What did you do today?

[Ron Van]

I posted this on the plumbing forum but not here. I had to replace our water heater last week.

I had the luxury of time because, most of our house, is served by a tankless heater but the water heater that I replaced is only used for the clothes washer and one bathroom that doesn’t get used much.

I really wanted to clean up the plumbing around the WH so I ended up cutting into the wall behind it. The utility room, where this WH is, was added on at some point in time, so the wall behind the heater used to be an exterior wall.


The Pex coming down from the attic is there because the old, original galvanized pipe that came from the main house, broke under the slab. I just bypassed it through the attic.



Besides the connection to the house through the attic, there are also old CPVC pipes that connect the WH to the washer and also the bathroom on the other side of the wall. I found that the old CPVC is a little brittle so I carefully cut it with a Dremel style tool. (Notice, the hot is the blue pipe and the cold is red).



I used sharkbite elbows to transition from the CPVC to the Pex and ran the Pex upward inside the wall. The CPVC originally came out of the wall here and ran up the outside of the wall to the WH.

I added an electric shutoff switch (per code) and two 18” flexible stainless connectors between the tank and the new plumbing.



I decided to hang my expansion tank with the water on the bottom and the air on top. I just feel better with the water on the bottom, however, I realize that if I have to change out the expansion tank, it will be a mess.

I used two dog-eared Pex to Female pipe thread elbows, screwed into the wall, to make my connections sturdy.



I put a pan under the WH although there is not a good way to hook the pan to a drain.



That white pipe to the right of the WH is a dip-tube I bought for the old WH but it wasn’t needed and so I never installed it.

I was thinking about how to get rid of the old WH and Ruby says, “I’ll just put it on FB MarketPlace for free. It will be gone in no time!”

I thought, who would want an old WH that leaks? I told Ruby to be sure to state that it leaks in the FB Market post and she did. We had 15 people within minutes that wanted it. The first guy was a flake so she went with the #2 guy and he came out the next morning and picked it up. I didn’t get to ask him what he was going to do with it though.

 

[zannej]

Spicoli, holy crap! I wouldn't want to touch a doorknob with ice building up on it. That's insane!

Ron, that looks like it took a lot of work.

I still need to replace my pressure tank in the pump house but today was another wasted day. Power went out this morning for a few hours. My UPS kept one of my fans running so I could breathe a little better but I am still full of mucus and I feel that it has moved to my upper chest. May need to get some mucinex to dislodge it. Feel like garbage. Still exhausted but need to go to the store and get some groceries. Don't know how cold it is outside but I know the cats and dogs are piled on me.

I did make myself some soup with chicken broth and some shredded rotisserie chicken but I need to get more chicken broth now.

 

[shan2themax]

I decided to make chicken noodle soup today.


It was delicious!

I buy this stuff to make broth with,


Sometime i buy the paste ar Sams insread, this blends together quicker, but it is really good.



I got the recipe for the soup off of a bag of frozen noodles



I'm thinking about making chili tomorrow. I need to get busy cleaning so I can babysit for a little bit on Monday.

Yet, here I am pulling the infamous..... "I work better under pressure" trick.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.

 

[Spicoli43]

Wow @Spicoli43 that's pretty cool (pun intended). Lol, my bones hurt just thinking about those temps.

My daughter and her fella and kids have a new apt as of Monday. I am excited for them. Hopefully the CPS case against the mom will just be closed (new info that it wasn't closed to begin with) and they can carry on getting life re-established for the kids.

Trying to learn new cleaning routines to combat my overwhelm and paralyzing thoughts. I have thought I was just a lazy person.... turns out I have ADHD inattentive type: moderate.

Hopefully something clicks soon, because I am miserable trying to figure it out!

We are supposed to get anywhere from 1.5 to 6 inches of snow this week, we shall see what actually happens lol

Well, when it's this cold you can't go outside anyway. I check the websites of news stations in the "major" cities here and tragically some older person seems to wander out every year and that's that. No alone elderly people near me.

You know how to combat ADHD... I have told you repeatedly... You listen to Sensei, Danielson!

6 inches of snow is about perfect. I don't like a dusting because the roads are slicker and I don't like it when my chain link fence disappears either.

 

[Spicoli43]

I have the Accurite 5 in 1 sensor. I've had it for around 4-5 years. I also log several wx locations around the country for fun. The official Guntersville temps come from the Alberville airport (I think) but they are usually more moderate than the temps I get off my Accurite.

Next week is supposed to be brutally cold here. Overnight low of 8 degrees F Tuesday night into Wednesday. That's too cold for me! I'm going to drip my faucets.

