The tub shower adventure

Good weekend, great work weather and fun times. Started off with picking up TWO one-piece tub/showers at Menards on Friday night. The goal was to fit both onto the back of my truck, strap them down and make it to the ferry without any damage. The trick is that these tub/showers are: made from fiberglass & clearcoat, super tall, and relatively fragile. I was worried about wind and road movement on I-90 (for the 30 minute drive to the ferry) so I drove 50 mph in the slow lane... big fun...

Tub/showers loaded-up 

After arriving late to the cottage and precariously unloading from the truck, the install begins. (FYI - they seriously build these to just barely fit into doorways, etc.) I had to remove some framing studs to make room to wrestle the tub/shower(s) into place. Then level, add new framing and secure the outer flange with screws. Repeat again, back-to-back.

Main bathroom tub/shower

Early Saturday afternoon, my friend Brad arrived on the island ready to work. The goal was to clean-up and prevent the perpetual mud pile that collects directly in front of the crawlspace access door. We wanted to build a small retaining wall on either side of the door that would keep the adjacent grade in place and look somewhat decorative. Brad dug out the area and back-filled with gravel. The finished product is in the photo below, very nice.

 Crawlspace entry access

Progress on the water tank continued as I wanted to be completely finished with the inside so we could fill-it with some water (~1/3 full) to add needed weight in preparation for the winter season. I attached a 3/4" inch foot valve to the outlet pipe and sealed the entry hole with hydraulic cement. As always, filling the tank with water presented a new set of challenges! It turns out that the tank is so high that the water truck does not have enough height above the tank for the water to flow/fill properly. We will get enough water in there to close for the season, but a new solution is definitely needed for future water filling operations. I'm considering using a special pump or building an earth ramp for the truck. I'll need to figure something out by next Spring...

Attempting to fill the water tank

I installed the main water line shut-off valve in the crawlspace and set the well pump in place temporarily until we can wire and plumb.

Well pump

Since the plumbing drain inspection passed, I needed to do some clean-up/re-work of the washer outlet box. The "before" photo is not included and was a total mess. Below you'll find the "after" photo complete with the first 1/2" PEX crimp connection in the cottage. Plumb on!

Washer outlet box

Well, that's it for now. Going back up the weekend of Oct 12th -14th with the ladies. So no serious work planned until the weekend of Oct 19th-21st.