I’ve got running water in my kitchen! This is not a bad thing (it only runs when I want it to). Four days ago I wasn’t so sure that would be the case.

A while back I decided to get rid of my 23-year-old kitchen counter. Of course you can’t have a new counter and keep the 23-year-old sink and faucet. The disposer was also in serious need of replacing. So, I purchased the new stuff, and signed up with a contractor to install the counter. In order to save some money (I hate to think what a plumber charges per hour), my brother and I ripped out the old stuff, and had planned on installing the faucet and garbage disposer ourselves. After all, Steve and I have both watched a lot of This Old House episodes, and the two of us replaced his garbage disposer last winter.

I had also been thinking about removing the wallpaper in the kitchen. Since doing that before the new counter was installed would be a lot easier, we started that after we removed the old counter and sink. After about 20 minutes into that job, we discovered there were two layers of wallpaper, and the bottom layer had primer on top. Ugh. With the top layer, the primer and the bottom layer, it was slow going. You pretty much have to make three passes with the steamer to get everything off. So far about half of the paper is removed, with the rest to do. Sunday evening I took a look at my disheveled kitchen and thought “what have I done?”

Monday the contractors came out and installed the counter. I ended up getting corian, with a molded-in corian sink — which look great, but the way. Last night Steve and I worked on the plumbing. It took us over four hours, but when we were done, there were no leaks and everything worked like a charm.

• Hose clamps and plumbing parts from the hardware store: $21.20
• New faucet set: $220
• Having your brother help you with the plumbing: Priceless

Thanks Steve!

Still to do: finish removing the wallpaper, paint, tile a backsplash… Hmmm, that old, marked-up flooring won’t look so hot next to the new counter…