Fixing the drip irrigation - again!

Note to self - what to do and what not to do when it comes to fixing the drip irrigation system. As often happens, the first time restarting the drip irrigation system (any 'system') something doesn't work. This time it was the pump cycling on and off. I figured that there had to be a leak somewhere. I checked all the zones and didn't see any leaks.

I manually shut off all zones and the pump continued to cycle. So I thought there must be a leak in the manifold section that distributes water to the zone valves. Here's where I was wrong - thinking that it must be something that I put together.

Digging out the manifold (next time I think I should put everything one the surface although I noticed that no one else does) there was a lot of water/mud. However, it was coming from the backflow preventer on the city water control valve. What happened is that the check valve failed and water from the pump/water tank was leaking through and overflowing at the backflow preventer.

I replaced the valve and tried again but the pump continued to cycle. I noticed a drip coming from the zone 4 valve which was manually closed. I pulled off the distribution hose and water was seeping through the closed valve. So I replace this as well and eventually got things up and running.

Lesson learned - don't assume that the problem lies with the part that was manually assembled. As unlikely as it seemed both problems were mechanical equipment failure.

Concrete Stain woes

The stained concrete floors didn't come out as well as I had hoped. Instead of using an acid based stain I tried the 'Green Building' friendly soy based stain. However I had kept the floors protected with building paper and plywood up to now and when we removed these materials the floor was still wet. Steve Ramirez and his crew powerwashed and applied an etching product which is supposed to 'open up' the concrete. While the surface dried out the soy stain did not penetrate deeply into the concrete. Even a week later the stain was still sticky and after applying the sealer moisture began to build up underneath. So Steve stripped everything off waited a few days and reapplied, this time more lightly which was too bad as it didn't create as nice as an effect.

Steve Ramirez and Louis prepping the floor.




First application of stain


Applying stain


Buffing the stain into the concrete (we should have known there was going to be a problem as we went through ten or more of these polishing pads)


Five days later the darker color of the stain was still not dry. Here Steve applies caulking into the score pattern - this too was not a good idea, we ended up digging out the caulking and applying grout.

More trenches

Hot on the heels of the trenchwork being done in front of the house I began work on digging trenches for the water, sewer, gas and electric to the cottage.


Here one truck is dumping sand while in the background a cement mixer is pouring concrete to repair the sidewalk.


After much digging I was able to find the sewer pipe coming from the house to which we would connect.


Trench for sewer and water.


Trench for gas and electric


Gas and electric in. We were able to lay all four services - gas, electric, water, and sewer - in one day.


After setting the pipe, sand is thrown in and packed down


All of which had to be done by hand as there was too much dirt for the tractor or excavator to work around.


Getting back to 'normal' with trenches filled in.


A backyard is finally starting to take shape.

The Big Dig

We needed to bring additional power to the cottage and only had 100 amp service to the main house. PG&E advised that if we were in any way able to keep the total service to less than 200 amps they would consider it a like for like upgrade and not require a new feed. However, after working with one electrician to find a 175 amp panel, then having my calls go unreturned, I contacted another electrician who said that it simply wasn't doable and that the right way would be to upgrade to 200 amps.

The problem (read $$$) was that we had only a 2" underground conduit coming into the house and needed a 3" conduit for 200 amp service. This meant digging up the street and putting in a new conduit.

After waiting 3 months for PG&E to produce a 'trench package' I went to four companies for bids. The highest was $16,000 and lowest $7,000. Fortunately the low bid came from a very reputable company and a week later the work was on. (On top of this were PG&E's administration, engineering and cabling fees of $4,500)

First, the dig area was marked so that service companies like the water department, telephone, cable, and gas, could come out and identify where their pipes and cables run.


There was a power pole closer to the house however according to PG&E there were not enough connections available on it, so instead of a 50' dig we had to go 112'.


I installed the new panel on the side of the garage.


Cutting the concrete.


Jackhammering the sidewalk


The last section had to be dug by hand


Asphalt removed


I should mention that this job created a bit of chaos in the neighborhood. We're lucky we live on a cul-de-sac so there's not a lot of through traffic but while some parts of the project went quickly, all of the above photos were done in a day, the entire project from start to finish was over two weeks. J. Johnson & Company, the contractor, were experienced and capable and covered up the trench with steel plates, even putting asphalt around the steel plates to make the bump less dramatic.

4' trench dug by backhoe.


Covered up and paved.

The Amazing Kevin Schromm

I asked Rick Wilson for a recommended tile contractor. Rick said that the one guy he would want on any job is Kevin Schromm because Kevin (like Rick) is super meticulous and really cares about his work.

I called Kevin in late February and he told me that he would not be available until April, that he was taking March off to be with his wife and soon to be born child. The timing worked out fine as sheetrock was just wrapping up (One sour note on the sheetrock guys - while I had informed every other work crew that if they needed to use the bathroom they could use the one in the main house as long as I was there and that there is a park nearby with public restrooms if I was away. The sheetrock finish crew showed up unannounced while I was at the hardware store and, in need, peed into the shower drain - which was plugged up as the drainpipes were not yet connected. Kevin showed up soon after to set up for tile work and found a puddle of urine on the shower floor. By the time I got back the sheetrock guys were on their way out after being confronted by Kevin, swearing that they had no idea were the pee came from and having hastily finished up. I cleaned out the pee and gave Joe Faria a call who said that he would deal with the guys.)

Most tile guys use hardirock or cement board for backing. Kevin prefers the old-school method of floating the entire backing with mortar. He has an array of wood slats in various lengths to screed the walls perfectly smooth and square.


Together with Kevin we had picked out a composite of recycled glass and slate, 1" x 1" tiles in 12" x 12" sheets. However the sheets come with the front side of the tile glued to paper so you can't see what the exact pattern will be and the problem 'we' ran into was that some sheets would have mostly light colored slate while others had mostly dark colored slate. Being the perfectionist, Kevin picked out tiles by hand and re-arranged to make the color pattern even across the entire shower stall.


Re-fixing individual tiles


It was a big job and while we both thought that the finished product looked great when asked Kevin said that because of the inconsistencies in the color patterns he wouldn't work with tiles from that manufacturer again.





The final look.

Insulation and Sheetrock

Passed rough inspection! On to insulation and sheetrock.
Insulation is R-19 on the walls and R-30 in the ceiling. I, of course, wanted to do the green thing, which in the case of insulation would have been to use a soy based spray foam insulation, or cellulose (newspaper). However there were few contractors that did wet-spray cellulose. More common is dry sprayed cellulose in attics. And the bids for spray foam were five times the cost of fiberglass. I took some consolation that the fiberglass insulation was formaldehyde-free.


I solicited a couple of bids for sheetrock but my friend Rick Wilson, with whom I consult frequently, told me that I wouldn't get a lower bid than from Joe Faria, and he was right. The first bid was $6,300 and Faria's bid was $3,600!


After cleaning up the mess.


I was surprised by how small the rooms suddenly became once the sheet rock was up.

Oh so close to calling for a rough electric and plumbing inspection

How not to run a fan vent. So here's how this came about; I cut the hole in the roof right above where I was going to place the fan - wrong! First, install the fan, then determine where the vent pipe will go.


Like this.


In progress, but this will run directly to the tankless water heater.


Mike Wright graciously offered to put in the shower dam and blocking. While there he said that he could also apply the mortar that sits below the shower liner. However, we buried the plumbing flange. The tile guy is coming out tomorrow to remedy. Moral - let each sub do what they do best.