Claeg Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 I'm Henry Clay, but my internet alias is Claeg. I'm 33 and until a few years ago was sailing through a tool-less life. Well, I decided to get married then move into my 140 year old 5000 sq foot family house that is showing its age. I moved back in and hired a plumber to do a couple things and a contractor to some small work. I quickly discovered that I was paying way too much them for something that I could do myself with reason, common sense, diligence, and a bit education(the internet). I also found that I could often to the work and by the tool needed for the work for cheaper than hiring someone else. I saw the quote on the internet "Remember, when you do the work yourself, the tools are free." Now I know that isn't exactly the truth, but it hits a chord. So since becoming the house handyman/renovator I have done simple electric, carpentry, plumbing, and masonry. This site has helped me navigate the huge world of tools. I started with a simple B&D matrix set, but now I pretty much use only Ryobi and Milwaukee. I have found those brands to be a good medium and heavy use products. I have accumulated a small, but growing, bank of knowledge about updating and repairing a mid 1800's house. Anyway I have found the whole DIYer thing to be very rewarding and I appreciate the beautiful simplicity of a man, his mind, and some tools. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CATERPILLAR Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Nice man welcome to the forum hope too see some pictures of your house projects have a good one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Welcome to the forums, you will find a group of guys here that will get you through the toughest of house hold jobs and don't worry it won't be long before that do it yourself gets on the expensive side from buying more and more tools once your hooked got to go to Home Depot......talk later...lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmikez Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Welcome to Da Crew!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaljunkie Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Welcome Claeg. Remember, he who dies with the most tools, WINS! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foneguy Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Welc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foneguy Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Welcome aboard .... you will find ALL the answers here 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnarlyCarl Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 Welcome aboard, 5000 sq foot house huh? that's quite a bit of house to take care of, mine is about half that size, and it's enough for me ha I do plumbing for a living and it's folks like you that put a damper on my work LOL I'm kidding, it's guys that think they can do it but can't and end up having a mess I have to deal with later that make up for that hhehehehe!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnarlyCarl Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 6 hours ago, metaljunkie said: Welcome Claeg. Remember, he who dies with the most tools, WINS! BAAHAHHHAALOL!! Nice, feeling right at home i see!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 Welcome to the forums dude! Would love to see that house! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 Welcome to the crew!Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruton Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 Welcome aboard man, glad to have ya. There is something to be said about the satisfaction you get when you tackle your own project and it turns out pretty nice!Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claeg Posted November 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 10 hours ago, KnarlyCarl said: Welcome aboard, 5000 sq foot house huh? that's quite a bit of house to take care of, mine is about half that size, and it's enough for me ha I do plumbing for a living and it's folks like you that put a damper on my work LOL I'm kidding, it's guys that think they can do it but can't and end up having a mess I have to deal with later that make up for that hhehehehe!!! Since you asked. The DIYing started when the claw foot tub we were using, which hadn't been used in some time, started leaking. It was a very busy time and I called the plumbers to come out. They ended up replacing a washer on the drain and calling it a day. They charged around almost $400 for 1.5 hours of work to replace a washer. Shortly there after the tub leaked again. Apparently they either didn't check or didn't mention that the overflow, which looked like this might be a problem as well. I called them back and they wanted to charge more. So the DIYing began. A little later I had to change the tub waste also. Its was a bent lead pipe over the floor joist. . Here are some more pics of the waste under that bathroom. The Tub has a lead bucket trap, have you seen one of those before? . Anyway here is the before and after of that. . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnarlyCarl Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 A$$hats idiots making the whole industry look bad. I don't blame you for going at it yourself, you know it's done right! Drum traps are old and also not allowed except special drain applications. As soon as I saw that old tub drain, I would pull the whole thing off and check every joint and give an option to replace it with a new one. If you wanted just the repair, I would replace the rubber pieces and reseal everything. And if there was an instance where a oversight occurred, we would come back and take care it, too bad you had to have that experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnarlyCarl Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 Also I would replace every single piece of old pipe while you have it open and already dealing with a mess now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claeg Posted November 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 6 minutes ago, KnarlyCarl said: Also I would replace every single piece of old pipe while you have it open and already dealing with a mess now Luckily there is access back to it and 3 ft. crawl space between floors. Redoing the plumbing is not far down the list. I have some other issues to tackle first. The whole house is in need of basic renovation. The supply lines I believe I can manage myself. I plan on using pex with one of the big maniblocs. The DWV is pretty much all cast iron. Not a one man job from what I can see. especially with two 20 plus foot vertical runs(that stuff weighs an ungodly amount). At the moment the supply lines are all galvanized lines frozen together at the fittings. Then there is the natural gas........and electrical.... Any advise on PEX? I am leaning toward the clamp fittings. