We've got rough wiring in and most of the insulation up. Next is transporting sheetrock and getting it up, hopefully Thursday if all goes well. I think we'll put up plastic, then sheetrock ceiling, then lay unfaced insulation in atop that once there is something to support its weight.
Today, among other things, I mounted a roller to keep my shop door from acting like a sail in a high wind. Couldn't find what I wanted so I cobbled together something that I think will work well from some angle brackets and a non-marking caster.
We cut out all the old supply piping in the basement, also got the old pressure tank and water heater out into the yard, which cleared things up considerably.
Tomorrow is a 'desk work' day while I catch my breath and gather some supplies.
Once sheetrock is up and mudded and painted we'll build shelving and doors and then start moving stuff in!
Whoot!
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Out with the Old...
As we prepare for the great move to the new place, some things have to happen at the old place. One of them is to clean out our moldy, damp old basement.
So on the first warm sunny day we've had in a while, I opened the two basement windows and started heaving stuff outside. (Ok, the fragile stuff I placed gently on the grass -next- to the window. But the junk got HEAVED.)
When I came outside to clear away space near the windows it looked like our basement had thrown up. :)
The rotten, moldy cardboard burned exceedingly well with the application of a bit of kerosene to get it in the mood. The plastic that I'm going to reuse right away (shelving, for example) got a scrub and a bath in bleach water. Several bags of trash and recyclables later, the basement looks very empty. Notice I didn't say clean. It's got leaks galore, so "clean" isn't going to happen very easily.
Bonus find: plastic dishes my folks used in their Airstream. Not sure if we'll use them or not in ours, but it was a nice "ah ha!" moment.
My dear wife has boxed up the rest of the house, so this is small potatoes compared to her herculanean task, but this image was striking, so here it is. :)
The storage room is on track to get finished up this week. I've got almost all the materials on site to finish. I do need some rafters and some insulation and some wall board, but they'll come.
The pool was about eight inches shy of being full before this big rain storm today. My calculations show that unless we got about eight inches of rain it won't fill the pool up. Have to call the pool water guy tomorrow and ask for a delivery. I WAS able to install a new face plate on the skimmer that has a "tupperware" type sealable cover. So theoretically this will be the last time I have to order a pool water delivery. It's supposed to eliminate the "drain down" in the fall. We'll see if it actually works.
Cheerz!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
May 9 - Successful workday
Not many pictures from this day's efforts. I was kept so busy assigning tasks, getting tools & materials and teaching things that I only got my camera out after everyone had gone.
This first pic is the framing for a storage room in the barn loft. It takes up a space roughly 12'x12' in the center of the barn, leaving the two ends free. The back will be furniture and "non-insulated" storage, the room will soon be insulated and fitted with wall board, etc. so it's not freezable next winter, and the front will be a sort of office/studio space.
While my male builder-type friends were busy in the barn, some others were completing the demolition of the second floor bathroom. Once I get the yard trailer street legal, I've got a LOT of stuff to take to the dump.
My younger friends kept busy hauling materials and trimming hedges. There are a LOT of hedges to trim here and if you don't stay ahead of them you can spend days raking up the clippings. The cutting is pretty easy with the trimmer, but the raking and hauling takes forever. They did yeoman's work, that's for sure.
I didn't get fancy and join these two shots together, but you get the idea.
In case you're wondering about my "ground cover," that's old carpeting that I put down so I wouldn't have to mow the walkway out to the barn. Most of it came out of my church's sanctuary when we remodelled last year.
This last week's efforts have been aimed at getting the framing finished up. (Still need ceiling rafters) Next week I can begin wiring and insulating the room and get wall board put up. Then shelving goes in and our "old house" can disgorge it's store of boxes, and we can get moved over here for good! Woo hoo!
MANY thanks to my many friends who have helped on this project. Couldn't have done it without you.
Stay tuned, we're getting closer!
D.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Miscl. pix
Here's a few pix of things I'd mentioned before, I think.
The dining room ceiling, removed on the recent work day.
Progress on replacing the fascia on the west side of the barn. I hope to get back to this next week after I make a trip to NJ to pick up some antiques from my sister.
Now that the barn stairs are in, I'm really hoping to get the storage room in the barn fixed up pronto.
I got back from a church retreat this afternoon about 4:30 and popped over to WH and spent a VERY enjoyable two or three hours mowing around the property this afternoon. It was so much fun to wheel that tractor around and get stuff done!
A few days ago I had cut down a willow tree which had grown up in the septic drain field. Today I was able to drag it over to the burn pile with the tractor and cut it up a bit more so it wasn't flopping outside my "burn zone." What is so satisfying about dragging around half a tree? I don't know, but it does give a good feeling of accomplishment.
I flooded my gas powered chain saw when I was trying to start it, so I hauled out the Alligator again. It made short work (pun intended) of that willow, let me tell you. The more I use it, the more I like it.
Off to shower and bed. I run the AV at church tomorrow morning, so I have to be up and out early.
Cheerz!
Doug
The dining room ceiling, removed on the recent work day.
Progress on replacing the fascia on the west side of the barn. I hope to get back to this next week after I make a trip to NJ to pick up some antiques from my sister.
Now that the barn stairs are in, I'm really hoping to get the storage room in the barn fixed up pronto.
I got back from a church retreat this afternoon about 4:30 and popped over to WH and spent a VERY enjoyable two or three hours mowing around the property this afternoon. It was so much fun to wheel that tractor around and get stuff done!
A few days ago I had cut down a willow tree which had grown up in the septic drain field. Today I was able to drag it over to the burn pile with the tractor and cut it up a bit more so it wasn't flopping outside my "burn zone." What is so satisfying about dragging around half a tree? I don't know, but it does give a good feeling of accomplishment.
I flooded my gas powered chain saw when I was trying to start it, so I hauled out the Alligator again. It made short work (pun intended) of that willow, let me tell you. The more I use it, the more I like it.
Off to shower and bed. I run the AV at church tomorrow morning, so I have to be up and out early.
