New-fangled plumbing

"What in the world?" you might ask. This strange octopus-looking thing is called a PEX manifold. In a rough sense, a PEX manifold is to the water supply system what a circuit breaker panel is to the electrical system in a house. Back in the 80s, we used PVC (a hard plastic pipe) for the plumbing in my parents, but since that time, the construction industry has learned that PVC becomes brittle and springs leaks over time. PEX tubing has replaced the use of PVC for water supply (PVC is still used for sewer pipes) and is making inroads into the use of copper. Copper has become so expensive and is stolen so often, I decided to go with PEX. Plus, I think the manifold is cool. The manifold allows you to turn off (or on) the water to any sink, tub, toilet, etc., in your house individually. In addition, the PEX tubing is color coded: red lines supply hot water and blue lines supply cold water.

The fact that thieves don't steal PEX tubing is nothing to turn your nose up at either...my plumber told me that one customer had his copper pipe stolen out of the house, and the plumber had to re-install all of the plumbing, then it was stolen again and had to re-re-installed! So they (or their insurance) paid for the copper plumbing three times.

Below you can see what PEX tubing looks like on the end that connects to the sink (actually, a double sink in this case). Notice that copper ends are used. After the drywall is put up, valves will be attached to the copper ends so that you can turn off the water under the sink. This means that you can turn each supply line off at the manifold or at the sink, which allows you to isolate leaks or problems if they occur.

A Tribute to the Alabama Vols

Before everyone jumps on me for confusing the Tennessee Vols with the Alabama Crimson Tide...give me a minute to explain. Almost anyone from SEC (Southeastern Conference, not Securities and Exchange Commission) country knows that "Vols" is short for "Volunteers", and this post is a celebration of volunteerism, more specifically volunteerism in Alabama, and even more specifically volunteerism in Alabama as it has benefited Whitney. :) Certain people have sacrificially given of their time to help me revive Whitney. So without further adieu, please help me pay tribute to the Alabama Vols:

Sandy: This legendary Ultimate Frisbee player has been out to work on Whitney more times than any other Vol. To top it off, she has been helping while injured.

Dad: Yes, my father came down (with a carload of recruits, i.e., kids) to help out with Whitney for a weekend. Family is great! My dad knows what he is doing too, so I was able to set him up building walls upstairs, while I worked downstairs.

Sarah: My sister Sarah worked so hard you would have thought she was in a race. On top of all of her manual labor on the house, she also fixed lunch.

Jonathan: It is hard to believe that my brother Jonathan is a teenager now and able to do as much as he can.

Josiah: Josiah is my youngest brother, and he was a real help as well. I'm glad we got a chance to work together.

My hat's off to you!

When Nature Calls...

Most of you have probably never read a blog post celebrating sanitary sewer lines...until now. And I must admit that I have never felt such emotion over plumbing before. You may be asking, "Why all the excitement?" Well, my dear readers, for you to understand my excitement, I must give you some background. Whitney has not had plumbing for 20-30 years, so no one was exactly sure where the sewer line was located under the ground. It can costs thousands of dollars to pay someone to locate the sewer line under the ground and connect it to the house. I, like most people, don't have thousands of dollars to spend on sewer.

After digging a trench under my front porch and not finding any sewer lines, I had an epiphany. Actually, at the time I did know it was an epiphany, it only ended up being one after-the-fact. Some time ago, I noticed some iron pipes sticking up in my back yard, and the thought occurred to me that if I stuck a water hose down one of the pipes, and no water came out, then it might be tied into the city sewer system, which might help me determine where the lines ran underground near the house. Well, I stuck the hose down the first pipe, and the water came bubbling out of the ground just a few feet away. Strike one. I stuck the hose down the second pipe, and the water never came out anywhere. Same thing with the third and final pipe. Maybe...just maybe...I was onto something.

