Study Bath Re-Plumbing - Part 1

The water pressure has been a bit low in the study bathroom. And every once in a while we get a foul odor from near the toilet. So, it's time to do some re-plumbing...

I'd already replaced the old galvanized supply trunk with PEX when I'd re-done the laundry, so this isn't going to be that hard.

Saturday, I punched a couple of holes in the wall to remove the old galvanized supply lines for the sink and toilet. Note that the valve on the hot supply line is starting to fall apart between the shaft and the housing (top shut-off valve in the picture). It's too bad the old lines are badly corroded on the inside; these old shut-off valve are cool looking.

I had only a couple of hours between other commitments so was glad to get the sink's lines removed and the hole punched for the toilet.

Servant's Toilet

When I re-plumbed the laundry room, I disconnected the water to this toilet. It was the "servant's" toilet in the basement. Not a very glamorous setting...

Whenever I'm working in the basement and have to use the toilet, I have to run upstairs. I've gotten tired of that, so figured it was time to reconnect this one. And it's good practice for some other plumbing work that's coming soon.

The toilet was working before I disconnected it, but it took forever to fill because the old galvanized supply line was full of mineral buildup and corrosion. I ran the new PEX supply line (left of the toilet in both pictures) and installed a shut-off valve. Now there's a concept - now we have the ability to shut off the water to a single fixture instead of the whole house!

Then I connected the supply to the fill valve and turned on the water. And the supply valve didn't work. And worse yet, it leaked (note water on the floor in the "after" picture). The old one and gaskets are shot.

So off to the home center to get a new fill-valve assembly.

Drain the tank. Install the new valve. Turn on the water.

The new fill-valve works and doesn't leak. Woohoo!

But the flush-valve ball is leaking AND the flush-valve is leaking around the base. It's no suprise that the ball is leaking; it appears to be ancient and the rubber has disintegrated. The gaskets around the base of the flush-valve don't look right to me though... Off to the home center again. I find the new ball easily enough, but cannot find the right gaskets. The salesman suggests I try a plumbing supply house. Of course, they are closed until Monday.

I end up at Gopher Plumbing Supply with the entire valve assembly and gaskets. The salesman doesn't think the gaskets look right either, but gets me replacements that match.

I install them and, of course, they still leak.

So back I go and they hook me up with the right gasket and...

No Leaks!

So that's what I get for assuming what's there is the correct part. How many times am I going to need to learn this lesson with this house? Oh yeah, and there were two of the wrong gasket ($1.49 each). The right one (flush valve shank washer) costs $2.59.

Didn't someone once talk about doing it right the first time???

While I'm at it, I clean the bowl & tank. And I remove the old, nasty seat and replace it with a new one. And find a generic lid that will keep junk from falling into the tank.

GFCIs and The Dark

This morning, I'm in the bathroom and SWMBO turns on the WaterPic.  The GFCI trips and the lights...  go out.  Then I hear a noise that sounds like little plastic pieces bouncing across the floor in the dark.  Hmm...

1. tripping a GFCI outlet shouldn't cause the lights in the room to go out (obviously *that* work was never inspected...)
2. the reset button on a GFCI outlet shouldn't go flying around the room like the jumping light bulb from that scene in "The Return of the Pink Panther"

Off I go to get a new GFCI outlet.

And I can't wait to remodel this bathroom.

Dressing Table

The slow collecting of furniture continues.

We found this last weekend. After doing some research, it appears to be pre-1930, based on the manufacturer's inscriptions. Though it's not particularly valuable, we like it regardless.

As is usual, there was some assembly required. The way the mirror attached to the base was, ummm... all wrong. A couple of blocks of wood, some drywall screws, and a screwdriver wedged in there to keep the mirror from flopping over...

I'm sure the correct hardware was lost long ago. So I went off to the hardware store to get the right stuff.

It's much better now.

Another Mail Slot

This is likely the last outdoor project for the year.

I took advantage of the nice weather this past Sunday and installed this mail slot for the carriage house. There was no mail slot in this door previously.

A new coat of paint in the spring and this door will look great!

Thumb-turn Latches

If you'd found one of these in a bag and the other laying on the floor 30 feet away (and two years ago) in your basement, would you have known that they belong together?

Me either.

I'm glad that two years ago I saved the the two thumb-turns. I'd always wondered what they were for.

I'd found the cover plate in a bag with a bunch of random stuff earlier in the week.

Fortunately there was a door that still had the cover plate, but it was missing its thumb-turn.

I have no idea how I remembered that I had these thumb-turns with 1/4-inch square spindles. It was just one of those "I wonder if that thing in the basement will fit this" moments...

Crystal Door Knob Parts

There are pieces of hardware missing (and hiding) everywhere.

When I ordered the mail slot, I also ordered a handful of new door knob spindles (top). Some old ones were in bad shape (bottom) - the threads were mangled, the corners were rounded-off, etc. As a result you never knew if the latch would open or the knob would fall off in your hand.

I suspect this pair of knobs were purposely missing their rosettes. The threads on the end of this spindle were so bad you couldn't thread the knobs on unless the rosettes on both sides were removed.

I finally got around to installing the new spindles today. And now that I know how well they work, I need to inventory every door and decide how many more we need.

Several of the doors are missing set-screws for the spindle, rosettes for the knobs (center of the picture), thumb-turn latches, and keyhole covers. While I was cleaning the basement recently, I found some of the missing hardware - a handful of rosettes and keyhole covers. Not all of the missing ones, unfortunately.

And, of course, the screws are nowhere to be found. That's OK though, many of the installed rosettes and keyhole covers are missing screws.

I'll just do my part to jump start the economy by buying a box of 100 at Seven Corners - I'll probably need at least that many...

And I still have some antiquing solution left.

Reupholstery

Projects always take longer than you think...

A while ago I'd repaired the dining room chairs. However there were two chairs that had large red wine stains on them. Reupholstering them was today's project.

In the picture is a finished chair (left) and a stained chair (right).

Of course, doing the first one took several hours of trial and error to get the fabric to lay properly. And the second one took only 30 minutes or so.

Like in life, you don't know everything you need to know until after you're done doing it...

New Mail Slot - Part 2

Another week where I'm staying home from work to... work!

I've finally been able to reattach the box that's on the inside of the door to catch the mail after it comes through the mail slot.  It is a clever old design, especially the sides that fan out like playing cards when you open it.

It had been attached by nailing through the front of the door.  Not the easiest for removal and re-installation.  But it's not like you'll ever need to remove and re-install it.  I mean, a wooden door won't ever need to be re-finished will it?

New Mail Slot

The stuff we ordered from House of Antique Hardware arrived over the weekend.  One of the things was a new mail slot.

The old one (top) didn't quite fit the period of the house.  The new one (bottom) looks much better.

Once again, what should have been a 30 minute task... took 4 days.

To be fair, daylight savings time played a role in that - I had other commitments during daylight and it's hard to do this kind of work in the dark.

The slot came with all the proper hardware, except that it's meant for a door that is 1/2 inch thicker.  So I needed to make a trip to get shorter screws.

And though both slots "swing out", the new one's pivot point is behind the trim.  So I needed to remove some extra material from the door.  And re-install the slot. And remove it. And remove some more material from the door.  And re-install the slot. And remove it...

And, obviously, the door needs to be re-screened and re-finished.  I'm saving that for next spring.