Well, I received Margaret's wonderful box today. Thank you Margaret for the wonderful fall items. Margaret sent: A fall motif placemat a light-up pumpkin a scarecrow door hanger another scarecrow figue a pumpkin tealight. 12 apeldorn elite tulip bulbs a cinnamon fern a hot buttered rum candle halloween napkins halloween wind sock hibiscus pattern serving plate and tray Some chocolates that seem to have disappeared but I know they were here :) seeds: aquilegia vulgaris winter squash gourmet pepper Thanks so much, Margaret, I hope things have settled down for you and that life is treating you well. I'm glad you have joined our group! Hope everyone is having a comforting, enjoyable autumn. Things have turned cool here for now. We are having temps in the 30's tonight as well. Stay warm. Theresa

Yes, we did it ourselves. As I mentioned above, we used a spiral cut saw (a RotoZip) and a carbide grinding bit. I think a router (with carbide straight cut bit) would also work well). Disconnected everything (well, almost. Some of the faucet parts were pretty well stuck and we ended up just cutting around them) and supported the sink from underneath. Traced the new sink template and went to town with the Rotozip. It was really pretty easy. I'd say the biggest thing was the large amount of dust generated by the cutting. We had one person following behind the saw with the shopvac and there was still lots of mess. Nothing insurmountable but be prepared-take everything out of the cabinets etc. Other notes: -If you have the adjacent soap dishes (see old sinks above) the sink we used was one of the only ones readily available at Home Depot/Lowes (it was actually at Lowes) that would cover everything. Your basic oval drop in wouldn't have covered the soap dish. I'm sure there are LOTS more options online and from plumbing suppliers but my mom didn't check out those venues and really liked the Cimmarron anyway (I also think it looks great). -The old sink was HEAVY. Make sure its well supported underneath before you start cutting. We also started by trying to cut out just the sink bowl but the cultured marble is much thicker right by the bowl-our cutting bit wasn't long enough and it was very slow. It was much more successful to follow the template outline which was a little farther out. LMK if you have any other questions! BTW-My mom saw other homes in their 30 year old tract that had done this which was where she got the idea-I'd never thought of it either!

I've been using both ABS and PVC for over 25 years and in different places across the US, each with different rules and regulations, most of which is not based in solid science. ABS hands down beats PVC in direct sun and also under homes in indirect sunlight. In Hawaii, PVC becomes brittle within a year. It pits, shatters, cracks and crumbles. ABS doesn't do any of that. As an inspector I see this every day. An ABS roof vent pipe can last 15 years in heat and sun without being painted. ABS is more expensive than PVC. While ABS is not used for water pipe, PVC and not CPVC is still being used as water supply in Hawaii. Both should be outlawed as toxic for water. Sched. 80 PVC fairs much better than Sched. 40. Sched. 80 is grey and a bit softer. Yes about the primer purple for inspections. On Farms and ranches you can see crumbled remains of long runs of original PVC, right next to newer and flexible and safer HDPE tubing. If one looks close at larger diameter ABS, you can sometimes see its "foam" core. Like one comment said - If you hit ABS with a hammer, it's unlikely you'll break it, but try that with PVC and it will break easily - shatter even. Once a plumber from Australia told me that some places banned ABS because of the gases released when it burns in a house fire or when it's cut too fast by plumbers. I'm sure the health of plumbers was not on a politicians mind when banning ABS. ABS will burn continually once it starts, whereas PVC supposedly self extinguishes. Not sure that burning carpet and every other thing in a house fire is any less toxic. But to answer the question - ABS is much more expensive (in Hawaii anyway) than PVC. And maybe in the end its the same because you'll buy and replace 3 to 4 times PVC to 1 time ABS. And seriously, it's just plain greed when a 3" ABS cap fitting that used to cost 2-5 dollars is now over $20 in 2024.

If you want to put the money elsewhere, just put tile in the bathroom. Bathrooms are generally treated differently than the rest of the home without being a design faux pas. I am remodeling and having wood everywhere except the bathroom floors. Although the current green rug isn't the most attractive, it appears you have other more pressing design expenditures and it isn't a biological hazard the way the bathroom rug would be. You can make a decision on the rest of the flooring when your budget allows - and the different bathroom flooring wouldn't look odd if you change everything else or if you wanted to change at that time, it's a relatively small bathroom floor so additional costs would be minimal. But I would think a separate bathroom floor would be perfectly fine since the bathroom is a completely separate area.