The Handy Wench

The Handy Wench I've enjoyed DIY since before it was known as that. Let me tackle your Honey Do list, small to large. Please browse my albums. Dexter Chelsea

From installing a towel rack to building a greenhouse, I can do it. Reasonable rates, and I WILL call you back.

drains. !@ #$% drains. they are the worst to install.the. absolute. worst.
05/18/2026

drains.
!@ #$% drains. they are the worst to install.
the. absolute. worst.

05/17/2026

setting tile is a pretty zen activity. cutting it isn't , lol, but setting it is.
I'm pretty delighted with the curb. the uniformity of the wall lay out makes me happy too.
getting there...

getting to the good stuff, tiling.the prep seems to take forever and then it all comes together semi-quickly at the end....
05/15/2026

getting to the good stuff, tiling.
the prep seems to take forever and then it all comes together semi-quickly at the end.
floor went in day before yesterday, feature wall 2 days prior to that.
today the shower floor and drain go in, and I do the final sand on all the drywall, then paint it with sealer.
in between all that there will be several trips up and down the stairs carrying down trash and/or items I am done using.
Tomorrow is tiling the shower walls. fingers crossed I can get it done in a single day.

yesterday was cabinet assembly day. the company is Lanae and the quality is quite good. Assembly was very straightforwar...
05/05/2026

yesterday was cabinet assembly day. the company is Lanae and the quality is quite good. Assembly was very straightforward. as far as I can tell, it is all genuine wood (except for the white melamine outer skin).

I do have some issues to take up with the palleting and handlers, however. looks like someone jabbed a fork in one end, another was smashed (no damage inside luckily), and the pallet was horrible. nails sticking up, slats completely split, slats missing.

anyway. I set up an assembly table and got to work. one 3 drawer unit, one vanity cabinet, a huge base cabinet that'll be the bottom half of a linen closet, and a wall unit that'll sit on top of the base cabinet completing the linen cabinet. that linen base is 53" tall and 24" and you don't realize how big that actually is until you are trying to maneuver it on top of a table that isn't big enough, lol.

getting excited about installing these.
today the rest of the Hardie board goes onto the floor, and I'll finish the banding in the shower.
tomorrow I might actually cut tile, yay!

progress continues. slower than I'd like but hey, this ol' bod has a lot of miles...Hardie backer is up for the feature ...
05/02/2026

progress continues. slower than I'd like but hey, this ol' bod has a lot of miles...
Hardie backer is up for the feature wall of large format tile. thee tiles will be 24 x 48.
shower is being waterproofed, and at the suggestion of a friend, I'll be bringing that waterproofing out over the floor outside of the shower.
began laying the Hardie board on the floor, mortar coat first then screwing it down to keep it in place while the mortar dries, but my wrists had had enough and then my battery died, lol.
some working needs to be done by a plumber, so complicated rerouting of both supply and waste lines, so it's probably better to wait until that is done to cut those pieces for the floor.

moving right along.

waterproofing the shower.ran out of steam on friday, lol. this next week will see some big leaps forward. might even beg...
04/27/2026

waterproofing the shower.
ran out of steam on friday, lol. this next week will see some big leaps forward. might even begin tiling on friday, fingers crossed.

feature wall substrate going up while I wait for the mudding to dry.hoping to get goboard up today and shower pan down.
04/24/2026

feature wall substrate going up while I wait for the mudding to dry.
hoping to get goboard up today and shower pan down.

this situation makes me wicked mad.what are you looking at? this is the light bar over the vanity. the white rectangle w...
04/24/2026

this situation makes me wicked mad.

what are you looking at? this is the light bar over the vanity. the white rectangle was where the 8 light fixture was mounted. the dark slit is a hole in the drywall where they pulled the wires through to provide electricity to the fixture.

building code says that you put in a gang box which is a housing that attaches to a stud in the wall, usually, that the wires feed through, and to which the light fixture is attached. it isolates the wires away from any insulation, and fixes them to a point in the wall.

these builders can't even be bothered to put in a gang box. they just feed the wire through the wall, use 2 screws into the drywall to hold the fixture in place, and rely on that to support the entire thing. I see this all the dang time. it's lazy and probably illegal.

Progression of the closet to a shower and the addition of a wall and door.closet is torn out, doorway wall is up, drywal...
04/23/2026

Progression of the closet to a shower and the addition of a wall and door.

closet is torn out, doorway wall is up, drywall is on and mudding has begun. I enjoy the mudding process these days. I've learned enough and done it enough, by this point, that it's a bit of a zen experience. the mud smells faintly of shellfish though, so that's a bit of a drawback, lol.

I picked up a *new tool* and I am in love. lots of inside corners in the linen closet area so I thought I'd give the corner mud tool a chance. hoping it would eliminate wrestling with sanding in a clean corner. boy oh boy, it makes a perfect corner and now I want to do all of the corners, lol.

more mudding today, assembling a couple of the vanity cabinets. inner to open the wall and figure out how to do the supply and waste lines to take the vanity from one sink to two.

plumbing, oh how you try me.35 junctions that needed sweating. no leaks. I'm so glad this part is over. it's not pretty ...
04/17/2026

plumbing, oh how you try me.
35 junctions that needed sweating. no leaks. I'm so glad this part is over. it's not pretty but none of it is visible in the end.

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Jackson, MI
49203

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