The Water Flowith (Day 305)

We've been working on getting H2O to the house this past two weeks. Called the Kala Point Water Company, which is a private entity, and arranged for Eric Thomas (the owner) to come out and install a meter and hookup. Nothing happened for a week, then he showed up and sized up the job. He wasn't prepared for 1 1/4" pipe (my end), which he recommended I use, so he didn't have the right size fittings. Off to Hadlock Building Supply. Then there was a couple day lapse, due to a summer cold. So on Sunday, up comes Eric (over the cold, mostly) to install the meter and hookup. All was well, except the old meter box had been deformed by the adjacent Alder tree, so he'd need to get a new one.

Eric is a very likable guy; owns 4 small water companies in the area, all targeted for subdivisions such as our own. I discussed the water business with him, and it appears to be quite lucrative if you buy the right companies. Watch out for steel or lead pipes (PVC is best), get good tanks, and install UV treatment for iron and manganese components. Anyway, he'd brought his family over from Sequim to the Kala Point Pool (kids and wife), so he only had a couple hours to finish off my job. So I have water, lots of it, at about 50-60 psi (new pump at tanks). Bob Brown came out on Wednesday and made the connection to the house, so we are all done, except for installing the valves for the three showers and tub, all of were shipped to Fergusons in Sequim on Monday and picked up by my lovely bride of 37 years.

Nail Plate Nancy, we'll call her. Her assignment these past few days has been to nail 1.5 x 3" steel plates over any shallow electrical or plumbing parts. The logic is that if its less then 1.5" from the surface, the drywall guys could penetrate something important with a nail or screw, hence the steel plate. Well, when we were done, I think we had about 150 nail plates on studs and joists—all cheap insurance for a potential problem, like I had on Sunday.

I needed to move a drain pipe the basement ceiling that conflicted with the soon to be installed dryer vent. You wouldn't believe all the competing systems in a house: fresh water, gray water, 120v electric, low voltage, central vacuum, and vents. So I chopped out a section of drain vent, put in some 45° bends, and made space for the vertical drop for the dryer vent. No worries, right. Then I needed to move the drain support (metal strap), so I unscrewed the screw and water erupted like Vesuvius. It came squirting down at 50 psi (the system was under pressure from testing) and about 10 gallons spilled out on the basement floor before I got all the valves turned off. It seems like the plumber (me) made a fundamental error and screwed the support strap to the subfloor (Warmboard) and managed to penetrate a Pex tube. All was well until I unscrewed the screw from the Pex and opened up the hole. Actually it was a good thing because 5 or 10 years down the road that screw would have rusted and allowed the Pex to drip, drip, drip into the hardwood and cork flooring, so of like a festering canker sore.

I sawed out the stud plate, exposed the punctured Pex, and chopped it out. In about an hour, I'd made the repair, replaced the plate, and all was well. So I learned a valuable lesson. Don't screw up (vertically) and you can't hit a Pex tube.

Our electrical rough in inspection is scheduled for Thursday (Aug. 27th), so if we pass we have the Go card for our big county inspection, which involved framing, hold downs, shear walls, etc. Once this is done (end of August), we're on to insulation and drywall, both of which will be hired out. This will be a major advance for the house. Once drywall is in, we are officially in the "Finishing Stages" of the house (paint, tile, wood floors, and cabinets). If you are handy at such things, the Hotel Machette is open for business.