Cheerz!
Doug
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Progress!
Today saw more tangible progress than any day in the last few months except the work day.
We ran up the flags first thing to see them wave in the breeze today. For those who haven't seen it, the yellow and green flag has an applique of a walnut seed and leaves on it.
So, off to the local lumber yard and home again, with two new stringers. We got out the saw horses and used the center stringer as a pattern to cut the two new ones. Charlie did a good job with the cutting and we soon were able to mount the three, assemble the spacers and begin laying treads. Charlie cut treads in the shop on the miter saw and brought them over to me, I'd screw them down and it all went like clockwork. I love my Hitachi imact driver gizmo. That thing makes driving screws SOooooo easy.
We were able to pack up and roll out of there about 4:30 and spend some time over to my friend Todd's. He had some dead limbs in some trees in his yard and we helped him cut them out and saw them up for firewood. Charlie did a good bit of the tree climbing but we had a hard time keeping Todd out of the tree on the second one. ;) We mainly used my Alligator electric chain saw/lopper. It looks like a hokey Harry Homeowner tool, but that thing ate through some pretty big branches like nobody's business. The safety aspect of having the chain saw bar encased in some shields is a GREAT idea on someone's part. Made us feel very confident when cutting up high in a tree. I had to use the chain saw a few times but it went off without incident.
We ran up the flags first thing to see them wave in the breeze today. For those who haven't seen it, the yellow and green flag has an applique of a walnut seed and leaves on it. Then we tried to figure out how to connect a trailer light plug to the truck so that I can tow a trailer ok. That didn't work out so well. The plugs under the back of my truck didn't do what I thought they should do. :( So, we abandoned that project until I can research that one a bit more.
We thus turned to the other high priority item for the day's agenda and began to fix the stairs to the barn loft. My young friend Charlie and I were able to "dismount" the stair stringers and solve a puzzle that blocked progress a while ago. For some reason the stringer in the middle was one inch higher than the ones on the outside when I tried to assemble the stairs a few weeks ago. But everything checked out to be dimensionally the same. I considered that they were bowed but when I tried to sight along them they appeared to be pretty straight.
Once we took down the three stringers and laid them atop one another on the grass the problem was immediately apparent. They were cut last October and the lumber had shrunk over the winter as the wood dried, making the two outside stringers "bow" towards the top, where they were notched for the treads. Thus they "sank" an inch relative to the center stringer that stayed straight. Lesson learned. If you cut it, assemble it. :) The reason the center one didn't bow was because there were notches cut into the bottom of it for the spacers that tie the three together. That relieved the tension on that side of the board, so it didn't bow.
D'oh. I should have known all that. Live and re-learn... :) In this shot you can see the bow in one of the outside stringers. Fortunately, I think I can cut them shorter and reuse them in other parts of the house later on.
So, off to the local lumber yard and home again, with two new stringers. We got out the saw horses and used the center stringer as a pattern to cut the two new ones. Charlie did a good job with the cutting and we soon were able to mount the three, assemble the spacers and begin laying treads. Charlie cut treads in the shop on the miter saw and brought them over to me, I'd screw them down and it all went like clockwork. I love my Hitachi imact driver gizmo. That thing makes driving screws SOooooo easy.
We were able to pack up and roll out of there about 4:30 and spend some time over to my friend Todd's. He had some dead limbs in some trees in his yard and we helped him cut them out and saw them up for firewood. Charlie did a good bit of the tree climbing but we had a hard time keeping Todd out of the tree on the second one. ;) We mainly used my Alligator electric chain saw/lopper. It looks like a hokey Harry Homeowner tool, but that thing ate through some pretty big branches like nobody's business. The safety aspect of having the chain saw bar encased in some shields is a GREAT idea on someone's part. Made us feel very confident when cutting up high in a tree. I had to use the chain saw a few times but it went off without incident.Todd's family invited us to dinner and a good time was had by all. I'm headed to shower and bed and will sleep soundly tonight! :)
There are a few more pix at this address:
Doug
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Eloise lives!
I'm a very blessed man. Yesterday my very kind friend, Dan, brought a friend, Merritt, along and we worked on the tractor, Eloise, to get her running again. Eloise is a 1953 International Farmall Super A. She'd languished from a bit of neglect the last year or so, I'm ashamed to say. Her starter had stopped, her coil had popped, her tires droped; she'd just sort of got that run down feeling. The picture at right will take you to a few larger sized images of her.I'd been so busy with urgent things that the important thing of getting her running kept getting shoved to the back burner. So Dan's birthday gift to me was to bring over Merritt, who's a mechanic of the old school, and get her going. It took us four hours, but we managed to get her fired up. She still needs a major tune up (parts are ordered and on the way) and fluids changed. Her mower deck needs a major clean/sharpen/balance/lube job, but we're well on our way.
I had bought a water pump for her some time ago and discovered when I went to install it that it didn't clear the fan blades. With Merritt's encouragement I went at it with the grinder and took the end off the shaft that stuck out in the way. So now I can get that installed and put all of the sheet metal back on that I'd left off for so long. I'm MOST grateful for this delightful present.
Now it will take me only a short while to cut the grass instead of hours and hours with the walk-behind mower. Now I can rearrange the pontoon boats on the property to a much less visible position. Now I can cut down trees along the road and drag their carcasses up the hill to be cut up.
Hurrah for Eloise!
This week's busy-ness and the rainy weather has kept me from the stair project, but here's hoping I can get to it tomorrow (Thursday) or Monday. Two trips with school kids Friday and Saturday and a packed day Sunday. Never a dull moment around here!
I need to get those stairs finished pronto because I've got to bring down from NJ a piece of furniture next week and it's a very nice old antique that I don't want to juggle up to the loft by hook or by crook.
April showers are bringing May flowers today, but the weather is supposed to improve tomorrow. :) Hope your week is bright.
