to home as my partner and I have been trying to restore a 1910 bungalow up here in Portland, OR. Keep up the great work!
January 21st, 2005 - 11:48 am
I love this blog…I’m living vicariously through your bungalow.
How lucky you are to have such a handy dad. I have a toilet that’s flushing twice, but I can’t imagine that’s worth a plane ticket. I could probably spring from some hotdogs, though….does he like Hebrew National? 
On your house front, though…you have the most gorgeous wood trim in your laundry room that I’ve ever seen.
January 22nd, 2005 - 3:01 pm
hey! that sounds like my dad!
June 5th, 2005 - 8:47 pm
Fire the electrician! He just cost you a lot of wall patching that will be hard to do with the W/D already in. I could tell you stories about the three plumbers we went through last year. Tell the electrician you don’t want the hole more than 1/4″ bigger than the box and make them put a cover on to check it.
Aren’t handy dads the best? My dad helped me install a cast iron tub that ended up with the drain right over a floor joist on our old place. What a trooper! We had a saying that any project takes three trips to HD. It really is worth it to pay a bit more at places that know at they sell. You go in, say “I need ona these things.” they walk to a shelf, pick it up, show you how to install it, then remind you to get the right escutcheon, etc.
Great blog! You guys are learning lots on this place that will serve you well for years.
January 20th, 2006 - 6:14 pm
I have been lurking on your site for a few years….and now, my husband and I are restoring the bathroom and I wondered where did you find the round cutoff valves for your bathroom sink? we have looked everywhere for them to no avail!!
thanks for the great blog – it really does inspire me and encourage me!!
January 24th, 2006 - 9:41 am
Hi Judith!
The sink supply line valves are part of a sink trim kit that I purchased on sale from Vintage Tub & Bath (http://www.vintagetub.com) a few years ago. I don’t see that exact kit on their site but they do have other ones.
They often have sales, close-outs and clearance items so if you wait and check back you can usually get what you are looking for at a marked down price.
Best of luck with your bathroom restoration!
h