8/10/19
(Above: The toilet within Jacobhouse’s bathroom along with lengthened vanity sink stub-ups.)
Building Summary: Today I began by hooking up the toilet supply line. The task consisted of wrapping the brass-tipped stubup from yesterday with 6 layers of Teflon tape (recommended to me at Home Depot by the man managing the plumbing-section), tightening on the ½”-brass-to-¾”-pressure fitting, and then tightening on the supply hose that extended between that fitting and the toilet itself. Then, with a slight adjustment of the toilet float, I had a fully functioning / flushable toilet.
Bathroom sink activities ensued. I cleared out the kitchen to make a better workspace, flipped the vanity-dresser upside down, and then measured out the places for the water stub-ups. There was an hour interlude where I went to the Farmer’s Market, but as soon as I returned, I got back to work cutting out that small section I had measured. This was followed by a brief visit from Madre, Grandma, and Aunt Betty, and after they departed, I went about setting / fastening the vanity in place. It was a successful endeavor with only two self-tapping screws being utilized to hold the furnishing sturdily in place. This was followed by my cutting and gluing two stub-ups for the hot and cold water.
I next returned to the instruction manual to see how to fasten in the sink. It was fortunate that I did, for it was while reading those instructions that I realized I had forgotten entirely about the drain. I knew right then that the best method would be to simply take out the two self-tapping screws, remove the vanity, flip it over, and go from there. So, that’s what I did (with Padre’s help). We finished off the morning with my heading home to prepare lunch while Padre rode with Wag to get some pipe fittings from Sparr.
(6:11 PM Update): Went to Sparr Farm Supply after a brief afternoon with the bovines. There, we procured some extra 1-½” pipe, a couple more 1–½” elbows, and some CPVC glue. Now, I think I have all the materials for tomorrow’s shenanigans.
Commentary: Originally, I was going to detail the three parts of an instruction manual – description, diagram, and sequence – as a sort of lead in to what occurred at Jacobhouse today, but it made for an especially dull topic. Instruction manuals themselves are already not the most interesting ‘reads’, so it only makes sense that a dissertation upon the topic would be a bit of a chore.
Though… perhaps it is that opinion of instruction manuals that caused what occurred at Jacobhouse today. It was an event of a half-amusing and a half-exasperating variety that arrived when I discovered I had affixed the vanity cupboard in place without accounting for the drain. I hadn’t even extended a pipe out of the pedestal! Perhaps, if I had read the entire manual before beginning, I would have been reminded sooner of that instrumental bit of plumbing Fortunately, as stated above, the furnishing was only fastened to the wall with a couple of self-tapping screws, so removal was quite simple. Not-so-fortunately, was the fact that I did not have the parts to fabricate the drain up from the hole in the pedestal and into the cabinet (something that may have also been prevented had I perused the directions before going to Home Depot yesterday).
I suppose this all goes to show that not reading the instruction manual ahead of time is punished with additional manual labor.
Final Note: Tomorrow, I intend to pipe-up the vanity sink drain, place the vanity cupboard back in its appropriate location, fasten it in place, and then install sink / drain / faucet. With the caulking leftover from that procedure, I will apply some along the base of the toilet, some in the exterior panel box*, and some into a couple stray cracks in the glue/steel wool amalgam beneath Jacobhouse.
*Today when I opened the panel box in Jacobhouse, there seemed to be an immense amount of condensation. Apparently this is already sometimes a problem in typical houses, so it makes sense that it would be even more of a problem in a house where the A/C generates negative pressure (brings in humid air around the supply lines fed from outside).