Doug
Friday, April 10, 2009
Work of Easter week
I'm still getting over the effects of this last bronchitis episode, so today (Good Friday) was a "stay down and rest" day but this week I was able to get a few things done, with the help of friends.
First off, a view of the dining room ceiling sans plaster, thanks to our friends last weekend.
Fortunately, this exposed some wood rot in the floor of the existing upstairs bathroom. That room is due for gutting and rebuilding too, so this should not be a problem now that we know it's there. The old galvanized steel pipe will be going away too. Part of this bathroom will become the new laundry room so I intend to use some of the DWV piping for that, but install new PEX supply lines.
My friend Ed came over Thursday and we tore up more of the kitchen floor. That new Sawzall really eats through those 2" boards like crazy, a real joy to use. We got the debris out to the burn pile via wheel barrow and it went up nicely, along with the lathe and paneling we pulled off the walls on the last workday. We've had a lot of high winds since the workday and I had to go around the yard and retrieve several pieces of the paneling. :)
And spring is here! Flowers in the old "sumac patch" north of the barn are popping up! No sign of the sumac coming back, thank goodness!
Hope you enjoy this brief sum of the week's news. Happy Easter to all!
First off, a view of the dining room ceiling sans plaster, thanks to our friends last weekend.
Fortunately, this exposed some wood rot in the floor of the existing upstairs bathroom. That room is due for gutting and rebuilding too, so this should not be a problem now that we know it's there. The old galvanized steel pipe will be going away too. Part of this bathroom will become the new laundry room so I intend to use some of the DWV piping for that, but install new PEX supply lines.
My friend Ed came over Thursday and we tore up more of the kitchen floor. That new Sawzall really eats through those 2" boards like crazy, a real joy to use. We got the debris out to the burn pile via wheel barrow and it went up nicely, along with the lathe and paneling we pulled off the walls on the last workday. We've had a lot of high winds since the workday and I had to go around the yard and retrieve several pieces of the paneling. :)We also got a good chunk of the fascia on the west side of the barn ripped off and replaced. It was as old and rotten as the two ends had been, but it protected the structure beneath it, all was sound wood. Getting this installed and the guttering up will help to dry out the barn floor during the spring rains.
We were short about four feet of fascia (how did THAT happen?) so I went for some extra fascia board, which comes in 12' lengths which meant the back door of the truck was open a bit to let the board stick out. As I turned a particular corner on the way home the charger, extra battery and case for my impact driver fell out of the back of the truck. I heard the noise and stopped but didn't see it, figured it was an old suitcase falling over in the back of the truck and went on. By the time I realized the loss and went back someone had picked it up. So we had to halt fascia installation for the day. However, another 20 minutes or so of work and it will be up. I went online today and found the right replacement stuff pretty cheap and it should be here by early next week. It helps to have the right tool for the job and I'm not sure how I got along before I had this one.
Earlier in the week I'd started to work on the stairs to the barn loft, however I've run into a snag which I'd love to figure out, but don't think I'll bother to. The three stringers measure out the same, dimensionally. But when I put them in place, the run of the middle stringer is 1" higher than the run on either of the other two. And the rise on the right hand one seems to be one inch farther back towards the barn. The base pad and top header all appear to be level and square to each other, so there is no detectable deviation there I can see. I'm not sure how that is possible, but I feel like I'm working on an Escher painting somehow. Monday I'm going to take them down and lay them on the ground on top of one another and cut SOMEthing to make them all match. This is one of those "Gordian knot" things. I'd love to figure out the "why" of it, but will settle for a functional solution at this point.
Thursday I was able to "let fly" our new homestead's flag, made by my wife's cousin. It is a wonderful "house warming" gift and looked good up on that pole. Unfortunately the wind wouldn't blow when I wanted a picture so I had to drape it over the back fence to give you a peek. It's an outline of some walnut nuts and leaves on a yellow background. It has the same color scheme as a Civil War hospital flag. Not sure why that amuses me so, but I really enjoy the flag.
In preparation for the relaying of the new kitchen floor, I've been doing some reading on what sort of underlayment will be needed. The existing floor is 2" thick, joist to surface, so I've got lots of room to build a nice stiff floor to lay tile on. Looks like 3/4" plywood subfloor, 3/4" underlayment and 1/2" ceramic tile will about meet the existing floor flush. It's a bit tricky because you have to allow the plywood to give a bit with swings in temp and moisture, but sounds like it can be done. It's not the optimum installation, but looks like it might work.
Earlier in the week I'd started to work on the stairs to the barn loft, however I've run into a snag which I'd love to figure out, but don't think I'll bother to. The three stringers measure out the same, dimensionally. But when I put them in place, the run of the middle stringer is 1" higher than the run on either of the other two. And the rise on the right hand one seems to be one inch farther back towards the barn. The base pad and top header all appear to be level and square to each other, so there is no detectable deviation there I can see. I'm not sure how that is possible, but I feel like I'm working on an Escher painting somehow. Monday I'm going to take them down and lay them on the ground on top of one another and cut SOMEthing to make them all match. This is one of those "Gordian knot" things. I'd love to figure out the "why" of it, but will settle for a functional solution at this point.
Thursday I was able to "let fly" our new homestead's flag, made by my wife's cousin. It is a wonderful "house warming" gift and looked good up on that pole. Unfortunately the wind wouldn't blow when I wanted a picture so I had to drape it over the back fence to give you a peek. It's an outline of some walnut nuts and leaves on a yellow background. It has the same color scheme as a Civil War hospital flag. Not sure why that amuses me so, but I really enjoy the flag.In preparation for the relaying of the new kitchen floor, I've been doing some reading on what sort of underlayment will be needed. The existing floor is 2" thick, joist to surface, so I've got lots of room to build a nice stiff floor to lay tile on. Looks like 3/4" plywood subfloor, 3/4" underlayment and 1/2" ceramic tile will about meet the existing floor flush. It's a bit tricky because you have to allow the plywood to give a bit with swings in temp and moisture, but sounds like it can be done. It's not the optimum installation, but looks like it might work.
