The Bane...part 3 - Getting Ready For The Sequel

So the rotted, perforated, rusty pipe has been replaced (albeit temporarily) from the "box" to where it climbs it way up our embankment, which ammounts for about linear 7' feet. And YET we still have a leak somewhere!!! Hmmm, make that "somewheres" because it seems to be leaking in several places: Up top, in the middle, and at the end.

The rate of the leak is significantly less that it was with the "sieve", but I am going to have to get to it sooner than I planned. Replacing our entire plumbing line has now claimed top spot in my ToDo list.

As of now, I plan to replace it all with copper, but my final decision has yet to be made on that. There is a significant learning curve for me regarding brazing copper tubing, whereas CPVC gluing seems pretty straight-forward. There's also the expense issue as copper prices seems to be at its all-time high. But I still like the anti-bacterial properties of copper and feel that it somehow is more durable (though I doubt I can substantiate that belief). Noise level is a non-issue for us if it is even a issue in the first place. Well here are the issues I have ready about in the debate of Copper versus Chlorinated PolyVinyl Chloride. Here's were I do my Tevye impersonation:

"On One Hand....On The Other Hand..."

- Copper has a long track record.......CPVC is new, unknown long-term effects
- CPVC is cheaper and req. few tools.......Copper is expensive and tool intensive
- Copper has anti-bacterial properties.......CPVC may leach some chemicals/toxins
- CPVC is faster to install.......Copper is expensive and work intensive
- Copper is a fine conductor of electricity, good for grounding (we don't yet have it)
- CPVC isn't prone to corrosion.......Copper will discolor, but is not likely to corrode
- Copper is flexible/impact resistant.......CPVC may snap upon shearing or impact
- CPVC is presumably quieter.....Copper makes some noise, but don't we all?
- Copper tubing is small and fits in small spaces......CPVC is fat and cumbersome
- ...

There IS no other hand:
- Copper has more size and fitting options
- Copper just looks better

If you have your own thoughts on this matter, please share your observations with me and leave a comment. I am a raw novice on plumbing, but I can be a fast learner.

Pimp My Door (part 1)

Okayyyy, as I keep droning on about the damage I did to our front door (ie. breaking a little window), I shall finally conclude this bombination with it's resolution: New Upgraded Glass. Well, maybe just *a* new window for now.

Why do I feel this entry is worthy of more than just a picture and a "here-you-go", you may be asking? Well...because I really had to think about this one before I did it, and it appeared that another such window was replaced at one time without so much thought. I didn't want to damage it further than I had.

Here's the dilemma (which turned out to not really be a dilemma afterall). Each of the 8 little window openings is actually just a simple cut-out of the solid door. The glazing is held in by 4 beveled strips of oak on either side, glued and nailed to the door. I knew that if I could somehow remove one of the peices, the others would be cake. But being that the nails holding each peice were finish nails, I was faced with choosing to (A) gouge out a nail (and leave an ugly divit) or (B)pry the first strip out until it snapped in half. This is what some former owner chose to do.

Sinkage

I figured there had to be a better way that wouldn't leave damage. So I opted to just sink the nail. I got myself the smallest drift pin (center punch, if you will) I could find, 1/16". These are more common in the auto repair or mechanical realm, so try looking in such a shop. I marked the depth on this tool with some tape and hammered the little nail clear through.

Pry-ers and Pliers

Then, using a thin knife, I dislodged the glued bond. This also breaks the shellac/finish skin and prevents any chipping/splintering. The peice is then pried out laterally with a stiff spackle knife. And there you will see that little sunken nail still in the door that you can now pull out with some needle nose pliers.

More scoring with the knife and then the remaining peices can be pried out normally. After cleaning up the opening surfaces, I set the new beleved glass in with glaziers putty and glued the little wood stops back in along with another finishing nail in the original hole, albeit slightly larger/longer than the previous ones.

And Voila! I have to say it's looking pretty nice, especially up next to those plain panes which also happen to be a bit sandblasted (grumblegrumble). My only regret is that we were hoping for more bevel, but at $1.22 each, I really can't complain.