The next morning my plumbers came. Before I left for work, I told them about my experiment with the pipes and water hose. I came home at lunch to check on their progress, and lo and behold...the plumbers used my idea to run water down the pipe and had already locate the sewer line...it was about 4+ feet deep! Now they probably would have used that technique even without my input, but I like to think that I was at least a small part of the solution. :)



So, now you understand my sewer-line celebration. The sewer line was found and brought into the house in less than a day, at no additional cost to me beyond what I was already paying the plumbers to plumb the house. The next time you come visit me, you might even have a place to go when nature calls. :)

Please take a moment to enjoy this small victory with me. (btw, that is my foot in the first photo...as opposed to the feet showing in my prior post.)

Whitewashing...

“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”

Tom considered, was about to consent; but he altered his mind:
“No – no – I reckon it wouldn’t hardly do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly’s awful particular about this fence – right here on the street, you know – but if it was the back fence I wouldn’t mind and she wouldn’t. Yes, she’s awful particular about this fence; it’s got to be done very careful; I reckon there ain’t one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it the way it’s got to be done.”

“No – is that so? Oh come, now – lemme, just try. Only just a little – I’d let you, if you was me, Tom.”

“Ben, I’d like to, honest injun; but Aunt Polly – well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn’t let him; Sid wanted to do it, and she wouldn’t let Sid. Now don’t you see how I’m fixed? If you was to tackle this fence and anything was to happen to it – ”

“Oh, shucks, I’ll be just as careful. Now lemme try. Say – I’ll give you the core of my apple.”

“Well, here – No, Ben, now don’t. I’m afeard – ”

“I’ll give you all of it!”

Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. ...

Like Tom's friend, I am sure many of you have been dying to help with Whitney...well here is your chance. :) And unlike Tom, I won't take your food; I'll feed you. All references to Tom Sawyer aside, I am working on Whitney Memorial Day Weekend, and really would love some help. My father and a couple brothers are coming down, and hopefully, some friends. I'll provide food, and even gas money, if needed. When will you ever have another opportunity to learn how to restore an old Victorian home? I plan to have a painting party later in the summer, but at this stage you have a chance to see the "inner workings" of the house. Although I am hoping to make this weekend a big work weekend, I will be working on the house almost ever weekend for the next two months, and I need all the help I can get; so feel free to come by any weekend. Post a comment or send an email if you can help. If you need my email address, post a comment asking for it.

P.S. For those of you interested in trivia, Whitney and Tom are the same age. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer came out in 1876...approximately the same time Whitney was built.

Excuses, Excuses

I know it's been too long since I posted here...in my defense, I am also working full time and am in school as well. Now that the excuses are out of the way, I thought I'd post a few pictures of the progress on the porch and the first floor. Check out the "before" and "after" of the porch...especially the architectural elements along the top of the porch and the railing along the bottom (click on each picture for a larger view).
Before:

After:

We were able to find enough of the porch's architectural elements in the basement to recreate what was missing and restore it to it's former glory. Whitney's smiling. :) (Btw, for those of you who haven't figured it out, I derived the name "Whitney" from Whitman Street...sorry, Eastwood Whitney. However, I will gladly rename her after anyone who puts in enough volunteer time helping me out.;))

Below is a pic (taken from the stairs) of the new subflooring going down on the first floor.


Here are a couple more pictures solely for your viewing pleasure:


(No...those are not my legs)

Meet My Biggest Fan

With Whitney starting to heat up, I recently picked up one of these fans to circulate some air. I have been working in the attic replacing ceiling joists, and even though it is only April, it already gets VERY hot up there. I did not do a lot of shopping around and comparing prices, but this fan seems to provide a lot of "blow" (not drugs, only wind) for the buck. Until I get a lot farther along so that I can have an A/C installed, this will be the only "air conditioning" available.

I Fought the Wall (and the Wall Won)

Yes, it was a battle royale this past weekend. The wall(s) won a couple battles, but overall I guess I won the war...all the stud walls for both bathrooms upstairs are now in place...and I have the battle scars to prove it: I stepped on a nail, got a tetanus shot in my arm, shot a nail into my hand with the nail gun, had a wall fall on me, and had a heavy wooden support crack my shin. I was going to post a battle scar picture, but decided to spare you the blood and guts.