And spring is here! Flowers in the old "sumac patch" north of the barn are popping up! No sign of the sumac coming back, thank goodness!Larger pics are online here: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/570670508DWVwkR
Hope you enjoy this brief sum of the week's news. Happy Easter to all!
Doug
Saturday, April 04, 2009
First Big Workday of 2009 - April 4
Today was a resounding success. Few minor injuries, nothing serious or major. Lots of work accomplished. Great weather and good friends. :)We arrived about 8:45 to find a few folks there champing at the bit, ready to go. We soon had the doors open, the power on and everything necessary to the day's work laid out.
The first order of business was to back the utility trailer up to the front door so we could carry debris out and pile it there. All the wood paneling and furring strips were on the trailer and hauled to the burn pile by about 11AM.
A little before lunch we laid down some of the paneling on the dining room floor and began to pull down the plaster ceiling. The dust flew and there were smiles behind those dust masks, I could see. I stayed upwind at a safe distance. (Recent fight with severe bronchitis, fyi.)
We took a nice break for lunch, Pizza Hut pizza and liquid refreshment then went back to it.
The trailer bed was soon full with the ceiling and we carted that off behind the chicken shed and dumped it by about 3:30. For some reason I don't understand the living room ceiling took up more space than the kitchen ceiling, even though it's smaller. We must have carted a bunch of the kitchen debris to the dump at some point. But I don't remember that. Oh, well. We've got LOTs of busted up plaster now! :)
Two intrepid helpers, Tim and Charles, stuck around another couple hours and we removed the bathtub from the existing upstairs bathroom and slid it into the back of the utility trailer. When we get around to having goats and sheep it'll make a great watering trough. I thought it was cast iron but it turned out to be steel. We were a good bit surprised to find out how poorly the seals were made for the plumbing connections. They appear to be just doped up and slid into place, none of the locking rings were tightened up. The connections were probably inacessible behind the ceiling at the time the bathroom was done. Amazing to me that it never seems to have leaked though. The stool and wash basin still have to come out, but we got the lion's share of it. Amazing how much removing some walls opens up a room.
All in all, a great day's work accomplished, we're well on our way!
Next work day will be May 9, and we'll probably start around 10AM since the night before is the Jr-Sr. Banquet at school. Mark your calendar for June 13 also, starting 9ish or perhaps earlier, depending on weather that day.
Here's the picture album, click on the picture on the right. Too tired to tweak them, they're in the raw.
Doug
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
2009 - Spring Sprint
It's been seven months since I last posted here, time to update, don't you think? :)
Since I last wrote we've winterized the pool after only having it open for two weeks. But the good news is that it shouldn't take as long to get it functioning this spring.
We've rebuilt the south end of the barn, adding two new windows and a door, plus a small deck/landing. A set of stairs was to go in before now, but the weather got so cold we had to hold up on that.
Than my shoulders became "frozen" (adhesive capsulitis) and I've had a rough time getting them loosened up again. The three words I hear used repeatedly when I read about recovery from this are "long, slow, painful." So far they've been right, but we keep slogging away.
I've spent a lot of time shopping for new toys, er, tools and am ready to tackle the house again this spring. We need to get it finished by August so we're doing all we can to meet that deadline. We've cut the project in half for a number of reasons. We're going to build it in two stages, the north wing will go up first since it provides the master bedroom/bath and two car garage. When time and funds allow we'll build the great room and the library out the back (west wing).
One snag I ran into last fall was that when I began to strip off the flooring on the kitchen floor it smelled really bad. The animals the previous owners left alone in the house had soiled the floor down through three layers of linoleum and two layers of sheet vinyl and into the wood floor. So I've begun to rip out the floor in the kitchen right down to the joists. My new 15 amp Sawzall made short work of the 2" thick flooring. 5/4" subfloor was rough sawn random width poplar perpendicular to the joists, then narrow strip pine on top of that. Then glue, tarpaper, three layers of linoleum tiles, a layer of sheet vinyl, a layer of luan, then a final layer of sheet vinyl. To get the sawzall blade started my new Hole Hog bored a 1 1/8" hole through it all without breaking a sweat. :) I'm lifting it off in sections about 16" wide and four feet long. Small enough to lift off fairly easily and big enough to not have lots of little chunks to be handled. I found that if I cut mid way between the two joists I can miss the cross bracing and cut along pretty quick.
I hate to cut up this lovely old poplar, but removing it whole isn't an option at this point.
I also recently acquired a Paslode nail gun and a Porter-Cable palm nailer to assist with the construction phase. Driving nails the old fashioned way isn't in the cards with these shoulders. May need to upgrade my compressor to drive them, but we'll see.
You can see a few pix I shot today at this link:
http://community.webshots.com/album/570670508DWVwkR?vhost=community
Thanks for reading and we'll make an effort to keep everyone posted as we move along.
Doug
Since I last wrote we've winterized the pool after only having it open for two weeks. But the good news is that it shouldn't take as long to get it functioning this spring.
We've rebuilt the south end of the barn, adding two new windows and a door, plus a small deck/landing. A set of stairs was to go in before now, but the weather got so cold we had to hold up on that.
Than my shoulders became "frozen" (adhesive capsulitis) and I've had a rough time getting them loosened up again. The three words I hear used repeatedly when I read about recovery from this are "long, slow, painful." So far they've been right, but we keep slogging away.
I've spent a lot of time shopping for new toys, er, tools and am ready to tackle the house again this spring. We need to get it finished by August so we're doing all we can to meet that deadline. We've cut the project in half for a number of reasons. We're going to build it in two stages, the north wing will go up first since it provides the master bedroom/bath and two car garage. When time and funds allow we'll build the great room and the library out the back (west wing).
