It’s unusual to see progress while I’m not even home. But having a contractor seems to have helped. The room was drywalled before I left and sprayed with texture to match the house the next Monday. Then the Kerdi board was installed in the shower walls and niche.
Schluter Kerdi board installed
Next the Ditra tile underlayment was laid for the floor tile.
Schluter Ditra on floor
And tiling commenced on the floor. I wanted to have an insert of 3 x 6 tumbled marble tile. I got the tile at the Restore for my son’s house but we ended up not using it. I used tumbled marble in the family room bathroom and liked the look so I thought a bit of it here would be a nice feature.
Tile Floor with insert
The insert is not tiled yet. But the walls are started.
Diagonal tiled walls
We are waiting until later in the week for him to return and finish the tile. Then we will be able to finish it. Unfortunately due to the Coronavirus COVID 19 shutdown our visitors will not be able to fly here from Germany and California. It’s very disappointing.
When I left Colorado a week ago there were three confirmed cases of the virus. I went to California to celebrate my sister’s birthday. We had a lovely time mostly with family but she had tickets to take me to see the play Hamilton in downtown San Francisco. We wondered if the trip would be cancelled but it was not. It was a senior bus trip developed by a company called Daytrippers. Little did we know we would be the last audience to see the play before the theater closed due to the virus. Afterwards we went to a private early dinner at an Italian restaurant. Then home on the less than half filled bus. The performers probably knew it was the last show and they were wonderful. They gave the work their all and I was surprised how much I loved the production.
Rise upKing George! Ironic comedy
Schuyler sisters – WerkTrue Love “Hamilton” at SHN’s Orpheum Theatre.
Maybe it helped that I had read Ron Chernow’s book but I was able to hear and follow most of the lyrics. I also took advantage of the hearing impaired headphones as I often can’t make out diction and I knew there were many words. But we were so close to the stage that I probably didn’t need them. We had orchestra seating row four. My travel ignored the threat of the virus except I was healthy and was mostly upgraded to first class because of my Delta status from trips to Germany and the half empty planes. Passengers sat in every other seat waiting for boarding. And there was a line to wash hands in the restroom. There were several hand sanitizer stations too. People were using them.
Passenger distances
When I returned to Colorado schools had closed and there were over 130 cases of the virus. So I was concerned that I may have a hand in spreading it. Now I will stay home and work on the house!
Posted inDiversions|Comments Off on Hamilton in the Time of Coronavirus
About three quarters of the rear wall of the bathroom is poured concrete below ground and insulated on the outside. I added polyiso to the inside of the concrete wall and replaced the Fiberglas with rock wool. The interior walls of the bathroom were insulated with Fiberglas too and I think that was a good idea so I left it in. But in some places it had to be replaced because it was moldy or was removed to work in the walls. The next day the drywall people were coming at noon so I only had a short time to finish insulating. First I worked in the attic. Without the ceiling I had much better access to the corner of the attic so I stuffed it with Fiberglas bats. Then I replaced part of the knee wall Fiberglas with rock wool in the area I could reach. I insulated around the new fan with left over pieces of rock wool too. I did not insulate the area where the sun tunnel will be located. The plastic vapor barrier had been cut for access to the attic. I wanted to use the siga waterproof breathable membrane on the ceiling to replace the plastic. I stapled it around the ceiling over the plastic that was still there and taped the edges and joint with siga tape.
Space for sun tunnel
I was almost finished when Ben showed up with the denshield for the tub ceiling. He put it up while I was finishing the tape.
Denshield over tub
Denshield is a type of paperless drywall required by LEED for a tub/shower surround. The Kerdi board by Schluter also meets the LEED requirement.
Paperless board over tub
I also had to insulate the hot water pipes according to LEED. I was almost out of time before the dry wall guy came. The hot water return is located here by the tub. Notice how the sink water pipes were moved from the floor to the wall behind the vanity.
Insulated hot water pipes
Sink hot water pipe
About noon the drywall man arrived to put up water resistant blue board in the rest of the room and mud and tape it.
Blue board walls
He finished in a few hours and work was over for the week.
When we started this gut remodel project the goal was to purchase as many used and recycled products as possible. Besides the LEED mandate to reduce the use of new materials I was looking for items that would lower the overall cost of what was going to be a huge remodel. Except for top of the line energy efficient items almost all of the products in the house are either second hand or seconds or they were purchased for less than full retail through outlets like eBay and Craigslist. All of the porcelain brown tile I purchased through Craigslist was probably a batch of seconds. I bought a full pallet or about 500 sq ft of tile from a warehouse about 3 miles south of our house. I also bought all the available boxes of matching edge tile. It was 50 cents per square ft. I didn’t have anywhere to store the tile but outside. So as I’ve used it I’ve had to clean it. When doing the job myself I could clean a box at a time but because a contractor is doing this job I needed it all at once.
