Where has Tuna been?

Awesome update tuna!!!

Congrats on 10 years.

Your family is awesome, it's great to see the kids at least looking like they're pitching in. ;-) It's also great to see you prioritizing home and family; so many people make them a secondary consideration.

Our only little on is 19 months so a little young to operate a paint roller but she sure is interested in my projects around the house.

tuna55 wrote: Fix the weird spot on the siding that buckles when it gets hot

I might be able to help with advice on this! Usually that's because they nailed the siding tight. With vinyl siding the nails should not touch the nailing fin on the siding. If they do then when it gets hot it will buckle. You should be able to slide the panels of siding around just by pressing against them with your hand then sliding from side to side. If you find a panel where you can't do that, then pull the panel above it loose and pull the nails out a bit. The two tools that make this job easiest are a pair of end cutting pliers and a siding removal tool (or "swiper").

Pliers
Swiper

There are other tools that can do the job - maybe stuff you already have. But for $15 or so these two will make it easier. You don't need to remove the nails all the way, just back them out enough that you can slide the panel of siding by hand.

In reply to dculberson:

Thanks for advice and links! I'll let you know if that's what it turns out to be.

dculberson wrote: Your family is awesome, it's great to see the kids at least looking like they're pitching in. ;-) It's also great to see you prioritizing home and family; so many people make them a secondary consideration. Our only little on is 19 months so a little young to operate a paint roller but she sure is interested in my projects around the house.

tuna55 wrote: Fix the weird spot on the siding that buckles when it gets hot

I might be able to help with advice on this! Usually that's because they nailed the siding tight. With vinyl siding the nails should not touch the nailing fin on the siding. If they do then when it gets hot it will buckle. You should be able to slide the panels of siding around just by pressing against them with your hand then sliding from side to side. If you find a panel where you can't do that, then pull the panel above it loose and pull the nails out a bit. The two tools that make this job easiest are a pair of end cutting pliers and a siding removal tool (or "swiper"). Pliers Swiper There are other tools that can do the job - maybe stuff you already have. But for $15 or so these two will make it easier. You don't need to remove the nails all the way, just back them out enough that you can slide the panel of siding by hand.

Or the panel is too long between fixed objects (windows, corner) with no space to expand.

In reply to patgizz:

Yes! I didn't think of that for some reason. If you can't slide the panel and it's tight between two objects you'll have to pull the panel and cut it shorter. You can do it with the tools I posted plus a pair of tin snips. I'm reasonably sure you already own those. ;-)

Just cut about 1/8" - 1/4" off. Enough to let it expand when hot, but not enough to show a gap. Make sure the panel will still fill the space between the J beads.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: In reply to tuna55: Mrs. VCH and I were discussing that one time. What DO "normal" people do? You know, people who drive cars with warranties and buy brand new homes and have "a guy" for stuff? I honestly have no idea. They can't have any money. Maybe they sleep. I hear that's a thing.

Are you familiar with the cable show (transplanted from Canada) on DIY Network "Holmes Makes if Right"? While I'm sure parts of the show makes SVReX's skin crawl, it's entertaining. In a recent episode, he "fixed" a home that was only 6 years old or so that the owners bought new - specifically so they wouldn't have these sorts of problems. I will say watching the show has made me go, "berk..." with regards to some of the stuff we did in my ex's house.

Ian F wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: In reply to tuna55: Mrs. VCH and I were discussing that one time. What DO "normal" people do? You know, people who drive cars with warranties and buy brand new homes and have "a guy" for stuff? I honestly have no idea. They can't have any money. Maybe they sleep. I hear that's a thing.

Are you familiar with the cable show (transplanted from Canada) on DIY Network "Holmes Makes if Right"? While I'm sure parts of the show makes SVReX's skin crawl, it's entertaining. In a recent episode, he "fixed" a home that was only 6 years old or so that the owners bought new - specifically so they wouldn't have these sorts of problems. I will say watching the show has made me go, "berk..." with regards to some of the stuff we did in my ex's house.

If we had any time to watch television...we'd probably be doing something else.

It was 95 degrees here on Sunday, so naturally that was the perfect time to go out in my (un-climate-controlled) shop and do some welding, in heavy leather protective gear.

Fixed the leak in the yard!

Fun fact: Irrigation PVC piping is not sch 40 nor sch 20, it is something called "200" and it's super thin, and doesn't use couplers and instead couples using bellmouths on the end. I spent 30 minutes inside Home Depot checking everything before driving to an irrigation store. The dudes were super helpful, sold me what I needed, and even cut it so I could get the 20' long section in my car. The total was $13.

The hardest part was figuring out to to get it in there. I finally decided that I would cut the pipe about 1/2" shy of full engagement of the bellmouth, which was maybe 6" long, and use the extra to screw into the valve after cleaning and gluing everything.

