Day x

Been a while since I wrote for the blog but it’s been a tough month. The constant working and running around has drained me physically. And the tons of “what ifs” and “not sure” with the plumbing has taken its toll on me mentally. I been working on the for weeks and the chance of failure/screw up has really impeded my progress. The final push to complete everything came from the window installation. Now that the plumbing it`s finally completed, it feel like a load was taken off my shoulder.

With the windows and doors finally done, it is time to complete the house. The goal this weekend is to patch up all the holes in the various rooms this weekend so we can start working on either the kitchen or ensuite. Hopefully Patsy will have some new photos for everyone next week!

We've got running water again

Our goal for the past weekend was to get the bathroom up and running so at least when the window guys come in, they'll have a place to do their business. We wouldn't have time to completely finish the bathroom (i.e. sand, prime, and paint the walls), but at least have the water and drains going for the toilet and sink. The house has been going without running water for a month now, so it'll be nice to get it all back and going again.

After Kel had the pipes hooked up, he still needed to close off all the open pipes that were not yet connected to anything. He was using the plastic PEX pipes for the house, so at every joint, there would have to be a metal ring where he'd crimp to the connector. After he was satisfied every pipe was connected or roped off, we did our first water test. Immediately, it was apparent that there was a leak and Kel realized that he had forgotten to crimp two of the metal rings. :P So he turned off the water to crimp the two bands and we proceeded to water test number two. I went upstairs to check on the main bathroom and kitchen pipes as he turned on the water again. They were inspecting the pipes downstairs and I gave the okay to the upstairs joints. Then suddenly, they said something's leaking down from upstairs. Apparently, Kel had drawn the pipes to our ensuite bathroom, but forgot to close them off so they were dangling out of the wall open ended! (In the picture, you can see the wet spots on the floor, but we've put the valves back in.) I swear it was starting to feel like we're debugging a software application at this point. After Kel had finished adding valves to the three open pipes, we tried again and we're in business! Everything looked good, the toilet flushes, the tap on the sink runs, and there aren't any leaks. *cheer* We turned off the water main (just in case) and left for dinner.

After dinner, Kel and I went back to the house so he can pick up his car and I can take a few photos. Upon entering the basement, Kel immediately realized that the valve they've put in to connect two pieces of old copper piping was leaking. Apparently the nut wasn't on tight enough so Kel had to fasten that on tighter. After that was done, he realized there was a slight leak at the old copper elbow joint where the pipe comes out of the water tank. He tried to solder that back a couple times, but it didn't quite work since there was quite a bit of rust and build up over the years. You can see him in the picture with the blue flame, trying to solder the old pipe in the limited space that he had, filled with pipes and wires. (Believe me, I've thought about it, if anything caught on fire, I'm going to throw a bucket of water over the whole thing. :P)

Below is how our bathroom looks now, with the toilet and vanity in. We still have to get the doors for the vanity, but that can be later since there's still a lot to be done with the walls. But its slowly and steadily coming together. :)

Plumbing & The Bathroom

There weren't any posts for last weekend, as Kel and his dad were busy replacing the plumbing in the house, so there really wasn't much to see. They rented a mini jackhammer to dig up the basement floor where the main drain pipe was to make the cut and tore out all the old iron pipes. After that, Kel was busy gluing the new pipe sections together to prep for the final replacement. (In hindsight, I should take a picture of the hole in the ground with the new pipe, and the pile of rubble on the floor. I'll make sure I do that this week.)

During the course of last week, we started to demo the main floor bathroom. Kel dragged out the vanity sink and cabinet, and hacked away at the floor made up of tiny octagon tiles. The task after that, was to remove all the wall tiles in the washroom. At first, we were thinking of preserving the walls inside the shower, so Kel showed me how to take them out with a flat head screwdriver and a hammer. While I was chipping away at the tiles, it occurred to me that this must be what it feels like trying to break out of prison! Although the hammer was only 20oz, the consistent chipping really did a number on my right arm. Ken came by that night and laughed at my attempt. :P He then convinced us we didn't need those walls and once he got the green light, he took a sledge hammer to the wall tiles. After a couple of rounds, he showed me how to do it. Once he was satisfied I was down with the technique, he proceeded to show me how to take off the regular wall tiles with an ice shovel. (A shovel with sharp teeth at the end.) So that was our main task this weekend, we finished taking all the tiles out, and Kel and his dad took out the old tub and prepped the floors for the new tiles, as well as the walls for the new tub.

The picture below is what the bathroom used to look like, and how it was after the demolition. (And if you notice the after picture, the light isn't there anymore because I accidentally broke it with the ice shovel, while taking off the tiles. I actually couldn't figure out why something fell from above me when I was trying to take out tiles below, until Kel said, "Baby, you know you just broke the light.." Whoops!)