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Simpson doesn't make a hanger for your application in the ceiling?

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I'm sure they do, but the availability such a thing wasn't really helping me the other night.

One good thing about all the rain is that since I have the ceiling dropped in the back room for construction it allowed me to check the roof for any leaks.

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One good thing about all the rain is that since I have the ceiling dropped in the back room for construction it allowed me to check the roof for any leaks.

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And there turned out to be a leak after I repaired the one rafter. Maybe there was enough movement that it tore some shingles.

At any rate, here is some progress:

I started out with several goals for the weekend and the two days I took off of work to deal with this:

• Walls framed in
• Floor sheathing complete
• Some amount of siding installed
• Electrical mostly roughed in
• Dryer vent installed

From the dining room into the mudroom:


From the mudroom into the laundry:


From laundry toward mudroom:


The pantry, as seen through the wall from the mudroom:


I also got some siding up before my nailer went teats up. I am surprised my Husky framing nailer lasted eight years. It was too dark to take pics, so those will come later. Speaking of taking pics, this is such a small space that it's becoming more difficult to photograph as the space has been partitioned.

More to come ...

Looking great! IMO I'd be thinking about anywhere I would possibly want to hang something on the wall and putting up blocking.

I see the grid on the floor. What kind of flooring are you doing?

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Looking great! IMO I'd be thinking about anywhere I would possibly want to hang something on the wall and putting up blocking.

I see the grid on the floor. What kind of flooring are you doing?

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The pantry will be sheathed with 5/8" plywood to provide added strength for shelving. Before I close up the wall on the laundry side I will make a framing diagram so I can more easily locate the studs when I hang the cabinets over the washer and dryer.

The floor is going to be interlocking vinyl plank.

Insulation going in on the walls and ceiling? I assume this was the previous thread, right?

Looking good. I still think the shop lights would give a nice industrial look. Save on fixture money.

Where is the tankless going in? Is all that plumbing in or is that easily installed later?

~egon

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Insulation going in on the walls and ceiling? I assume this was the previous thread, right?

Looking good. I still think the shop lights would give a nice industrial look. Save on fixture money.

Where is the tankless going in? Is all that plumbing in or is that easily installed later?

~egon

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I'm planning to spray foam the ceiling and walls this weekend. The pantry and laundry will be simple flush mount LEDs similar to this:


The mudroom will have these sconces:


The exterior lights will be this:


The tankless is going in the pantry. Most of the plumbing is done, but there are several things holding me up:

• I'm procrastinating/not eager to crawl under the house and spend several hours re-plumbing my entire water system, which has to be done
  
• The gas system has to be completely dismantled and reassembled to re-seal it all in order to pass a gas test
• The re-plumbing is going to result in the disconnection of water and gas from my garage apartment and I cannot legally do that with a tenant still living there (who was supposed to be out Sunday and I may have to file an eviction on)

However, at the very least, I have to plumb in a hosebib before I install the insulation. That's little more than connecting a home run and valve to the cold manifold. I can probably do that in an hour. The alternative to waiting out/evicting my tenant is to install a temporary connect to the apartment, but I don't want to waste the time or materials on it.

I am also debating if the added cost of buying a 25-foot roll of 3/4" CSST to do a 6-foot run is worth it to make it easier and eliminate connections that create additional points of failure down the line. I'm already running 1/2" CSST to the laundry, range, and fireplace. To do it with black iron will require five connections just between the floor plate and the valve.

BTW - I bought a "real" PEX crimper for the copper rings if you ever have any 1/2" or 3/4" to do.

Remind me to check something for you on the CSST bonding, if you haven't already gotten an answer.

IBT hey roos go check for RTT 30 secs later

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Remind me to check something for you on the CSST bonding, if you haven't already gotten an answer.

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I got my answer. You're supposed to place the bonding clamp on the last black iron fitting before the CSST portion begins, so in my case, I would connect it to the black iron pipe connected to the manifold. I'm going to install a dedicated grounding rod to the CSST system because I already have one and it is easier than running it all the way to the panel.

The price tag for this thing just crossed the $8,000 $9,000 mark. That does not include debris removal, drywall finishing, or trim out (trim boards, paint, etc.)

The construction bids for the job that were in the $30,000-40,000 range suddenly seem very reasonable.

There isn't much that is visually new for a lot of pics in this update because I spent a lot of time roughing in electrical and got derailed with a couple new things.

I did work on getting my gas distribution system put together - The 1" line that will connect to the meter and the manifold. I pre-installed the CSST male connectors to the manifold so I won't have to do it under the house. It's basically just two pieces that can easily be installed without even going under the house until I run the CSST lines.