Dirty boxes of tile
We needed about 180 square ft of tile for the bathroom but with extra for waste we hauled 20 boxes of the 13”x13” tile into the garage. Each box had 11 tiles but one tile in almost every box had cardboard stuck to the bottom tile and I didn’t have time to scrub those. I can do them later. I only came across a few chipped or flawed tiles and also put them aside. About half way through I needed a break so I stopped for a cup of tea. Then dinner was delayed so I could finish. Both my son and Dave were kind enough to haul the clean tile into the house.
Progress
Cleaning it all at once seemed to take a long time. I used a simple green cleaner and wore out two scrubbing sponges and my fingers doing it. But finally by the tome it got dark it was finished. I had to wait until morning for a photo. It is now ready to be installed.
Originally I just had in mind to use a copper sink in the back bathroom. I love copper and this is the last bathroom remodel. But copper sinks are expensive so quite some time ago I found a huge copper sink with an antique sewing machine base for only $40 on craigslist.
“Unique antique vanity and sink. Made from an old sewing machine. Sink is copper. Counter is made from small river rock stones. All faucet fixtures included. It is currently disassembled and in our garage waiting for a new home.”
Treadle Sewing Sink Stand
I was not so much interested in the stand as the sink but after I got it home I decided I liked it and planned to use it in the bathroom someday. I stored it in the garage for at least three years before the project started. By that time the cabinet was quite dirty and needed some tender loving care.
Vanity from Garage
I mixed a paste of vinegar, baking soda, and salt to clean the copper. I just threw the ingredients together without measuring. Using a sponge, I spread the paste inside and outside the bowl and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I scrubbed it off and rinsed it. Some spots needed a second coat. I also used an old toothbrush to clean out the drain. That was disgusting.
The wood and metal legs were cleaned with a soft scrubbie and a sponge using warm water and dish detergent. Most of the dirt was just surface deep, I had to scrape a bit of white paint from some spots. Then I used wood restorer in golden oak to freshen the wood.
Finish Restorer
The refinisher was very easy to apply, just wiped it on with a white scrubbie and then wiped it off after 20 minutes.
Cleaned Vanity
I didn’t want to use the wall mounted faucet that came with the vanity because it was nickel and I’m using oil rubbed bronze. I purchased a used kitchen faucet to get a tall enough stem but I found when I finally put it on the sink that it was not quite tall enough. I decided to use it with an extra escutcheon that came with the faucet.
The difficulty installing the faucet came from the fact that the sink is so large it spans most of the area under the vanity cabinet suitable for the hole through the top. After much fiddling I was able to get the faucet’s control hole cut all the way through the plywood top and the frame piece underneath. I used a diamond hole saw for the tile, a spade bit for the plywood, a regular hole saw for the frame piece but then the spade bit and a deeper hole saw. The frame is old oak so quite hard wood. Then I had to install the faucet control plate and bolt in a small area above the frame but below the top. There was about 1/2″ space to tighten the nut that holds the faucet control steady. I took it apart three times because I could not get the assembly tight. Finally I had to use a shim under the cabinet top to get it tight. I think the copper pipes of the faucet kept the plate from pulling all the way up to the plywood surface. The top is not thick enough so shims under the faucet plate worked.
Faucet and control
The faucet just barely clears the sink rim. But it does swivel as it should and does not swivel outside the sink. I had to use a trim piece for the faucet spray to lift the faucet just enough to clear the sink bowl. I would like to have something a bit taller and wider instead of this piece but I had to get this together for the contractor.
Faucet extension
I need to clean the vanity again because it got dusty from the drilling. Then I have some furniture wax I’d like to use on the wood before it is installed. I may not have time though. I leave for a week in California tomorrow!
In order to meet the minimum standard for LEED all the substrate around a tub or shower must be paperless including the ceiling. It’s required even under tiled walls. The existing tiled walls had been waterproof for over 30 years and it seems this requirement is a little extreme for a remodel but there are no exceptions. So that meant before I could apply for my LEED certification the rear bathroom that is over the crawlspace had to be gut remodeled.
I was just not getting to this bathroom remodel. I had spent a couple of months with Westgate Renovations as they redid my son’s bathroom and put in a laundry area I was pleased with the quality of their work and their willingness to work with their clients. My son had several special requests and nothing was ever a problem for these contractors.
I scheduled them to do the bathroom. I purchased a porcelain on steel tub from Restore several months ago. I had decided that the old stained dirty looking cast iron tub needed to be replaced. The new tub was a very good price less than half of the store price for an upgraded steel model. I still have some of the brown tile that I have used throughout the house.
The first step was completely gutting the room. I took off the medicine and storage cabinets but the medicine cabinet cannot be salvaged as the mirror has some moisture damage. The storage cabinet is probably a good donation to Restore because it is a common type with oak doors and a veneer covered particle board box. I’m keeping the Niagara Stealth dual low flush toilet so I removed it too.
Removing toilet
I even removed the bathroom radiator. I think that I will replace it with underfloor radiant heat.
After the room was gutted there was evidence that the toilet had leaked at some point. The floor under the linoleum was soft and black with mold.
Evidence of toilet leak
The interior walls in the bathroom were insulated and some of the insulation was also moldy so that was replaced. I cleaned the wall area with Clorox clean up and new subfloor was fitted in the soft area.
