Installing the Water System: Materials Purchased

In anticipation for the weekend when we go hog-wild installing the water supply system, I have been stockpiling the materials.

Here you see:

• Two rolls (each 50 feet) of 3/4-inch PEX water pipe - these are the smaller rolls secured with black ties.

• Two rolls (each 250 feet) of 1/2 inch PEX water pipe - these are the larger rolls secured with plastic wrap. There is one roll of red PEX and one white. I wanted a roll of blue but my supplier did not have any in stock. In any case the white PEX pipe was less expensive. I was hoping to use red for hot water and blue for cold water.

• Not shown in the picture are all the PEX connectors, ball values, crimping tools, and other PEX materials
  

COMING: The supply system scheduled for installation in two week so stay tuned - I'll discuss then.

My Workshop is a Mess

My workshop in the basement of the Cottage is a mess! Actually an organized mess...

As I mentioned in a previous post I have been slowly moving my tools into the Cottage itself from the shed which has been their home during the early part of the construction. Now that the cottage is completely enclosed and secure, Leaving them in the cottage makes them more readily available.

At the end of each weekend we do collect all the tools throughout the cottage an 'store' them in the workroom. Maybe not in any organized fashion but at least we know where they are.

Having the tools in the cottage has been a godsend. Now lots of time is saved because:

• they are already in the Cottage, no going up an out to the shed.
• breakdown is simpler as the workshop is closer than the sled.
• many times the tools do not move that far - for instance the air compressor and tank doesn't move we just plug it in, turn it on, grab the air nailer and then go to the location we need the nailer.

In a week or so, once the electrical has completed his work we can move the work table against the wall and then start to get more organized in the workshop.

Can you tell I am looking forward to having my workshop setup?

Installing the Water Pressure Tank

Similar to the tankless water heater we also rough-installed the pressure tank for the water system. Again this early installation was done so that the electrician would know were to install the electrical connections.

By way of describing what you are seeing in the picture, here are some features of this pressure tank.

• The tank is over sized as I am recycling a tank which I initially had up at the cottage lot when I was powering by battery-stored solar generated electricity. With an oversized tank the pump works less and hence less draw on limited electricity storage. I will be using grid power but it still means I get great capacity
• All those wires and electrical looking boxes make up the controlling system for the pump. When the pressure in the tank drops to a certain level the controller tells the pump to send more water.
• The water intake is at that short pipe (ABS) stub about center of the picture.
• In the bottom left you see the exit pipe of the waste system to the septic tank.
• We built a stand to get the tank of the floor and at a manageable working height
• The pump is in the lake so we are employing a drain back system - that is so the water doesn't freeze in the pipe in the winter. The vertical grey assembly to the left to left of the tank and attached to copper piping connecting it to the tank is used to vent the pipe during the drain back operation.
  

COMING: We will discuss in depth the water system, including the drain back system, in later posts