(not shown is the 1" riser that will connect to the distribution system above once it is slid under the house)

The big change for the weekend was making the decision to add a beam across the mudroom for roof support. I was up on the roof to open the hole for the water heater chimney and the area where the wall between the pantry and laundry are is nice and solid, but the area over the mudroom is still a bit "soft" (for lack of a better word).

The need to install the beam created another big problem for me - It totally screwed me on the location where I had to re-route the HVAC. This was the real derail because I had to come up with a completely new plan on the fly, design it, and buy parts. I ended up at Home Depot three times before I finally had it all worked out.

Originally, I was trying to remove the soffit from the kitchen and would consume a small amount of space in a closet to run the HVAC to the other side of the room. Since we are planning to install new cabinets in the kitchen, with a tall cabinet where the soffit is located, I decided to just eliminate the soffit and run a duct down into the top of that cabinet, then build a soffit in the pantry that would allow for ducting to the laundry and mudroom.

Once I get pictures up it should all make sense.

Edit: Here is an Instagram my other half posted:


As you can see, there are two holes in the ceiling and two holes in the wall. The not-so-clean hole in the ceiling is where the duct used to drop into the soffit. I'm moving it closer to the wall so it takes up less space and goes where I need it to go because the new soffit has to fit between the wall and the water heater chimney.

I am determined to accomplish at least one thing every day during the week, even if it is relatively minor. The weird thing is that I know I am moving forward, but I can't help but feel like I'm just not getting anything done.

Let's start with some HVAC photos and the soffit I had to build on the fly:

This is what I started with after tearing the old soffit down. The MDF ring was from the old water heater chimney.


I had to determine where the duct had to be relocated, so I moved it closer to the wall.


The good thing about doing the ductwork this way was that I will be able to spread the air around a little. Instead of just one register on the side of the room, I get one register in the mudroom and one in the laundry. it is definitely a better setup.




As mentioned previously, the installation of a beam to support the roof is what required the HVAC changes. I checked my span tables and basically treated it like a door or window header. I started by laminating two 2X6s and some 1/2" plywood.


To better support the roof, I had to match the angle of the rafters. It was a pain to try to get it cut just right with a circular saw because I had to cut it from both sides at a 9.5-degree angle.






Some of the things that help me feel like I am getting somewhere:

The siding started going up until my nailer crapped out:


The dryer exhaust is in:


I've got sheetrock up where the water heater will go:

Let there be lights!


No pics of the work I got done this weekend (except for the one below) because it was under the house or there are things in the way. The last time I took my phone under the house it did not survive. Nonetheless, I did get the following done:

• Siding and trim up on the largest exterior wall
• Ran water line for hosebib
• Ran cold supply to the water heater
• Installed washer drain plumbing and roof jack for the vent
• Got water heater up on the wall
• installed the water heater flu stack

So ... this is the only picture that matters right now, since it's what started this whole thing:


I did check the technical bulletin from the manufacturer, and zero clearance on the flu stack is approved.

So how long did you just stand there, stare at that water heater, and think to yourself, "look what you made me do"?

Progress looks great though!!

Looks great.

I can attest to the fact that the duct is cool to the touch when running (even for a while).

Gone up to the attic whilst wife is showering and the duct is not hot. So should be good for zero clearance (assuming it passes inspection ).

~egon

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So how long did you just stand there, stare at that water heater, and think to yourself, "look what you made me do"?

Progress looks great though!!

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My husband walked into the pantry, stood next to me, and said, "So this is what started it all."

I looked at him like this:


The past couple of weekends have been tough with getting derailed - HVAC, beams, and now a sanitary sewer failure. The pressure is also on because we've got the appraiser coming for the loan to rebuild the garage. This project has to be mostly complete before that happens. At the very least I need to have sheetrock up and *maybe* he can see past the unfinished part and give us a good number.

Needless to say, I'm going to have some very busy/late nights this week. I've already taken tomorrow off work for plumbing, but that might have to wait so I can get the more visual stuff done.

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This project has to be mostly complete before that happens. At the very least I need to have sheetrock up and *maybe* he can see past the unfinished part and give us a good number.

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There was a large, extremely visible municipal project in SA *cough*Alamodome*cough* that went screaming across the finish line on certain phases. Some of the fire hydrants were for decoration only at first, but they worked eventually. Someone more creative would hang the light fixtures and mount the switches and coverplates with everything unwired. You know, waiting on the new color corrected lamps to come in from Amazon in order to get the lights working.

