Bird, Cattle, Water leak

A strange day.  I woke up to sounds coming from either my woodstove or the pipe that goes from the woodstove to the chimney.  I thought I heard a similar sound yesterday but found nothing.   Today I found a small bird in my woodstove.   This has happened several times over the past few decades.  A bird somehow falls down the chimney, then walks through the pipe and gets into my woodstove.  This time I was careful the bird didn't fly out of the woodstove into the house.  I used an old shirt to grab the bird inside the woodstove. It took a few attempts to do so.  I was able to take the bird outside.  I set the bird down and it initially laid there.  I got concerned the bird was injured, but after a minute it flew away.  I don't know what type of bird it was.

Then I saw in the corral that Haynes had pushed out part of another fence board.  This time he went to the next fence section to push on the board as all the small posts I added to the previous fence section held those boards in place.  I re-nailed this board back to the fence and added another small post to help hold the board in the place in the future.

Later I put out another large hay bale in the feeder for the cows.  First I had to clean the feeder because some cow took a crap and it was on the side of the feeder inside and out, and on the ground inside the feeder.   Seriously girls, behave.

This morning I went down in the house's crawl space to open the side vents, and to open an inside faucet so I could use the outside faucet this Summer.   While down there I noticed one of my plumbing pipes had a leak.  This pipe goes to the bathroom.  In the first photo you can see the water spraying out of the pipe.   Why this is happening, who knows.   I had remodeled the bathroom exactly 12 years ago in May of 2012.  I had also redone most of the pipe going to the bathroom.  You can see that my old solder work wasn't pretty.

Fixing the pipe today was a challenge.  First I had to cut the pipe where the leak was located.  For whatever reason the pipe cutter wanted to move sideways while cutting the pipe.  I had to restart and restart and restart to make sure the pipe cutter cut the pipe where the leak was located.

I went to Home Depot to buy a coupling connection.  Still some water was dripping from the open pipe.  The faucet to this section of pipe had been turned off.  I then turned off the faucet that allows water to the entire house.  I also opened the bathroom faucets to make it easier for those pipes to drain.  After a bit, still a drip.  I then turned off the faucet out in my well.  I waited.  Still a slow drip.  This section of the pipe is among the lowest section, but, still, where is this water coming from?

Since the leak would not stop to let the pipe dry, soldering the connection would not work. I tried, but for whatever reason, the solder wouldn't melt onto the pipe.

All this work had taken time so I decided to do what I now remembered I had done back in 2012 for the last solder connection.  That last connection wouldn't solder as the pipe wouldn't stay dry.  I was able to buy a push fitting to make the connection and that has lasted.  

https://www.pexuniverse.com/leaks-sharkbite-and-other-brands-push-fittings-and-how-prevent-them#:~:text=Push%20Fittings%20(push%20to%20connect,PROBite%2C%20GatorBite%20and%20possibly%20others.

They are more expensive.   The connection I bought to solder cost me 61 cents.  The push connection cost me $8.27.  But it is worth it if soldering won't work.  So back to Home Depot I went before they closed for the day.

The push connection should be easy, but for me it wasn't.   One needs to get both sides of the pipe into the connection.  But as you can see the pipe to be repaired is short because of the offshoots.  More offshoots that are seen in the photo.  So it was hard to flex and move the last piece of pipe to get it into the connection.  And in doing so the connection slid a little further on the previous pipe.   Now these connections can be removed when using a disconnect tool.   But the connection had slid all the way up to the end of the T connection.  The tool wouldn't work.

When I turned the water on the other side of the connection would leak. *argh!*  I was able to remove the pipe from the side of the connection leak.  I had to work again over and over to try to get this side into the connection and for it to sit properly.  I wanted to at least to get the connection on, and if there was a slow leak at least I could use the bathroom and tomorrow get this connection off both sides.   But somehow I got the connection to work properly.  No leaks.   I put a bucket under the pipe.  Tomorrow I will see if any water is in the bucket to see if this connection is good.   Hopefully it will be.

Also irritating was that I was working in the house's crawlspace.   This area is a hallower area.  So shallow that I could not sit upright when working.  It is hard to do this when leaning sideways.   Finally I got a small shovel and moved some dirt.  I didn't move enough dirt as I wanted as there were two house supports that went to the ground.  One you can see in the back of the photo.   After moving some dirt I still couldn't sit up straight, but at least I wasn't leaning as much as before.

