In reply to wheelsmithy :
Do not waste time with steel or copper pipe. Pex is your friend! Makes all plumbing wonderfully simple. Pex on the water supply and PVC for drains.
Replace it all! Do it before all those walls are finished. Or you’ll be doing the finish work again!
In reply to frenchyd :
That's the plan. There was new in and out run from road to house a couple of years ago.
So, a positive note to start: The kitchen looks great.
Old school elbow grease. Sanding, priming, and two coats of expensive PPG canyon blue.
In other news, I bailed somewhere between 30 and 50 gallons of poo-water from the macerator resevoir to get here.
I do have power, and figure this bad boy gave up the ghost.
The above is more for me than youse guys. Anyone with knowledge of these things, please chime in, but my current plan is clean, replace, test, and move on.
Add an alarm when you replace the grinder pump!
In reply to OHSCrifle :
While I admit that that's a good idea, it's just not us. we may return to a land line only situation soon, and now that I know the beast, I'll check often.
Here's stuff:
The wooden door re-painted.
A shot of the recently painted kitchen door.
The bike and lawnmower in their recently cleaned, yet still rotting home, hereafter referred to as the lean-to. That looks wrong, but so does lean-too. Lean-two? 
And a couple of shots of full stables, the way it should be.
wheelsmithy said:In other news, I bailed somewhere between 30 and 50 gallons of poo-water from the macerator resevoir to get here.
I do have power, and figure this bad boy gave up the ghost.
The above is more for me than youse guys. Anyone with knowledge of these things, please chime in, but my current plan is clean, replace, test, and move on.
I have installed one of these in my old house that I now rent out. I would recommend you get a brand new one, over-sized and under warranty. Mine has been going strong for over 10 years and fingers crossed, will continue to do so.
Also, I would recommend you get an alarm for it as well. Its a little water sensor that will tell you if the basin gets filled up too high.
In reply to BirgerBuilder :
I have been told twice. I'll look into it some more.
Advice appreciated. Brand new pump arrives soon.
In reply to wheelsmithy :
By your “land line” comment I’m not sure we’re on the same wavelength. This is the grinder pump failure alarm I have and recommend:
And I am totally jealous of that parking situation.
In reply to OHSCrifle :
Ahhh yes. The first one I found texted you when fit hit the shan. I am enlightened, and from our weeks of likely dumping shower water in the basement, think I'll move forward with the given advice. Beeping, I can live with.
All advice is appreciated, even if the recipient may be a bit bone-headed,
Stuff's been happening.
New Poo Pump. Works a treat. I will go back and install an alarm, as I can't hear it running from the bathroom 1' away. Advice appreciated.
A progress picture of the living room/dining room. Paint tomorrow. The windows needed a lot of work-mitered trim, Bondo, and caulk scraping and re-caulking. The nicotine had taken hold in the old caulk. Nasty.
And today, we did some trash heap shopping. Someone was refurbing a house up the way, and on our afternoon walk, we asked if we could raid. Crappy doors, lovely glass doorknobs and locks, as well as some sweet concrete water diverters for free!
Oh yeah, also a sweet effed-up medicine cabinet for the recently fully functional shop restroom.
Big news! The shop beer fridge is in effect! It was tremendously moldy and nasty. Pressure washing happened, as did bleaching, as did vinegar, and a ton of scrubbing. This came with the house. I had to remove the doors to get it inside. My Special Lady Friend spent days scrubbing it clean, and re-assembling it, but it works. This is a vital step in the plan. Its place down in the "clean shop" required removing some nice counter space, but ta-da.
I got the walls not to be demoed in the living room/dining room painted.
Today, I've been in the dirt part of the basement, cleaning. Maybe 12 construction clean-up bags, just so this area sucks less for the incoming plumbing extravaganza. SLF started classes 250 miles away today. Much tomfoolery ahead.
Here's what I've been up to tonight-Digging!
I'm in touch with codes. We're working on a time to have a sit down with the Structural, Plumbing, and Electrical guys, and myself. Next up, digging out to the recently replaced sewer line outside the house. I'm going to replace that bit of cast iron pipe right there, then I can start working my way back through the house plumbing. I got much farther in a night than I thought I would. I'd like to thank beer, whiskey, and Led Zeppelin.
Here's a shot of a future focus.
See that drain behind the electrical panel? Its from the kitchen sink. Looks way wrong to me, but I may be wrong.
I've got a 200 amp service, which is good, and rare in this town. My electrical Engineer buddy says he'll help, which is fantastic.
Lots of 220s to be added, lots of old baseboard heaters to be deleted (I believe they were 220, which may be helpful). Lots of general unberking and ground adding to come.
