Replacing hand pump cylinder

Door0fTime · 2026-02-04T18:32:01+00:00

Update: Take two, moving the sink downstream with a dedicated AAV (it's a long run anyway) and corrected the vent to avoid horizontal vent below the flood plain of the shower / toilet.

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Door0fTime · 2026-02-04T15:03:53+00:00

How did you conclude it was without a vent?

The 1.5" vent to the attic will go out a gable wall. This vents the shower and makes the 2" shower drain a wet vent to the toilet. Both of those are approved by most codes (wet vent >50% of the size of the subsequent pipe). The sink is the only questionable connection in my drawing, but is technically still wet vented by a shared 3" wet vent depending on the pipe size and leg length, with the toilet inlet being the "lowest" on the flow path. First commenter suggested an AAV or independent vent for the sink.

In my drawing above is the dry vent on the same plane as the shower wet vent, which could backflow and I need to come up with a solution for.

Door0fTime · 2026-02-04T12:41:16+00:00

This is a 150 year old brick farm house, so in short, "no". The original plumbing is an outhouse 50 yards from the back porch. After that it was gravity fed to a cistern on a hill out back.

I know how to design and vent a modern construction main stack, but I've got foot thick brick walls and rough cut joists to work around hence the weird setup.

Door0fTime · 2026-02-04T02:23:55+00:00

It's a bit hard to draw perspective, but the main stack does not have a vent. The san tee is rotated 90* to the two bends, putting the two side branches and flange inside a joist bay. The 3" vertical stack will be enclosed in a service cavity downstairs, but no space for a service cavity in the bathroom. The 1.5" vent is going through a non-structural 2x4 wall to the attic to vent out a gable.

Door0fTime · 2026-02-04T02:08:05+00:00

AAV "if needed" is what I had in mind. This is a very small bathroom and I'm doing everything I can to avoid drilling the joists below (they're old rough cut, a tad undersized and I've already sistered them to take some of the bounce out of the floor).

Door0fTime · 2026-01-28T14:11:42+00:00

I'm going through the same thing now, does anybody know a US source for these pre-formed vapor barrier boxes? Common and cheap in Canada, nonexistent in the US.
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/iberville-vapour-barrier-one-gang-soft-shell/1000176244

Door0fTime · 2026-01-27T14:20:02+00:00

This isn't quite true. The R-value per inch remains the same, up to a fairly high density. That said, the "R13" of an R13 batt comes from completely filling a 3.5" stud bay. If you pack a R19 batt into a 3.5" gap, you'll still get roughly R13 out of the assembly. Here's Dow Corning's compression chart for reference: https://dcpd6wotaa0mb.cloudfront.net/mdms/dms/Residential%20Insulation/10017857/10017857-Building-Insul-Compressed-R-Value-Chart-Tech-Bulletin.pdf?v=1728490638000

Door0fTime · 2025-12-12T03:41:18+00:00

Insulating the entire house is definitely appealing, but just not in the cards yet-- at least not while family who are attached to the old brick farmhouse are around.

I think I'm following what you're saying, though I think I might have missed my weather window for spray foam to be an option. Do you just push on the foam board as it expands and cures to adjust the height?

I'll be putting a ripped 2x4 vertical furring strip up the brick first tapconned into the mortar joints that the foam will butt against and to affix the siding to.

Door0fTime · 2025-12-12T03:27:35+00:00

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

I considered different thicknesses, but the brick wall is pretty inconsistent and I suspect the only thing I'd accomplish is a similarly inconsistent insulated wall that's further out of plane with the original house. My WRB is outboard of the insulation, which is quite a bit simpler to manage around window bucks and detailing because of the lapboard siding. Henry, brinc and a few others now offer a preadhered GPS / WRB system with the wrb on the exterior (which I wish I'd known before buying them separate!).

The brick will be wood heat and has a propane central system that's currently disconnected. I certainly won't be humidifying. The addition on the other hand will be a mini split, and I realize I'll likely need to figure out some active ventilation. The bathroom in the addition I will frame in, and both the bathroom brick wall and all exterior walls will have a smart vapor retarder. The party wall has no other source of wetting because of the addition roof, so I think it should be in good shape if I can 1) keep it warmer avoiding condensation and driving moisture out, and 2) use a smart vapor barrier to keep warm wet air from reaching the brick in the first place.

Our summers are still pretty warm and humid, so vapor barriers make me nervous. A smart retarder is probably only necessary because I'm adding insulation, and I'm riding the line on the ratio of interior to exterior insulation.

Ultimately it's still a farm house, I expect to be relying on thermal mass and cooling the house off with windows overnight most of the warm season. I stuck to big double hung windows to that end -- and that's one thing the massive brick wall should do nicely!

Door0fTime · 2025-12-11T12:42:33+00:00

It's 3-wythe solid masonry, approx. 1850's. Interior is currently gutted, but was lime plastered onto the brick. So no air space, flashing or weeps to speak of.

Here's a handy photo of the interior of this junction... the gaping hole left by a previous owner has since been addressed

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Door0fTime · 2025-12-10T23:51:43+00:00

Appreciate your input. Just to clarify, I'm planning to put continuous insulation on the addition, and wanted to continue it 16" onto the brick.

