Don't give up on This Old Stone House!

Yes I know it appears that nothing is going on here, and in terms of what hasn't changed on my blog, there hasn't been.

However, our Utility Room remodel was a success, and new projects are in the planning stages. The most important of
which is installing a new roof, safely. This is requiring a lot of research, planning for and purchasing the right equipment;
such as an MSA Roofers Safety Harness, and MSA Roofing Anchors. Not to mention a lot
of shingles, flashing, nails, etc. A big job ahead. Pictures to follow. It will bring a new look to This Old Stone House.

The internet is such a wonderful tool when locating hard to find information.

Stay tuned. (Compare pictures below to previous post!)

Utility Room - Where we started....

This is how the utility room looked when we purchased our 

old stone house.  It is a closed in porch on the east side of

the house.  It was covered on the outside with 3/4" thick

cedar lap siding, and then sheet rocked on the inside.  As

typical, the floor was covered with plywood and vinyl. 

The washer and dryer were located under the window.

Connections and drain line were run

up the wall.  Not very attractive, but

functional.

The exterior of the stone house is

exposed on the interior west wall.

A makeshift coat rack was hung on

the stone wall (a real spider trap)

and a long non-working baseboard

heater is along the floor.

To my knowledge, the baseboard heater did

everything but produce heat.  Collected a lot

of dust.

The sheetrock on the ceiling where it met the

wall had a major gap, and it was filled with 

insta-foam.  And it was not trimmed off.  Talk

about tacky looking.

One of the reasons for starting on the Utility

Room first was that when the washing machine

ran, on occasion it ran water into the basement

yet we could not find where it was leaking.  This

became evident when an access hole was cut in

the floor.  I found a new use for digital cameras.

You can hold it, put it down in a place that you 

can't get your head in and snap a picture to see

what is there.    It was evident from the picture 

below that water had been running down the 

stone wall.

The culprit removed.  The picture below shows

where the drain line going through the stone

wall obviously froze and busted at some point.

There was an access hole under the dryer that

was covered with a steel vent (hole on left) and

then I cut a hole on the right.  This was to allow

for removing the old copper water lines, and

to run the new drain line as well as re-route the

natural gas line.

Here I am laying out the pieces of PVC that

will make up the new drain line.  Had to put 

a jog around a concrete block pier under the

floor.  It would also have to be made up and

then put in place through the access hole.

Here is a view of the line installed under the

floor.  Again, a camera shot with it held under

the floor and guess the direction and snapping.

This works extremely well.

The mechanical room (installed in 1905) is

a web of old piping, some used, some abandoned.

It will be a process as I remodel the kitchen of

weeding out the old stuff.  Much of it is nearly

corroded through and will break with only minor

pressure applied with a pipe wrench.  The PVC

is where the drain line comes under the kitchen

from the utility room (through 22" of stone wall)

and then turns in to a trap on it's way to 3" line

that will tie into existing cast iron under the

downstairs restroom.

This is on the other side of the boiler (big red

box) for the hot water heating system.  The 

vertical PVC is a vent as well as a stub for the

new kitchen drain.  The 3" turns and runs six

more feet into the cast iron.

Back to the access hole in the Utility Room.

Now that the drain line has been run. (Not visible

in this picture).  Notice the corroded 1/2" copper

tubing.  Straight through the stone wall.  The

big trick now was to get the PEX tubing pulled

through the boxing under the floor joist and 

into the utility room.  The was no access to where

the copper runs for about 6' of that journey.  My

son Austin and I came up with a novel method.

We crimped 1/2" maple dowel inside the copper

tubing (along with some CA glue) and then slipped

the PEX over the dowel and glue as well.  The 

dowel pieces were about 2" long so that they would

navigate any minor bends along the way.  Then one

layer of duct tape was wrapped around the joint to

add some strength.  The PEX is slightly smaller in

outside diameter than the copper which in hope would

allow it to slip through clamps and the holes in the

stone.   The copper tubing was cut off about 6" from

the wall in the access hole and the PEX was hung in

a roll in the mechanical room.  As I folded and rolled

up the copper tubing and pulled it through the wall,

it pulled the PEX tubing with it.  Talk about a small

miracle.  Thanks Austin.  Brilliant idea!!

New brass valves and "shark bite" PEX fittings

were installed on the hot and cold water feed

lines in the utility room.

PEX tubing going into the boxed in channel

under the kitchen floor.

On the south wall of the U/R, I built a false

wall of with 2x4's so that the piping could be

routed internally, and be insulated as well.  This

also allowed for the installation of a valve/drain

box.  This one has a single lever to operate both

hot/cold valves.  

This picture shows the 1 1/2" drain line across

the top, and the 1/2" PEX going into a 4" PVC

carrier pipe which allowed for it to be insulated

an long radius 4" elbow was split in two to cover

the bend in the PEX and where it enters the wall.

View of the finished drain and water lines.

Marked on the PVC with permanent marker

to assist future owners with identifying what

is going where.

New outlets were installed on a separate ground

fault circuit.  High on the wall to account for the

height of the new machines.

The wiring was routed along the stone wall

under the floor and to an existing wiring box

that would need some rework as well.   Notice

the hole for the existing thermostat, and the 

individual light switches for the back porch

and U/R ceiling light.  The sheet rock on the

lower portion had to be removed in order to

pull in the new wire.  It will be covered with 

new sheet rock and then beaded board on top 

of that.

Well that is the end of Part 1.  Whew!  I

got tired all over again just going through the

pictures to find what to post to help tell the

story of all the work that went on under the

floor, in the mechanical room, and inside the

walls before anything started looking like the

room was being remodeled.  

I would have to say that 100 year old or more

houses will require much more patience when it

comes to remodeling or restoring.  The results 

however can be very rewarding as I hope you will

see when you get to Part 3.

Yesterday made me long for spring.....

As weather in Kansas can be, unpredictable, it was 71 degrees in Manhattan yesterday.  Wow!  Today, well that's another story.  Cold, blustery, windy and overcast.  Seeing my title picture made me long for warmer weather  Even though that is a fall picture,  I could almost smell the damp grass after an early spring rain.  See the crocus, lilies and tulips popping up, and soon the Flags.  Can't hardly wait to get back to working on projects outdoors.  Of course when I start roofing the house I will probably be thinking the opposite.

The exiting thing is that we are one day closer to spring!!

Hope to figure out how to add pictures of the Utility Room this weekend so there is something else to look at and comment on.  That little project turned out to be an enormous undertaking.

More on that shortly.