Back Home Again

Flappers

I'm staying with my friends in Tulsa.  One of their toilets has a weak flush.  I opened up the tank and inspected the flapper.  It appeared to be okay.  Then I flushed the toilet and ran my finger along the bottom of the flapper.  My finger had all this black gunk on it.  Ewwwww.  The flapper was disintegrating and dislodging black chunks of rubber.  Another toilet in the house has the same type of flapper.  I shut off the water supply to the one toilet and removed the flapper.  I put the flapper in a plastic bag and took it with me to the hardware store.

It is amazing to me how many different types of flappers there are: big, small, water-saving, brand name, etc.  I got two of the basic flappers that were the same size.  I had to use the restroom at the hardware store to remove some of that black rubber gunk that got onto my hands. 

I got back to their house and in just a few minutes had the flappers replaced.  I even removed some film from the inside of the tank with a rag.  Both toilets flushed properly.  Yea!  A successful plumbing job with only one trip to the hardware store.  That almost never happens.

Dryer Vent

I went outside to turn on the hose to flush out the water lines with our existing muddy water problem, when I noticed the dryer vent lying on the ground in three pieces.  What the hell?  The main pipe piece looked like someone shot it with a b-b gun.  Then I remembered the night before, my brother's dog and a neighbor's dog were feverishly thrashing the bushes in search of a rabbit that had run back there.  For whatever reason, they decided to chew off the end of the dryer vent while they were behind the bushes.  Damn dogs.

So I had to go to town and buy another end piece.  Then it was under the house for me into the skinny opening out in the garage.  I had to take a round gasket, a flashlight, and a caulk gun with me.  I got down to the other end and yelled for my sister to push in on the new dryer vent.  I hooked it up to the long piece of pipe coming out of the dryer.  Then I caulked around the opening in the brick, both inside and out.

I hate going into the crawlspace.  I always come out just covered in spider webs.  There was lots of insulation falling down from the floorboards too.  I came out of there looking like a flocked Christmas tree.  Blech.

What else can go wrong? 

Nowata, Pt. II

Looks like I spoke to soon about having dirty well water too.  

Late last night I took a long shower down at Dad's house.  Then I turned on the dishwasher before I went to bed.  In the morning, I got up and used the toilet and flushed.  Later, I went in to brush my teeth and I looked into the toilet.  It looked like chocolate milk in the bowl.  I turned on the faucet and brown stuff came out of there too.  Kitchen, same thing. 

I unraveled the garden hose and turned on the faucet full blast.  Out came what resembled Choc-Ola.  After about three hours I went back up to the house and while I was there, the water quit flowing altogether.  There was cold water in the kitchen sink but that was it. 

I'm not sure what's going on, if it's dirt being sucked up into the pump because we're having a drought, or what.  But it messed things up in a hurry.

Guess I'll be showering and brushing my teeth back at my old house.  Time to call the plumber...again.

Window Well, Pt. II

Looks like I spoke to soon about what a great job I did on the window well.  With the rain that we had in June, it quickly turned into a greenhouse in there.  The realtor noticed right away and said, "Can we do something about that?"  And by we he meant me.

So I took the cover off of the window well and cleared out all of the vegetation.  Turns out it wasn't coming from inside the window well but outside and then growing up over the metal edge of the window well.  You see the cover is round, and the window well itself is oval.  It was suggested that I dig down and replace the dirt with gravel.  We also had some concerns of water seeping into the window well from the downspout a few feet to the left of the window well.  I also discovered a whole in the bottom corner of the window well about the size of a dime, which could explain the leak that started this whole mess.

So I dug and dug until I reached the bottom of the window well, and dug a trench over to the downspout.  I caulked the window and the hole.  I filled the winodw well with gravel and around the outside and the trench too.  I covered the gravel with a thin layer of the dirt and smoothed out the rest.  I applied some tar-like substance to the cover and reattached it.

I think I'm done at this point.  Sadly, we haven't had a big rain to test it yet.  Fingers crossed!

Garbage Disposal

I was informed that the garbage disposal at Dad's house was no longer functioning.  I pressed the reset button the bottom and at least got a hum when I turned it on.  Then I took a broomstick handle and broke it loose on the inside, and pulled out some tough tomato vines.  The garbage disposal now worked but sounded like a jet engine taking off.  It was very loud.  I installed it about five years ago, and that's about the lifespan of a garbage disposal these days.

