9 December 2017
Work is progressing at the house. We have definitely shifted from repairing and restoring parts of the house to building and installing new stuff. Over the past month we have focused on finishing and testing the new drain and vent pipes.
It's nice to be able to get on the roof through an open window. But at one point this became a family affair that included our outdoor cat.
We wanted to test the drain pipes prior to our inspector doing it because we didn't want any surprises and it's easier to fix the drain pipes if needed before other water pipes are in the way. We put a test ball in the pipe exiting the crawlspace and filled all the pipes up with water.
Amy's brother Mark and his wife Julie came for a visit! And like most other visitors, we put them to work. He's on the roof putting water down one of our vent pipes while the rest of us checked around for leaks and made sure there were no problems with the test ball .
Everything that mattered held on water tight except for one pipe connection that I had forgotten to glue together. We're ready for the DWV inspection!
In order to make it easier to work below the house, Amy and I installed and wired 12 lights in our crawlspace. We still have water supply lines, all the other electrical wiring, vapor barrier and insulation, and HVAC to do and this will save a lot of hassling with flashlights and floodlights.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my father-in-law Bob and I built a work stand for the claw foot tub. With Mark and Julie's help, the four of us brought the tub in to the dining room and set it on the stand so we could clean it off and prep it for a new coat of paint. Before they left, Amy and Julie had gotten 90% of the work done!
Our daughter Sam was also here over for Thanksgiving. She, Bob, Amy and I installed some fold down attic stairs.
We also replaced some siding on the west side of the bathroom addition that was in pretty bad shape.
After we repaired the rotted wood, we applied some water sealant on the mud sill and sill beam it to help protect it. We did not put roofing felt back over the wall sheathing because the inspector is going to make us put insulation and an air barrier on the inside of the wall. Air needs to be able to circulate to help the walls dry out if they get wet and in my opinion sandwiching the wood wall between two vapor barriers/retarders would be a bad idea.
A while back when we were putting the floors back together in the parlor and back bedroom on the first floor, I had ordered some new cut nails. But through most of this process, we have been saving the old cut nails whenever we can. The new nails are expensive, and as it turns out, generally thicker than the old ones for the same length. They are also softer than I was expecting. So I don't think we will buy any more new cut nails unless we run out of old ones. The old nails have to be in pretty good shape though to be able to reuse them. And nearly all of them require some straightening on a hard flat surface. I wish I had an anvil.
The wall is done. Some more water seal will protect this area until we are ready for priming and paint.
For water supply, we have decided to go with PEX-a using expansion connections. Uponor is one of the bigger name brands for this product. It is also know by Wirsbro and ProPEX. Instead of using crimp rings or clamping bands, you expand the pipe and a collar, slip the fitting in, then let the pipe and collar shrink back down around the fitting. The ID of the fittings are larger so you get more flow through it. You also cannot dry fit anything together. So no surprises when you turn the water on. Click HERE for a video by Matt Risinger that describes the product and connections. We have decided to go with a hybrid manifold (sub-manifold) distribution system with re-circulation pumps.
The one major downside to plastic pipes? We need to stay on top of critter control. Amy and I spent about 15 minutes trying to get a squirrel out of this soffit. We eventually gave up and I put a piece of wire cloth over the hole like a flap so the squirrel could leave but not get back in.
This coming week most of the Uponor ProPEX will arrive. I had to order it because none of the big box stores or plumbing supply houses near us carry it. They all sell the Viega/Sharkbite PEX which uses crimp rings.
Work is progressing at the house. We have definitely shifted from repairing and restoring parts of the house to building and installing new stuff. Over the past month we have focused on finishing and testing the new drain and vent pipes.
It's nice to be able to get on the roof through an open window. But at one point this became a family affair that included our outdoor cat.
We wanted to test the drain pipes prior to our inspector doing it because we didn't want any surprises and it's easier to fix the drain pipes if needed before other water pipes are in the way. We put a test ball in the pipe exiting the crawlspace and filled all the pipes up with water.
Amy's brother Mark and his wife Julie came for a visit! And like most other visitors, we put them to work. He's on the roof putting water down one of our vent pipes while the rest of us checked around for leaks and made sure there were no problems with the test ball .
Everything that mattered held on water tight except for one pipe connection that I had forgotten to glue together. We're ready for the DWV inspection!
In order to make it easier to work below the house, Amy and I installed and wired 12 lights in our crawlspace. We still have water supply lines, all the other electrical wiring, vapor barrier and insulation, and HVAC to do and this will save a lot of hassling with flashlights and floodlights.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my father-in-law Bob and I built a work stand for the claw foot tub. With Mark and Julie's help, the four of us brought the tub in to the dining room and set it on the stand so we could clean it off and prep it for a new coat of paint. Before they left, Amy and Julie had gotten 90% of the work done!
Our daughter Sam was also here over for Thanksgiving. She, Bob, Amy and I installed some fold down attic stairs.
We also replaced some siding on the west side of the bathroom addition that was in pretty bad shape.
We had to replace some of the inside corner trim, mud sill, and sill beam. A lot of rain water splashes up from the ground in this corner.
After we repaired the rotted wood, we applied some water sealant on the mud sill and sill beam it to help protect it. We did not put roofing felt back over the wall sheathing because the inspector is going to make us put insulation and an air barrier on the inside of the wall. Air needs to be able to circulate to help the walls dry out if they get wet and in my opinion sandwiching the wood wall between two vapor barriers/retarders would be a bad idea.
We put some flashing behind joints in the siding.
A while back when we were putting the floors back together in the parlor and back bedroom on the first floor, I had ordered some new cut nails. But through most of this process, we have been saving the old cut nails whenever we can. The new nails are expensive, and as it turns out, generally thicker than the old ones for the same length. They are also softer than I was expecting. So I don't think we will buy any more new cut nails unless we run out of old ones. The old nails have to be in pretty good shape though to be able to reuse them. And nearly all of them require some straightening on a hard flat surface. I wish I had an anvil.
The wall is done. Some more water seal will protect this area until we are ready for priming and paint.
For water supply, we have decided to go with PEX-a using expansion connections. Uponor is one of the bigger name brands for this product. It is also know by Wirsbro and ProPEX. Instead of using crimp rings or clamping bands, you expand the pipe and a collar, slip the fitting in, then let the pipe and collar shrink back down around the fitting. The ID of the fittings are larger so you get more flow through it. You also cannot dry fit anything together. So no surprises when you turn the water on. Click HERE for a video by Matt Risinger that describes the product and connections. We have decided to go with a hybrid manifold (sub-manifold) distribution system with re-circulation pumps.
The one major downside to plastic pipes? We need to stay on top of critter control. Amy and I spent about 15 minutes trying to get a squirrel out of this soffit. We eventually gave up and I put a piece of wire cloth over the hole like a flap so the squirrel could leave but not get back in.
This coming week most of the Uponor ProPEX will arrive. I had to order it because none of the big box stores or plumbing supply houses near us carry it. They all sell the Viega/Sharkbite PEX which uses crimp rings.
Comments
Post a Comment