price a used sink

anastatia .. do you by any chance, have a camera .. that you may could take a few pics and post .. to share your wonderful sink purchase, with us?? And please .. don't even give any thought about it being out in the garage and probably got a mess o'dust on it too - It is your dandy sink purchase!!
(And we wanna see it too!) .. lol

Sounds like your friend .. really does have a great idea about the floor-cieling cupboards tho'! It's been my experience, that those cabinets that are up enuff, I have to stretch any peice .. is totally wasted space!! ha
But, then I'm a short squatty body anyway ... lol

Gosh, with the holidays right here at us .. that spark of inspiration may not ignite, until well after 2005 gets kick started and well underway!! .. hee hee ..

At any rate .. when you do get started on any of it .. please, keep us in mind, and fill us in on all of it .. and fer garsh sakes .. take plenty of pitters .. and post 'em .. as things take place .. start to finish! .. Will ya ?

gardenwife . a great idea about the sinks 'holes' .. !!

Melody .. I used to have to do the same thing (bleaching) to our counter tops in our home in La. Toted my jug of bleach to do my moms' .. and she had a hissy fit, until I somehow managed to convince her that it would be fine. She was shocked, and so proud. Long set-in grape juice and mustard stains just lifted out. She'd not realized just how 'yellowed' her white tops had become .. until that day!!

Meezers .. it looks like ya got your work cut out for you .. with your hubby! He'll cave before too long .. and come 'round to seein' things (that new faucet) .. your way. .. hee hee

- Magpye

This message was edited Nov 15, 2004 8:48 PM

It's one of the main reasons for installing white tops when we built the house. Paper towel, bit of bleach, and you're good as new...you betcha I chose them on purpose!

Not knowing the condition of the cabinets you're planning to remove, here are some ideas and cautionary tips:

1) Would it be possible to rework them with glass doors on both sides of the cabinet, add some lights and give you storage/display room and a more open feeling?

2) If you do decide to take them down, please figure out how they're attached first. That sounds simple, but we didn't do that when we took down some ceiling mounted, free-standing upper cabinets, and it wasn't until we had unscrewed the same bolt for what seemed like hours that we finally sent one of the threesome up to the attic, where we discovered the bolt was a lag bolt that went all the way through the ceiling joist and was nutted in place. In the meantime, one end of the cabinets finally came down, meaning the other end went up - through the ceiling. Not a pretty hole to patch.

As to countertops, have you considered tiling over the existing countertops? If you don't like or want traditional ceramic tile, you can select 12" x 12" granite tiles can be used with very thin grout lines, and if you find a dark-colored grout close to the granite color, you have the look (and great heat- and stain-resistant features) of granite at a fraction of the cost - the tiles may run you around $10-$15 per square foot, which is in line with new laminate. Since you're setting a new sink anyway, it might work pretty well. Just be sure to consider the 1/2" or so additional thickness this layer adds to the countertop height.)

Try these..our builder wanted an arm and a leg to install slide out shelves for the floor to ceiling cabinet, so I went to the hardware store and got these for under $10 each, and installed them myself...didn't even need DH for assistance. They give you access to the stuff in the back, which otherwise, at least in my kitchen, would probably never see the light of day again. These were the right size for our cabinet which is 24" deep, and I saw other sizes, so you might find just the right ones. Our shelves pop out, so it was easy to screw in the guides. Good luck.... and we still want to see the wonderful bargain sink!!

Granite tiles, uh? little grout? sounds interesting. I really like the look of tile but the thought of having to keep the grout clean and possibly re-grout every few years has discouraged me. But I think I had read where I can tile over the formica, uh? I am going to check that out, thanks Terry.
Re: removing my upper cupboards, the cupboard above the stove only houses the fan hood stuff. but the cupboard, (I am facing the stove,) just to my right houses my dinner plates et al. so I was thinking of just removing the cupboard above the stove and the little narrow ones just to the left.
I will get a picture of my sink on site soon.

If you haven't seen the prayer forum, thought I would add this here.

I just heard from Darius, she is in the hospital. Yesterday morning she was having problems breathing. Drove herself to the hospital, in Hiwassee Ga. About 16 miles from home.
She sat in the truck about 15 minutes before going inside,( trying to decide if she really need to go in) they had her in a bed within minutes.

They ruled out a heart attack with blood work. Have given her lots of test. She is still having some problems breathing and is on oxygen. and doing the breathing thing. She might get to go home tomorrow or Wednesday.

She is going to STOP smoking. Darius is a tough lady, but she needs our prayers now.

Thanks .. lizh .. for the info ..

Quiting smokin' ... won't be too much of an easy pursuit for her, I fear.
Darius strikes me to be one, that has probably been smokin' since, gosh knows when ...

Again, thanks for the alert ..

