Monday, August 6, 2012

BA's Plumbing Update





This is the Pressure Tank and water heater I purchased from Sears outlet online. They were new in box at a heck of a deal. The pump is on the left from Harbor Freight at $119 minus the 20% off coupon. TIP: purchase the insider track club membership from Harbor Freight, it will save you tons of money. I purchased a 2000 watt inverter for $89.

Above is the cistern from Tanks for Less on the left. On the right is the shower I need to finish. If you have any suggestions for the ceiling, let us know.We love your feedback. I had to purchase sand to place under the cistern to level it.


Until last week, I did not know how to plumb a house. With the aid from neighbors, great ones at that, I was able to connect our new 2500 gallon cistern to a Harbor Freight 1 HP pump, a 38 gallon pressure tank, and a 20 gallon water heater. Unfortunately I listened to the Home Depot person first, which cost me a day of work, and more money than I needed to spend. When my neighbors came to help, I took back all of the PEX and Sharkbite fittings to Home Depot and purchased regular 1 inch schedule 40 PVC and all the attachments at 1/4 of the cost of the other stuff. Don't waste your time on the expensive stuff. Also, when buying plumbing materials, buy extra. It will save you from making 3 trips to Ace hardware, and 3 trips to Home Depot like I did.  Of course there were some minor dripping at places that was easy to fix. There is a place where the cold water line to the house, from the cistern is leaking. I am blaming that on Blanco Electric and Plumbing since they are the ones who decided to install mobile home tubing instead of PVC for the house. Now, I am having them come back out to fix the leak. It it hard to go from that type of tubing to PVC. I purchased the cistern for $884 plus $70 shipping from Tanks for Less out of Austin Texas. Great company. They also had the 2 inch to 3/4 inch connector that I needed that Home Depot did not have. I was also able to wire the water heater up after trial and error, and a smart neighbor. Next, I plan on building a shed to protect all of these things from reclaimed wood from the concrete blocks we had built. I was able to take a real shower last week. It was awesome. There is a lot of little things that I have to do inside and out. Make it easy on yourself and keep a running list. Mine keeps getting bigger and bigger. Next we have to install a window and a skylight in the bathroom, make a way to open the double doors and attach the wood to them, build a tire wall to house one side of the septic system, install a real toilet, finish some tile on the shower, do something with the bathroom ceiling and closet, attach some more trim boards, paint the ceiling, and tile the kitchen back-splash. Whooo! I am going to be busy. All this and working full time and going to grad school for a teacher's certification. They do say that once you have a house, the work is never done. - BA

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