ArizonaRanch

  Plumbing Maintenance by rdpecken on Oct.26, 2018, under Plumbing Selfie at the Ranch Tara & I made a trip up last fall (Oct 2017). While we were there, we noticed that when the outside faucets were turned on, they leaked from various places . On the West end of the house, water would gush out of the anti-siphon valve on the top of the faucet. On the East end of the house, water would trickle out of the valve stem, near the handle.   Leak spots We returned to Mesa, and attempted to find replacement parts. There were none to be found locally. I was looking for replacement anti-siphon valves and replacement o-rings for the valve stem (or packing bushing). I was not able to find anything that would fit. I went on Ebay and found the correct anti-siphon valves. They were installed and worked well. But I was still unable to find the correct size rubber o-rings for the faucets. I even went so far as to buy another faucet (but not freeze proof) to see if the o...

  Water System Work by rdpecken on Apr.27, 2014, under Water System For my trip in April, once the Solar Bay ventilation system was installed, I moved on to replacing the water pump for the Littlehouse. New Pump Model The original system worked with a nice variable speed pump that would change speed to keep the pressure steady regardless of flow. It worked really nice until I went away and forgot to turn off the power to it after one trip last year. When I returned weeks later, the battery was dead (I didn’t have solar at the time), and the pump no longer worked. At that time, I salvaged the old pump from our shed and installed it in the Littlehouse. This got us by with the necessary pressure. Here is the old pump that died… Shurflo Extreme 5.7 gpm Pump I took the bad pump home and started to take it apart to see what was wrong, but the control circuitry is potted with epoxy, so you cannot access it. The manufacturer does not sell replace parts for that pu...

  Bathroom Sink Install by rdpecken on Mar.20, 2011, under Plumbing We are finally getting a sink in the little house.  This is a big step, as before we had to go down to the shed to wash our hands.  With the new sink and bathroom cabinetry, we can clean up better with washing our hands and faces, and also brushing our teeth. We chose an old-fashioned looking model with curved doors from Lowes.  It has a slide out drawer in the bottom, as well as a shelf inside. Sink installed I didn’t take any pictures of the install, but it involved putting a one-way vent on the drain pipe in the wall, and adding two quarter-turn valves for the hot and cold water inlets.  Also, the box didn’t say that mounting hardware was not included, so I ended up going into Kingman to get some supplies. I found that when the sink was flush with the right-hand wall, that there was not enough elbow room on that side.  So I ended up moving it over to the left as...

  Toilet Install by rdpecken on Oct.17, 2010, under Plumbing Welcome to civilization… We managed to install out toilet in the bathroom at the Littlehouse last week.  I didn’t make any step-by-step photos, but they are all pretty much the same. Sterling Stinson model The choices were a little limited, as most at the big box stores were the low-water-use 1.28 gal per flush models.  Home depot had a dual rate one that used 1.28 gals for one type of flush, or 1.6 gals for a full flush.  I thought about getting that one, as it was only $99.00, but then thought about possible repairs in the future.  I think that maybe the parts for that special mechanism might not be readily available ten years down the road.  But most “standard” toilets all have interchangeable parts, so I went with one of the standard models. The Stirling Stinson had a nice floor saving design.  After installation, I notice that if you just press and release the ...

  Bathroom Shower Install by rdpecken on Sep.28, 2010, under Plumbing 09/18/2010 After painting all of the bathroom walls, the base unit   It was a little tight. (looking at this process later, I realize that the shower unit is meant to be installed against bare studs, then drywall installed later).  I had to pull the inlet for the toilet into the wall (easy, since it’s connected to the adjustable mounting bracket, and the other side of the wall is not drywalled, yet.  After placing some tile adhesive down, I placed the base into the cubbyhole.  It was not easy to do by myself. Yes, I scuffed up the walls some getting the base in.  It was a tight fit.  But that will mostly be covered with the shower door and walls, and what isn’t can be touched up when we’re done. Shower Base Unit I couldn’t find the instructions, and I’m pretty certain they don’t say to do this, but I put some screws into the studs on the back wall to stiffe...

  Waste Water Plumbing for the LittleHouse by rdpecken on Oct.25, 2009, under Plumbing Over October break, Tara and I went up to the ranch to do some plumbing on the LittleHouse. The weather was almost perfect, and we got a lot finished. We had picked up a shower kit from Lowes which is identical to the one we put in the washhouse, except the color is white, instead of cream.  It was the only model that there was in either Home Depot or Lowes that had the sitting platforms in it.  We really like that design for being able to rest your foot on it while washing. All of the other designs looked to be of inferior construction, as well. Since these were no longer being produced, we had a hard time finding them, and had to visit several stores before we found a set still in the boxes. After clearing all of our tools and supplies from the future bathroom, we marked and cut out the hole for the shower drain and toilet.   Shower Drain hole Next, we ...