(Anastatia, please forgive my runnin' on so, here on your thread .. ? .. )

- Magpye

I'm so glad you posted about Darius, Liz . Thank you.

We had the home's original light grey Formica counter (complete with the little boomerang pattern). There were stains on there I could not get out with anything, straight bleach included. I even let a bleach-saturated paper towel sit on the stains and they wouldn't come out. Boy am I glad to be rid of that old thing!

thanks for posting re:Darius.

I'm baaaack... Not as healthy as I'd like (see my post in the prayer forum thread for alll the gory details).

Grout in kitchen countertop tiles is usually a pain, to kep clean, and/or to keep from washing out over time. However, I have perfected a solution. I'm too tired to type it tonight but if anyone's interested, let me know.

Magpie, I'm 64 and didn't start smoking until I was well past 46, other than a few unpleasant trail puffs as a teenager. I'll make it, it will just be fifficult because I'm hard-headed.

Heehee, if you use really dark grout, it doesn't show the stains, etc. Thus, not much cleaning. Darius, I'm so glad to see you're back in business here at DG!! I'm a puffer too so I know the difficulties of quitting that nasty habit. I've tried almost everything available short of crazy gluing my lips shut.

Back to the subject at hand, we used black grout for our black floor tile in the bathroom, and it still looks great, hasn't faded or washed away (not that I'm such a zealous floor washer upper) so if you match the grout to the granite tiles it shouldn't really be a problem. I don't know about putting tile over the existing countertop, I suspect you'd have to rough it up a bit in order for the adhesive to hold well. I LOVE doing tile work...if I were younger and my knees weren't shot, I'd do it for pay. Well..... for BIG pay. LOL

GOOD to see ya baaaaack darius ...

I have no doubt that you'll pull it off - - and with flying colors, to boot !!!!!!

Even 22 years of those things .. no doubt, is robbin' yourself (your lungs) .. of some
mighty valuable oxygen - and therefore, weakening your heart !!

And we talk about the price of fuel we must have, in order to go putt-puttin' around
and about, every where we may wanta go - and here we are, our air is free .. and we
outrageously and willingly pollute and rob ourselves of valuable free air .. !
(And we refer to ourselves, as the 'intelligent' life forms) hah .. Go figger! .. Hee Hee

Your life, its meaning, and contribution .. in and to, this ol world, Darius .. is far too
important, to let it idle by fueled with poisons!

Just apply that HH'd'ness (now, you said it, not me - hee) .. to putting them thangs down,
and leavin' 'em be .. to kill off the lab mice - not YOU, Darius !!

Is truly most wonderful to see you peckin' about .. and roaming the 'halls' of DG again, too !!

- Magpye

If you buy grout that contains latex, it's easier to keep clean - it has a slightly rubbery consistency instead of the gritty and porous texture of traditional grout. The latex grout is a little more expensive, but if your grout lines are thin, you're not going to use that much, so the increased expense is nominal. If you can't find the latex grout, you can also buy clear grout sealer - comes in a "pen" type applicator and once your grout is dry, you trace the grout lines with it and let it dry.

And yes, the darker the grout, the easier it is to keep it looking nice - cleaning is still required, but it won't show stains like white or off-white grout does ;o)

Darius, we're very glad you're back!

Okay, no one asked, but here's the secret to grout on a counter top, regardless of type of grout used.

When you have wet grout in an area about 2 foot square, dump a handful of dry grout on top of the area. Make a fat ball of cloth and vigorously rub the dry grout int the wet, over and over in a circular motion. You will reduce the dry grout to a sand. Brush it off and add more, until the grout will hold no more dry grout. This hardens and burnishes the grout so it will not absorb water, spills, etc.

It's a bit easier on wide grout joints like 1/4 inch but takes a LOT more elbow grease. Your efforts will be amply rewarded in the long run. If you rubbed in enough dry grout, it won't stain and a sealer is not necessary.

Darius, that's interesting. My DH used to work for a tile mfgr and our last house looked like a tile showroom (we joked) but in all that tile laying, I've never heard of that trick.

However, your mention of sand reminded me that the latex grout I was trying to describe is more commonly called non-sanded grout ;o) So thanks for blowing the dust off some unused brain cells (*grin*)

Terry, it works with non-sanded grout, too. I learned it from an old Japanese man.

Oh no. Don't tell me he taught you ambidexterity with this technique. "Wax on, wax off...."

LOL, not the same Japanese man, but that was a funny movie!

probably the best solution to maintenance free tile grout is to use the vinyl type grout. The caveat is don't just bring your wallet...bring the keys to the bank vault. runs about a buck a foot for a 1/4 inch average grout line. Does last like a pink bunny though!

edited to add: glad to see you baaaack Darius!

This message was edited Nov 17, 2004 1:17 PM