Just had a big hole dug in my front yard

[beppington]

... This is clearly a record post for me, but you, the OP, made the mistake of asking a geek to drone on. ...

You may "Dream of Wires" like musician Gary Numan :thumbsup:

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I am now done pulling wire. I finished at 5:00 today.

It has been a long drawn out portion of the project, but I believe it was worth doing myself. I may have only saved a few dollars, but it's done the way I wanted it done. Money can't buy the kind of job that I fell like I did.

I now will learn the delicate art of patching drywall... See attached Photos. These are a few examples of the damage I've done throughout the process.

 

[Coyote machine]

That's damage?!
Hardly!
Second photo looks more like the wall needs to be cleaned and then painted.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Today was a plumbing day. The picture below represents a whole day's work. That tub valve was a bear to install. If I had it to do over, I would have bought a right hand tub and installed the valve on the other side. Of course that would have complicated the drain plumbing that we did almost a year ago.

Part of the challenge of this tub valve is that it's stuck back between the concrete and the false wall for the bathroom. We've created a plenum of sorts back there for all the pipes to go through. I had to reach through that "window" framed in next to the tub in order to connect all the fittings. (I plan to sheet rock over that opening, and then if I have to replace the valve someday, I'll cut it out and put some kind of cabinet there.)

Knowing that I was going to have to work in a tight space I splurged for SharkBite push-fit connectors. They work with Pex pipe, and you just push them in. They were easy. The theory is that if I ever have to replace the valve, I can just press down on a ring on the fitting and pull the pipe back out again. I give them 4 out of 5 stars. I'd have given them 5 but they are expensive!

Today was also my first experience sweating pipe. I had to sweat a threaded fitting onto a 1/2" pipe for the tub spout to fit over. I was surprised how easy it was. It really surprised me how much solder that joint took, though. Now I keep thinking of what other projects I might need to do that use copper fittings. Maybe I need hardlines in my shop for air.

 

[Coyote machine]

Here's good news: the valve for the shower gets replaced if ever needed from the front! You don't remove the body, just the guts!
And for reference make sure you are using lead free solder on any potable water fittings.
Carry on:thumbsup:

P.S. If I had been doing your drain/cleanout I would have put in a 'Y' instead of a 'T' to make snaking it easier. You could even turn the Y to the side to fit into your 'window' area if necessary.
Also I don't see any blue joint sealer on any of your pvc pipe fittings? Usually for inspection purposes one has to use blue glue to pass inspection because if shows that each joint has been sealed.

 

[grsthegreat]

Well, being an electrical contractor myself...for 30+ years...all i can say is that reading these past posts have done 2 things for me.
1. Sent shivers down my spine (hehe)...... it always looks easier than it usually turns out to be.
2. Makes me realize why i hate remodels. You wouldnt believe how much easier a new job is then a remodel. I charge less per hour for new work, cause i can relax my brain cells more while working. I have to charge more to fire off those unused brain cells. Having to figure out how someone else wired a job 10-20-50-years earlier is a very daunting project.

congradulations on your efforts, and doing it yourself is a great feeling.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Here's good news: the valve for the shower gets replaced if ever needed from the front! You don't remove the body, just the guts!
And for reference make sure you are using lead free solder on any potable water fittings.
Carry on:thumbsup:

I hadn't even thought of the lead issue. I'm glad you mentioned it. I double checked, and the solder I used "contains no cadmium, lead, or zinc."

P.S. If I had been doing your drain/cleanout I would have put in a 'Y' instead of a 'T' to make snaking it easier. You could even turn the Y to the side to fit into your 'window' area if necessary.
Also I don't see any blue joint sealer on any of your pvc pipe fittings? Usually for inspection purposes one has to use blue glue to pass inspection because if shows that each joint has been sealed.

The drain lines is one of the few things I actually subcontracted. The rough in has been inspected and passed. The white lines are all vent lines. I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

2. Makes me realize why i hate remodels. You wouldnt believe how much easier a new job is then a remodel. I charge less per hour for new work, cause i can relax my brain cells more while working. I have to charge more to fire off those unused brain cells. Having to figure out how someone else wired a job 10-20-50-years earlier is a very daunting project.

I realize it's not exactly new work, but the basement with the new framing and new subpanel was MUCH easier than the upstairs. I can relate to your challenges trying to figure out what some one did years ago. It looks to me that this house has been remodeled a few times. I could tell which work had been done during which remodel by the "personality" of the work.

 

[grsthegreat]

I realize it's not exactly new work, but the basement with the new framing and new subpanel was MUCH easier than the upstairs. I can relate to your challenges trying to figure out what some one did years ago. It looks to me that this house has been remodeled a few times. I could tell which work had been done during which remodel by the "personality" of the work.

funny thing is...ind not to ruffle any ones feathers on this forum.....but the old farmsteads are the WORSE. its just something about the farmer that lends himself to wanting to do it all himself....you got to love them. im guilty of the same thing.the scariest houses i find are the ones with old screw in fused panels where they have gotten tired of replacing fuses....so have placed pennies under all the fuses.can anyone say time bombs. and when i tell them you cant do it....they ALWAYS get all ruffled and tell me that they have been doing it for years......why stop now. glad your making such good progress on your house......hope all continues to go well.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

funny thing is...ind not to ruffle any ones feathers on this forum.....but the old farmsteads are the WORSE. its just something about the farmer that lends himself to wanting to do it all himself....you got to love them. im guilty of the same thing.the scariest houses i find are the ones with old screw in fused panels where they have gotten tired of replacing fuses....so have placed pennies under all the fuses.can anyone say time bombs. and when i tell them you cant do it....they ALWAYS get all ruffled and tell me that they have been doing it for years......why stop now. glad your making such good progress on your house......hope all continues to go well.

My fuse box had 30 amp screw in fuses in it when I moved in. The only reason I can see for having bigger fuses is if the correct sized ones kept blowing. Of course I had multiple wires attached to each terminal within the fuse box, too. I am VERY pleased to have it updated to the point it's at.

I'm expecting the electrical inspector to come by any day now. The General Contractor (My wife) was going to call today. I plan on having a few small things that I'll have to fix. It seems that's always the way it goes, but I tried to do it all to code.