After these basics are covered, I plan to get to some interesting stuff, like removing walls, setting up shop, and come spring, landscaping.
Wow! Fantastic work!
I've never seen 120 baseboard heat, so you're probably going to free up some circuit space! I presume you're replacing the panel - that will be a nice job. Be methodical and extra tidy in the box and you'll appreciate it down the road.
Replacing the plumbing is a nice straight-forward job. Do you need to get that permitted and inspected in your neck of the woods? Or is it more of a don't ask/don't tell sort of arrangement?
Keep up the great work. The house already looks like it has gained significant market value.
In reply to Mezzanine :
Yep, codes are involved with the plumbing. I have a meeting with them tomorrow. My college buddy down the street promises to help with wiring (Electrical Engineer!). Soon.
Today's goal was the same as yesterday's, only outside. Show me the pipe. I did not make it, but if I were me, and I am, I'd put that rock right there over the vital connection.
Tonight, I'm going after this:
I can't explain why, but the arch offends me, as does the rise above the other cabinets. Here comes the circular saw. And the sawzall.
Thank you all for the support.
This is many favorite build thread.
If you are doing much pvc work i find the aerosol cement to be handy.
In reply to EvanB :
Thank You Sir. That's a new one to me. Off to scour the interwebs.
That arch is an abomination. It hurts my soul. Please destroy it promptly. I fear that by posting this horrific piece you may encourage someone to build one. Gods forbid!!!!
Careful. It may be hiding something even more horrible.
We removed an oddly shaped bathroom mirror to find a gaping hole in the drywall behind it where they had removed the medicine cabinet.
This was placed above the two single sinks that were placed next to each other and siliconed together to make a double sink.
Drain lines in PVC are cool, but once you start hitting the supply side, buy the PEX tools and work with that. It's wonderful stuff.
wheelsmithy said:In reply to EvanB :
Thank You Sir. That's a new one to me. Off to scour the interwebs.
This is the kind that I have used.
mazdeuce - Seth said:Drain lines in PVC are cool, but once you start hitting the supply side, buy the PEX tools and work with that. It's wonderful stuff.
Amen to Pex!! That stuff is so simple to work with compared to sweating copper fittings or piecing together CPVC.
With regard to Drain lines in PVC don’t try to freehand cut it. The ends won’t come out nice the way they should. I set my Dewalt miter saw up whenever I do PVC the ends come out square and true and really makes for a nice professional joint with no possibility of leaks.
In reply to wheelsmithy :
With regard wiring, while code and requirements may allow something like 14 gauge wire/sockets outlets etc to be used. The cost of upgrading to 12 gauge is not that high! Then should you ever need to put a hair dryer vacuum etc with higher current demand you won’t be blowing circuit breakers.
I originally planned on wiring for 100 watt bulbs but now everything is 16 watt LED’s It’s not a waste, it’s just added security.
Big day, even if I have only a small bit to show.
I talked to the codes guys, and they confirmed that there are no load-bearing walls in the house. On-site built trusses. That's the great thing about a community of kit built houses. The knowledge is there,without inspections. My apologies for my elation at this news go to all the firefighters of the world. I know trusses suck for the guys who save us from house fires.
Codes will accept whatever drawings I submit on standard notebook sized paper. No need to get an engineer involved for the walls I want to tear out. They were genuinely nice guys, and saw no problem with my plans. If anything, they were enthusiastic.
I was super amped up after the meeting as the nervousness melted away, but it was raining so no digging today. Shucks.
So, I painted 80' of baseboard trim (1X4s), and the replacement for that God-awful arch. I knew it could be hiding untold horrors, but my hatred for it prompted me to press on. It's not too bad, and my plan for replacement should do quite nicely. More on that later.
A tip that I imagine all here know, but on the off chance I thought I'd share:
Paint brushes, rollers, and even paint, if kept moist will keep for days, even weeks, in the fridge, if oxygen is kept away. Zip locs are great for this, but in my case, I planned a second coat in a couple of hours, so I just chucked the full pans in, complete with brushes/rollers, and will go back to do that shortly. Being able to paint this stuff on sawhorses, install, and merely do touch-up after installation saves a huge amount of time. Think 15 minutes to paint 80' of baseboard, as compared to untold hours laying on the floor doing detail work. I painted 3 sides so I don't have to think about it when I'm putting it on with my recently reconned brad nailer.
The advice on using the miter saw for PVC cuts is appreciated. Not my first rodeo, so I was aware, but sharing knowledge is what these build threads are for. All advice, and positivity is greatly appreciated.
You are so lucky to have a co-operative code department. Here in Easton PA they are terribly obstinate. Engineering drawings only, even for a new kitchen counter setup. which is why I (and many others) let my place crumble instead of maintaining well.
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