Day 1141: home reno yang

And then there's the other thing that's consumed our time since Friday afternoon. You ever have one of those projects that: a) you didn't expect to have to do and b) seemed impervious to all your best efforts? This is one of those stories.

Our upstairs sinks had been backing up lately and wouldn't respond to anything we tried (including running an auger down the ventilation shaft for the kitchen sink), so we called a drain cleaning company that we've used before. This was going to be a one-hour job, max. 

The first thing that deviated from the plan was that the guys wanted to auger the drains from inside the house. Not so unusual--you take off the trap below the sink and snake the pipes--except that they had gone through the ventilation shaft before and that's what we were expecting. Oh well, no big deal, right?

If you haven't had this done, especially when a company uses a motorized/power auger, it spins pretty fast and when the guy retracts it from the pipes it can spray the greasy gunk that had been in the pipes around the inside of the cabinet. But the tech was diligent and used some cleaner to disinfect and clean up the mess. That's when our problem started.

He used a product called Fabuloso. We now refer to it as "horribloso" or "terribloso" because it smells awful. Even worse, if you have any sort of sensitivity or allergy to chemical solvents and perfumes (as we do), then this stuff puts a vice around your head and makes it hard to concentrate. Here's how we left the house that first night, despite nearly freezing temperatures. We had multiple widows open and every fan we owned was in use. 

For five straight days (ever since the drain company left around 3pm on Friday) we have been working to evict this stuff from our house. And when we say "straight" here's a recap of our efforts (many of them informed by tips picked up from the Internet):

• we scrubbed the insides of the cabinet with soapy water and separately with baking soda (only later did we read multiple places that the odor-absorbing properties of baking soda are a myth)
• we've sanded the insides four times, this seemed to help the most, the physical removal of the top layer of plywood
• we've applied many rounds of products to neutralize the perfume--hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, cheap vodka (that was a mistake because it caused a headache), and Borax
• we put on clay paint (because that is supposed to absorb odors) but that also was a mistake and was the cause of the fourth round of sanding
• we lit a Febreeze candle inside that added a vanilla smell to the overall miasma
• we're trying a number of odor-absorbers: charcoal, kitty litter, cut onions, and newsprint paper
• we also had short-lived efforts with a bowl of vinegar and coffee grounds (again, both noted for odor-absorbing prowess)

So where does that leave us? The smell is still with us but has eased somewhat. Here's how we leave the sink overnight with a host of odor-absorbers behind those closed doors.

Oh, and if that we're enough, the jostling from the drain company (taking off/putting back the trap) caused the seal where the drain connects to the underside of the sink to leak.

Taking off the silver ring (called the locknut) right below the leaky gasket required a specialized tool. This was part of the five trips we've made to Home Depot in the past four days.

On this replacement drain you can see the locknut more clearly and the little handles that the tool above is made to grab. The black ring above it is the gasket that had to be replaced. The drain company ruined ours when they overtightened everything when putting the parts back together.

There are a number of sites and videos on how to replace a sink drain. It's not overly complicated. If the sink's already installed (as in our case), you detach the plastic pipe, loosen the locknut, and lift the old strainer out of the sink. For installation you basically retrace your steps after first putting a good amount of plumber's putty around the strainer to make the seal on the inside of the sink. Once everything is tight you just trim away the excess putty.

Some putty naturally comes through the bottom and you remove the excess.

Then tighten, tighten, tighten the locknut and that pushes the gasket up to the sink to form a second seal (along with the putty).