One snag I ran into last fall was that when I began to strip off the flooring on the kitchen floor it smelled really bad. The animals the previous owners left alone in the house had soiled the floor down through three layers of linoleum and two layers of sheet vinyl and into the wood floor. So I've begun to rip out the floor in the kitchen right down to the joists. My new 15 amp Sawzall made short work of the 2" thick flooring. 5/4" subfloor was rough sawn random width poplar perpendicular to the joists, then narrow strip pine on top of that. Then glue, tarpaper, three layers of linoleum tiles, a layer of sheet vinyl, a layer of luan, then a final layer of sheet vinyl. To get the sawzall blade started my new Hole Hog bored a 1 1/8" hole through it all without breaking a sweat. :) I'm lifting it off in sections about 16" wide and four feet long. Small enough to lift off fairly easily and big enough to not have lots of little chunks to be handled. I found that if I cut mid way between the two joists I can miss the cross bracing and cut along pretty quick.
I hate to cut up this lovely old poplar, but removing it whole isn't an option at this point.
I also recently acquired a Paslode nail gun and a Porter-Cable palm nailer to assist with the construction phase. Driving nails the old fashioned way isn't in the cards with these shoulders. May need to upgrade my compressor to drive them, but we'll see.
You can see a few pix I shot today at this link:
http://community.webshots.com/album/570670508DWVwkR?vhost=community
Thanks for reading and we'll make an effort to keep everyone posted as we move along.
Doug
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Quick update
This week has seen some progress. As of now the pool is 99% "swimable." All we need are a few warm days to bring the temperature up. I'd like it better if the trees were down and the leaves not able to fall in the pool, but since Eloise the tractor is still out of commission, it won't be happening today.
I actually got the right ignition coil to get Eloise running but when I installed it one of the terminals snapped off. At least I got to turn over the engine with the new battery. First I've been able to do that in more than a year.
Most of this week's been spent on the Airstream, getting it ready to support us while we're building the rest of the house. There's a serious mystery with the fresh water system that I haven't figured out yet. Details to follow once I know what's going on. We have electricity for lights and battery charging, the gray water works. As soon as I get a backhoe on site we'll have a place to dump the black water. No major leaks that we've found so far.
Once I get the water issue resolved we'll figure out if the hot water heater works or not. And I'll need to install better electrical hookups to check on the refrigerator's operation.
Sal is packing up the house, we're hoping to get this taken care of in the next few weeks.
We're on our way!
Doug
I actually got the right ignition coil to get Eloise running but when I installed it one of the terminals snapped off. At least I got to turn over the engine with the new battery. First I've been able to do that in more than a year.
Most of this week's been spent on the Airstream, getting it ready to support us while we're building the rest of the house. There's a serious mystery with the fresh water system that I haven't figured out yet. Details to follow once I know what's going on. We have electricity for lights and battery charging, the gray water works. As soon as I get a backhoe on site we'll have a place to dump the black water. No major leaks that we've found so far.
Once I get the water issue resolved we'll figure out if the hot water heater works or not. And I'll need to install better electrical hookups to check on the refrigerator's operation.
Sal is packing up the house, we're hoping to get this taken care of in the next few weeks.
We're on our way!
Doug
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Aug 20 update
Here's the link to some pictures I just put up:
by Stickbug54
In other news:
I went for the more expensive, solid rubber tire on the wheelbarrow. At least it's impossible for it to flat. Cross at least one SNAFU off my list.
Still haven't found more blue barrels, but did buy two large garbage cans to help out with the log jam in debris removal.
Two more loads of water should give me enough depth to think about vacuuming the pool. Hope to get that in on Thursday.
The drill and bits came in this week. We can tear up some wood now!
The second application of Roundup seems to be taking effect, albeit more slowly than desired, in all areas except the sumac. If conditions later this week are favorable, I'll hit that area again.
Tomorrow I'm off to visit relatives and share some old photos and documents that have recently come into my possession.
Blessings!
Doug
by Stickbug54
In other news:
I went for the more expensive, solid rubber tire on the wheelbarrow. At least it's impossible for it to flat. Cross at least one SNAFU off my list.
Still haven't found more blue barrels, but did buy two large garbage cans to help out with the log jam in debris removal.
Two more loads of water should give me enough depth to think about vacuuming the pool. Hope to get that in on Thursday.
The drill and bits came in this week. We can tear up some wood now!
The second application of Roundup seems to be taking effect, albeit more slowly than desired, in all areas except the sumac. If conditions later this week are favorable, I'll hit that area again.
Tomorrow I'm off to visit relatives and share some old photos and documents that have recently come into my possession.
Blessings!
Doug
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The Black Death - Tarpaper on wood floor
I'm deep into trying to remove the kitchen floor. If there were not so many layers to it already, and if those layers were not so saturated with animal waste and mold, I'd have left the floor in place. But it had to go, so here I am.
There are three layers of linoleum and vinyl, plus a layer of 1/4" plywood sandwiched together and nailed 1' on center. The plywood and top layer of vinyl are relatively easy to get up, but the bottom two layers are stuck to tar paper which is in turn glued to the wood floor. What a mess to try to get up. I've spent some time online looking for a simpler solution and it seems that either heat or chemicals are the key. I like the idea of either a hot iron or a wallpaper steamer to soften the mess, then scrape it off. Several days on my knees ahead.
Fortunately, my only concern is that the floor be relatively level so that we can put down a layer of underlayment and then install tile atop that. I don't have to worry about cleaning and refinishing the wood floor.
Other news, in no particular order:
My "hoped for" supplier of blue barrels has lost his connection. So now I have to find an alternative source for debris removal. I've started to take the plaster out to a convenient hole behind the chicken shed and bury it there. There's nothing in it that will hurt anything I can see. But the linoleum/tile/vinyl needs to go to the landfill.
Speaking of debris removal... the tire on the wheel barrow went flat. I can either take a chance on a new tube ($6) or a new "never goes flat" wheel ($40). The tube replacement would take some time to get the old one out and the new one in. The new wheel looks to be a straight forward "bolt in" replacement. Right now I'm leaning towards anything that won't break or require maintenance and is easy.
