July 24, 2013

The Water Test - Part II

Tim calls me this morning at 8:10. "Inspector said a man called in sick this morning,so now they're two men short, and he's trying to cover that guy's appointments today too. So there's no way to get over to your house today. He told me to call tomorrow at 8am again.There's really no point in me coming out there today."

"Yeah, okay Tim." Call us tomorrow. 

Damn! TJ and I need to feel productive today. Let's do something, please! We set up a painting area to strip doors we're reusing, and then after lunch we'll do the last bits of shopping -get the under-counter fridge and the last kitchen cabinet, right after lunch. Getting those doors and cabinet prepped and ready will make this day feel less wasted.

*****

At 1:40 the Inspector calls Tim:  "Can you be ready for the vent water test and inspection in 45 minutes? I can swing by."
 

"YES, OF COURSE! Thanks!"
Tim calls TJ and I: "I'm way out in Concord. Can you get the water up to the roof and into the vent now?

."OF COURSE we can....uhm, which vents do we need to fill?"......the ones back there on the roof? You got it.  Get here!"

I run outside and start unscrewing the longest hoses from side hose bibs to link them together to use on the other side of the house. My hands and sleeves are getting wet as I release each hose and screw them to one another.


I drag what is now 30 ft of twisted hose around to the other side of the house, disentangling it as I pull. Then I thread it through the railings and across our front porch, run it over a 6-foot wooden fence into a small side garden. TJ has climbed up on the roof and throws down a cord. I make a loop around the neck of the hose so he can drag it up to that second floor.


He carries a 12-foot ladder up the stairs and out to a flat roof in back by the roof ridge. That ridge leads to the two vents we need access to. Tim arrives  just as TJ gets the ladder positioned. We're 8 minutes ahead of the Inspector. 

Tim runs inside and tells me to get on the phone so he can tell TJ if he's filling the right vent. He's got his hand on the pipe we need to fill. I've got my mobile landline live to TJ hitched up to my other ear with my shoulder so my hands can turn on spigots.
"Water on!" ....one shouts.
"No!!! Water off, I'm not in place yet"...the other screams.

We get it coordinated...sort of. Water on ...filling. Inspector is running late. For once, a good thing. Tim finds he a small leak in air vent, no two- another one over here.

"Shut off the water!"
He cuts the new hole to release the water into a bucket in a swoosh that soaks his shirt.
He fixes the two leaks. He puts a new sleeve on the new joint.
"Run the water test again!" He commands. "Water on 'til I say stop!"
We coordinate the test again with phones and yelling. Tim's the
submarine captain yelling, "Load outer tubes!" that we repeat, echoing down the chain of command.

But everything is holding.
"Captain,he's holding still. He has not opened outer torpedo doors."

Looks good. and unlike us....dry.

Damn, wait! Tim forgot the inspector wants stainless screws on the toilet flange.

Quick get those in.

*Breathe*


Inspector arrives not 2 minutes later. Three dripping, happy people... smile.


All good. The corrections are all signed off.
 

After he's signed the paperwork, I ask "Hey did you get a lunch today? Want a bowl of rice and ham? I know you're running short of men."

"Hmmm, that sounds good, I shouldn't tell you I gulped a lunch, but I did. Wow, that really sounds good." I offer again, but he shakes his head and thanks me.


"John, can we keep the Monday original appointment for our Sheetrock inspection instead then?" He smiles and nods as he rushes to the front door, and next appointment. He really did squeeze us in!


I love it...we jumped up the schedule. Yes, I do love all this. It's now 3:45.... And we'll go fridge shopping tomorrow. 

Ahhh, the vaudeville!


July 23, 2013

The Water Test - Part I

I'm back up and running, at last! ( A pinched cervical nerve knocked Phase II out of the contractor's queue because I couldn't draw the permit drawings - or any writing or drawing for that matter! Beyond the pain, as a designer, it was more than a little scary.)

Then the new job placed ahead of us ran overtime by 8 weeks until just 12 days ago. So, we've just started Phase II.

Now, onward with a vengeance!....

Well......no. Seems the City Inspectors are running behind this month what with vacations and lean staffing. Still our contractor Tim grabbed back time by doing all three rough-in inspections at once - plumbing, construction and electrical. But rather than the usual next day appointment, when we called to schedule,we had to wait five days until today. And there are really only odds and ends he can do until these three "basic bones" inspections are done.


The inspector arrived this morning, and spent 28 minutes going through every single thing Tim did, permit card in hand. Unlike most inspectors, he crawled under the house. He got up on a ladder. He filled the new plumbing with water to check for leaks. "Thorough." Tim said. 

Everything Tim did was spot on, but damn if the inspector wants us to take a few more steps towards closing air holes (in the leakiest old house I've every lived in), and asked us to change out the screws that came with the toilet flange in the floor to stainless steel or brass screws instead. I appreciate that he insisted that I make my home more fire-safe even if it's in just this one inner room, but I admit I hate wasting another day, for another inspection to check these off. Plus, the inspector also insisted on seeing a second water test: our water line test passed with no leaks today, but he wants us to do a vent pipe water test too. (You know, the vents up from fixtures so the gases escape.) They will only have gases, and air in them.

Tim spent some time conjuring how to do that water test for him. Oh, it's easy enough getting water into a vent. You carefully climb up on the roof with a garden hose- or several, depending where the water bib is versus the vent--and fill the vent line. But how to get the water out of the vents once the test was done with the redirected lines in our 1908 old house? Hmm. Seems like our only option is to cut apart a major pipe after the test.

 "So..." I said slowly, "We have to cut a pipe to make a new joint after the test to prove that all the joints in the vent line don't leak?" But hey, inspector says, we do.

We just had to schedule a recheck for these "corrections." I actually jumped onto the computer seconds after he left, and damn if the next available day wasn't Monday the 29th, a week away. No!!!

But Tim has a plan: He told me to holler at him at 4 o'clock, and at that point he called the inspector and pleaded for time tomorrow:
"We got all your corrections completed today. Is there any way you could swing by tomorrow to just sign off on them, so we can move forward?"

"Got a man on vacation this week. Call me tomorrow, 8am. Dunno, but I' ll try."
As Tim headed out the door a few minutes ago, he promised he'd call right at 8 to get any slot possible..

Let you know how it goes tomorrow...