SPOON: running water!

[kellan_the_tabby]

[A basket filled with tools and a water bottle sits on the roof of the house. A coiled hose lays on the straw next to it.]

Time for plumbing!

… okay, this was, like, two months ago. Maybe three? There was a Battlemoor in there, I know that. ANYWAY.

Having succesfully moved a water tank onto the roof, the next step was to run a hose down to the kitchen. Which meant putting a hole in the roof, something which should never be taken lightly. In this case, though, we were stuck with it.

A hole right … THERE.

[The faucet at the bottom of a big water tank, which is sitting on the roof of the cargo container. Also on the roof is a whole bunch of straw.]

Now I just need to stick the fancy hole-drilling bit in my cordless drill & then —

[I’m holding the end of the fancy hole-drilling bit to the drill chuck. It’s completely, absolutely too big to fit in there.]

… problem is that the fancy hole-drilling bit big enough for the hose to fit through has a half inch shank. My drill, which is plenty enough for nearly all applications, has a 3/8″ chuck. There are adapters for this! I probably even own one! But it wasn’t anywhere I could find it, so I dug into my various lug wrench & drill bit supplies, & eventually, with some experimentation & a fair amount of cussing, came up with this.

[There’s about five inches of various adapters between the drill end & the drill bit end. I want to say there’s four separate pieces in there? Maybe?]

& of COURSE two of them don’t QUITE fit together properly. There was zero chance of that NOT happening. Fortunately it was close enough that things only slipped apart three or four times in the drilling process, which, when you’re working at this level of ‘hey at least none of it is duct-taped together’, is honestly pretty good.

& hey, at least none of it was duct-taped together!

(it honestly might’ve worked better if I’d duct-taped it together)

[The entire process is attached to the drill, now, and is partway through drilling a hole about an inch and a half across in the cargo container’s roof.]

After all that, the actual drilling part was pretty anticlimactic. I didn’t even need to break out the earplugs. (_Should_ I have broken out the earplugs? I mean, obviously, yes,)

[There’s a nice hole in the roof, about an inch and a half across.]

Now, the easy part!

[There’s a lovely white garden hose stuck through the hole. Of course, this leaves a lot of hole still open.]

Now, what to do with the REST of that hole … ahh yes, cheat.

[A stack of various sizes & colors of rubber washer have been wrapped around the hose, and are blocking most of the hole.]

Then I dumped half a tube of caulk over the lot of it, the end.

[The inside of the cargo container. A lovely white garden hose hangs from the ceiling, falling in graceful spirals. There is absolutely some sunlight also coming down through the hole.]

It is SO nice to have running water over there, y’all. Yes, even though it’s only cold water. Half a step at a time!

I do need to dump more caulk around that hole in the roof, though. Pretty sure the other half of that tube is around here somewhere …

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Comments

[siliconshaman]

Ok, so this is being smart after the fact...but I would've run the hose off the side of the roof and then drilled the hole in the wall. Less chance of leaks that way.

But hey, gold star for the creative use of adaptors! And with enough caulk it'll be mostly weather-proof. I mean, you live in a desert, how much rain can you get anyway, right?

[kellan_the_tabby]

Too high a chance of the hose freezing in the winter, alas. We have had nary a drip, even through some pretty vigorous rain. But I did consider it.

[siliconshaman]

Valid point, I mean, you could add some pipe insulation but why not use what you have already, strait down through the straw.

Incidentally, is the straw waterproofed, and how are you keeping critters out of it?

[kellan_the_tabby]

1) nope!

2) snakes

[siliconshaman]

Well... I guess that would keep critters out, but I'm not sure I wouldn't prefer those over the snakes! OTOH, snakes don't have hanta-virus.

[kellan_the_tabby]

nah, snakes are cuddly & also don't steal all the kibble

[siliconshaman]

Valid point on the kibble... but cuddly? Um, don't they have rattlers and other venomous snakes in your part of the world? I know they don't bite unless provokes, but I also know cats will play with the nope-rope..

[kellan_the_tabby]

we're way more likely to get bull snakes around here than rattlers. & I have personally cuddled one! course it was one handed to me by the reptile guy, but it still counts!

(the blasted thing tied my hands together & then started heading down the back of my shirt, all I could do was cackle)

[siliconshaman]

Snake Shibari! Yeah, I'd laugh too. Well, as long as you're cool with cohabiting with scaly roomies, I guess it's all good.

[kellan_the_tabby]

Jasper has reminded me that the cats DO assist with the rodents as well; I know Tom hunts, though I believe he's stopped eating them. Loiosh has never been good with anything but lizards & crickets but he at least SMELLS like a predator.

I am very fond of snakes, & would probably have one or two as pets if it weren't for the part where I've had too many mouse friends. Perhaps someone who'll stay small enough for crickets ...

[danabren]

There is great beauty in kludging, so longs as the end result is successful.

[kellan_the_tabby]

So far, so good!

[thewayne]

If it works - and more importantly, doesn't leak! - then it's not a cheat and a success!

Good job!

And yes, speaking as a person with moderate to profound hearing loss, you should have been wearing hearing protection when drilling through metal like that. PROTECT YOUR EARS, DUDER!

[kellan_the_tabby]

No leaks so far, even through heavy rain!

... & I accept the entirety appropriate scolding. If I can't find the proper earplugs, I can at least grab my loops & stick my roommate's headphones over em

[thewayne]

Next time you're in town, swing by a gun store or sporting goods store and get some!  We don't know what caused my hearing loss, as most of the time when I was shooting I did use hearing protectors.  Quite possibly mine is mainly from going to lots of concerts in my 20s and 30s.  But GET SOME EAR COVERS!!!  They don't have to be that expensive!

[kellan_the_tabby]

I usually just go for the squish-em-in-your-ear types, which have the advantage of cheapness, but the disadvantage of being easily stolen by cats. Some sort of over-the-ear item might at least slow them down a bit ...

[thewayne]

There's a type of in-ear that is joined by a rigid plastic, it would be hard to steal and easy to keep track of.  But over the ear offers the best protection, and is easy to take off and keep around your neck when temporarily not needed.

[kellan_the_tabby]

Ahh, I didn't know the over-the-ear types were more effective! That's decided me, then. Thank!

[cellio]

Running water is a big step. Congrats!

[kellan_the_tabby]

Thank! It's making SO many things SO much easier.