The Bathroom . . .

Well our bathroom is finished.  We retained the tile floor and the bath with jets but completely redid the shower (it needed it too) and Judie has always wanted granite tops for the two sinks.  We also replaced the toilet with a taller one (we had no idea that there were different heights for toilets until a discussion with a neighbor).

The old toilet had a loose bolt and it kind of wobbled on the floor.  It never leaked except when I had to replace the filler assembly.  Filler assemblies are plastic and tend to break down with time.  The new toilet has 1.2 gallon tank and swift flush function.  It really works and is very fast.  The old toilet had a 1.5 gallon tank the flush chain had a float in the middle of it.  So when you flushed, it you held the handle down you got a full shot of water.  If you had just urinated, a quick handle movement and the water was exchanged and not the whole tank was emptied.   The new toilet is so much faster to empty and refill.  We really did not care about that but we did want a taller unit.

That quick flush did not always work.  But great idea.  The new toilet does not have that but uses some much less water it is not necessary or a benefit.  All the holes for water discharge from the tank are twice the size as the old tank on the old toilet and that leads to fast rapid flow.  Uses less water to flush and less time to flush.

We had to buy the toilet and the contractor's plumber installed the new toilet.  He reinstalled the old fixtures on both sinks and the shower head.  We did not get new ones and we like of the old ones anyway.  That ended up with a couple of leaks but since it was a Delta fixture, Delta are warranted the fixtures for life.  So the contractor ordered up a new one and we got it pretty quick.  So it all is functional now in good working order.

We had the entire room repainted.  It had several places that needed touch up.  It takes a beating from the cleaning lady, not intentional but did a little damage here and there.  So we had it completely repainted including the ceiling.  The molding had some age cracks from drying out and the painters filled those cracks in with spackling and the new paint did a great job.

Judie picked out the granite.  And it is almost three quarters of an inch thick, so it is quite heavy.  Once installed it ain't gonna go no where.  They measure precisely.  The granite was also used in the shower.  It is a lighter color, not dark granite so it does not darken the place at all.

We had the old synthetic plastic surfaces removed.  We had a nice new tile installed, large squares were used.  We had the stool in the corner of the shower expanded to a bench.  And we had four niches added that were at least a foot high (shampoo and other bottles are getting taller now days).  The bottoms of the niches had the same granite and the bench across the back of the shower had the same granite in the seat.  And the door floor jam is also the same granite.  The niches had small oblong tiles in the back of each one.  The floor is small squares of matching tile and new drain that one can remove to clean down below floor level if one wants to do that.  They also reworked the floor so it had a definite slope and drained toward the new drain cover.

Lastly we had the shower light replace with a new low wattage high out put light.  We are no longer taking showers in an dark corner.  It is well lit now.

The tile, granite, and paint job look great.  The new paint makes the place look all new.  It all makes Judie happy and the old shower was an eye sore.

Working on the System . . .

Yeah, the irrigation system.  Maybe is should be the "irritating" system.  The control valve on circuit number 2 has begun leaking.  Along with the leak in the control container, a sprinkler is also leaking.  That sprinkler is the low point in circuit 2.  Not a giant leak, just seeping and keeping the driveway wet.  The driveway has a slight grade to one side and the sprinkler is located on the high side, so it becomes a large wide spot.

I got my plastic cup out and started bailing out the control box.  I had to go shut off the well pump and open a faucet to drain the pressure tank.  I got out an old seat pad for the outside chairs and plopped it on the ground by the control box and began bailing out the standing water.  I finally had to result in using a coffee cup to get the water level down low enough to get at the control valve.

First one removes the solenoid that opens and closes the valve.  Simple, just unscrew it and set it on the side on the ground.  It has two wires going to it and one has to be careful not to disturb them or you will have to work on that too.  The top of the valve unscrews, it has a large ring that holds the parts of the valve in place.  In this case it was loose, and that was a big part of its problem.  I took the top of the valve off and removed the spring that holds the diaphragm down.  Then I removed the diaphragm and the top was indeed cover with fine sand.

The well produces the sand, and there is not much you can do about it.  I had a separator for awhile that removed the sand but it developed a hole in the side.  I patched it once.  But it developed another hold that was beyond patching.  So it just took it out of the system.  The sand is microscopic and forms a sort of build up on the diaphragm causing it to malfunction.

I had replaced a number of control valves with so called "dirty valves" that are designed to handle the sand but I did not replace all the control valves, just those that gave me problems.  And the system ran for about 10 years with out a problem.  Last year we lowered the pump almost 30 feet to avoid over drafting the well.  Well that meant more sand and I have had to open up and clean out several clean  water control valves.  Just something you have to do.

I borrowed a new diaphragm off one of the old replaced valves.  Yes, I kept them around and now glad that I did.  The old diaphragm was not bad, I just decided to change it.

I reassembled the valve and screwed the top back on.  It had a little arm to manually operate the valve and it kept the control solenoid from doing its job.  So I removed the arm and reinstalled the solenoid.  Then I trotted out back, turned on the well and came back.  Yep, that fixed the problem.  Just to make sure I turned on #2 at the control box to runs the valves and yes, it worked as advertised.

Went out and checked and found another sprinkler not working.  That usually means the little filler is clogged up.  I took it apart and back washed the filter and reassembled the sprinkler.  Turn on the circuit, #6 circuit, and it still did not work.  I took the sprinkler head off and ran a wired down the tube and it was blocked by something.  So I had to take it apart again, and remove the tube also.

I tapped the tube inverted and a couple of same stones came out.  That is the last sprinkler in the circuit so I figured the water had gradually move that debris to the last point.  I reassembled and it still did not work, so I have more work to do to clean it out.

Like I said, the irrigation system is constant maintenance.  Just when you think it is all okay something new crops up.

Fritzes . . .

I had written earlier about the absence of any of the fence lizards.  We call all of those lizards Fritz or plural Fritzes.

Well, the weather has heated up and cold blooded animals are out and about.  Fritzes fall into that category.  Also along with the Fritzes are their arch enemies, snakes.  All I have seen of snakes is one little one when I was repairing a sprinkler control valve leak.  He was in the control box enclosure.  He died of a severe case of shovel breaking his back.

I was walking along the sidewalk along the North side of the house,  Judie had piled up some branches from the oak trees out front.  I reached down to pick them up and spied a full grown Fritz looking up at me.  I picked up the sticks and he then took off into the bushes.

Later I saw another Fritz run up one of our oak tree in the front yard.  They tend to do that to pick various insects that reside in the trees.  It is also spot for them to cool off and their coloring blends in with the bark of the tree.  So it is sort of a defensive maneuver for them.

Since then I have seen several of the lizards in various sizes so they have not left us.  They have just come out of hiding and the warm air provokes their activity.

It is good to see they are abundant and living around us.  We also see an occasional Chameleon lizard roaming around.  But they are not as common as our Fritzes.   And the Fritzes love crickets and keep those little pests under control.

Seeing Fritzes running about tells me summer has really arrived.