Laundry!

Success! My $50 Craigslist washer/dryer set is functioning perfectly (well, the dryer is really loud due to what sounds like a wobbly bearing, but it's functional, and whaddaya want for twenty-five bucks??).

This was the first actual improvement I've made so far. Everything else has just been refurbishment, i.e. replacing broken bits and cleaning. This is new functionality. It makes me inordinately proud.

Washer hookup functional!

The dryer outlet's circuit breaker isn't installed yet (because I bought the wrong type of circuit breaker; they all look the same but are subtly different, and there are at least three types; mine are Square-D) - but other than that, the washer and dryer hookups are a go!

I glued the drain yesterday, then installed the trap for the utility sink this morning, and then the Building Muse took over and I cut and glued the entire plumbing to the washer hookup in one session lasting about four hours, time I really hadn't intended to spend on building today. Also, I had to visit Menard's because I ran out of 3/4" CPVC elbows (just one freaking elbow) - but as I had to return the circuit breaker and get the right one, that means I don't have to go tomorrow to get the dryer finished, so it all evens out in the end.

At 7 PM, after returning from a short hike with the kids and dog, I turned the water back on, and discovered only one leak - and that one not in a glued joint; I'm on a 100% roll on glued joints so far. The leak was in my homemade washer hookup.

I'm really pretty proud of this, even though it looks like a school project. I just bought the shutoff valves, drilled two holes in a bit of 2x4, and screwed the CPVC connectors onto the other side. The only problem was that the stem of the valve was juuust too short to make that final turn on the cold valve, and when I turned the water back on, it leaked copiously. So I scraped off a little wood on the bottom of the 2x4, and tightened the valve one more turn, and it was fine, crisis averted.

The only fly in this ointment is what my pictures haven't shown you yet: for some reason, there is a large hole in the floor around the drain stack, leaving me no easy way to put my washer and dryer there. I'm going to put some plywood there for now, but obviously at some point I'm going to want to fill in that hole and put concrete over it.

Dryer vent

On the carriage house livability list, things are moving along, with the successful installation of the dryer vent today (along with gluing of the drain and installation of my washer hookup - not plumbed yet, but installed).

How to install a dryer vent:

1. Cut a hole in the wall where you want the vent. Check.

2. Drill through the other side of the wall, then go outside to find out where your hole is.

3. Fail to find hole.

4. Drill a hole from the outside at the measured point you expect the inside hole to be. Go inside to check where you came out.

5. Fail to find hole.

6. After much headscratching, realize that the wall is two layers thick - remember how the carriage house was built in 1909 of brick? And how its walls are therefore about a foot thick? The structure of this wooden wall, which replaced a garage-door thing, is plywood - insulation - more plywood - more insulation - third layer of plywood.

7. Go to Menards and buy a keyhole saw to cut out the hole in the middle layer of plywood.

8. Discover that the studs on the two layers don't line up. Now what are the odds that the more-or-less random spot I chose for my dryer vent should be precisely centered on a stud on the other side? See the hole I drilled?

9. Cut another damn hole three inches to the right. Plan to buy a little cover panel for this one.

10. Success! I can finally drill a hole from the outside that I can see on the inside. So cut out the hole on the outside.

11. Don't forget to lay a bead of caulk under the vent hood on the outside before fastening it to the wall.

12. Bask in the glory of your finished dryer vent!

Washer outlet live

Photographic evidence that I'm still capable of wiring a simple outlet. It's been a looong time since I reconfigured house wiring (since high school, actually, so about 25 years). It's pretty much the same, except wiring caps make things easier - and safer - than tape.

I took the outlet off the geometrically most convenient circuit; turns out this circuit is the front room outlets, at least (because when I turn it on, I hear the printer start upstairs).

I also got the dryer outlet wired, of which I will simply say right now that 8/3 wiring is really stiff. When it's working, I'll post pictures of the whole process. It's stymied right now because I forgot to bring wire staples, and I don't want to work with this cable without it being nailed solidly in place. 240V scares me a little. Not like getting on ladders, but certainly enough to instill a healthy dose of respect.

Outlet for washer, and drain

Today it was back to work on the house, after dealing with the crushing misunderestimated overwork, then household matters that had waited.

Here, we see the drain for the washer, the utility sink, and a very shiny new outlet that is not yet connected - wired, but not hot yet.

I'm pretty proud of the outlet. It looks very solid.

With the drain, I got lucky. When they built the carriage house in or around 1901 (really! It shows up on the insurance company's map for 1901!) it was all the rage to include an outhouse for the gardener, apparently. At any rate, on the other side of this wall is what's left of a urinal, and on this side of the wall, I have a convenient Y for my washer and utility sink drains. (Otherwise I wouldn't have considered putting them here.)

The only problem is that the existing fittings, being iron, are impossible to move. I even got a bigger pipe wrench and jumped on it - the only thing that happened is that the entire drain stack moved, but not the fitting. Rather than snap things off the drain stack, I tried Plan B - turns out the insert of a 1-1/2" drain trap fits into that fitting pretty well. So my drains are 1-1/2" PVC, and the insert sticks into the cast iron drain, and everything works out pretty well. Once it's all solidly installed, I'll caulk around the seal to keep the noxious fumes out.

Not too shabby for a day's work.