Home Improvement and the Band-Aid Scale of Difficulty

The easiest way to lessen the cost of any home project is to do it yourself. Now, you might be saying that you are not handy enough, or maybe that you are just unsure of the difficulty of a project. I'm here to tell you that with the proper equipment anyone can be a "handyman" with the system I have devised. Each project is rated for its difficulty based upon the tools necessary and the number of band aids needed to finish the job. I call this the Band-Aid Scale of Difficulty.

For example, your bathroom sink is leaking and old and you need to replace it. Not a very difficult task. This will require a pry bar, an adjustable wrench, at least one screwdriver, some silicone caulk, a putty knife, and a new sink - of course.

First, you will need to turn off the water. The valve for this is generally located somewhere beneath the sink. For the handy, this is a very simple task. For the not so handy, you may bump your head either going in or coming out. While this does not usually require a band-aid, it can require stitches for the clumsy, so be careful!

Once you have shut the water off, you can begin to disconnect the pipes and drainage lines. Use the adjustable wrench to perform this task, turning in a counterclockwise direction, but watch the knuckles - ouch! Bump just one knuckle the right way and you need a band-aid. The band-aid count is now one.

After you have disconnected the water lines, you can remove the sink. Use the pry bar and gently lift the sink from its seated position in the countertop. Now pry bars can be tricky for the un-handy. Here you can easily slip, and again, scrape those tender knuckles, resulting in band-aid number two.

Before you can install your new sink, you will need to remove the caulk left behind by your old sink. You can do this by carefully scraping the surface with your putty knife. These tools can be a little on the sharp side, so one wrong move and you can easily slice a decent chunk out of a finger. The score is now band-aid's three, do-it-yourselfer zero.

Now you are ready to seat your new sink. Simply apply new silicone caulk around the bottom edge of the sink and set it into place. Press firmly to create a tight seal with the countertop and reconnect the necessary water and drainage lines. Once you have done this, and your new sink has been set firmly in place, you can turn the water back on at the valve. Don't forget, watch your head!

In the end, replacing a bathroom sink has a difficulty rating of three on the Band-Aid Scale, for the average homeowner. As you can plainly see, you can easily gauge the difficulty many home improvement projects in this way. All it takes is a little forethought, and a lot of band-aids and you too can become a do-it-yourselfer, just like me!