Shower T seal

The last bit of the shower is now complete.  I don't know if you remember from last November (http://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2012/11/bathroom-is-finally-done.html) but the last bit of the bathroom was to get and install a T-seal for the shower.

I had talked with a Holcom official in November but since I hadn't gotten the promised T-seal by Christmas I called again and this Holcom person couldn't find any record of my earlier request.  After re-explaining my problem she promised to Fed-Ex the T-seal.  I got it a few days later.

The seal works as it is supposed to: it sits on the shower frame and prevents the water from bouncing under the frame-less shower door, up over the shower frame and out onto the bathroom floor.

So my bathroom is now finally really done.

Bathroom wall

As part of the bathroom remodel I replaced the wall between the bathroom and the kitchen.  This wall formerly had a double oven in it that stuck out into the kitchen.  The back of the oven stuck into the bathroom closet space.  Because I replaced the tub with a shower, the closet was removed.  The closet and oven space were changed into a pantry for the kitchen.

Here is the old layout.  Note: the old shower was not in the bathroom but was accessed from the mud room.

So a new bathroom wall was needed for the shower wall and to convert the closet/oven area into a pantry as the pantry would be part of the kitchen.


My uncles had framed the new bathroom wall before we discovered the bad floor. So we had to cut out the floor beneath the new wall.   To make our job harder we had cut out the old bathroom/oven wall after the new wall was framed and before the bad floor was discovered. When we went about to removing the bad floor we discovered the old bathroom/oven wall had been a supporting wall and now the new wall was a supporting wall.  That made cutting the floor out from under the new wall a problem.

As we cut the old floor out we braced the new wall to hold it up.  Still it was difficult to slide the new floor boards under the wall.  Then we discovered the new wall needed to be raised a little - not just to slide the new floor boards under it - but because the ceiling had sagged a bit in the transition of the old wall to new wall as a supporting wall.

So we had to carefully jack up the ceiling a little bit to straighten everything out.  Easier said than done.  But late in the evening we finally got the new wall raised up a bit and the new floor under the wall.

Bathroom floor

The earlier post about the bathroom remodel got me nostalgic.  Here are photos of the bathroom floor back from May.  At least before we removed it.  That wasn't in the plans for the remodel but after removing the bathtub I found dry rot.  In that corner of the room the floor no longer was attached to the wall, as my uncles found when they stood there and the floor moved.  Rather than removing just the part of the floor between the wall and the next stud, I decided to replace the entire floor.

The floor was three layers of boards.  Between the bottom two layers were newspapers.  They apparently were to seal cracks and prevent squeaking.

Also of interest... see the board that goes across the floor from left to right?  Under this board is the drain pipe and water pipes for the sink.  The floor studs were notched and the drain pipe and the water pipes were laid in this notch under the floor boards.  Ya.. that was a surprise to me too.

I ended up replacing the water pipes and I placed the new water pipes under the studs so I can access them from the crawl space if I have to in the future.  I left the drain pipe in the notch as lowering that pipe to be under the 2 by 6 studs would have meant I would have had to change the drain pipes for the entire bathroom and a good part of the rest of the drain pipes for the rest of the house.

Layer 2.

The final layer of the floor.

On the left side was where the bathtub had been.

Cutting the floor

For a few days, until we got the new floor in place, we had to walk across the temporary boards laid across the studs in order to use the toilet.

Here are some of the papers I found between the two layers of the floor.

Bathroom - now really done

I thought I was done working on the bathroom remodel.  Wrong!   When chatting with my uncle Curt I realized I forgot to install the molding along the floor.

 

So Tammy and I bought a couple of pieces of molding we like; I painted them with two coats of paint; and then I cut and installed them.

Bathroom is finally done

The bathroom is finished.   I completed the shower last Thursday night, and once the caulking dried, we were able to use the shower starting Saturday.

I had custom ordered a shower door from Holcam through Lowes.  Shipping time was suppose to be 14 days but the shower doors did not arrive until 18 days passed.

The reason I ordered a custom door is due to the size.  Standard doors go up to 72 inches tall but I wanted a taller door.

My shower is 59.5 inches wide.  The height I wanted was 76 inches tall.  The height is because the shower head is mounted high.  I am tired of having to bend down to get my head under most shower heads so I made sure to put this shower head high - well over six feet high..  Therefore I needed a taller shower door to keep the water in.