Weather is all over the place here, but I will find my Accurite and get a new sensor, probably suspend it with 550 cord somewhere.

You are on City sewer for the faucet drip?

 

[Ron Van]

Today, I went back to the project I was working on before the Water Heater started leaking.

I wanted to put doors on the area we use as a pantry.



I want to use two sets of doors that I took out of our bedroom when I re-did it so I had to divide the opening into two 50” openings.





I was able to get one door set in there today.

 

[Ron Van]

Weather is all over the place here, but I will find my Accurite and get a new sensor, probably suspend it with 550 cord somewhere.

You are on City sewer for the faucet drip?

No, Septic. Why?

 

[Ron Van]

I decided to make chicken noodle soup today.
View attachment 32139

It was delicious!

Ruby made us some homemade Chicken Noodle soup on Friday.

It was a rainy, stormy day but there was a fire in the fireplace and dinner in the crockpot. God is good!

 

[Spicoli43]

No, Septic. Why?

The Septic people here have 2 rules... No additives and no dripping the faucet because of overflow and / or Ice clogs... There's mixed opinions on that, but that's one of the first things I was told by the Septic company. I would call your Septic company ask ask them, maybe the ordnance specs in your area alleviate any issues like that.

If I did that, it could result in Ice clogs because it can be negative temps for the entire Month of February... Maybe you can get away with it. Maybe your pipes are lower in the ground etc... Maybe they aren't, or maybe they aren't Schedule 40 because people don't think of almost negative temps in the deep South...

I would even call the County to see if they have schematics for your system, maybe it says they used Schedule 40...

 

[zannej]

Spicoli, I showed the doorknob picture to my best friend and his response was "Oh HELL no!" LOL. Glad it doesn't get that cold out here.
Although, it's chilly out right now so the kitties are piled on and around me.
Princess is to my right near my feet. Ginger is curled up on a pillow to my right. Biscuits is curled up in front of that pillow. Rupert is stretched so he's partway over my stomach with an arm reaching up over to my chest and over Gravy Jones's arm and under Gravy's chin. Gravy is lying over my arm with his paws on a blanket over my chest. Fippy is curled up on a blanket to my right. For once he isn't growling at everything.

Shan, that soup looks good. And I forgot to pick up more broth at the store! d'oh. I went with a list and forgot to add that.

Ron, I hope Ruby appreciates how handy you are. The new doors over the pantry look good!

Still coughing up mucus & it sucks. Think I'll take an allergy pill to slow the mucus down tonight and then take mucinex in the morning to help me cough it up. Or maybe I'll take mucinex now. I'm undecided. But I need to get this mucus out.

 

[Ron Van]

Ron, I hope Ruby appreciates how handy you are.

I should send you Ruby’s cell number so you can tell her that! I know she thinks that though, her ex couldn’t change a light bulb.

The new doors over the pantry look good!

The other two doors will be more difficult because I don’t have the frame for them. I have to make the frame myself.

 

[Ron Van]

The Septic people here have 2 rules... No additives and no dripping the faucet because of overflow and / or Ice clogs... There's mixed opinions on that, but that's one of the first things I was told by the Septic company.

yes, I hear what you’re saying. I’ve been reading about this topic and I’m concerned about it. I dripped our faucets in the past and nothing adverse happened but next week is going to be bad around here. It will be below freezing for nearly two days. I hate to whine about cold temperatures to someone who lives in Montana but I am. It’s like the time I was complaining about the A/C going out in my car one super hot day and my friend listened to me for a while and then told me his car never had A/C.

Anyway, My pipe concern is for two areas in our house. The first one in a tankless water heater that hangs on the outside of our house. It is a gas Rinnai unit. It is smart enough to prevent itself from freezing internally but the pipes coming out of the house connecting to it froze in 2022 when it got down to 7 degrees on Christmas Eve. I insulated those pipes so hopefully that will help.

The other area is a set of pipes that go from the main house crawl space under the slab to the utility room where the washing machine is. One of the pipes broke under the slab and I had to re-route the water pipes through the attic. The attic pipes froze in 2022. I have insulated them as well.

After that freeze, I started dripping a faucet any time it is forecast to be below 20F.

I’m going to have to check to see how good that insulation is. It the foam sleeves they sell in most stores.

 

[Spicoli43]

Ya ain't lived until you have been in -40 with wind for 5 seconds before you go back inside!