Moldy fiberglass and wall
The first evening after the gut job we thought the existing 2 x 4 shims would stay and the top would be changed to incorporate a lighted niche. So I insulated the concrete wall with polyiso boards and replaced the fiberglass in the outside walls with rock wool.
First insulation install
The next day however, we decided to install a full 2 x 4 wall to make the niche deeper. All the polyiso had to be removed and recut and reinstalled. I had enough 1″ polyiso on hand to install two layers over the concrete.
Insulated back wall
The first layer of insulation in the 2×6 wall was covered with cement board as a backing for the niche and the electrical wire was run for the light. I added another 6″ layer of rock wool in the wall except for the niche area.
Insulation install
The glow in the ceiling is the Velux Sun Tunnel tempered glass skylight on the roof. The new Panasonic Whisper Green bath fan was also installed and will have a condensation control as the one in the master bath does.
Sun Tunnel and Whisper Fan
The bath project should be done sometime next week!
Because our kids are living in Germany we try to get over there a few times a year. We love just being with them and the grandkids but this visit we also got to accompany them on a short vacation to the Capitol City of Berlin. The concept of Passiv Haus was started in Germany but our visit consisted of the inspiration of German palaces, churches and government buildings. The intricacy of German woodwork and the beauty of gilt carvings in the Potsdam palaces is amazing. My favorite room in the old palace was the library.
Old Palace Library
The books are classics of the time bound in red goat leather with an identical collection in each of the king’s seven residences. My favorite room in the new palace was the Grotto. A huge open room decorated with shells and minerals.
New Palace Grotto
There were marble shell patterns on the floor and actual shells in the side niches.
Decoration with minerals and shells
And the wall bands were studded with semi-precious minerals.
Grotto walls with bands of minerals
This is what it means to be the king of a great Prussian Empire. Frederich the Great from the country and times of my great grandfather. But we also toured the Bundestag, the main government building of modern Germany. It is built inside the old government building walls. The original building was abandoned during Hitler’s reign due to a fire in the dome that the Nazi’s are suspected to have started to sow discord and confusion. Right after that Hitler was appointed Chancellor and he did away with the elected government killing many in the congress who were opposed to him.
Bundestag
Inside is a modern impressive remodel.
Modern interior
Russian graffiti was uncovered during the remodel and it was kept except for dirty words. The chambers were also quite modern with a large metal eagle hanging over the proceedings.
Congressional chamber
The officials sit together by party. There are several in Germany. Above this room is the vast dome that can be traversed by a spiral walkway. The views of the city are wonderful.
Famous Bundestag Dome
On our way through the building we stopped by the memorial to elected representatives. Over 8000 empty boxes piled in rows. Our grandkids counted and did the multiplication. There were black stickers on the boxes for those who were killed by Hitler.
Monument to elected congress members
There were other sites including the Berlin Mall with its McDonalds, the Berlin cathedral and its huge organ, and the bombed out WWII cathedral ruins with the modern blue glass interior next to it. Wonderful city to tour with the grandchildren. We are so fortunate.
As long as I was working on the barn doors in the family room I decided to see if I could install the closet door. The jamb was already installed when I realized that I didn’t have a door that fit in the space. When I took the time to look more closely at the jamb I noticed the shims from the original door were still behind the boards. I pulled the jamb nails out and took off all the shims. Then I reinstalled the jamb minimizing the space between it and the framing as much as I could. I had to trim off some drywall and pound it as flat as possible. I nailed the frame in place again. Then the door barely fit. With the latch in place it closes tightly but reasonably well and the 24” door finally fit in a 24” frame.
Closet Door
I’m kind of fond of these old doors. Many people replace them because they are just hollow core and originally I thought I would too. But it is nice (and cheap) to be re-using the doors that came with the house and after all, I have saved them all this time. These have a lovely finish unlike the newer prehung doors I bought through Craigslist. I put a quick water based polyurethane on the new doors and they are still quite gray in tone.
Polyurethaned door
I may take the time to renew the finish with a golden tint. But I really need to get started on trim.
I bought a pair of glass insert french doors five years ago thinking they would let in the extra light from the family room into the dining area. However when I finally decided to hang doors in the space, I no longer had room for swing open doors. Even though the space was built specifically for these doors, they were not going to work. They are cut too short to hang as barn doors too. Briefly I thought closet bypass system would work but I would have to cut the doors even shorter. I gave up on the double glass doors and decided to find another solution. These will go to the Restore. Unless I save them for the new garage! I paid $100 so hate to not use them.
Double Craigslist doors
The homemade doors that I bought on Craigslist four years ago have been in our way ever since. They are big and bulky and heavy as can be. I paid about $35 a piece for them. I was disappointed they were not hardwood, just pine which is I suppose is wood and wood is hard! I offered a lower price and the owners seemed happy to get rid of them!