I got a price estimate for 74 inches tall.  Then I had Lowes call and ask for an estimate for 76 inches tall and was told 76 inches would be the same price.  I went home to remeasure and double check the height.  I decided that 77 inches would be ideal.  But when I went back to Lowes to check the price I was told it would be over $130 more.  For one inch?  Then the Lowes guy and I were told the previous 76 inch quote was wrong but Holcom would honor it.  Sold.


I got a frameless (on the doors) Euro style shower door.  The handle is mounted in the glass.  I went with a clear glass after considering obscure, rain and other styles.  Most of the other glass styles cost more dollars.  I was already spending more on the larger size and the brushed nickel (Tammy's requirement) finish.  Still, a major reason I went with clear glass is that I didn't want to hide the tiles in the shower.  They look too good to hide.

The difference between model EF-3 and EF-4 was in glass thickness: 3/16" vs. 1/4".   Surprisingly the thicker glass was cheaper.  I'm not sure why.  Perhaps it is because the thicker glass is easier to work with?  Especially since the holes for the glass handles are drilled through the glass.  My shower glass is 1/4" thick.

Shower door specs: http://www.holcam.com/model-ef46-ef49.php

Shower door installation instructions: http://www.holcam.com/documents/installationDocs/Sliding_Door_Units/MODEL_EF-4.pdf


I installed the shower door unit myself.  I found the directions to be "old fashioned", that is, correct and terse but not the easiest to follow. Also I would have liked a "why" in some cases.  Take for example, step 1.

"Measure wall to wall on sill of tub. Cut track to a length of 5/8" less than wall to wall dimension."

5/8"?  That's a lot.  Especially when Step 3 says to "Cut header to a length 1/16" less than a wall to wall dimension."

I looked for a youtube video showing how to install the shower door.  I found videos from Holcam's competitors but none from Holcam itself.  The competitors had people cut the bottom track an eight of an inch or so shorter than the wall to wall dimension.

So I was uneasy about cutting my track 5/8" shorter.  I called Holcam the next day to ask if it was 5/8" or if it was a misprint.  They answered their phone right away and I got the feeling I spoke with someone who worked at the company.  The size was indeed 5/8".  The reason was due to the wall jams as seen in the photo below.  The indentation on the left side of the wall jam added to the indentation for the other wall jam add up to 5/8" as the bottom track fits inside the wall jams (right side in the photo).   The top track fits over the wall jams so that is why it is only 1/16" shorter than the wall to wall dimension.

The youtube videos for the competitors showed latex caulk applied to their bottom track before it is set on the shower's threshold.  When I spoke with the Holcam lady she told me not to caulk the bottom of the track.  Just set it on the threshold.  The track will be held in place by the wall jams and the caulk that is placed around the shower frame on the outside when construction is complete.  If I applied caulk to the bottom of the track I could trap water under the track.  The bottom of the track is actually two "legs", or rails.  The chamber between the rails is where water could possibly be trapped if the rails are sealed.

The top and bottom shower frame tracks sent were 60" long.  The mark is where I cut the top rail.   The wall jams were shipped cut to the correct height.

The second photo shows the top of the top rail.    I don't know why it is indented as I imagine it could catch and hold water.  The "stains" are part of the material and I could not clean them off.  Fortunately they are on the top and no one will see them.

The shower doors are mounted on their top.  Since the doors are frameless, a strip of metal comes out of the glass.  In this strip are two holes, one on each side, where you install the rollers.  The holes are diagonally made.  Where you position the rollers affects the door height.  The rollers are mounted in the top rail.

You can see the tracks for the rollers in the previous silver/black photo of the top rail.


I like that the rollers are on top and not on the bottom of the door.  Less on the bottom of the doors means less for the water and dirt to collect.


Shower restrictors. One for each end of the rail and the third for the middle. These help hold the doors on the rail as they keep the rollers from jumping the tracks.

The wall jams had three holes in them where one fastens the jams to the wall.  Naturally the holes did not align with the tile's grout lines.  So I had to drill through my tile.  Ya.  Easier said than done.  I borrowed a concrete drill bit from my neighbor Bob.  It took a long time to drill one hole through the tile.  At the start of the second hole either the bit or I were tired as the drilling was barely happening.  I quit for the night.

The next morning I bought a carbon tipped tile bit from Lowes.  It cost $7.48.

