Nice Floor....

With the discovery of the crack radiator upstairs, I contacted my Plumber Eric and explained to him about my situation. Because he was pretty busy with his other jobs, he had informed me that he will try to get to the house to fix the valve in the next couple of days. With the valve fixed, I could get a replacement radiator. The weather lately has been pretty warm. Even though it has rained over the last couple of days, the furnace has not kicked on. So no water has been leaking out of the radiator as of late.
With the weather starting to get colder, I decided to do some heat/furnace maintenances. The furnace was serviced by A.R. Zukowski Plumbing and Heating Inc. They did an excellent job. The furnace is running like a champ at the moment… I expect it to kick the bucket any year now. But let us hold our breath…
The first floor apartment has baseboard radiator while the 2nd floor apartment has the traditional upright radiators. I decided to switch out all of the pressure valves for both apartments. As you can see from the photo below, the older valves for the baseboard radiators look pretty beat up, as if they have never been changed. But of course there is one valve that is giving me trouble. I’ve gone to several plumbing stores and neither of them have a replacement valve. This valve is located in my living room. So if anyone has any leads on where I could find a replacement for the questionable valve, I will really appreciate it.

Here is the new valve on top with the old valve on the bottom.

Here is the thorn in my side valve... The top is the new one, the bottom valve is the old one. Note the different thread on the old valve.

I also decided to switch out the old mercury thermostat with a new programmable thermostat. The new digital thermostat is a seven day programmable thermostat where I can set the temperature for specific times. Basically I can leave for work without having to worry about manually decreasing the temperature. It will certainly help with the fuel cost.

Here is the new thermostat...Note the Energy Star sticker...

The second floor bathroom still needs to be completed. So the next thing for the bathroom is the floor. For a while now, I had made the decision to use the extra peal and stick tiles that were used for the kitchen to be also used in the bathroom. The subfloor was caked with drywall dust, so I cleaned the floor to the best of my abilities. I swept and vacuumed the floor. But it still felt dirty. I consulted several people at our neighbor hardware super store, and they all informed me to use an adhesive primer. I rolled it on with a 3/8” nap roller. I am not going to lie, I thought it smelled like Flintstone vitamins.

After letting the primer dry, I laid each individual tile down. I also recommend that you use knee pads when doing this task. By the way, my knee’s hurt… I used a box cutter to cut the tile to there desired lengths. I also used a ruler to cut the tiles straight. The process is really simple, measure, cut, peal the backer, and then lay it down… Make sure that you press the tile in place, you don’t want them pealing up.

Well the next thing on the list of things for the bathroom is installing the trim work and then the vanity. Of course, the other items include the toilet, light fixture, mirror and the miscellanies bathroom stuff will follow. Here are some pictures of the vanity that I plan on install in the bathroom. Hopefully the vanity could be installed by next weekend…


Well that is all I have for the moment, but things are starting to come together...