On the pool front, I was able to use a product this week that made the particles in solution clump together and fall to the bottom of the pool. This got rid of the cloudiness almost like magic. The problem is that the only way to get the particles off the bottom of the pool is to run the vacuum on "waste", bypassing the filter and pumping the nasty water out of the pool. Getting water in the pool has been a problem from the get go. The water level in the pool dropped below the level needed to run the skimmer/vacuum before I was done vacuuming. Since the well has run dry again, I delivered three loads of water Friday and brought the level up a fair amount so at least the pump could run. But, I will need another four loads before I can vacuum again. And probably three or four loads of water after I vacuum. And I need two days to shock it once it's vacuumed. The only water source is to bring it from our old home, 14 miles away, by tank in the pickup. Yech. I did rig up the gutters on the barn to feed into the pool, but we haven't had any significant rainfall since I did that. This is all a lot of work for a little relaxation, which will soon be too cold to use. Oh, well, at least we'll be ready for next year...
I've ordered a special drill for boring holes in joists and walls. I'm going to be running a lot of wires and tubing, I figured I'd better have the right tool for the job. It should be here Monday.
The areas sprayed with Roundup earlier this week don't seem to be showing any signs of ill effect. Those areas I hit on the first application are really dead, no signs that the sumac is coming back. Yet. But those areas from application #2 are not showing any ill effects. I'd hoped they'd be yellowing by now. If they don't start to turn yellow by Monday, I'll hit them again on the next bright sunny day we have. I think I sprayed them too late in the day for it to be absorbed in the plants. I spent some time Thursday evening picking up dead limbs and debris in the "sumac grove" on the north side of the property. Friday I cut some dead limbs off some trees there. I think this might actually work and the area look OK once the grass recovers! My neighbor on that side has a lot of old lumber she wants to burn up. I told her she could bring it over and toss it on my burn pile and we'd take care of it for her... :)
That's all I can think of for now. More another day.
Doug
There are three layers of linoleum and vinyl, plus a layer of 1/4" plywood sandwiched together and nailed 1' on center. The plywood and top layer of vinyl are relatively easy to get up, but the bottom two layers are stuck to tar paper which is in turn glued to the wood floor. What a mess to try to get up. I've spent some time online looking for a simpler solution and it seems that either heat or chemicals are the key. I like the idea of either a hot iron or a wallpaper steamer to soften the mess, then scrape it off. Several days on my knees ahead.
Fortunately, my only concern is that the floor be relatively level so that we can put down a layer of underlayment and then install tile atop that. I don't have to worry about cleaning and refinishing the wood floor.
Other news, in no particular order:
My "hoped for" supplier of blue barrels has lost his connection. So now I have to find an alternative source for debris removal. I've started to take the plaster out to a convenient hole behind the chicken shed and bury it there. There's nothing in it that will hurt anything I can see. But the linoleum/tile/vinyl needs to go to the landfill.
Speaking of debris removal... the tire on the wheel barrow went flat. I can either take a chance on a new tube ($6) or a new "never goes flat" wheel ($40). The tube replacement would take some time to get the old one out and the new one in. The new wheel looks to be a straight forward "bolt in" replacement. Right now I'm leaning towards anything that won't break or require maintenance and is easy.
On the pool front, I was able to use a product this week that made the particles in solution clump together and fall to the bottom of the pool. This got rid of the cloudiness almost like magic. The problem is that the only way to get the particles off the bottom of the pool is to run the vacuum on "waste", bypassing the filter and pumping the nasty water out of the pool. Getting water in the pool has been a problem from the get go. The water level in the pool dropped below the level needed to run the skimmer/vacuum before I was done vacuuming. Since the well has run dry again, I delivered three loads of water Friday and brought the level up a fair amount so at least the pump could run. But, I will need another four loads before I can vacuum again. And probably three or four loads of water after I vacuum. And I need two days to shock it once it's vacuumed. The only water source is to bring it from our old home, 14 miles away, by tank in the pickup. Yech. I did rig up the gutters on the barn to feed into the pool, but we haven't had any significant rainfall since I did that. This is all a lot of work for a little relaxation, which will soon be too cold to use. Oh, well, at least we'll be ready for next year...
I've ordered a special drill for boring holes in joists and walls. I'm going to be running a lot of wires and tubing, I figured I'd better have the right tool for the job. It should be here Monday.
The areas sprayed with Roundup earlier this week don't seem to be showing any signs of ill effect. Those areas I hit on the first application are really dead, no signs that the sumac is coming back. Yet. But those areas from application #2 are not showing any ill effects. I'd hoped they'd be yellowing by now. If they don't start to turn yellow by Monday, I'll hit them again on the next bright sunny day we have. I think I sprayed them too late in the day for it to be absorbed in the plants. I spent some time Thursday evening picking up dead limbs and debris in the "sumac grove" on the north side of the property. Friday I cut some dead limbs off some trees there. I think this might actually work and the area look OK once the grass recovers! My neighbor on that side has a lot of old lumber she wants to burn up. I told her she could bring it over and toss it on my burn pile and we'd take care of it for her... :)
That's all I can think of for now. More another day.
Doug
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Sumac and Thistles and Burdock, Oh My!
There is no Yellow Brick Road to house renovation, but at least there are no Lions, Tiger or Bears roaming the grounds. Weeds are as close as I get, so far.
About a week ago I sprayed a bunch of the aforementioned weeds with a double strength Roundup. Slowly they are withering. Tough weeds. The area north of the barn that has been so infested with them seems to be showing improvement. It will be nice if I can get that under control and my neighbor won't have that sumac stinking up her house.
The pool is still not useable, needs more of something to clear up the water. A trip to the pool store is in order for Monday. As near as I can tell the bottom is slowly appearing, most of the leaves are out and as soon as the water clears up and the deck is scrubbed down, we'll be ready to swim.
Sledgehammers were procured since I last wrote so the upstairs demolition is almost done. There are still two doorways to open up and then we're done busting up stuff. I'm waiting for delivery of some plastic barrels before trying to remove the debris. Much more efficient than trying to bag it and haul out the bags.
