What did you do today?

[legenddc]

Definitely worse here today. Everything outdoor seems to be cancelled and I saw a decent amount of people who were outside in masks. Guess another day inside besides picking up the kids after school.

Hopefully this clears up before Saturday.

[BillyJack]

Pressure washed the fence for finish. Clean out the rear gutters. Darn those River Birch trees..

[Von]

I let my focus drift today while drilling with a hole saw through melamine and the drill got out of square. The saw bound causing the drill to spin out of my hand. My wrist is a little sore but no serious harm. A good reminder not to get complacent.

[Tom King]

Sorry you got hurt, but glad it wasn't serious.

When I work, I don't listen to music, and don't want anyone talking about anything other than what we're doing.  Music is often a conflicting rhythm from what I'm doing.  A lot of people don't understand it, but I'm either working or I'm not.  There is no in between for me.

[Mark J]

For me, too, there's no such thing as multi-tasking, there is multi-distracting.

[Immortan D]

I spent all day preparing the wood for the picture frame I'm about to make:

 

 

[Mark J]

That's a nicely composed photo.

[legenddc]

Exhausting weekend. Finally fixed one of the annoying sounds my car was making. Thankfully it wasn't the wheel bearing, just some build up and the backing plate behind the front rotor. Did my test drive and came home to realize I left the locking lug nut key on the car. Thankfully a neighbor found it later.

[JohnG]

Got this 

[Tom King]

'76  ??

I had one very similar, same color.  It was my first pickup.

My truck needed some work, so I started on that yesterday.  I replaced every moving part in the steering system about four years ago, but the Napa steering box has been leaking.  I couldn't get into a job like that when we were caring for my Mom, but with freed up time now, I started on it.

It was go gunked up that I just cleaned it yesterday, with Gunk, oven cleaner, and pressure washer. 

Today, with it dried out, I took the old power steering pump out.  Not being sure if the fluid had been contaminated, I decided to change the pump too.  I had bought a good steering box this time, a Redhead, so didn't want to worry about damaging it with a contaminated power steering pump.

After taking out the old pump, it was still seriously gunked up behind where the pump was, so I did more cleaning, and will start back in on it tomorrow.

[JohnG]

It’s a ‘73

[Chet]

On 6/12/2023 at 2:59 PM, JohnG said:

Got this 

That looks like it is in real top notch shape for its age.

[Mark J]

@JohnG, that looks right fine.  (Where's the jealous emoji when you need it)

[Coop]

On 6/12/2023 at 4:59 PM, JohnG said:

Got this 

Now that’s darn cool! I don’t think they called them F150 back then but can’t zoom in close enough to see? 

 

[JohnG]

@Coop They were F-100 during that era.  They did have the F-250 at the time, so I’m not sure when/why they changed up the half-ton naming along the way. 

[JohnG]

On 6/12/2023 at 6:33 PM, Chet said:

That looks like it is in real top notch shape for its age.

It seems to be in pretty good shape, especially considering its 50 years old. I’d call it partially restored. I can’t afford the fully restored ones 

[Tom King]

Sometime in the mid 1970's Ford came out with the F-150.  The F100 was a half ton pickup, and they had the F250 then as a 3/4 ton.   A lot of people, including Ford salesmen, called the F150 a 5/8's ton.  It was an effort to get around smog control regulations, but the trucks really did have a little heavier suppesion to carry more.

My first pickup was a 1977 F150.  I had gotten to the point where I had both a van and a pickup.  I lived in the van and kept tools in it, and picked up materials for building houses in the pickup.

That was the truck I was driving with Fleetwood Mac's You Make Loving Fun blaring the night I found Pam on the side of the road in a broken down MG in 1977.

It was a very similar green to John's.

[legenddc]

That’s a great looking truck!

So much for sawdust, instead I have drywall dust. 

That gaping hole is right above our oven. The copper line to our shower is leaking. It’s trapped between our tiled shower and the other bathroom’s tiled bathtub. 
 

I’ll call a few people today and see when we can’t get someone here. I only have one weekend free before 2 weeks of being away from our house. 
 

Guessing the easiest way to fix it will be to remove some of the tiles above the bathtub to fix the pipe and then replace them. 

[Tom King]

Can you show a picture of the valve cover on the wall with the leaking line?

When I was building new houses, every room with plumbing in it had an unfinished utility room under it.   All houses were on a daylight basement on the lake.   All plumbing goes through the floor, not the walls, and any line can be changed from underneath.  Any tubs or showers had a closet behind them with an access panel.