You just gotta be gung ho

I am so sick of being under my house. I've spent the last two days under there.


Actually, that pic is of the easy part - working on the cold manifold. The hot manifold is under the water heater, deep within the footprint of the house. 35-40 feet is a long way when you're crawling in a confined space. I put myself in a bit of a bind when I cut and pulled what I thought was the old hot supply from the original water heater location in the kitchen. It turned out to be the cold supply that fed the garage apartment and my existing water heater. It necessitated fully replumbing the house a couple days ahead of schedule.

I've been without hot water for two days, and my shower mixing valve cartridge requires pressure on BOTH sides to operate. I get to take cold showers with the hose or shower at the gym for now.

The worst part was having to work in the area where the drain line had failed. I was lying in fermenting grey water for about 45 minutes. It was ****ing disgusting. Nonetheless, the water plumbing, with the exception of a single valve is done for both the cold and hot side.

Next up is finishing the gas system. I had problems with two of the ox boxes I bought, so I had to order new ones. I got the "Christmas tree" all assembled and under the house. I need to add one valve before I can do a pressure test. That was always a problem with my system - not passing a pressure test.

I learned that my existing gas system has some oddities, like 1-1/4" service to the wall between the dining room and kitchen with a reducing tee in the wall to the range. Accordingly, that is going to have to be abandoned in place and I will have to open the wall to put in a new line, which will not be before Thursday. Hooray for microwave meals.

The garage apartment is officially out of service for water gas. I pulled a 12' section of water pipe for the supply from the house and abandoned the rest in place. The gas line was teed at the meter, so I pulled the meter, removed all exterior piping except the meter connections, flipped the meter to the other side, and prepared it for connection to the house system.

Bad times... our crawlspace is nowhere near as tight as yours but I still hate doing anything down there.

Plumbers and roofers are underpaid.

BIL and I were under my parents house a couple of years ago trying to re-level it a bit. BIL got a little bit of claustrophobia and decided to move near a vent to get some air. He freaked out big time when he found a snake skin next to the area he was at. Skin was about 5 ft. long!

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BIL and I were under my parents house a couple of years ago trying to re-level it a bit. BIL got a little bit of claustrophobia and decided to move near a vent to get some air. He freaked out big time when he found a snake skin next to the area he was at. Skin was about 5 ft. long!

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Yeah, when you crawl under the house, you have to accept that you just need to deal with whatever you run into under there. There are specific areas under my house that have channels where you can crawl to access most things, but for the most part, there's no turning around unless you continue forward to a channel intersection that gives enough space to rotate. Thankfully, I haven't run into anything more than spiders, roaches, and mosquitoes.

Here are some boring pictures of me taking the apartment water supply out of service:

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It's too bad you weren't wearing striped socks and red Chuck Taylors.

Damn, I'm beat after today. I finished all water plumbing except the connections to the water heater and the hot side blowoff (I need to figure out exactly where I want it to go). I also got the gas Christmas tree and CSST connections done.

The hot side:


The cold side:


The gas system:


Best of all, I passed a gas test for the first time since I bought the place. Sure, it meant taking the entire existing system out of service, but I'm fine with that.


I take that back - The best of all is not having to crawl back under the house until I do the drain lines.

And I agree that crawl spaces suck

You mean you can't treat your house like your car? Just put a couple of jacks under it and lift it up to work on it?

~egon

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You mean you can't treat your house like your car? Just put a couple of jacks under it and lift it up to work on it?

~egon

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When we had the foundation leveled, I wanted to raise it six inches, but I got vetoed by my other half. Now he understands why I wanted to do that.

Made a big mistake - didn't re-test the pressure after connecting the line from the system to the water heater valve. I've got a noticeable gas leak. Now on day 4 of no hot water.

OH.





MY.




GOD.




Fully functional.

Looking at the functional tankless water heater is like looking at

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Looking at the functional tankless water heater is like looking at

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What is that a pic of?

The monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It triggers evolution.

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The monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It triggers evolution.

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And this project sure did evolve.

This was my first experience with CSST, so I had to learn from making a mistake. The leak was from a fitting that had a bad gasket at the WH valve inside the wall. My inexperience kept me from knowing what to look for before installing the fitting, but I know now.

Instead of trying to deal with the WH connections, I opted to go at the fitting from the other side of the wall. It was leaking so badly I could hear it hissing. I pulled the fitting, trimmed the pipe to ensure a fresh, clean edge, installed a new gasket, then re-installed the fitting as tight as possible. That solved the problem and I was up and running at 1:15 AM.

Water in the shower goes from cold to full hot in 16 seconds.