2×6 Rustic Doors
I have been moving them from the garage to the closet to the bedroom etc. as we worked on the house. My son saw one that is waiting to be installed in the family room bathroom and said why don’t you use those? Well, why not? I’m losing interest in replacing the older hollow core doors in the house so I might as well use two of these big doors and hang them as barn doors. I had ordered a single barn door hardware system thinking I would use it in the bathroom for the attic door but there was no headroom for it there. So I had one on hand to try. The two widest doors were 31 1/4″ and the opening is 66″ after the casing went in. But I thought perhaps I could add to the edge to make the doors wide enough to cover the gap.
I put them in front of the opening and stepped back to consider the design as sliding barn doors. They are really too heavy and difficult for me to move around. I was disappointed by the small passage area that seemed to be open when two doors were hung in the space as bypass doors. I was very disheartened by the whole effort and wrote my son to help me just get rid of all these crazy unwieldly doors! Then I spent hours shopping online and at the Home Depot and Lowes apps but could not find 32″ rustic looking doors. I was not anxious to redesign a 36” door kit either.
Doors leaning in place
The next day I put up the barn door rail just to try one of the doors. Amazingly enough it was not too difficult to install a wood board header which I had from another project I had taken apart and the rail. The J style rollers were also easy to put on the door. Dave helped me lift it onto the rail and I thought it looked OK, and much better than I thought it did just propped in place.
One door installed
I ordered a second rail set and just one U shaped bracket for a bypass door on one side of the opening. Both came in a couple of days. The U shaped bracket was too narrow for my very wide handmade doors.
Bracket for bypass
It has 3″ clearance but it must be installed at least 5″ above the first rail which was higher than my header board covered. The metal certainly was heavy enough to carry the load if I had bought five, enough for each bolt in the second rail. But five of these were almost as expensive as a full bypass set for the opening!
I decided to install a matching header board on the kitchen side and the second door there. It was even easier than the first since I had already done one. Even though I hung the door backwards so the pull was on the wrong side, it didn’t take long to switch the J brackets to the other side.
Second door installed
But the gap was so wide my plan to use 2 x 4’s was not going to work. I went out to my wood pile and found a nice cedar fence board that seemed the right width. Then I “borrowed” another from Dave’s spare wood.
Rustic gap solution
These are about 1 x 6 and there is a remaining gap but it still affords privacy and blocks the view to the family room. I plan to put a trim piece on each door to hide the hinge mortises. I also bought some small non swivel casters because I can’t easily put a glide in the floor. I have just enough space to install these. Although the doors are so heavy they don’t swing much, the wheels should stabilize them.
Small Caster
I had figured the depth of this caster in addition to the height of the door to determine the rail position.
I was pleased that both doors moved to either side seems to give plenty of passage space.
Passage Space is Adequate
An easy and inexpensive way to hold the doors closed was a pair of iron hook and eye clasps and the pulls are an affordable sliding door set.
Doors with pulls and cast metal latch
I also have fancier bolts for these doors too but the problem of what to install in this space is solved for now.
The hall stair nosing was cracked and becoming a trip hazard. I had already replaced one of the edges with a dark bamboo piece that I purchased at a Repurposed Materials auction. I have a couple of 8 piece boxes of these so it was no problem to get the materials ready to replace the broken ones. This task was on my list but it did not come to the top until my grandson started nagging me about it. He tripped on the stair one day and I said I would replace the edge. When he came over again he asked why I had not yet replaced it! So he is a good reminder.
Dark bamboo stair edges
The edge under the stair nose is very narrow. I tried 1/8″ trim and it was too thick. Somewhere I have some oak edge tape that I will use instead. Once I find it!
I glued the nosing on with liquid nails so I used some tile to hold the boards down. They feel pretty sturdy now.
Stairs with new edges
A former owner tiled the steps but not the bottom one. I like the tile even though I would have put it on all four steps.
We severely reduced the size of the original utility room to make room for a dining area and to move the kitchen into the space. But in approximately a 6’x10’ room we fit in a stacking washer and dryer, a small chest freezer, the boiler/hot water heater, its valves and pumps, a utility sink and our water storage treatment equipment.
Freezer and laundry supplies
Needless to say there is not a lot of room for storage. But many sundry things get stored in there. All cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, buckets, extra hangers, rags, mops, and whatever we can stuff in there. It was a normal January day but I had an idea. I am a big fan of rolling carts. I have two in the garage for tools. Getting them out of the way is really easy. I had one in the front mudroom closet but decided I would make better use of the closet without the large rolling cart. So I transferred the tools and miscellaneous to shelves in the closet or the garage. It’s kind if a sad thing to move messes around and the cart is a little large for the utility room. But I totally filled it with the stuff piled in the room.
Storage, water treatment, laundry sink.
Now it is easier to get to stuff and easier to roll it out of the way when I need to change water filters or work with the valves or water treatment system.
I had to drain the spa because the winter weather is unpredictable and I did not want the pipes to crack. My planned repair did not work. I ordered the new spa heater from Acura Spa but it was cold and cloudy the day after it arrived. I waited an extra day for the sun to be shining as I worked. Although I didn’t know it at the beginning I had to remove the entire spa pack to remove the heater. Of course I had the power shut off to the spa. Luckily the spa plumbing had two gate valves to stop the water flow.