I'll pressure check it this afternoon.

In other news, I am not certain if I have said this on the board before, but Tunakid #2 is nearly blind in his right eye, and his left is doing all the work. We have him on a super high prescription and things are getting better.

Other than the pool.

I consider it a life skill to know how to swim well. As such we devote money to a pool membership. He can't really wear glasses in the pool. He's super excited about swimming goggles, so I put a few 2's together and make this happen:

Hurray for $30 Zennioptical glasses!! He's going to try them on tonight when I get home.

Otherwise, the bathroom is almost all painted (meaning all, ceiling, trim, etc) and I've added a sweet trim around the shower. We still need tile up above, but that's waiting on dough.

I've replaced two broken balusters, painted three doors, and now the washing machine is leaking.

What a nightmare! Hopefully you'll wake up soon.

We hired an inspector for our new home construction. This after our builder hired the wrong crew to do the framing and they had to tear it all down and start over. That scared us enough that we realized that we couldn't trust the builder to do everything right because subcontracting. We hired a guy that was a trained construction engineer as well as a licensed inspector. He came highly recommended and even the builder was impressed that he "caught" stuff that was actually legitimate stuff. I think they see a lot of inspectors that give long lists of cosmetic bs, while ours was looking at foundation tie-downs, etc. At the end of the day the builder fixed pretty much everything the inspector found, but if we hadn't hired him, we would never have known.

RE washing machine leaking, what kind is it and when does it leak?

Rufledt wrote: RE washing machine leaking, what kind is it and when does it leak?

I'll find out when I get home!

Tunawife just called to tell me a few minutes before my post.

The good news is that I had to go to HD to get a foot of baseboard for the shower area and the dude just gave it to me.

The Teflon tape on the threads is leaking. I think there is a loctite product for PVC.

The pvc for irrigation? I've never seen Teflon tape stuff for pvc but it sounds like a good idea

Hey rufeldt, the house were under contract for has an Amana front loading washer. It has mildew in it around the seams. Any advice?

In reply to mtn:

generally leave the door open when not in use or that happens. You may have luck with a product called "affresh", run it as directed on the washer's clean cycle. If it's the first time, do it twice. Then once every now and then is a good idea. There is also 'Washer Magic' made by the people who make dishwasher magic (only the bottle is orange not blue). Besides those, most 'cleaners' are just purfumes.

It may even say "clean with affresh" on the washer itself (amana and affresh are both whirlpool products). I think the cycle is like 3 hours long. That can help, though once rubber pieces like the front boot get really bad, it can be hard to clean them up. It's one of those "ounce of prevention" things.

Another prevention tip is to wash your towels or whites with a little hilex bleach. The bleach can help the whites, but it also helps keep the inside of the washer clean. As a bonus, the towels 'wipe' down the inside of the inner tub, adding a bit of mechanical action that 'clean' cycles don't have.

If you are going to go the elbow grease route and scrub, be careful of the front boot. They get fragile as they age, and a little rip can be a big leak.

The valve at the output of the irrigation backflow is threaded female. The PVC has a threaded male. THusly, there is a threaded connector at the end of the PVC which must be threaded in.

There is a socket glued onto the end of the PVC. There is a double threaded nipple there, as prescribed by the irrigation guy.

This has teflon tape on either end, also prescribed by the irrigation guy.

This teflon tape joint is leaking. A tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny bit. I believe that a bit of Loctite PVC weld stuff will be better than the teflon tape, as there is plenty of thread engagement on either side.

The worst part is that the little water meter gear is spinning, even with a tiny tiny tiny tiny leak. So there is a leak elsewhere.

The good part is that the washing machine leak was just the connection at the valve.

Anyway tonight I painted the other side of another door, a door frame and a window frame, cut a few pieces of trim for the master bathroom, and a few other odds and ends.

the best washer leaks are the ones that are free to fix!

That irrigation thing sounds complicated. I don't even have a hose (that works) in the back yard!

Rufledt wrote: the best washer leaks are the ones that are free to fix! That irrigation thing sounds complicated. I don't even have a hose (that works) in the back yard!

Agreed on both counts.

I don't even want to water my stupid yard, I just want it to not leak so I can continue to use the two ports in the backyard to water the garden.

Basil Exposition wrote: What a nightmare! Hopefully you'll wake up soon. We hired an inspector for our new home construction. This after our builder hired the wrong crew to do the framing and they had to tear it all down and start over. That scared us enough that we realized that we couldn't trust the builder to do everything right because subcontracting. We hired a guy that was a trained construction engineer as well as a licensed inspector. He came highly recommended and even the builder was impressed that he "caught" stuff that was actually legitimate stuff. I think they see a lot of inspectors that give long lists of cosmetic bs, while ours was looking at foundation tie-downs, etc. At the end of the day the builder fixed pretty much everything the inspector found, but if we hadn't hired him, we would never have known.