I went to the hardware store and purchased the exact same model.  I was thinking, if I was lucky, they may not have changed the locking mechanism that hooks the disposal onto the sink assembly.  Maybe I could use the same sink assembly and not have to redo the putty under the rim.

I threw the breaker, unhooked all the hoses and the PVC drainpipe and hooked up the new disposal.  I was careful when tightening the disposal to the sink assembly and I didn't break the seal.  In less than an hour, I had the new disposal hooked up with no leaks and no extra trips to the hardware store.  That never happens!

I remember hooking up a garbage disposal for some friends in Tulsa.  Everything seemed to be hooked up just fine.  Then they ran the dishwasher and flooded the kitchen.  It seems I forgot to knock out the dishwasher drain plastic tab.  When all the drain water hit the disposal, the water had nowhere to go but out the seals of the PVC pipe.  Oops! 

Live and learn.  

Washer & Dryer

Part of my moving process was to move the washer and dryer from Dad's house down to mine.  The set at Dad's house is less than seven years old.  My set is about twenty-five years old.  They were used when I bought the house in Tulsa.  They have done me well though.  But the last few years, they've started to show their age.  The dryer takes forever to dry something, and it never really gets very hot.  The washer gets off balance almost every load.  It starts walking across the floor and rubs up against the wash basin.  I'm always afraid it is going to break the plumbing on the basin.  It sounds like a jet taking off. 

First, I disassembled the washer and dryer at Dad's house.  The washer and dryer came out pretty easy.  But for years, the dryer vent hadn't attached to the floor receptacle very tight.  As a result, a lot of lint has been released in the air.  The floor of the laundry room was covered with this greasy lint.  I had to get a scrub brush after it, but it finally all came up.  Nasty stuff.

Then, I disassembled the washer and dryer at my house.  The dryer was simple.  Just unplug the dryer and undo the dryer vent.  The washer was another story.  I successfully turned the water off at the upper shut off valves, which were all limed over with calcium.  But I couldn't get the hoses off.  The water pipes were attached by a flimsy bracket to a board on the wall.  So I coudn't get any leverage for fear of breaking the pipe.  Someone suggested using Coke or white vinegar.  I put a few ounces of white vinegar in a cup and dabbed it on using a rag.  Finally I was able to get the hot water hose off.  With my brothers assistance we got the cold water hose removed. 

As we scooted the old washer away, there was a big oil spot underneath.  I'd say the motor was about to go.  I got out some Dawn detergent and water and scrubbed up the cement and put a fan on it to dry.  The next day, my brother and I swapped out the washer and dryer.  That old washer weighed a ton.

There was also a huge gap around a pipe about the size of a child's fist.  The mice wouldn't even have to bend down to get into my garage.  I stuffed that hole with steel wool.

We went to hook up the new hoses to Dad's washer.  I had my brother hold the pipe with a pipe wrench while I tightened the collar of the hose with another pipe wrench.  We got both of the hoses attached and the drain pipe hooked up.  I turned on the hot and cold water.  Drip, drip, drip.  There was water dripping from the cold water shut off.  We tried tightening the collar, but again, no leverage.  It was gonna have to be replaced.  My brother found a similar shut-off.  We shut off the lower shut-off valve.  We took the handle and plunger piece out of the other shut-off, applied some plumbers tape and put it into the old shut-off valve.  We put it all back together and turned on the water.  Drip, drip, drip out of the lower shut-off valve.  I tightened it with a wrench and it stopped.  Wow!  No leaks anywhere.  I turned on the hot/cold settings on the washer and we even got the hot and cold hoses attached the right way (it was a 50/50 shot).

I took the old set to town and gave it to a guy who repairs old appliances. 

The dryer was a breeze to set up.  Now there is a fully functioning washer and dryer set in my garage.  And I didn't have to call a plumber or an electrician.  Woo hoo! 

  

Shower Threshold

It all started when my niece was visiting.  She stepped onto the threshold going into the shower and heard a crunch.  One of the tiles had broken.  Uh-oh.  I wondered if what was beneath the tile was rotten.  But I didn't have time to get into this project until after the wedding.  So I just continued using the shower. 

Today I called my construction guy.  He came out and carefully removed the tiles.  It was extremely rotten below, and has been for some time.  He is going to come back in the morning and start on it.  This is going to be a much bigger job than I was anticipating.

Looks like I'll be showering down at Dad's house for a few days.