The repriming of the well turned into a huge task. I put over 200 gallons down the well over more than a weeks's time and it just barely filled it enough to fire the pump back up. Once it got running again, I let the hose run for about four hours, at a reduced rate, to bring the pool level up. And I ran it dry again. But this time I caught it in time. So I waited two days and tried it again and with a few slurps and spits reprimed itself.
On the first round of fillings I dumped a bottle of Chlorox down there to try to kill off any nasties that crept in. We'll see if that worked. I don't think the Chlorox permeated very far though because you could sure smell it when it came back up. Good to have water pressure on site again, however.
The frost proof hydrant by the barn is now back in operation and doing a bang up job. I finally found the right fitting under the "black plastic piping" section of Lowes. I'd been scouring the regular plumbing area and going nuts to get a 3/4" barb fitting on one end and a 1" pipe thread on the other. When I wandered over to the black pipe section I about fell over when the right fitting was sitting right there and only $.34. When I finally got the fitting installed and began to refill the hole I put a wheel barrow full of gravel in the bottom, tamped that down and then put the dirt back on top. Since I had extra dirt and extra bricks laying around, I built a little "casing" above ground and topped it with brick to help hold the hydrant upright. Seems to have worked so far and provides a nice surface to set a bucket on if you're filling it under the hydrant.
Eloise still needs to have the jumper cables put to her, so to speak. It took forever to find a battery that would provide the amps needed and still fit in the case that was on the tractor. I finally found one and now just need to clean, prime and paint the case so I can reinstall the battery and crank her over. The good news is that most of the grass is mown and not growing very fast right now. But it would be nice to get some of those trees down before they start to drop their leaves soon.
This afternoon I've scheduled a trip to Lowes to pick up some heavy duty linoleum scrapers to see if we can remove the kitchen floor without damaging the wood floor beneath it. Once that floor's up, I can begin work on the PEX tubing which will go in under the floor. I have only about six inches between the floor joists and the top of the cistern. My plan at this point is to open holes in the floor on the east side of the kitchen, under where the cabinets will sit, and drill through the joists. Then I'll thread the tubing through, pulling a loop across under each joist pocket and attaching it on the far (west) wall. There is no way to get in there to attach the tubing up alongside the joists. My plan is to slide 2" thick sheets of insulation in from the side, in the basement, on top of 2x4 "sleepers" on the flat, then twist the sleepers to lift the insulation up close to the bottom of the joists. I'll have a perimeter lined with 2" rigid foam insulation board as well, so theoretically this should force the heat from the PEX upwards. It's not perfect, it won't be airtight on the perimeter, but at this point I don't see a better alternative given the limited access.
Once the kitchen floor has the heat run, we can cut the window and door openings we need, run the heat for the second floor and start building out that room.
Yesterday I spent the day moving dirt since it was such a lovely day to work outside. There were two places on the south and west side of the house I'd dumped dirt the last time I'd had a backhoe on the property. Those piles never got smoothed down and were an obstacle to mowing. Now they're shaped up properly and I can get to more of the property with Eloise once she's up and running.
Much more to write but that's all for now.
Onward and upward!
Doug
About a week ago I sprayed a bunch of the aforementioned weeds with a double strength Roundup. Slowly they are withering. Tough weeds. The area north of the barn that has been so infested with them seems to be showing improvement. It will be nice if I can get that under control and my neighbor won't have that sumac stinking up her house.
The pool is still not useable, needs more of something to clear up the water. A trip to the pool store is in order for Monday. As near as I can tell the bottom is slowly appearing, most of the leaves are out and as soon as the water clears up and the deck is scrubbed down, we'll be ready to swim.
Sledgehammers were procured since I last wrote so the upstairs demolition is almost done. There are still two doorways to open up and then we're done busting up stuff. I'm waiting for delivery of some plastic barrels before trying to remove the debris. Much more efficient than trying to bag it and haul out the bags.
The repriming of the well turned into a huge task. I put over 200 gallons down the well over more than a weeks's time and it just barely filled it enough to fire the pump back up. Once it got running again, I let the hose run for about four hours, at a reduced rate, to bring the pool level up. And I ran it dry again. But this time I caught it in time. So I waited two days and tried it again and with a few slurps and spits reprimed itself.
On the first round of fillings I dumped a bottle of Chlorox down there to try to kill off any nasties that crept in. We'll see if that worked. I don't think the Chlorox permeated very far though because you could sure smell it when it came back up. Good to have water pressure on site again, however.
The frost proof hydrant by the barn is now back in operation and doing a bang up job. I finally found the right fitting under the "black plastic piping" section of Lowes. I'd been scouring the regular plumbing area and going nuts to get a 3/4" barb fitting on one end and a 1" pipe thread on the other. When I wandered over to the black pipe section I about fell over when the right fitting was sitting right there and only $.34.
Eloise still needs to have the jumper cables put to her, so to speak. It took forever to find a battery that would provide the amps needed and still fit in the case that was on the tractor. I finally found one and now just need to clean, prime and paint the case so I can reinstall the battery and crank her over. The good news is that most of the grass is mown and not growing very fast right now. But it would be nice to get some of those trees down before they start to drop their leaves soon.
This afternoon I've scheduled a trip to Lowes to pick up some heavy duty linoleum scrapers to see if we can remove the kitchen floor without damaging the wood floor beneath it. Once that floor's up, I can begin work on the PEX tubing which will go in under the floor. I have only about six inches between the floor joists and the top of the cistern. My plan at this point is to open holes in the floor on the east side of the kitchen, under where the cabinets will sit, and drill through the joists. Then I'll thread the tubing through, pulling a loop across under each joist pocket and attaching it on the far (west) wall. There is no way to get in there to attach the tubing up alongside the joists. My plan is to slide 2" thick sheets of insulation in from the side, in the basement, on top of 2x4 "sleepers" on the flat, then twist the sleepers to lift the insulation up close to the bottom of the joists. I'll have a perimeter lined with 2" rigid foam insulation board as well, so theoretically this should force the heat from the PEX upwards. It's not perfect, it won't be airtight on the perimeter, but at this point I don't see a better alternative given the limited access.