I had to design the houses anyway because lake houses need two fronts, and no plans were available for such when I first started.  A lake front, and a road front on opposite sides.

I still get people stopping by the house to thank me decades later.  It really allowed me to claim extra square footage in the houses with the unfinished rooms.  It didn't really cost much more for me to build them like that.   I'm sure they got filled up with storage junk, but at least you can get to the pipes.

A common design, when it worked out for the lot, was a long utility run in the back of the basement with the bathrooms and kitchen plumbing wall above.

Other requirements were dryer on outside wall with no flex hose, and all water lines with supported slopes so the whole system could be drained down.

I'll try to remember to take some pictures when I'm in one.  My best friends own one.

[legenddc]

Having that would just be too easy. Our kitchen and first floor half bath have an unfinished utility room under them. 
 

The green tile bathroom is the one that’s leaking and the tan tile is the wall directly behind it. I have extra tan tiles but not the green glass. Both bathrooms were remodeled before we bought our house 11 years ago today. 

[legenddc]

I sent this picture to my brother and sister earlier suggesting they keep these tools/parts on hand. It’s better to cap a line and have water than have to shut it off or call an emergency plumber. 

[JohnG]

Sometimes a ball valve is good to have also. If it’s a pipe that has a lot of water uphill of the location or if the water can’t be completely shut off for some reason, leaving the valve open will allow you to get it put on the pipe, then turn the valve off to stop the water after it is installed. 

[gee-dub]

Bagged some figured cherry shop-sawn veneer vacuumed onto four pieces of substrate for a current project . . . second batch as my bag is small.

[Tom King]

That valve can, and should, be changed out to a modern one with a cassette.  You take the cassette out with a few screws, and it leaves the copper or brass base to solder the lines to with no worry of too much heat on any of the seals.

I like the Kohler one I used in the rental house.

You can keep a spare cassette on hand too.

I believe it can be changed without doing anything to the tile.  I'd cut an access hole in the floor where the problem pipe goes up, and that will give you some room to get the pipe clamps off the pipe.  Hopefully, it doesn't have any clamps on it, but most do.  I never used them, allowing the valve mount to hold the pipes so changes could more easily be made in the future.

I'm sure I could do it.  There is always a way, but it may take more time and several trips to the supplier. 

It's easier still since it's a shower and not a tub with no plumbing for a spout or overflow rig.

https://www.amazon.com/Kohler-K-8304-K-NA-Universal-RITE-Temp-Pressure-Balancing/dp/B06XGQ8P4V/ref=sr_1_5?crid=MK7X8T72D8K6&keywords=kohler%2Bshower%2Bvalve&qid=1686696378&sprefix=kohler%2Bshower%2Bvalve%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-5&th=1

Here's the cartridge that screws into it and is easily replaceable

https://www.amazon.com/GP876851-Rite-Temp-Pressure-Balancing-Compatible-Replacement/dp/B08P1J3M2Q/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=7AY2GI6FDD6Z&keywords=kohler+shower+valve+cartridge&qid=1686696485&sprefix=kohler%2Bshower%2Bvalve+ca%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A3948YRPTG0OE8&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFTSko2SzBMNTU0VVQmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA3MjcxMzhKQlRJV05IMktQRDQmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDcyMTc4MDFKQzlERVlBV0pSSFUmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

It's pretty foolproof.  Four machine screws hold the cartridge in and tighten it against the seals.

These valves are a great improvement over the older ones.

If you need a little more room to work, you can cut some tile that will be covered by the cover plate.

You will need one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/FLASLD-Protector-Soldering-High-Temperature-PlumberPad/dp/B0B9BH3MNT/ref=sr_1_4?hvadid=580530803889&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9009786&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2606207780230222349&hvtargid=kwd-3084993277&hydadcr=1638_13457766&keywords=soldering+heat+shield&qid=1686696675&sr=8-4

 

[Tom King]

Pay no attention to the big round plastic thing that the valve is mounted in, as seen in that Amazon picture.  That's just a guide so the tile man knows how big to leave the hole in the tile and how far to mount the valve back in the wall.  The valve itself is some bigger than what's in there now, but not too much bigger.

Since I'm the tile man and the plumber, I throw that plastic thing away to start with.  That's what you will do too.  

You can figure out the setback from the surface of the tile, make a wooden block the right size and thickness, and stick it to the backer board on the other side of that wall with construction adhesive, screw the new valve base to it after it sets up, and then solder the pipes in place.