That's good. Glad you got some good support.

FWIW, subcontracting is part of life (in every business). It shouldn't mean bad things- it should mean professionals and specialists in every trade contribute to the final product, instead of generalists who are not as knowledgeable.

I doubt there are very many houses in this country that are built without the use of subcontractors. I don't think I'd want to own any of them.

jesus man did you buy a house or a lean-to built by a cub scout troop?

Sorry for your luck, that sucks

oh, and the washing machine, despite now not leaking, is making a truly frightening creaky-creaky-creaky noise when the drum is emptying.

tuna55 wrote: The valve at the output of the irrigation backflow is threaded female. The PVC has a threaded male. THusly, there is a threaded connector at the end of the PVC which must be threaded in. There is a socket glued onto the end of the PVC. There is a double threaded nipple there, as prescribed by the irrigation guy. This has teflon tape on either end, also prescribed by the irrigation guy. This teflon tape joint is leaking. A tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny bit. I believe that a bit of Loctite PVC weld stuff will be better than the teflon tape, as there is plenty of thread engagement on either side. The worst part is that the little water meter gear is spinning, even with a tiny tiny tiny tiny leak. So there is a leak elsewhere. The good part is that the washing machine leak was just the connection at the valve. Anyway tonight I painted the other side of another door, a door frame and a window frame, cut a few pieces of trim for the master bathroom, and a few other odds and ends.

Is your back flow metal? If so, use Teflon tape AND paste. The PVC deforms easily & the metal castings typically have imperfections that need to be filled with the paste. We used paste instead of tape on nearly everything as the odds of it leaking were far less.

Most systems have a constantly pressurized mainline from the house to your valve boxes, so look for your leak prior to the zones. To have the little water meter wheel spinning, you probably have a fairly significant leak. Your back flow probably had a ball valve on it which you can close to confirm the leak is the irrigation system. Be careful digging up your mainline as the control wiring is run with that pipe. The control valves in the ground will either fail closed or full open so it is unlikely they are the source of your leak.

While the SDR200 pipe is thin wall, the outside diameter is the same as sch 40 & 80. PVC is all outside diameter controlled, so standard fittings will work with the thin wall stuff.

If you have more irrigation questions, just let me know. I worked in that field for many years.

In reply to FooBag:

oh dude I am so glad that you showed up.

I brought the SDR200 stuff to HD and found no fittings which would fit the OD.

The backflow is indeed sandwiched by metal bodied ball valves. I figured exactly what you said, that I would need paste, but I didn't understand that I needed tape + paste, that's good to know. Back in my pipe industry days they called the stuff pipe dope - where can I buy this stuff and what is it called?

I indeed closed that valve to verify the leak was from the irrigation, and only downstream of the valve. This leak is immediately downstream. Even after fixing it and the threads, I suspect I have another leak prior to the zones.

So my assumption is that there is a location where solenoids live, and that probably has many connections, and that, rather than a random pipe joint, is where the next leak is.

How do I find these!?! I guess they are in the ground, but where?

In reply to tuna55:

That is very weird about the standard fittings not matching with your pipe. Unless they changed standards since I changed industries ( 8 years ago), that should not be the case.

You can buy pipe dope at any hardware store. They're all about the same for water applications, so I wouldn't be concerned about brand. They typically need to be stirred before use as they often separate while sitting.

The valves should be located in in valve boxes like this:

The green cover should be flush with ground level. If the installing contractor was an shiny happy person, he used lots of individual small round ones which are now overgrown & very difficult to find. Look for depressions or low spots as a possible indicator of these. Otherwise, you can have someone constantly cycling the irrigation system while you wander the yard. If you're lucky, you can hear the solenoid click or the rush of the water as the valves open. You may have to resort to having an irrigation contractor with a locator out to try to trace the control wiring, but this is not as sure thing either. I agree with your thought that this is the next likely place to look for leaks due to the number of piping connections in them.

Since you know where a portion of the mainline runs, you can try using dowsing rods to follow it. No, I'm not crazy, this actually works. Check out this video for a good example of how to do it. Dowsing. It's typically accurate to about a foot. Unfortunately, it will also pick up power lines, water & sewer, & occasionally roots. If you can trace your mainline, if will give you a better idea of where the valves will be as they are typically located immediately off the mainline.

If you do have to hire an irrigation contractor, I'd steer you towards one that has the Irrigation Association certifications. Search for one here. There's some fairly serious testing involved to get certified. There were always a lot of hacks doing irrigation in my area, so beware.