Pump side gate valve
Control side gate valve
Disconnecting the heater was not a terrible job but I needed help loosening one of the unions. After a little lubricant and a stronger grip Dave got it loose.
Big pipe wrench to disconnect heater
Disconnecting Union
Once the thing was removed I noticed some goop between the board and the heater.
Old spa heater hooked up
The heater was held in by the wiring and a few screws. When I got it all apart I saw that the control board had been burned right through where heater 1 was connected. The insulation on the wire was cracked and disintegrated and it had disintegrated some wires around it.
Burned wiring uncovered
Burned wires and board
Joe the spa guru from Acura Spa told me the bolts could vibrate loose if I didn’t have them tightened enough but I had to work to loosen the bolts so I’m not sure that was the problem. I suspect the wiring insulation was old and failed. It appeared to be failing in another area too. The heater elements did not look burnt out.
Broken heater
At this point there was nothing I could do with the new heater. So I called Acura Spa support and eventually decided to return the heater and buy a whole new spa pack. No heater meant the water had to be drained from the spa. If it was July it would be different but it was late January! Although we have been having unseasonably warm weather. It was 62 degrees today on Feb 1st! The first night when I realized I could not fix the spa I just opened the pump side gate valve and used a 6″ pipe under the union opening to drain the water out of the spa cabinet. The drain spigot does not work when the pipes are disconnected. That left about 6-8 inches of water in the spa the next day. So I opened the second gate valve but not much more water drained out. It was time to pump out the rest. I have a sump pump for the sump in the house but it has been disconnected so I thought it would be perfect. It was not.
Sump pump didn’t pump
I had a hard time getting it to stand up and when I got it situated it barely pumped. The motor worked but even when I disconnected the long hose for a short one and left it all night it didn’t drain. I also have a Harbor Freight pump that I bought for the chilling project and I had picked up a foot valve at some point on clearance. It still took me several hours to find piping that would work to drain the rest of the water. I had the pump instructions so I knew I had to prime it with a Y shaped inlet/outlet. I was lucky to have one of these too so that I could hook up a hose to prime the pump. Then the plug for the prime was missing so I hunted up a cork that fit. These were time consuming issues. By the time I got the pump set up it was dark so I let it run overnight but that night it got below freezing and I woke to an icicle in the end of the drain hose though water was still dripping out. It did not seem to hurt the pump as the water in the hot tub was down to an inch or two and it was not frozen.
Harbor Freight pump
The next step was using a shop vac to suck up the rest of the water and to blow water back through the jets. I tried leaving the cover off the vacuum tank drain so I would not have to stop and empty it but that ruined the suction.
Shop Vac used to suck water
Getting all that water out
I could not find the blower attachment but I found a pipe that fit over the blower outlet and I used that to shoot air into all the jets and the filter piping. I read that removing the spa filter is a good idea so I did that too. I left the tub dirty. The vac didn’t suck up dirt after the water was gone and I’ll have to clean it again before I refill it with water. But now if the weather turns to freezing for a few weeks the tub plumbing should be ok.
Unfortunately the control board on our ERV has been fried since last summer. It was probably due to several experiments trying to get the Lutron Grafix 0 to 10 voltage dimmer to work with the ERV. My son bought a new board for me over a year ago but he also had a busy year. (Moving here!) He just got around to installing it last month.
The ERV worked again with the new board but I lost the original controller for the system. (I packed it away someplace safe!) He had to hook up the humidistat in the bathroom to turn on the unit. It is connected to the boost control so that runs the ERV at full power.
But my son is also interested in setting up the NEST thermostat control. After quite a bit of testing he found that both Nests I had tried to use to control the ERV fan had broken electronics to the G or the fan connection. They still work fine for the call for heat. So he connected one of the inner rings from a Nest that has not been broken. But that is not the only step in getting the Nest to work with the ERV. He is going to add a relay to the system. That will allow the ERV to be turned on from the living room Nest thermostat fan control. Using IFTTT the Foobot air quality monitor could turn on the Nest fan when air quality is low.
Next perhaps he will tackle the 0-10 volt system to see if that can control the ERV too. Nice to have someone more knowledgeable than I am to figure out and fix the problems I created.
Last year I purchased a wifi controller for the spa so that I could set the temperature from my phone instead of having to go outside. Although the device did not seem difficult to install, it required opening the spa cabinet and removing the protective wire covering and insulation to get to the controls. So I didn’t install the system for over a year. Oh well it was a busy year.
I had to open the spa to get to the controls to order the new heater though so I figured it was a good time to install the new wifi device. The most difficult part was reaching the cable that runs from the control pad on top to the equipment controller. I had to move apart the insulation and wire cover at the top as well as over the controller.
Insulated cabinet opened
Then I had to disconnect the cable which required removing even more insulation as it entered at the side of the controller. A cap was screwed over the connector that was difficult to remove as there was little room between the side of the equipment and a valve. Unplugging the cable required undoing a clamping system which was difficult to see but I finally figured it out.