Update:  My guy poured cement down the hole and then placed the tiles back on the top of the threshold.  24 hours later, I'm back in my shower.  Woo hoo!

Nowata

This past weekend my cousin's picked up their dog from my house.  Their son used my bathroom, and after he did he said, "Jerry, I think there's something wrong with your sink."  I blew it off because I had just taken a shower a half hour before.  But later when I went to wash my hands, nothing came out but air.  The same thing happened exactly three weeks before.

The first time, I crawled under the house.  My house was built on top of the well.  The pressure gauge was sitting at zero.  I flipped the breakers and after a few minutes the pressure started to build up.  By then the plumber I called had arrived.  He noticed that there was a clogged jet and he cleaned it out with a piece of wire.  The pressure increased and finally the pump kicked off at around 40.  He told me I might want to think about drilling a new well.

Fast forward to this weekend, I called a different plumber; kind of a second opinion thing.  This time the pressure would not rise above 25.  I squeezed out a quick shower in the morning before the water ran out.  This plumber said it was a clogged jet again.  This time I crawled under the house and made him show me where it was.  There is a square nut on the pump.  The jet is behind that nut.  All you have to do is shut off the juice, loosen the nut, and clear the debris from the jet.  He told me I might want to think about drilling a new well. 

Their reasoning for drilling a new well is that most wells now have a 4" well, where mine is a 2" well.  But I've never had a problem on running out of water, living alone.  Until lately, that is.  But I think that's just dirty water.  We'll see how we do for the next few weeks.

We are going to drill a new well up at Dad's house though.  The water there has terrible gray sediment and bacteria.  Dad always said, "I'm not drilling a new well.  The next guy can worry about that after I'm gone."  And here we are.   

Window Well

We've been trying to spruce up the outside of Dad's place.  My sister took to the loppers and her husband to the weed-eater and power washer.  The place does look a lot better.  One mishap:  my brother-in-law got a little too close to the window well cover and put a couple holes in it.  It was already cracked in several places.  Of course, it was going to storm over the next few days.  That window well had leaked before due to water coming down the walls from the bedroom above and there is a gutter drain nearby.  So I just duct taped it up for the time being.

There are two window wells on the house.  One in the basement recreation room and one in a bedroom.  Originally the house didn't leak even without the window well covers, but soon became a necessity as the house settled.  The bedroom's only natural light comes from this window well.  Even morning people have been known to sleep past noon in this room.  We call this bedroom "the tomb".

The last time we ordered a window well cover from our local hardware store, it took three tries before we found one that would fit.  Luckily, I saved the UPC code and cover sheet from the last one.  This time it was much easier and was delivered to the store a few days later. 

Finally today was a sunny day and I was ready for the project.  I took the screws off and decided that I needed new ones with a Phillips head instead of a flat head.  I also bought some roofing tar in a caulk tube.  When I took the cover off, the well was filled with dead weeds.  I pulled those out and then had to clear some rocks and dirt in the front in order to "bury" the front part of the cover to hold it in place.  I noticed that the caulk around the window was very old and brittle.  I chipped that out and also chipped off the old tar from the prior window.  I then caulked around the window and sealed the cement down in the window well with the tar.  I had to line up the anchors in the brick with the new cover and poke a hole in the cover with an ice pick.  Then I had to gently drill a hole to make it big enough to put the screws in.  I learned on a previous window well cover that the cover will break if you have not pre-drilled the holes.  I sprayed Round-up down in the window well and all around it.  I put a coating of tar around the three edges and placed it up against the brick.  I tightened the screws and applied another coat of tar around the edge.  I also tar-caulked the other window well on the other side of the house.  I pushed the dirt and rock up against the front and placed a brick along the side to keep the wind from lifting it up. 

It took me 2 1/2 hours for all this.  I'm slow, but thorough.  

Here's the before / during / after photos:

East View

This is a view out of my office window to the east.  The reason that you are getting such a clear view is that I had just finished cleaning the windows.  I went to lift the blinds so that I could clean the inside of the window and I broke the blinds. 

Since this is my view in the morning, I knew one sunny morning would force me to do something about it.  I took one of the slats with me to Walmart and found a 39" duplicate set that fit right into the existing bracket.  Once I got it home it was up in a matter of minutes. 

That's why you should always go with the cheap shit when you decorate.  It never goes out of style and you can find it at every day at Walmart.