Category Archives: Plumbing

Plan and install plumbing system

Difficult Offset Toilet Drain Repair

Posted on July 25, 2022 by ellen

When we decided to insulate the knee wall on the east side of the remodel the toilet drain ended up too close to the wall. Unfortunately the type of offset fitting I bought was a ”bowl” type instead of an … Continue reading →

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Yuck, It Smells Terrible

Posted on April 25, 2022 by ellen

We first noticed that sewer gas was seeping into the house when my friend did a blower door test in December. The smell was from the master bathroom and it would come and go. I never could tell which fixture … Continue reading →

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Point of Use Water Softener

Posted on January 18, 2022 by ellen

We have used our SPT dishwasher now for about seven and a half years. I purchased it from a grad student at CSU to fit in the corner of our rustic kitchen. After a few years the inlet valve broke … Continue reading →

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Niagara Stealth Toilet Maintenance

Posted on November 11, 2021 by ellen

One of the Niagara toilets would not fill but just kept running so Dave took it apart. Dave figured out the problem. He said most internet sites dealing with the tank not filling blame the flow valve. This (fixable) problem … Continue reading →

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Filters and Boiler Maintenance

Posted on October 18, 2020 by ellen

Fall is falling and some quick chores were completed. We have a Campbell filter on the whole house water supply. It takes a double charcoal filter and it relatively easy to change as long as the water turn off is … Continue reading →

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Finishing Up the Bathroom

Posted on April 3, 2020 by ellen

There were a few more tasks to finish the bathroom remodel. The contractor and his helper came one more time to complete the job. The largest project was the installation of the solar tube in the ceiling. He finished the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bathrooms, Construction, Design Style, Energy Efficiency, Plumbing, Reduce Reuse Recycle, Solar | Comments Off on Finishing Up the Bathroom

Insulating the Bathroom.

Posted on March 12, 2020 by ellen

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Plumbing | Comments Off on Insulating the Bathroom.

One More Thing

Posted on November 10, 2019 by ellen

As time goes on I am involved in fewer projects at my son’s house. One of the last updates in the family bathroom was to change the dual flush unit in the tank. The dual flush button on the toilet … Continue reading →

Posted in Maintenance and Repair, Plumbing, Reduce Reuse Recycle, Sideline at son’s house | Comments Off on One More Thing

Kitchen Faucets

Posted on October 29, 2019 by ellen

The windowsill was in the way of the kitchen faucet handle for the hot water. The handle bumped up against the wood so the water could not be completely turned on. When the new quartz was installed we requested that … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Style, Kitchen, Plumbing, Reduce Reuse Recycle, Sideline at son’s house | Comments Off on Kitchen Faucets

Gorilla Epoxy Glue Fix

Posted on December 3, 2018 by ellen

The shark bite I used to connect the shower hose to the wall was too loose even though I pulled it forward to attach the holder and added a backplate. I tried using caulk to attach the holder to its … Continue reading →

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Hot and Cold Switch

Posted on November 25, 2018 by ellen

I mixed up the hot and cold piping to the shower. I had hot connected on the right side when it is supposed to be on the left. Fortunately the supply pipes are exposed in the utility room behind the … Continue reading →

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Shower Fixtures

Posted on November 24, 2018 by ellen

The fixtures for the shower are Delta Champagne Bronze. I think the color is a nice complement to the dark brown tile. The style name is Lahara which is a very plain style. I couldn’t find the diverter trim in … Continue reading →

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Kitchen Drain Fix

Posted on October 23, 2018 by ellen

One of the items on the spring/summer list was to fix the kitchen sink drain. I stuck a bucket under the kitchen sink drain because it was dripping when the sink had water in it, and I thought the leak … Continue reading →

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Drawer Dishwasher

Posted on July 23, 2018 by ellen

Shortly after returning from Germany we went out to see our son’s family and meet his new baby girl. I decided to order a Fisher and Paykel tall tub single drawer dishwasher to install in their apartment. This will be … Continue reading →

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New Toilets

Posted on April 20, 2018 by ellen

I was tired of looking at and trying to clean the old biscuit colored toilet in the back bathroom. It flushed fine with its 1.6 gallon flush–a water saver in its day. But the tank and the bowl were stained … Continue reading →

Posted in Bathrooms, LEED Project, Plumbing | Comments Off on New Toilets

Passed the Final Inspection

Posted on April 1, 2018 by ellen

April Fools!  But we did have the inspector come out at the end of February and we are very close. We had three things that needed to be done to pass: first, finish the showers; second, caulk around the bathroom … Continue reading →

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Shower Tile Design

Posted on February 10, 2018 by ellen

This was a big week. Two shower designs were laid out and one shower was almost completed. Bill Boyd is our tile guy and also our nephew in law. Unfortunately he lives in California. But he agreed to come out … Continue reading →

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Solar Thermal Plans

Posted on February 1, 2018 by ellen

I have been wanting to install solar thermal panels to help heat the hot tub water since the hot tub is the major draw on our electrical power. We have prime sunshine and solar hot water heaters were very popular … Continue reading →

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Shower Schluter

Posted on January 20, 2018 by ellen

I applied the Kerdi membrane to the large family room bathroom shower. Getting these showers tiled is a big job that will be done quickly due to having my nephew-in-law visit to do the job. Then we will be able … Continue reading →

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Schluter Kerdi Shower

Posted on December 2, 2017 by ellen

Schluter Kerdi is a thin waterprrof membrane that feels like a thick paper with a fleece side that gets embedded in mortar and what must be a polymer infused side that is waterproof. The directions say to make the mortar … Continue reading →

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