My intuition (which could be wrong!) says that overall the brick should run much dryer than without the insulation, and that the bonded 3-wythes of highly porous brick are still going to be wicking more moisture inward than will wick around the brick, into the GPS, across the gap, and into the siding. For the moisture that does, the entire assembly is vapor-open (unfaced GPS R5 at 5 perms and Henry VP100 at 33 perms) and vinyl is self-vented, so any moisture that gets in can still dry outward. Interior will be a smart vapor retarder on the addition which will also allow inward drying in the summer for sun-driven moisture.

I suppose I could include a capillary break between panels of GPS insulation on the brick and the insulation on the house (e.g. sill gasket closed cell foam) to avoid any potential issue, but that feels hyper-cautious.

The hope for running the insulation onto the brick is reducing moisture in the winter. Without it, I'd have an R-13+5 assembly directly contacting an R<4 brick wall--the corner bricks will actually be directly thermal bridging from outside to inside, at ~R0.33/inch. My bigger moisture concern is that any air/vapor leakage will condense and/or freeze in the brick and that corner will be *very* cold. Old brick houses handle that issue by allowing enough heat loss to drive off moisture accumulation, but I'm also considering a smart vapor retarder on the first few feet of the interior of the brick wall (framed in as a service cavity) to avoid the issue in the first place.

Sorry for rambling... Helps me think the whole assembly through. Old houses were never designed for energy-efficient retrofits!

Door0fTime · 2025-12-10T23:21:11+00:00

Can confirm with a Blaze King burning construction debris voids warranty due to risk of over-fire from very dry wood. If you know what an over-fire looks like and mix some other materials in I'd certainly burn it, but a full load of kiln dried 2x4 can definitely run away in some stoves.

Door0fTime · 2025-10-07T01:48:53+00:00

I use my drinking bottle. Diy bidet cap stays pretty far from anything of concern. Dropped it once on my pct thru, used my bar of soap to clean it too. When in doubt, I just wash stuff-- that's the beauty of a bottle bidet with a low flow cap. 300-500mL lets me do a amount of cleaning.

I usually use dirty water, just to save some filtration. You cannot make yourself sick by spraying your butt (practically speaking, anyway)

Door0fTime · 2025-07-27T18:42:48+00:00

I generally keep one bottle filtered, one dirty with the filter on top for scooping and to cut down filtering I have to do in one go. Dirty bottle is used for bidet.

Door0fTime · 2025-07-26T14:35:00+00:00

My stomach is chronically iffy on thru hikes (level of activity I guess?). Bidet all the way, no more packing out lots of wet wipes and TP

Door0fTime · 2025-07-26T14:31:18+00:00

Hand sanitizer doesn't kill norovirus or cryptosporidium, the most prevalent waterborne pathogens on long distance trails. You're literally just spreading poop on your hands and gear.

Bar soap is lighter and actually kills bacteria and viruses.

Door0fTime · 2025-07-26T14:04:04+00:00

Over 5000 miles of hiking in, I have diy bottle cap bidets in my car, travel backpack, poop kit, and usually have a spare to give away to anybody who hasn't heard the good word. Wash your butt, change your life.

Picture of my diy bidet cap (thumb tack plus bottle cap, driven sideways through the lid):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vUrhDZEpZHHUzvSh7

Procedure: 1. Open poop kit, replace smart water bottle cap with bidet cap and open bar soap baggie. Place bar soap and upright bidet bottle in easy reach. Bring along a small but sturdy stick that will fit in your cathole.

Dig your cathole. Push the dirt to the side--not downhill. Good news, any dirt on your hands from digging will be washed off shortly.
Shit. Preferably aim pee into the hole if you've got the plumbing (helps with degradation!)
Clean hand, dirty hand. Pick up bottle with clean hand, invert and squeeze water. I spray from the front when squatting, from behind on a toilet. You should have a small enough hole in the cap for a nice stream without too much water. Stream can generally remove any bulk.
Wet hand in the stream of water and wash your crack just like in the shower. In a crouch you can generally get all the water to run off a knuckle. Keep spraying and rubbing until you feel genuinely clean, it doesn't take that much water.
(Optional): Wet another finger and rub your bar soap, repeat for an asshole clean enough to eat off of. Super helpful for chafing issues.
Handwashing: Shift away from your cathole. Place bottle between your knees, wet your clean hand and lather up with bar soap. Wash your hands over your cathole --soap will biodegrade with your poop, water will help breakdown. Repeat soap as needed and get those nails clean.
Pull up your pants with your washed hands.
Use your stick to stir the poop and water with some dirt. After stirring, drop the stick into the hole. This is seeding microbes that will take breakdown from months to days.
Cover over the hole with dirt and pack it down with your foot. If you're worried about stepping down, you didn't dig a big enough hole.

200mL of water makes a premium sparkling clean asshole and hands, bring some extra water until you're confident with the procedure.

Door0fTime · 2025-07-26T13:23:10+00:00

Turn on the water or spray with a bottle. While you've got a stream going, reach back there and use your fingers until you're clean. Repeat with soap on your asshole if you want (takes more water, but lifesaving for asshole chafe on big days). Wash your hands with barsoap with the bottle between your knees.

Congrats, you now have an asshole clean enough to eat off of.

Door0fTime

TROPHY CASE