Today was the first day of "teacher school" before the real thing starts next week. There is a great deal to do in my classroom to make it ready for the school year, so it's not likely that I'll accomplish much more on the house in the next few weeks. Tomorrow I plan to scrape and "foam" a crack in a concrete slab outside and above my classroom. It funnels water right down the basement wall, where it leaches through and crystalizes on my inside wall. I'm going to try to stop it from doing that before I attempt to seal and paint the inside wall.
However, this evening I did go over to Walnut Hill with a tank of water and get the well running again. It seemed to take a lot more water to prime it this time than it did last time. At some point in the future I will have to install some modifications to the system to make re-priming easier if it should be necessary, but for now it works and I can hook up a hose and get water out of it. The pressure tank appears to be functioning as well. The pump cranked the tank up to pressure and the cut out switch worked. That was something that was new. Last time when I flushed out the well and ended up running it dry I don't think the pressure tank ever got charged up. I still need to get the water quality tested too.
I rigged up the hose this evening and set to work scrubbing down the panels that ring the pool. They've got probably five to seven years of grime and dirt on them, but it's amazing what a little elbow grease can do. They scrub right up with a stiff brush, which pleases me inordinately. It was a singluarly pleasant experience to have the hose gushing out clear, cold water under pressure and be able to make a visible, tangible difference in the look of the place from the effort. Standing in that warm water, with the occassional spritz of cool water backsplashing on me from the panels, scrubbing away. It was a nice hour or so. I brought over a nozzle for the end of the hose that let me control the flow so as not to run the well dry this time. It did raise the water level in the pool about an inch, when I let it run in a while. That should translate into about 270 gallons if my math is correct. Nice to know I can get that much out of it without risking a problem, even in dry times.
I plan to put on a party for some of my students a week from Saturday so I'm cleaning a few panels each time I'm over there and making a dent in the job. I managed to get all the decking cleaned off a few days ago. It was so lovely to be there today with the cool evening air and the water warmed by the sun. Some year I'm going to put a solar heater on it so that it gets even warmer, but it's not too bad now.
The party will be a "bring your own snacks" picnic affair. I'll whip up some lemonade and have some soda on ice and we'll have a good time. If I had the time and lumber it would be fun to build some picnic tables, but that will have to wait for this one. I might be able to rig something up with saw horses though...
Sal has discovered that she can work on her computer over there and is busily hunting up leads for a new job. She'll feel a lot better when she finds something productive (with benefits) to put her energy into, I think. Her rib is improving in fits and starts. She's anxious to be able to work on the place again too.
That's all for tonight.
Doug
Friday, August 17, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Progress!
There are, in any project, times that you feel like you're standing still and times that it feels like you're going somewhere. Today was a "going somewhere" day.
The first thing that helped it be that way actually happened last night. I worked most of the afternoon and was finally able to get the well pump working! It required priming, water had to fill the pump itself plus the pipes leading down into the ground where a little water at high pressure would push a lot of water up at lower pressure.
Not knowing how much water it would take, but figuring it would be a lot, I bought a 65 gallon tank to fit in the back of my pickup and rigged it up with some hose and a valve. Ironic moment: it only took five gallons of water to prime the pump. (So now I'm set to play "water boy" when I do some long marches with friends next year, but that's another story.)
The first gushes of water were pretty ugly. They didn't smell but they were rusty, muddy brown and I was concerned that this would be all I'd get. After about 15 gallons or so, the water cleared right up and ran clear and cold the rest of the evening. I flushed out the well, ran it dry in fact. Ooops. The first 15 minutes I watered bushes, then I scrubbed down the deck around my pool. After that I put it to run into the pool, figuring that if there was anything in there that was harmfull it would get diluted and killed by the chlorine. After about 90 minutes of constant pumping at about 30 psi and a delivery rate of around 3 gpm, the water flow stopped. I didn't get anything muddy or foul at the end, it just stopped flowing. So far so good!
I used the rest of the water in my truck's tank to help replenish the pool. I've calculated that each tankful raises the level in the pool by 1/4". Even though we got some rain today, I don't think I'll pump the well at my current home dry trying to completely refill the pool. :)
I'd like to figure a way to collect the rain water off the barn roof for that use, but that'll be a project for down the road.
