Restore a historic home.

“When I flushed a toilet, water would stream down the walls below. The two full bathrooms on the second floor had the original marble sinks and porcelain bathtubs and toilets. Fixtures like that can last forever, but every inch of brass pipe had eroded, become brittle and had to be replaced. I got bids from several contractors, and all came in around $25,000 — a lot higher than I expected. It made more sense to do the work myself. I figured it would take 30 to 40 hours, plus the cost of materials. I spent $1,000 on supply pipes (the ones behind walls) made of CPVC plastic. For the visible sections, I stayed true to history and used threaded brass with chrome fittings at a cost of $2,500. Doing this myself required time and improvising. I showered at the gym for a month.”