For instance...medicine cabinets. Here's a picture of the really rusty, yucky medicine cabinet in the home I am remodeling. I always assumed these types of recessed med cabinets are cemented and attached forever into the wall...but that is not the case. There are four little screws, two on each side wall that you screw out and the whole thing should just come right out.
UNLESS....unless there are several coats of paint and the paint has sealed that cabinet in there forever. Ok, well maybe not forever but at least until you get a blade and cut all the way around it and pry it loose gently with a screwdriver.
I never in my life wanted to know all of this about a medicine cabinet, or how to remove rust or how to spray on a sealer and how to spray on white paint, etc. I've been checking out blogs where others have re-done the medicine cabinet...but I think I'm just going to buy a new one as by the time I buy the rust remover and steel wool and sealer and paint plus my time it would have just been cheaper to buy one.
Ok...so here's a fun fact that I never knew about medicine cabinets and would have been ok going the rest of my life not knowing. Do you see in the photo of the rusty cabinet above there is a little slit in the metal about one quarter up from the bottom of the cabinet? Guess what that is for?? Give up? It's for depositing of razor blades. You know back in the day when men shaved using one of these?
Seriously, you would take the used up razor blade and slide it into that little slit for disposal. I haven't taken this one off the wall yet, but I hope I am not going to find this when I do. Pretty gross huh?
I showed my sister Lisa this photo and first thing she wondered was, "What about when there's a hurricane or tornado and the house gets blown away and the medicine cabinet becomes separated from the house? That means there are all these sharp razor blades blowing around and they could kill someone!" That's my sister! I would never have thought of that at all. I think I would be much more worried about a semi-truck trailer hitting me than a razor blade...but she worries about everything!
So I'm thinking of replacing that ugly, rusty one above with maybe one like this? I'm not really sure I'm loving the dark wood, but believe it or not, this one is only $39.00. I know that normally, you get what you paid for...but I have read the reviews and everyone who bought this one seems pretty darned please with it.I'm hoping I will be able to remove the old one without too much trouble and even if the paint peels or comes off I'm planning to have that bathroom painted anyway.
I'll let you know how that all turns out.
OH...and another thing that I am finding out way more than I ever wanted to know about are kitchen sinks. But I'll cover that one another day...for now I'm off to continue the hunt for the perfect recessed medicine cabinet that will fit my budget.
If any of you have any hints or ideas on replacing that ugly medicine cabinet feel free to let me know.
Very interesting. I had no idea and didn't realize there was a little slot in the medicine cabinet. I'm gonna check with my husband to see if he knew this. Love your post.
ReplyDeleteHe won't know. I asked my dad tonight and he didn't know about it. It's a cool thing though, don't you think?
DeleteYou have a big job there! Linda
ReplyDeleteOh gosh Linda...this is probably the easiest thing I'm going to have to do. Lots to fix up in this old house. But it's a labor of love....hope to share more photos in the future.
DeleteAh the joys of remodeling. It is amazing how each item you must deal with is like taking 3 credit college course with a non-credit lab. Home ownership sucks.
ReplyDeleteBTW one of the handiest tools I have found is a little Dremel (or Craftsman) high speed rotary tool. Buy a whole schmere of the little tools, even ones you don't think you will use. Every time I turn around I find some use for it. I had to put a new door knob set on the bathroom door. Naturally the new latch cylinder would not fit in the hole. The old Dremel had that ground out in a few minutes. Then the plate would fit in the chiseled out rectangle. Changed the tool to a small rotary rasp, zing zing, fit right in there.
You aren't kidding my friend! This has truly been a learning experience. I just keep thinking though that instead of researching kitchen sinks, gauges, bottom mount, top mount, etc...I would rather be reading blogs or writing blogs or watching movies on NetFlix...almost anything else!
DeleteA Dremel? Ok, going to have to go google that, brb. Oh...ok. I remember buying one of these for my ex-husband who used to be a gunsmith and worked on handguns and rifles. He used it a lot. I'll have to see if I can find one. I'm just thrilled that I recently bought a rechargeable drill. Soon I'll be wearing a toolbelt and spitting out my chewing tobacco!
Here is an example:
Deletehttp://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203040434/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=dremel+rotary+tool&storeId=10051
I am not recommending this one, just saying it is an example.
Usually around father's day Sears will have the Craftsmen version on sale. I searched it but the web site was having troubles.
The parentals added an addition to our house back in 1969 and they added a medicine cabinet that had the same little slot for the double edge blades. I used to love tossing the old blades in the slot. I'm sure there are hundreds of rusty old blades between the studs in that room!LOL Are you sure you NEED a medicine cabinet? I like mirrors, but if you need the storage,there are plenty of decent looking ones- including a completely mirrored one. That would be my choice, if I had to have one. Have fun searching for whatever you decide. :-) Sue
ReplyDeleteRust and old blades should be got ridden of as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteAbout a new medicine cabinet- it depends on the size you want and the room you're going to put it. If it's a small to medium cabinet and you're going to keep it in the bathroom - you"ll need a plastic one, and you"ll even be able to install it yourself. Good Luck!