So well water is now on site, available in at least limited quantities from the ground. The house plumbing that is now there is full of splits due to freezing and neglect, so it's all coming out and an entirely new system will be put in it's place. I'm going to use the PEX tubing because it offers me the best options as a DIYer in terms of safety, speed and flexibility. Since I will be doing an "in slab" PEX heating system in the back wing, and in floor heat for the rest of the house where there are wood floors, I splurged and bought the tool that will let me crimp several sizes of tubing. Cool stuff to work with. I was stunned that Home Depot didn't even know anything about it. I had to go to Lowes to find the supplies.
The second big thing wrt progress happened today. Our kitchen cabinets are essentially finished. All the base cabinets and wall cabinets are done, with a few minor things like window glass to still be installed. My wife was really excited to see them all set up and arranged in the shop's warehouse, ready to be packaged and stored until we're ready for installation.
It looks like the wooden floor now in place under three layers of linoleum will not be a candidate for refinishing. It has been overlaid with tarpaper and the tar has stained the wood beyond the level it can be refinished, methinks. So we stopped by the flooring showroom today and looked at some options for the kitchen. We saw one we liked, a sort of limestone tile looking product that glues down and is sealed but individual tiles can be heated, removed and replaced should they be damaged. Lifetime warranty, etc. We didn't talk price yet, but that's a very attractive system for me so far.
Now I just have to build the walls in the kitchen space to give us the insulation "sheath" that we need, with all the do-dads of window, wiring and plumbing to go with it. We're moving forward!
Gotta snooze, more another day.
Doug
The first thing that helped it be that way actually happened last night. I worked most of the afternoon and was finally able to get the well pump working! It required priming, water had to fill the pump itself plus the pipes leading down into the ground where a little water at high pressure would push a lot of water up at lower pressure.
Not knowing how much water it would take, but figuring it would be a lot, I bought a 65 gallon tank to fit in the back of my pickup and rigged it up with some hose and a valve. Ironic moment: it only took five gallons of water to prime the pump. (So now I'm set to play "water boy" when I do some long marches with friends next year, but that's another story.)
The first gushes of water were pretty ugly. They didn't smell but they were rusty, muddy brown and I was concerned that this would be all I'd get. After about 15 gallons or so, the water cleared right up and ran clear and cold the rest of the evening. I flushed out the well, ran it dry in fact. Ooops. The first 15 minutes I watered bushes, then I scrubbed down the deck around my pool. After that I put it to run into the pool, figuring that if there was anything in there that was harmfull it would get diluted and killed by the chlorine. After about 90 minutes of constant pumping at about 30 psi and a delivery rate of around 3 gpm, the water flow stopped. I didn't get anything muddy or foul at the end, it just stopped flowing. So far so good!
I used the rest of the water in my truck's tank to help replenish the pool. I've calculated that each tankful raises the level in the pool by 1/4". Even though we got some rain today, I don't think I'll pump the well at my current home dry trying to completely refill the pool. :)
I'd like to figure a way to collect the rain water off the barn roof for that use, but that'll be a project for down the road.
So well water is now on site, available in at least limited quantities from the ground. The house plumbing that is now there is full of splits due to freezing and neglect, so it's all coming out and an entirely new system will be put in it's place. I'm going to use the PEX tubing because it offers me the best options as a DIYer in terms of safety, speed and flexibility. Since I will be doing an "in slab" PEX heating system in the back wing, and in floor heat for the rest of the house where there are wood floors, I splurged and bought the tool that will let me crimp several sizes of tubing. Cool stuff to work with. I was stunned that Home Depot didn't even know anything about it. I had to go to Lowes to find the supplies.
The second big thing wrt progress happened today. Our kitchen cabinets are essentially finished. All the base cabinets and wall cabinets are done, with a few minor things like window glass to still be installed. My wife was really excited to see them all set up and arranged in the shop's warehouse, ready to be packaged and stored until we're ready for installation.
It looks like the wooden floor now in place under three layers of linoleum will not be a candidate for refinishing. It has been overlaid with tarpaper and the tar has stained the wood beyond the level it can be refinished, methinks. So we stopped by the flooring showroom today and looked at some options for the kitchen. We saw one we liked, a sort of limestone tile looking product that glues down and is sealed but individual tiles can be heated, removed and replaced should they be damaged. Lifetime warranty, etc. We didn't talk price yet, but that's a very attractive system for me so far.
Now I just have to build the walls in the kitchen space to give us the insulation "sheath" that we need, with all the do-dads of window, wiring and plumbing to go with it. We're moving forward!
Gotta snooze, more another day.
Doug
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