Moving in

[washman]

Well!

Gotta love the homeowner status right?

1st moving company snagged me, never showed, never called. I scrambled to get 2nd company and they saved the day AND carried the freight, literally for 635 bucks.

Next, I had to buy 2 elbows to get the SQ dryer to line up with the rather oddly placed vent. Thus the dryer sticks out several inches ahead of the washer but hey, it works and I'm happy.

Also learned about 220V ground thru neutral! In other words, my 80's era condo was 3 prong ground thru separate ground wire. Not the new place, had to go BACK to Lowes again and spend 26 bucks on a Chinese made 4 wire dryer cord. Yeeeesh. Hooked it up to the new 4 prong outlet. Dryer works and I am still alive.

Leveled the washer as this floor is totally flat. Placed drain hose in drain hole pushed in for nice solid seal. Did 3 loads, SQ is chugging along no issues.

Got internet hooked up. Sort of. builder put RJ11 F jack combo outlets in both bedrooms and 2 in living room. Nice right? WRONG! I need the whole place wired for ethernet soooooooooo back to lowes I go, found Pass & Seymour combo RJ45 Fjack had cable company here this AM. Cable guy pulled the RJ11 and replaced with RJ45 combo jack. Now I have network access in every room plus wireless anyplace too.

They jerry rigged the run from the pole across the street to my house because per code, cannot attach it to the electrical mast for the main electrical input into house. Guy did it anyway to make me happy. So I have to get an electrical contractor to run a mast thru the roof, into the soffit so it can be run to the cable interface box. He could not mount to the side of the house as the cable would have been far too low across the street and any UPS or large truck would have ripped it clean off.

The DW is ok. DId 2 loads with the made in Poland super duper Finish powerball things. They are ok. DId a 3rd load with the Cascade gel packs. Much much much better.
It runs a tad more quietly with a full load of stuff but still, it is a noisy beast.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Very Nice!!

Your place looks settled, without that 'just moved in' look.

I like the striped chair; nice colour scheme. The black of the bath is cool to. very understated.

Keep us up to date with all the good news

Jim

 

[pulltostart]

Nice - home sweet home!  One thing you will find, if you don't already know, is that you know every aisle in Lowe's by heart.

 

lawrence

 

[gusherb]

Nice! Looks like you wasted no time getting everything in its place.

One question, you mentioned the drain hose sealing into the hole. Did they put one of those recessed shutoff valve/drain boxes in or is there a standpipe behind there? The rubber thing that came with our washer that goes on the end of the hose was way too big to fit in the hole for the drain in the recessed box we have.

 

[frigilux]

Looks good, Ben! Sorry you had to deal with the stress of a no-show moving company---what a hassle.

 

[washman]

For gusherb

Recessed box with washer drain smak dab in the middle of h/c fittings. The black thingy from SQ is a very tight fit. But no back wash or suds backing out on the spin drain.

RANT time.

DId a #2 in the loo. What I suspected all along came to pass. The effing 1.28 algore sanctioned commode did not flush. In fact it came up to the doggone rim. Waited for it to slowly drain down. Flush again. Do the math people 1.28 x 2. No joy on second flush, came up to rim again. Uttered some words to make a preacher's ears bleed, then got Korky, the trusty plunger. Some vigorous plunging action saved the day and my temper. Still had to flush a third time to remove, ahem, the residue from the bowl lest it stink up the bathroom. Do the math again 1.28 x 3 = 3.84 gallons plus my time wasted finding the plunger and putting it back.

I'm writing the useless totally out of control EPA demanding an explanation and hopefully put someone's ass in a sling. This is absurd. Completely asinine. Who, in the name of roto rooter, came up with this paltry figure to flush? What do they test this on, rabbit doo? Give me a break and give me a toilet that does the damn job without all the hassle. God help us.

Short of replacing the guts of this no-name useless piece of porcelain, there is no option workaround. The fill tube is EXACTLY sized that you cannot raise the water level with the float so as to fill the tank higher.

Screw it, I'm on Ebay or someplace and I'm gonna find me a commode that uses enough water to do the job. My house. My sewer bill. I, not the gobbermint decide what goes on, or down, in my bathroom.

 

[rp2813]

Old school water hog commodes show up on craigslist around here all the time.  Your mileage may vary, since you're not dealing with a fourth straight year of drought and people there may not be as motivated to come up with ways to conserve.

 

Salvage yards are another source.  They usually have rows and rows of them in just about any color.

 

[arris]

Nice House

Congrats on being a homeowner, now the fun begins.....as mentioned in a prevous post you will know every Isle in Lowes.... but it's fun and gratifying...seems to never end for me. Looks like a great house !!!!! get all settled in then host a wash-in !!! Good luck with finding a decent flusing toilet, those low water ones are a pain in the a$#, having to flush 2x, 3x....although I found a 1.6 that works well.... Jim

 

[gusherb]

Would you mind posting the brand and model of the toilet? Or better yet a picture (not of what you did to it though lol)
I have a feeling they're cheap builders grade pots, and those definitely don't work too well.