This bit drilled better and quicker.  However... once the hole was deep enough to hold the tip it broke off.  What?!   I had been placing water on the hole and bit to lubricate it as I drilled.

Between the concrete bit and the remainder of the tile bit I was able to drill two more holes.  When Tammy got home from work we stopped by Lowes when we ran errands and I returned this defective bit and got another one.

When I used the second tile bit I really went slow and often put water in the hole and on the bit to cool it down.  I got one hole drilled.  Once the bit arrow was completely in the second hole it broke off.  Again... what?!

At least I finally got all six holes drilled.

Everything came together well.  The only thing missing from the parts were the four lock washers for the rollers for the doors.  I had some lock washers so this was not a problem.

When I was done the shower frame height came to 75 and 3/4 inches.  I guess like almost everything else with house construction, a size is always a little less.  I.e., a 2" by 4" inch board is really 1.75" by 3.5".


When all was said and done I had a problem.  (What's new with this bathroom remodel? )   Actually I realized this problem when I prepared to install the shower frame.  I had built the shower narrow enough so I can completely open the bathroom door.  However, I didn't figure in the shower door handle.  Yup.  The handle sticks out from the door.  Duh! 

The photos below show the most I can close the door.  I needed a half inch more room for the shower handle.

One can completely open the bathroom door if one closes (mostly) the shower door second.

Oh well... another feature of my bathroom.    Good thing I don't need to completely open the bathroom door.


My new shower is great!  I have so much more room than the 32" by 34" shower insert I had been using.  And the new shower has so much more light than the old shower, which didn't have much light.  Tammy likes the shower too.


After I took my first shower I noticed I had a problem.  I had a little bit of water on the floor outside the inside shower door - the door closest to the shower head.  A test showed that the water came from underneath the shower door glass.  The water bounced up under the door and over the outside taller rail on the bottom track.  I had hung the doors all the way to their lowest point.  There was still a small gap between the door and the bottom rail.

I called Holcam again.  They were very nice and helpful.  They said they had this problem a few times with other customers.  Their guess was that high water pressure may cause the problem.  Nope.  Not in my case.  My well's water pressure has a maximum pressure of 58 to 60 lbs.  I think my problem may be a combination of hard tile floor, narrow shower enclosure and a high faucet head.  Holcam said they would sent me a "T-strip" to place along the track next to the shower door with the problem.

I also had to adjust the shower handle's hot/cold settings.  The handle only went from very hot to warm.  No cold.  Tammy said she didn't want any cold water in the shower but I want cool water for a hot summer day shower.  Another reason to ensure cool water is an option is that since the shower handle unit was installed upside down the handle goes from hot to cold (cool) instead of the marked and typical cold to hot.  Since the handle unit is upside down I had to remember to make the adjustment clockwise and not counter-clockwise.  No need to make the water any hotter.

Of course the bathroom being difficult all along one last thing occurred before I could pronounce "completion".  Just before I finished installing the shower doors Tammy cleaned around the sink's faucet and told me it was loose.   I checked and found the plastic nut holding the hot water handle pipe in place was broken.    Another trip to Lowes...

How the bathroom looked near the start of the project...

Here is how the bathroom and shower looks now that it is done.

I started in May and finished in November.   Nah... that didn't take too long.

Shelves, screws and showers

One of the things I did today was put up shelves in Tammy's office so she could organize the stuff in her office.  She couldn't find the screws she used on her shelf brackets back in Minnesota so I found some of my own that would work.  Opps... that was unacceptable to Tammy.  My screws were old and used and looked like they may have rust.  Tammy is like my uncle Curt who wants new over old.

My old screw

So she looked around more and finally found her bag of new and shiny screws and we used them.

I emptied and removed one of my two bedroom dressers left in the office to give Tammy more room.  Once we empty the other dresser we can list them on craigslist.


I also worked on the shower.  I installed the shower head and the faucet handle.  My uncles had installed the shower handle piece upside down.  Therefore the shower handle would go up inside of down.   This was not 'right' and bothered Tammy so I drilled the bottom of the handle's nut to take the locking screw and then was able to install the handle facing down.   We still need to remind people that the shower goes from hot to cold and not cold to hot as shown on the handle cover.

Now that the tile has been installed and the threshold is in place, I remeasured the handle's location.   My earlier measurement had the handle off to one side - 14 inches on one side and 17 inches on the other side.  I haven't installed the shower door yet, but the handle now looks to be close to the center of the shower.