How hard can it get? Here is an example: In the state of Florida to become a Plumber you have to complete a four year apprenticeship before you are permitted to sit for the license exam. During the apprenticeship you have to work a minimum of 40hrs per week for 200weeks, which is four years less vacation time(any week inwhich you work less than 40 hrs does not count). At the end of each week you have to submit a timecard to the state apprenticeship board and the timecard details how many hours you worked in each catergory for that week. During that four years you have to also attend a four year state approved technical school or college course where you study the Plumbing Code, plumbing theory, and a little bit on OSHA, workmans comp and necessary licensing requirements. At the end of the four years you get a Diploma from the Tech school, a certificate of completion from the state apprenticeship board and a letter of recommendation from the Master Plumber that you worked under. You then pay a $250 non-refundable testing fee and you are given a list of 12 books that you must bring with you for the exam. (The books are another $500, and given that they are rewritten about every 18 to 24 months to remain current, you have to buy new books). You then have to wait until the exams are being given (Only twice a year) and you have to travel to Tallahassee or Miami to take the exam. They allow you two full 8 hour days to complete the exam and statistically, 70% will fail the first time they take the exam. If you fail, you have to wait until the next testing cycle and pay the testing fee again before you can sit for the exam. I shall never forget my first night in the apprenticeship class. I too had been a DIY'er, who became a handyman, then went on to work maintenance in 3 large motel/conference centers, two hospitals and a municipal school district where we did all the maintenance in 9 public school buildings. I walked into the apprenticeship class room feeling really cock sure of myself. I had been doing plumbing work for nearly 15 years, how hard could this be? The instructor walked in and went to his desk. He says "I see we have a couple new faces, lets all introduce ourselves" and we made with the usual introductory small talk for about 10 minutes then the instructor says, "in honor of our new students, lets have a simple quiz tonight, and as soon as your done, you can go home early" He then opened a 4"dia PVC tube, took out a stack of building prints and began passing them out, one to each student. As he was passing them out he says "You guys will note that these are all simple one story 3br 3-1/2 bath on slab and I have marked a spot in the back yard where the septic tank will be. Your project is to do a complete DWV layout and annotate all pipe sizes and cleanout locations, then do an Isometric on a sheet of typing paper. As soon as your done you can lay your work on my desk and go home". One of the guys was done in 45minutes and perhaps half the class was done within the first hour while I sat there with a total of one line on my paper and the next week when we reviewed the work, I found out that was wrong. Finally two hours had passed and the class was over, so I turned my paper in, still with my one line... and I was feeling as dumb as a box of rocks. The instructor glanced at my print and says "not as easy as one might think is it? But don't worry, if you take the classes serious in 6 months you will be going home in 45minutes too."

I did three bathrooms in my previous home and about to do the master in this house. - Are you going to change the layout of the bathroom - where the toilet, bath amd vanity are now? If you keep the plumbing where it is, but just change all the components to new ones, it will be a lot cheaper than moving plumbing to new positions. - Will you have a tub/shower combo? That will be a whole lot cheaper than building a separate tile shower. If you want a glass door that will run about $500 or more. - Skylights are cheap but installation can be expensive, so get more bids on this if you are not satisfied. - If you buy an all-in-one free-standing vanity, like this one it will be a lot cheaper than ordering a custom cabinet and buying the sink and countertop separately. Depending on the size you need, these units can look built-in. - Ceramic tile is not expensive - look at your local Lowes and Home Depot. They've come a long way in tile design choices, including all kinds of cute trim pieces. I love The Houzz site, you can use it to get ideas for the tile look you want and you can show a tile guy the pictures to follow. I agree that, especially if you are not changing the basic layout, you can be your own GC, or project manager, and hire these people yourselves: Plumber - install new tub, toilet, sink Electrician - new outlets, lighting fixtures Tiler - tile floor, vanity backsplash, tub walls Painter Handyman - find one who is experienced with skylights. Also for towel rods, medicine cabinet and other miscellaneous items. The downside of managing the project yourselves is that you will need to be organized, buy all the pieces, either at stores or online, and you will need to spend time to be home frequently to coordinate things and talk to the contractors about what you want. If you are inclined, make a list of to-do items, measure the space, draw up a rudimentary plan, purchase everything in advance, get referrals to the contractors and get their bids and schedule. Hire them, make a schedule and go for it. If you don't want to tackle it, search for a GC that does some of the work himself instead of just being a manager. For example, use a plumbing or electrical contractor who will do work AND manage the remodel for you. They are out there. You might have to call and interview a dozen people. Ask ALL your neighbors up and down the street.

Oh my, Brigitte, I'm so thrilled you're keeping the cozy, wonderful, relaxing front porch. You're going to love it. Trust me! Now, about that powder room... Do you really want to give up a bathroom, right there in your little creative paradise, for the small amount of storage it would give you? What if you want to wash your face and hands? What if nature calls? What if you want to brush your teeth and comb your hair before tackling another four hours of crafting? I think you have the perfect relaxing, crafting, creating, thinking, reading, tea-drinking, letter writing, movie watching, visiting, music listening, girly-girls' meeting house ever. Just as the porch is vital to making it a personal get-away space and not just a storage shed in the back yard...keeping the bathroom will add the next level of civilized comfort. You could go all out and glam it up to your heart's content, and it's so small I'm sure you could do it even on a tight budget. Big medicine cabinet/mirror, sparkly light. Beautiful paint or wall-paper. Copy any era you wish. Paint the ceiling a wild color and add a tiny crystal chandelier! My crafting room is 12x12, give or take and inch or two. I finally come to the conclusion my crafting/sewing/quilting "Ladies Parlour" is only so big. I don't want to be squeezed in. I want room for my mind to create. It is not a secondary craft store. I have downsized - and am still in the process - to have room for what I work on (one project at a time for me) and still have room to sit and visit, or watch feeder birds out the window, or enjoy a DVD and a snack with a neighbor. Of course, these are just my thoughts, and I'm sure you'll make the right decisions for you and how you want to use your room. I have two Rubbermaid totes with fabric. My personal rule: No more fabric until all this is used up. I gave away décor items I had no walls to put on. I gave away dozens of sewing patterns I'll never use - and still have more to purge. I am giving more than half of my scrapbooking supplies and papers to a friend. I'm loving the room more than more. Next on the chopping block? Vintage 1940s-1960s hats. Lovely hats. Beautiful hats. But I have no where to display them and they are simply sucking up space in the boxes. My gardening/history/birding books? They are all staying!

I'm in Ca. I visit a nursing home often , no woman is ever in a skirt. They wear slacks or jogging pants. I have 5 small elastic waist skirts(cleaning out things I don't wear) I'm taking to thrift shop Monday, can't imagine having 1 on in a wheelchair, could get caught any number of ways, if diapers need changing the skirt would be in the way. Unless they are in a very small nursing home ,likely the staff would steal them right away. If she can use the bathroom by herself, chances are part of the skirt would end up in the toilet, most are pretty full &rather long, hard to get out of the way, kind of have to bunch them up & good chance person without good balance might fall. I've visited over 2 dozen nursing homes over the years & my folks were in 1 at different times for total of over 5 months & never saw a resident with a skirt on.