Even a Novice Can Learn a New Plumbing Trick

My daughter had a rather unfortunate accident with one of the upstairs bathroom sinks. She uses this bathroom for cleaning up her paintbrushes and making an occasional pot of tea for herself to sip while painting. Two weeks ago, she was using the electric tea kettle in the bathroom. Once she poured the boiling water into the tea cup, she poured the rest of the super-heated water into the sink. The porcelain of the sink was likely very cold. When the boiling water met the cold porcelain, my daughter heard a loud pop and then noticed a long cracked where she had poured. Not a good moment.

the old sink after she removed it from the cabinetry

Needless to say, she was devastated that this happened and wanted to do what she could to right the situation. This daughter is not shy in the least when it comes to trying something new. She asked if she could try taking out the old sink and replace it with a new one. I knew she'd be careful, so I thought I should let her see what she could do.

she used the turkey roaster to catch water as she unhooked the trap

Believe it or not, this young lady (with zero plumbing skills but very good youtube skills) not only took the old sink out, but with the help of her sister, she replaced it with a new one from Home Depot.

the opening in the counter after the old sink was taken out -- she "caught" the sink in a pile of quilts

My kids inspire me constantly. They tackle jobs from which I shy away. They teach themselves new skills routinely. Perhaps my husband and I did something right when raising them. Or perhaps we just got kids who are not afraid to try.

the brand new sink installed, including plumbing

I have no idea how much we saved on hiring a plumber. When my daughter asked to do this, my initial thought was that she might feel empowered by learning another skill. My second thought, now that she has done this with an under mount sink, is to have her work with me this summer to replace 2 over mount sinks in another bathroom that are in bad repair. Maybe this old dog can learn a new trick with the help of one of her pups.


You know, youtube is a great resource for all kinds of DIY. Someone out there has done just the thing I'm trying to learn and recorded just how to do the job. It may take a few different videos for me to hit upon the very one that is well-presented. But when I do, it's like having that know-it-all neighbor giving me the how-to's over the fence in my backyard. My kids have grown up with youtube and tend to rely on it even more than I do. I'm trying to move with the times.