Fixing a Drip

Wisconsin is known for its rough winters. They don't call Lambeau Field the 'Frozen Tundra' for nothing!

Our home was a foreclosure property. The bank didn't want to pay the heat bill, so after a while the heat was turned off. Unfortunately, the water wasn't completely drained out of many of the pipes before that was done. Water in pipes and fixtures + freezing temperatures = burst pipes and damaged fixtures.

The faucet in the 2nd floor bathroom was one of the fixtures that was damaged. Chris at Sinclair Plumbing thought that the water freezing in the faucet may have expanded and created a small crack. Over time, and as the faucet was used more, the crack got bigger and bigger, until every time the faucet was used, a little puddle of water formed under the sink. We obviously needed to get a new one.

I wanted to make sure we got a new faucet that would look nice with the original pedestal sink, as well as one that was known for its quality.  We decided to get a faucet from the Leland collection by Delta. It's a cute little teapot-style faucet in a brushed nickel finish.

We had to survive without our sink for eight or nine days. Then, Rich from Sinclair Plumbing was able to come over with our new faucet and install it for us. As soon as I turned on the bathroom light, the bulb burned out. He offered to change the light bulb for me, so of course I took him up on it! Customer service at its best!

The new faucet looks great.

Our sink without a faucet.

Our new faucet, along with a clean sink and a de-cluttered bathroom!

Laundry Room - Part II: Pipes and Wires

If you read our last post "Laundry Room - Part I: The Wall Comes Tumblin' Down", you know that we have been focusing our efforts on finally having the ability to use our washer and dryer in our own house.  For this task, we need to convert the former maid's staircase into a useable room with all the hookups for modern appliances.

The small hole I cut into the drywall revealed water supply pipes and a drain pipe for the bathroom sink opposite this side of the wall.  I was hopeful that the experienced plumbers at Sinclair Plumbing would be able add the washer hookups and drain with relative ease.

While the supply pipes were easily cut and accessed, it was the drain that created more of a challenge.  The drain pipe I originally spied through the small hole was not large enough to handle the flow from a washer and was too high in the wall to drain properly.  Luckily there was a larger sewer drain just to the left that services the third floor bathroom.

Plumbing for the washer.

Cutting through this cast iron pipe was no easy task for the plumber, plus there were some electrical wires hiding behind the drain pipe.  Fortunately, our plumber was experienced with working in older homes and knew to look for these wires before he began cutting the pipe.

Now that a potential electrical problem was avoided, it was time to add the new electrical connections that we would need for both the washer and dryer.  We again enlisted Harv's Electric to complete their third project in our house.  The electrician from Harv's made short work of adding the new outlets around the plumbing.  He even moved a light fixture and added a switch and outlet combo in our future laundry room.

The new electrical outlets

Now that the pipes and wires have been completed, the next steps will be attending to the floors and walls.

Laundry Room - Part I: The Wall Comes Tumblin' Down

Since we moved into our old home at the end of August we have been living without the use of two modern amenities that seem much more like necessities -- a washer and dryer.  Add an infant in cloth diapers into the mix and now you are asking for a disaster.  Fortunately, we have lots of family that live in the area that have been generous to allow us to pop in and do a few loads when we need to.

The house did originally have hookups for a washer and gas dryer in the basement.  However, this basement isn't exactly the most inviting space, and we own and prefer an electric dryer.  Furthermore, we had the line for the gas dryer removed -- and the other nest of twisted gas pipe -- when our new water heater was installed.

After some research and deliberation, we decided to add a laundry room off the landing between the first and second floors.  Aside from kitchen towels and washcloths, the bulk of our laundry will be generated on the second floor anyway.  Plus we had these two little rooms located off the stairs that were inexplicably useless.

Looking down on the little rooms from the 2nd floor

We learned that these two little rooms were the remains of a second staircase that the maids used decades ago.  With the staircase long gone and no sign of maids anywhere around our house, these odd little rooms were a good fit.

The first step in creating our new laundry room was to remove the little wall between the rooms and create one larger room -- but still rather small.  Not only would this give us a usable space, but it would allow more natural light into the hallway on the second floor.

The drywall removed from the wall revealing the lathe.

Where the wall once was.

Same view as the first picture without the wall

With a bathroom on the opposite wall, we were certain that we could get the hookups and drain line we needed for the washer.  Just to be certain we cut a hole in the wall to peek at the plumbing inside.

Hole to check on the plumbing.

Confident that we could then proceed with our project we called Sinclair Plumbing and Harv's Electric to begin work on getting the hookups we would need for our soon-to-be-laundry room.