Have you looked into plug in pipe heaters like these? There's lots of different types. That pipe foam insulation works to a point, temperature dependent. People use "heat cord" here in their outside applications and their piping, but I don't have outside pipes. In people's houses, almost all the piping is inside in warm locations or at the very least where we don't need anything more than the foam.

I would call a Lowes or HD in Montana or North Dakota and ask them what they use as far as plug in heat options and describe your pipes etc... They know the brands and reliability and they probably answer that 20 times a day.

https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=pipe heating cable

 

[shan2themax]

Yall..... I have been cleaning/sorting/chucking/churning.... whatever you want to call it, for several hours today and my left arm hates me.

If feels exactly like it did mid forearm when I tore both rotator cuffs. I am hoping that in another week it will be better (it's been a week today) but darnit.... I am looking forward to babysitting some tomorrow and 3 toddlers 4 years old and under, may prove to be more difficult than my 52 year old self remembers.
My shoulder doesn't hurt at all so it is probably just swelling of the nerves at the elbow, at least I am hoping.

We may get some snow.... might be 1 inch, might be 7.... depends upon the model

 

[Spicoli43]

Good luck, Shan, but you smacked it on something...

Looking FORWARD to 3 toddlers 4 years old and under?

The Kennel didn't have 3 Chihuahua's?

I kid... I kid... Not really....

 

[zannej]

I've felt really cruddy all day. Nausea, chills, runs, coughing, arrhythmia, jitters, etc. Then just a few minutes ago I went to the bathroom and it looks like I'm having a period-- but I haven't had one for over 2 and a half years. So it's either uterine prolapse/thinning or the fibroids bleeding. Ugh. Got the cramping and nausea that I used to get with it too and it really sucks.

At least I got lots of green beans from Chinese takeout.

 

[Spicoli43]

Good luck, Z...

The way you describe things though.... "Broke an ankle and was hobbling around then got in a car crash and one eye bounced off the windshield... I put it back in and my vision is blurry, but at least I won $20 on a scratch off"...

 

[Ron Van]

Big storm supposed to hit tonight. It was supposed to be here by now and it’s not. Anyway, I went the the Marvins hardware store and this sign was out front.

 

[Ron Van]

So, my son in law called me tonight and said they have a massive leak in their main water supply out in the front yard. I told him to start digging in the vicinity of the leak and I’d be right over with my curb key to shut the main valve off.



When I got there, I went to the main water valve and attempted to turn it off. The valve was so stuck that I broke my curb key on it. We then had no choice but to call the utility (on a Sunday afternoon) and get him out to turn the water off. That all happened and then, we dug a hole and discovered the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen! There was a hose bib in the middle of the yard surrounded by concrete. We used a sledgehammer to remove the concrete but there was another chunk of concrete poured around where the bib tee’d into the main. Totally asinine.

Well, at this point, the only thing I could think of was to cut the main line on both sides of the concrete chunk, remove it and splice the main line back together. Of course, there is a major storm threatening to hit any time now so we need to work fast to get their water restored.

We cut the tee and hose bib out (along with the chunk of concrete).



This is what was left.



This is the repair. I told my SIL that this would probably only last for twenty years, then he’d have to replace it again.



That was my Sunday.

 

[Snoonyb]

So, my son in law called me tonight and said they have a massive leak in their main water supply out in the front yard. I told him to start digging in the vicinity of the leak and I’d be right over with my curb key to shut the main valve off.

View attachment 32150

When I got there, I went to the main water valve and attempted to turn it off. The valve was so stuck that I broke my curb key on it. We then had no choice but to call the utility (on a Sunday afternoon) and get him out to turn the water off. That all happened and then, we dug a hole and discovered the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen! There was a hose bib in the middle of the yard surrounded by concrete. We used a sledgehammer to remove the concrete but there was another chunk of concrete poured around where the bib tee’d into the main. Totally asinine.

Well, at this point, the only thing I could think of was to cut the main line on both sides of the concrete chunk, remove it and splice the main line back together. Of course, there is a major storm threatening to hit any time now so we need to work fast to get their water restored.

We cut the tee and hose bib out (along with the chunk of concrete).

View attachment 32151

This is what was left.

View attachment 32152

This is the repair. I told my SIL that this would probably only last for twenty years, then he’d have to replace it again.

View attachment 32153

That was my Sunday.

Interesting. I've seen that several times, and it was a step in the evolution of water supplied to developers. "In general", it begins with a metered manifold off a fire hydrant, with 1-1/2" hose and 2X bridging, then to the individual properties, with your hose bib and lockout until the property has a subscriber. "Usually", the plumbing contractor will remove, and the fill is placed, but sometimes..................