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 Welcome to the forum and crew 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnarlyCarl Posted November 16, 2016 Report Share Posted November 16, 2016 15 minutes ago, Claeg said: Luckily there is access back to it and 3 ft. crawl space between floors. Redoing the plumbing is not far down the list. I have some other issues to tackle first. The whole house is in need of basic renovation. The supply lines I believe I can manage myself. I plan on using pex with one of the big maniblocs. The DWV is pretty much all cast iron. Not a one man job from what I can see. especially with two 20 plus foot vertical runs(that stuff weighs an ungodly amount). At the moment the supply lines are all galvanized lines frozen together at the fittings. Then there is the natural gas........and electrical.... Any advise on PEX? I am leaning toward the clamp fittings. I'm biased toward the cold expansion Pex (type A) because I've gotten so used to working with it, much more flexible, doesn't restrict flow because the fittings are larger. The type you're referring to is the Pex B stuff and is less expensive. It should work perfectly fine really. I also use the Milwaukee Pex expansion tool and allows me to make connections fast. Either kind of crimp rings you use is fine, I really don't know the advantages with one type of crimp rings over another because I've done maybe a dozen crimp style Pex B fittings in my whole life. That's it. I hear ya on the vertical pieces of cast pipes, you will lose toes if you let it drop on you!! Do you have codes you are required to follow and need to obtain permits? If the fixtures are staying where they are, then I don't think anyone will care. Personally I don't like manablocks because the hot water has to travel each individual line instead of using main lines/branches and usually, you can turn the hot water on at the bathroom sink and get hot water and know you have it at the shower too in another second. But it can look sexy if you do it right lol!!! I was in the process of completing this manifold and decided to take a pic before I forgot because I always forget to take pics of my work! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric - TIA Posted November 17, 2016 Report Share Posted November 17, 2016 Welcome to the forum. My house is 90 years old and a quarter of the size. I could only image being older and 4 times bigger. Good to have you here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted November 17, 2016 Report Share Posted November 17, 2016 On 11/15/2016 at 6:25 PM, Foneguy said: Welc in a hurry?....lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claeg Posted November 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2016 15 hours ago, KnarlyCarl said: I'm biased toward the cold expansion Pex (type A) because I've gotten so used to working with it, much more flexible, doesn't restrict flow because the fittings are larger. The type you're referring to is the Pex B stuff and is less expensive. It should work perfectly fine really. I also use the Milwaukee Pex expansion tool and allows me to make connections fast. Either kind of crimp rings you use is fine, I really don't know the advantages with one type of crimp rings over another because I've done maybe a dozen crimp style Pex B fittings in my whole life. That's it. I hear ya on the vertical pieces of cast pipes, you will lose toes if you let it drop on you!! Do you have codes you are required to follow and need to obtain permits? If the fixtures are staying where they are, then I don't think anyone will care. I did not obtain a permit to do the simple tub and toilet waste replacement. I will get one when I move forward with the bigger project. I did reference Louisiana code at the onset of the small work. Since then Louisiana has had a major code change. There is a State Plumbing Board under Dept Health and Hospitals that set the code and managed it. Last year the contractors board lobbied and got their way to replace the SPB code with the International Plumbing code. So things have changed. As far as Pex A, I was very intrigued by it and the flexibility compared to B. Most of the info I see on it about radiant heating and that it is a bit of an unknown because it hasn't been around as long as B. A is not available at HD and Lowes so haven't handled it. I have just looked at it on the supplyhouse site. Also some people seem to hesitant to use it for drinking water supply because of its newness to the market and possible leaching issues. We do drink a lot of tap at my house, so that was a bit of a concern. Is there a type of pipe to avoid as far as drinking water goes? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foneguy Posted November 17, 2016 Report Share Posted November 17, 2016 ome aboard !!! thought I would finish it off !!! Sorry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnarlyCarl Posted November 18, 2016 Report Share Posted November 18, 2016 9 hours ago, Claeg said: I did not obtain a permit to do the simple tub and toilet waste replacement. I will get one when I move forward with the bigger project. I did reference Louisiana code at the onset of the small work. Since then Louisiana has had a major code change. There is a State Plumbing Board under Dept Health and Hospitals that set the code and managed it. Last year the contractors board lobbied and got their way to replace the SPB code with the International Plumbing code. So things have changed. As far as Pex A, I was very intrigued by it and the flexibility compared to B. Most of the info I see on it about radiant heating and that it is a bit of an unknown because it hasn't been around as long as B. A is not available at HD and Lowes so haven't handled it. I have just looked at it on the supplyhouse site. Also some people seem to hesitant to use it for drinking water supply because of its newness to the market and possible leaching issues. We do drink a lot of tap at my house, so that was a bit of a concern. Is there a type of pipe to avoid as far as drinking water goes? If you have reverse osmosis you can't use any metal fittings or pipe. Can't tell you I've heard any rumors of the leeching of Pex A... Been 15 years since it's been in use at our company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryS Posted November 21, 2016 Report Share Posted November 21, 2016 Welcome to the forum Claeg!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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