I had to reroute the cable from the wifi control to the side of the controller and get the new one plugged in and re-clamped. Then I rerouted the topside control cable to the inside of the wifi control and plugged it in. The instructions say not to position the wifi control with the water from the spa blocking the signal so I placed the wifi control outside the spa cabinet. I’m guessing it is not weather resistant so it will need a weather cover of some kind.
Wifi Controller and cables
Once the power was turned back on I was pleased that the equipment re-started without an issue. Then the task of connecting the wifi to our modem was relatively straightforward. I had to be close to the wifi unit to pick up its wifi signal but once I entered the device IP and found our wifi modem on the list I was able to connect it and received an email to register to get the wifi information from the spa control. Then the web site could be read from inside the house. Pretty cool actually.
Acura Spa Wifi Info
Posted inMonitoring, Spa|Comments Off on Spa Wifi Controller
On New Year’s Day we used the spa and I noticed it was losing heat while it was open even though I had turned up the thermostat while we were using it. I noticed a day or two later that the temperature was dropping and also that the electricity use was lower.
1 Day Wired Water Temperature Sensor
31 day wired temperature sensor
Efergy Electrical Use for Spa in Nov.
Efergy Electricial Use in Jan.
Tesla total energy on Jan 1
Tesla total energy use Jan 2nd
Unfortunately I tried to order a new heater but I had the wrong email address then we went out of town and I didn’t notice that my message bounced. Then I sent it again with full images and they bounced from a full mailbox. Probably because the images were too large. Finally after our return home I was able to send an email to the right address and with text information and order a new heater. I hope it gets here quickly as the water temperature is only in the 40’s.
While we were gone half of the lid blew completely off. That is a first. The cover is wearing out and the strap holding it down tore off. So the little heat the spa was holding was lost and it has not regained temperature. It appears that both heaters may be shot at this point because the two lower indicator lights are not lighting up.
Megatrol Indicator Lights
I’m hoping we can get it fixed before it has to be drained to keep it from freezing.
It’s difficult not to be pleased to see the fireplace boiler working as planned in its new surround. The wood fire exudes such peace and tranquility on a snowy winter evening and adds heat to the radiant system. Directing heat to the water and radiant system means the fireplace does not overheat the room. The outside air piped into the stove means that the room does not get drafty as air rushes in to replace the oxygen used by the fire. Turning on the system switch starts the primary pump, sending water through the stove, preparing the stove to have a fire started. As the fire heats up the circulating water the aquastat turns on the secondary pump sending hot water to the heat exchanger in the utility room.
Heat exchanger
In order to use the heat, the main heating system pumps must be running. I have to create a call for heat by raising the temperature in the rear of the house which opens that zone.
Taco zone controller showing call for heat in zone 1
The call for heat turns on the boiler system and its secondary pump.
Secondary pump shows watts used
The boiler receives warmed water from the heat exchanger which turns off the gas heat because it believes the water is at heating temperature. The stove heats up the circulating water. I can move the TV out of the way to see the pressure and temperature gauge.
Pressure and temperature gauge
The red indicator is set to 15 lbs pressure which is about atmospheric pressure. The stove is designed to heat at that pressure and the safety pressure relief will pop off at 30 psi which is also atmospheric pressure. The gauge is reading below the red indicator at 13 lbs. The temperature dial is under the pressure reading. It reads 110 degrees. That warm water will cool in the heat exchanger sending warmed water to the boiler. The boiler modulates it’s firing due to the warmed return water, even turning off depending on the outside temperature. The design temperature for the radiant heating system is 87 degrees. That means that if the temperature in the pipes is 87 degrees it is warm enough to heat the house down to an outside temperature of zero. The stove is only capable of about 26000 btu so it’s appropriate to send the warm water to only one zone. Since it is also ultra high efficiency and emits very few particulates this contribution to a snowy afternoon and evening is a thing of beauty.
It took a couple days around the Christmas holiday to get the stove reconnected. The main circulating pump needed to have its water pipes reconnected and the wiring had been disconnected from the main pump, the aquastat controller and the automatic mixing valve.
Disconnected pipes and wiring
The pipe to the hot water overflow tank was too short for the new configuration and getting the old pipe out was an exercise in contortion. Sharkbite connectors need steady pressure on the clamping ring and pulling pressure on the pipe to disconnect. I use vice grips in the opening of the pipe to pull it out of the connector. I have both the removal tongs and the rings and I use whichever one works best. Usually switching back and forth between the two.
Sharkbite removal ring
Sharkbite removal tongs
The pipes are a bit manueverable because some are PEX and some are copper. Typically the hot water piping is copper and the cold is PEX. In order to get the pipes lined up I had to add some new pipe and take some old out.
I took photos of the wiring as I disconnected it so that I would not have to figure it out from scratch again.
Main pump wiring
Aquastat wiring
The white wire from the pump has a dark marking meaning it connects to power black and the yellow connects to white. The aquastat has three connections and I use two that turn on the pump when the pipe reaches the set temperature. I had reduced that from 120 degrees to 90 degrees quite some time ago. The design temperature for the radiant system is only 87 degrees so when the fireplace boiler water reaches 90 it is hot enough to circulate to the heat exchanger for the modulating boiler and the system piping. I also had to tape the mixing valve sensors to the pipes. One measures the return water temperature and the other the heated water temperature.