Overall, Whitney and I made a lot of progress this weekend. After so much planning and scheming trying to come up with the best floor plan and make everything fit, it was nice to actually build some walls. The porch architectural elements, which Chris and the Bushes are working on, are coming along nicely too. I'll try to post some pics of the beautiful details later.

One Step Forward...

You saw the two steps backward that I took a couple weeks. Now, I hope you're as excited as I am to see an actual step forward. The new t-n-g plywood subflooring has really added a lot of rigidity to the structure. It also gives me a good foundation for building new walls and putting wood flooring down. My next project is to build walls to divide this upstairs space up into 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms. On the other side of the existing wall on the right will be a third bedroom and utility room.Remind me and one of these days I'll scan and post my floor plan. And oh, notice the tools on the left? I'll talk about those in the future too. Having the right tool for the job makes all the difference in the world.

Home Sweet Home (Depot)

Home Depot paid a visit to my house. Or rather, I paid Home Depot mucho deniro to visit my house. Home Depot is my new favorite store...you see...they gave me this sweet little credit card with no payments or interest for 12 months, which means I don't have to make draws on my construction loan and get interest free money until I get my permanent financing. As a general rule, I don't use credit cards because I am still paying Dave Ramsey's stupid tax for prior credit card mistakes, but this seemed to be a wise use of a credit card.

Two steps backward...

Sometimes you have to go backwards in order to go forward. I've spent the last few weeks tearing down interior walls that were not needed and carefully removing the beautiful heart-pine tongue-and-groove flooring on the second floor. Why, you might ask? I decided to remove the floor so that I could glue & screw down some t-n-g plywood subflooring, and I needed to take the walls down so that I could add a couple bathrooms and a third bedroom (originally, the house had 2 bedrooms upstairs and the only evidence of a bathroom was the clawfoot tub that was sitting in a bedroom floor). The subfloor will add strength and reduce house noise (if it won't, then please don't tell me now...I'm too far along to turn back).

The picture above shows what the upstairs looked like before I bought the house. The picture below shows what it looks like now. It's nice to see a change...even if it's backwards. :)

15 Whitman Street

Okay, this is my first blog post...ever. And this is my first 130-year-old home...ever (see the pic below...or beside...or above...if I can figure out how to link to it). Drastic times call for drastic measures...I'm resorting to a blog to share what I learn and to learn from you. Before everything is said and done, I will need carpentry, plumbing, electrical, alarm system, insulation, plaster, Sheetrock, trim, window, door, dating and relationship help (okay, maybe not the last two...at least not on this blog, but definitely the others). So, please come along for the ride. Two's company, and misery likes it...company, that is.

Just to give you some background, my house, which I purchased in January, is completely gutted on the inside, i.e., not even livable. So, I'm living in my next-door-neighbor's attic while I try to bring my house back from the dead. The exterior of my house [...wait, just a second, I've decided to interrupt myself....I've made an executive decision...because it is already getting old saying "my house this..." and "my house that...", I've decided to name my house "Whitney"...why "Whitney" you may ask? Because, well,....wait, I think I'll make you figure it out yourself...call it a teaser...let me know if you think you know why...there is method to my madness. Now...where were we...oh, yes.] Whitney's exterior has already been largely restored, which stands in stark contrast to her interior.

As you can see, there is a lot of work to do inside. At this stage, Whitney is like a lot of people I know; the outside is well painted, but the inside hasn't been given nearly enough attention (and when you take a closer look at the outside, even that needs some work). Shamefully, I guess I'd even have to put myself into the pay-too-much-attention-to-the-outside-while-neglecting-the-inside camp at times. But that's a topic for a different blog.

As this blog unfolds, I'll let you be a little bit of a voyeur and watch my progress, but please don't be content with spectating...share comments, ask questions, and give advice. God knows I need all the help I can get.