I recommend almost anything Toto makes (the Drake is their bread and butter, reasonably priced and I have two in the house that withstand our "tests" all the time), or the Kohler Cimarron.

OTOH the vintage fixture/appliance collector side of me says find some old pots, such as a 60s-80s American Standard Cadet, Kohler Wellworth, Gerber, etc.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I'm not sure motivation (or lack thereof) to conserve water is even in the equation. I don't see how it can be if the toilet doesn't do the job for which it is designed.

In Washman's case, the 1.28 gpf toilet actually consumed 3.84 gallons of water for ONE use.

I'm all for water conservation. My issue is with the way policies are implemented. Particularly it's with the way in which real world performance appears to be ignored. A conspiracy theorist might think it's an elaborate plot to discredit any kind of concern for the environment.

My private opinion drawn from listening to people over recent years is that the majority of people don't really think about the under-performance of their water using products.
-sh*t doesn't go down the first time? Keep flushing until it does.
-dish didn't come out clean? It stays in the dishwasher for the next load.
-clothing not clean? Just wash it again.
-low-flow shower head doesn't keep you wet enough? Just add a second one.

I think most people do these things without being consciously aware of it, just as a driver avoids a pot hole in the road without really seeing it.

Does the EPA (or whatever agency oversees this) really not understand that a 1.28gpf toilet flushed twice uses more water than a 2.0 gpf unit flushed once, or do they not really care?

Personally, I think if the 'goobermint' were actually concerned with reducing water consumption, waterless urinals would have been standard in all new construction for the past 20 years or so.

Jim

 

[gusherb]

Jim

Agreed.

My observations point to the same conclusions as yours.

There's absolutely no sense in using "HE" anything if it means it doesn't perform correctly and results in having to do it all over again, resulting in wasted time and using what you would've (or more) then with something designed to use what it actually takes to get the job done the first time.

As far as the toilets go, there are 1.28 models that actually DO work well. I think much of that reputation (at least within the last 5 years or so) is because theres the push for cheaper and cheaper which winds up with manufacturers putting out garbage that doesn't work right. Spend enough on a 1.28 toilet and it'll work well.

 

[whirlpolf]

cozy place!

Nice with all the carpeting and the open kitchen, looks inviting.
What is that blower unit in the bedroom, please?
And a nice coffee maker, there.
;-D

 

[tolivac]

Go along with you on the low flow potty.Get the ol style water HOG ones-not only washes poop down your homes drainpipe-but the city drainpipe,too!A complaint among sewer companies is the lo flo potties don't flush waste adequitely down the drain lines-so the sewer company has to flush the line with WATER and use a large diesel or gas powered motorized snake to clean the line more often then before.For the lo flow showerhead-another great use of the drill press-Just drill out the fixed in place water opening in the pipe side of the showerhead!You then get a Firehose shower!This water saving and energy saving NONSENSE is just going to far-I or you is paying the bills!

 

[tolivac]

Oh yes,the house I am in came with the water gusher potties-they are going to STAY!!!No Trinkle flow john for me!

 

[washman]

That "blower"

is a Vornado stand fan. My sleeping pill basically.

 

[tolivac]

I use an older Lakewood fan as my bedroom "Blower" winter or summer.Muffles the noises of my neighbors barking dogs!At least the other neighbors cats are quiet-but his lawn service that comes out Sunday mornings IS NOT APPRECIATED!!!!Have to tell him at an over the fence chat.

 

[washer111]

We just converted our old 12L (3.17 US Gal) toilets to a dual-flush system, after one had a flush-unit failure quite some time back. We actually controlled the flush ourselves from the end of 2012 to late 2014...

The half-flush on this one actually uses half the water, not about 3/4 like our old Caroma units in our previous house did. Those ones were about the same capacity, and also had a dual-flush system (they were a late 1980's effort to begin conservation in a dry Australia).

A full flush will completely clear the bowl out. Even a half is adequate, although I prefer the full flush, as it can actually FLUSH the wastes fully out the sewer line, and not cause blockages if the water volume isn't enough to do the job.

Sorry, Washman, to hear of your experiences. I've seen it with modern units here too. Some of them have flush buttons that you have to HOLD yourself in order to make the darned thing flush more than just a splash. UGH.

Its a shame you don't have a high water pressure, since a flushometer would work every time, and deliver a reasonably efficient flush, too.

 

[washman]

Well Toilet #2

worked in the master bath. Sort of. For kicks, I held the lever down until the tank emptied. The water level in the bowl rose, but not to a scary height. I cannot say if the ahem, waste was same mass as yesterday but hey, when nature calls, you don't get out the caliper and slide rule and measure.

I need to secure a garage door opener soon so these eco nightmare commodes will have to wait.....for a while. But in time I will get these things corrected or replaced. No doubt on that.

The name on these things is "project source". Probably some made in timbuktu low cost builder grade units.

 

[pulltostart]

I believe "Project Source" is Lowe's brand (just as "Glacier Bay" is HD's).  I have no idea who manufacturers these items for Lowe's.