After reconnecting the wiring and replacing the covers, I was about finished. I ran the pump for awhile until all the air escaped from the pipes and stove. The air stops hissing out of the escape nozzle and the sound of the pump changes when the air is out.
Pipes and wiring reconnected
The overflow tank that was on the left side of the system does not fit behind the cabinet. So I had to extend the overflow piping and place the safety tank right in front of the rest of the equipment. At least in this position it will be easy to empty if it ever holds water from the pressure relief valve. I did not have any more 3/4″ PEX so I salvaged a piece of 3/4″ copper from our stash of extra pipe. I’d like to create a door from the two cabinet doors to hide the equipment. So I have one propped in front of the equipment side.
Fireplace boiler re-connected.
I had to move the rug over slightly as it curled up at the cabinet leg. So I took advantage of having all the furniture moved to rearrange the room. Now there are more comfortable spots that have a good view of the TV.
There was a balmy break in the December weather. We have been enjoying temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s. So it was perfect for getting back to work on the fireplace boiler. I decided to use flat straight tile on the sides of the cabinet. I found some in dark brown to match the wood and long enough to prevent seams.
Long tiles for cabinet sides
This time I used my hand held wet saw to cut the tile and I seemed to get much less dirty.
Long tile installed
I cut and polished a granite mantle from a piece left from the bathroom remodel. That was glued to the metal crosspiece. And I cut the piece of cabinet back for the TV mount. It rests on top of the mantle and I made sure it fit before I took it out to finish putting more cement board protection inside the cabinet.
Backing for TV mount cut
I figured I would need six rock tiles to cover the fireplace face. But I bought two boxes of tiles so eight of them. Nothing broke irretrievably so I have two tiles left over.
Rock face tile installed.
I also cut the side narrow tiles from one piece so I have almost a full long tile left too.
I measured multiple times for the TV mount because the area was narrow and the TV would just fit. Unfortunately the mount ended up about an inch too low so the TV actually sits on the mantle when retracted fully.
TV fully retracted
When pulled out it dips below the mantle.
TV mounted a bit too low
The mount is bolted through the back board and that is screwed to two metal studs installed inside the cabinet. In order to see the TV from the love seat along the room’s back wall it has to be extended and tilted away from the back board. But the mount is designed to do that. I still have to treat the stone with sealer and hook up the boiler piping for the water and the electrical connections. Then next time it snows I can build a test fire.
I took another detour while my son and his family were out of town for a Christmastime trip. The old tile floor in the family bathroom was green shiny imitation marble. It was very slippery for a bathroom floor. And it was quite bold. It needed to be replaced. The tile they wanted was very expensive so we decided to try waterproof laminate instead. Sometime in the future it should be easy to replace.
First I removed the baseboards.
Green tile floor
Then the tile was relatively easy to take off since it was glued to the subfloor.
Removing tile
I was tremendously fortunate to have a helper for this project, a neighbor and friend who was available to spend several days on this and other projects in the house. She carried ALL the broken tile downstairs to the trash.
My first task after the tile was removed was to clean up mold that was growing under the tile next to the tub. I just used bleach and it cleared it right up. Then I removed the old caulk where the tub met the floor and replaced it with a bead of silicone. I allowed that to set up for 24 hours before proceeding.
Mold near tub
I also had to clean up mold and subfloor rot at the toilet flange. The flange was at floor level and the tile cut around it but the wax ring was not flattened allowing some effluent to escape around the toilet. That had rotted the floor under the tile.
Rotting floor under toilet
Finding issues like these really help reassure you that the project is necessary. I cleaned this up with bleach then scraped off any rot from the floor and treated it with some green copper wood preservative.
Cleaning and treating the floor
The next step was to remove the adhesive which was just a muscle job of scraping the glue off the subfloor. It took several days to get most of the glue off the floor.
Removing the adhesive
Then it was ready to lay the underlayment for the laminate. I chose a thinner underlayment so that the final floor was not too high.
Underlayment
I had to go back to the store to buy the special underlayment tape. It is very thin and will not cause a bulge in the layer. I placed the underlayment under the toilet flange. I was going to replace the flange but I could not remove it so I scraped and painted it with rustoleum. I had removed the screws so could lift it enough to get the underlayment underneath the flange. When I re-installed the toilet I tried a flange extension but it was too high. So I screwed a stainless steel flange over the existing flange which raised it a little bit and allowed me to use the foam toilet gasket. I like foam gaskets better than wax because they allow me to reposition the toilet easily.
When the underlayment was finished I was able to start cutting and laying the first boards. We decided to lay the boards parallel with the tub to make the job easier. Most photos show laminate in bathrooms laying perpendicular to the doorway but that would mean cutting several boards up against the tub. We decided that would be difficult and there was advice to lay the boards parallel to the door to make the room look larger too. So that is what we chose to do.
