Remodel Slow Down

Our sewer line is broken. It is the shits.

We hired a guy to jackhammer out our patio, but discovered that underneath our patio, our sewer line was disintegrating away, and sewage was seeping into the earth below. After getting a quote to repair this bad boy, we decided to get a new line installed to the main line on the street -trenchless style. This is not a cheap thing to do. In fact, it is one of the most unexciting things to buy, because you can’t even see the results, nor would you want to.

A lot has transpired since last post. Our tankless water heater was installed without enough clearance to the ceiling, so we had the plumber move it into the attic. We also had an inspector come out and he pointed out all the things I needed to do to pass the first inspection (like adding “nail plates” that protect the wiring and plumbing from being screwed into). I finished the final touches to the wiring in the laundry room and secured all the plumbing to make it up to code.

We’re adding a sink, and this is the supply, vent, and fixtures to secure it all.

This plumbing wall has been somewhat of a nightmare. It was originally two depths of wall, and one side (the deeper) housed the massive vent pipe that went to the roof. We replaced that pipe with a smaller version and firred the wall out to allow enough room for all the gas and plumbing pipes. This wall has been through a lot in the last two weeks. On the other side of it is Molly’s bathroom tile work, so we had to be extra careful not to break it. In fact, we chose to not replumb that part of the whole-house “repipe” job (did I mention that we decided to repipe our house?). But, during the repipe, a couple of tiles broke.

Broken tile, and a broken heart.

So, to fix the loose pipes in the wall (which caused the broken tiles), we had to cut a hole into our bedroom wall. This was not a fun thing. After we cut the hole, we had a plumber repipe these fixtures and secure them. Notice the burnt lath from “sweating” the pipes -it set off the fire alarm.

After our major plumbing fiasco (between the water heater being installed twice, broken tiles, hole in the bedroom wall and broken sewer line) … our contractor came with some insulation and slapped it up.

I began wiring the kitchen side of things, with CLAW.

Leaving only dust behind…

Tomorrow, we have the plumber fixing a few things and adding a water valve for a fridge icemaker. We don’t currently have an icemaker in our fridge, but I thought it would be smart to put one in while we have the wall open. We have a drywaller coming to “rock the lid” as well as the walls. We got two bids on the sewer line replacement, and decided to switch to a new plumber for the job. We are currently unable to shower or use any water inside the house, as our drains simply flood our demolished patio. The good news is that we passed our first inspection, so we can drywall and stucco… so.. we’ve got that goin’ for us.

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Under the house, through the webs…

We’ve hit a point in the kitchen remodel where we’re sort of tired of it.  We’ve had the plumbers here for the past few days, and just got hot water back in circulation… just in time for the hot weather.   I’ve pretty much got all the laundry room wiring finished, so now I’m running circuits for the main kitchen.

Okay, just for perspective… this is my bulldog, and she is a short dog.  She is under the deck near the opening I used to enter the underworld (under our house).

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Here is our new PEX water pipes, plus a new vent and drain pipe for our new sink.  Oh, and my fingers peaking up from under the house.

I spent about an hour and 40 minutes under the house wiring two new circuits.  Not exactly fun, but it could be a lot worse.  This photo is me exiting my 1:40 stay in the underworld.  Note my LED light, it rocks.

This is me in the regular world.  I roll around on the grass to get some dirt, bugs, and cobwebs off my Coveralls®.  I ran some Romex wire, 12-3, the length of our house, hammering staples into the floor joists, then installed a junction box that divided the multi-circuit 12-3 wire into two 12-2 circuits, with three 12-2 wires off it, routed them up into the kitchen for the dishwasher & garbage disposal, plus an outlet circuit.  That is why it took 1:40.  Plus, I was inspecting the new plumbing job, which, is another story…

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