Underlayment and first board
I used shims to keep the boards away from the walls and tub. Even though the boards have a waterproof face, I was interested in guarding against water seeping into the cracks and buckling the floor. So I followed some online advice to put silicone on the lip between each board and completely around the floor perimeter. But I was having a great deal of trouble trying to get the first boards to lock together. They were leaving a space that was annoying but the more I banged on them the less they wanted to shim up.
Luckily my helper was stronger and more persistent that I was. She finally got the boards to lock as we stood on them to keep them from popping apart.
Tub room laid
She also helped me decide how to place the seams so that they didn’t line up too closely. We had to figure it out on paper for the best use of the remaining boards. Then she banged all the rest of the boards into place while I measured and cut them.
Helper getting boards together
Finally the boards were all in place and we used almost all 10% of the contingency I ordered. There were only scraps left. The entire perimeter and around the toilet flange got a bead of silicone. I attempted to cover the pulpy edge of the flooring completely.
Floor without baseboards
I was able to paint the baseboards in the garage in my painting tent with a small heater running so the temperature was good for painting. There were a few pieces of baseboard missing so I also cut those and fit them and I used some vinyl 3/4 round at the base of the tub and vanity. I had bought the vinyl from craigslist for another project and had plenty left for the bathroom.
Finished floor with baseboards
The job took the entire 10 days that the family was out of town but it was nice to come home to a new bathroom floor!
I started a new project that I have had in mind for several years. I have loved Old Hickory furniture ever since we visited the Old Faithful hotel in Yellowstone National Park when we were first married. It is made in Indiana and has been in production since the 1800’s. I bought a side table years ago at a country auction. And I began purchasing some of the pieces in Arizona by finding a huge TV cabinet at an extreme discount in 2004. The doors did not fit exactly but the heftiness of the piece was impressive.
Purchased in 2004
It is such a large piece that I have had trouble fitting furniture around it in the living room.
Moved to Colorado in 2014
Finally I moved it so that it partially blocked off the hallway.
Back of cabinet over part of hallway
The new position allowed the best view of the new/used TV I bought when the monitor we had been using lost its audio.
Cabinet with new used TV
The original plan for the stove was to build a wire frame and cover it with stucco to look like a kiva fireplace. That is such a homey look. But eventually I got the idea to combine the huge cabinet and the stove and still have the TV in the cabinet.
I delayed working on the plan because it seemed like a huge project. The cabinet is heavy and I knew I had to cut it in the living room creating quite a bit of dust. But after I finished the pillar I really wanted to move on to the another finish job in the room.
The boiler stove does not get hot to the touch. So the cabinet does not need the typical clearance between the flammable sides and the stove. I had a plan to dissipate the heat in the cabinet. I purchased ceramic fence insulators.
Ceramic fence insulator
My plan was to use 1/4″ cement board to protect the wooden sides and space it away from the wood so air would be able to circulate around it and cool the sides.
Cement board installed
But first I had to take the cabinet apart. The TV was relocated temporarily to a table on the other side of the room. And I began to remove the interior drawers, shelves and screws.
Taking the cabinet apart
Once I had the cabinet apart I slid it over to the stove to calculate where the back of the stove had to be cut to allow it to push back to the wall and over the stove.
Moved to stove corner
Then I used the reciprocating saw to cut through the wood. I thought it was oak plywood but upon further inspection realized the cabinet is oak veneer pressboard. But it is still very heavy.
First cuts of cabinet to fit around stove
Next I had to cut the middle shelf completely out in order to fit the cement boards at the sides and open the stove door. I left as much cabinet as I could in order for it to remain sturdy.
Cut out and pushed back over stove
In order to get the cabinet pushed back over the stove I had to disconnect the plumbing and cut a hole in the side for the equipment to fit. Luckily I figured out how to disconnect the plumbing without having to remove the pump. I had to shift the cabinet back and forth to get the back leg around the equipment first.
Stove pumps and connections
Since I used shark bites it was possible to disconnect the piping and I will be able to reconnect it in its new location. Next I was able cut the metal studs to hold the cement board for the stone tile.
Framing started for facing
It was easier to remove the studs to install the cement board on the insulators. I still had to maneuver the drill around the stove. It helped that the cabinet can slide back and forth to gain space to work. Then I screwed the studs in with 1/2″ self tapping screws.
The most difficult part of the job was reconnecting the chimney. The pieces fit together very tightly and I had to try to line up the old screw holes. Where I could not use the existing holes I broke two drill bits making new holes for the screws. It took me all day to jockey the pipe enough to get it reconnected and screwed back together. While I was installing the pieces I cleaned the creosote from the inside. It was good to see that there was very little creosote in the pipe.
Chimney reinstalled
I temporarily placed some LED candles where the mantle will be. The TV will hang from an articulating arm installed above the mantel on a piece of the cabinet cut from the back panel. I need to have the TV swing away in order to check the pressure and temperature dial. After a few years of use though the stove does not exceed a safe pressure.
The beauty of the design is that the entire fireplace surround can be slid back from the stove just in case the stove needs some kind of maintenance that I can’t reach from the side opening. I’m very excited about the new look and additional area that this use frees up in the living room. Plus the style is exactly the cabin rustic I was hoping to have.