Once the kitchen floor has the heat run, we can cut the window and door openings we need, run the heat for the second floor and start building out that room.
Yesterday I spent the day moving dirt since it was such a lovely day to work outside. There were two places on the south and west side of the house I'd dumped dirt the last time I'd had a backhoe on the property. Those piles never got smoothed down and were an obstacle to mowing. Now they're shaped up properly and I can get to more of the property with Eloise once she's up and running.
Much more to write but that's all for now.
Onward and upward!
Doug
Thursday, July 24, 2008
July 24 update
This week's been productive. We've gotten the pool on the way to being useable. It was really nasty in there but we've gotten the cover off, lots of chlorine in it and it's looking better than when we started. Today I figured out how to use the leaf bag on the long pole to try to reduce the number we'll have to deal with later. The end of the long pole got smooshed a while back when I ran over it with the tractor so I spent some time today "unflattening" it and attaching the leaf bag. Alex enjoyed hunting for leaves beneath the pea soup of the pool water. Progress comes in many forms.... :)
Wednesday, on the house proper, we tore out a closet in the SE bedroom and removed all the debris to the burn pile, along with all the scrap torn out previously. We also ripped out the door trim and casings in the upstairs doorways. They'll be replaced with casing that will look like 1750's material. All that's left to do up there demolition-wise is to take out a plaster wall where the new hallway is going and remove the old bathroom. Hoping we can get that completed by early last week. The head came off our sledgehammer so work there is suspended until I can get a new sledgehammer.
Today was one of the best working days all summer and we spent a lot of it whipping the bushes into shape around the yard. There are what seem like miles of overgrown privet hedges. Less of them are overgrown now.
Tuesday I tried to "top off" the pool so we could run the filter. We got the water we needed but managed to run the pump dry so it lost it's priming. Wednesday it rained REALLY hard and the pool was almost overflowing this morning. Today I tried to get the well pump reprimed (12 gallons later...) but didn't have enough clean water to do the job. So I brought home the 65 gallon ag tank and filled it up. I'll have clean water and to spare now. :)
Oh, one other little job, we dug up the "frost proof" hydrant (it's not a faucet, it's a hydrant if you go looking for one) and discovered a mysterious connection to the water supply that I have no idea what it's for. We decided that if we didn't know what it was, it was getting cut off, which made it easier to cobble together the right piping. Or so we thought. We got home and discovered that the plastic barbed fitting that looked like it had the right threading to fit the galvanized elbow actually doesn't. Back to the store tomorrow for the right fitting. I hope.
So if all goes well, we'll have the well working again, the faucet (ahem, the HYDRANT) by the barn working as well and a good bunch of the kitchen floor linoleum torn up. Cross your fingers. :)
On the Eloise resurrection project, she's gotten her new starter motor installed but the battery was kaput. So that's the next item on the shopping list for her. Once we have battery installed we'll see if we can get gasoline and electricity to work their magic in her guts and get her running again. The yard is pretty well fixed lawn-wise, but if she's running I can cut down trees along the road and haul them out of there much more easily. And considering how many leaves we've had to scoop out of that pool, those trees are going to GO at some point this summer. :) (Just so you know, they're all growing up into the telephone/CATV lines as well, so they really have to go.
For most of this week I've had the able assistance of Joel and Alex, two hardworking young fellows with strong backs who are able to take directions well, so things are stepping along. It's wonderful to say, "Sweep this up" or "tear this out" or "cut this back" and they make it happen while I'm off puttering on other things. It's a great blessing.
Thanks for reading my "stream of consciousness." Off to the land of Nod.
Doug
Wednesday, on the house proper, we tore out a closet in the SE bedroom and removed all the debris to the burn pile, along with all the scrap torn out previously. We also ripped out the door trim and casings in the upstairs doorways. They'll be replaced with casing that will look like 1750's material. All that's left to do up there demolition-wise is to take out a plaster wall where the new hallway is going and remove the old bathroom. Hoping we can get that completed by early last week. The head came off our sledgehammer so work there is suspended until I can get a new sledgehammer.
Today was one of the best working days all summer and we spent a lot of it whipping the bushes into shape around the yard. There are what seem like miles of overgrown privet hedges. Less of them are overgrown now.
Tuesday I tried to "top off" the pool so we could run the filter. We got the water we needed but managed to run the pump dry so it lost it's priming. Wednesday it rained REALLY hard and the pool was almost overflowing this morning. Today I tried to get the well pump reprimed (12 gallons later...) but didn't have enough clean water to do the job. So I brought home the 65 gallon ag tank and filled it up. I'll have clean water and to spare now. :)
Oh, one other little job, we dug up the "frost proof" hydrant (it's not a faucet, it's a hydrant if you go looking for one) and discovered a mysterious connection to the water supply that I have no idea what it's for. We decided that if we didn't know what it was, it was getting cut off, which made it easier to cobble together the right piping. Or so we thought. We got home and discovered that the plastic barbed fitting that looked like it had the right threading to fit the galvanized elbow actually doesn't. Back to the store tomorrow for the right fitting. I hope.
So if all goes well, we'll have the well working again, the faucet (ahem, the HYDRANT) by the barn working as well and a good bunch of the kitchen floor linoleum torn up. Cross your fingers. :)
On the Eloise resurrection project, she's gotten her new starter motor installed but the battery was kaput. So that's the next item on the shopping list for her. Once we have battery installed we'll see if we can get gasoline and electricity to work their magic in her guts and get her running again. The yard is pretty well fixed lawn-wise, but if she's running I can cut down trees along the road and haul them out of there much more easily. And considering how many leaves we've had to scoop out of that pool, those trees are going to GO at some point this summer. :) (Just so you know, they're all growing up into the telephone/CATV lines as well, so they really have to go.
For most of this week I've had the able assistance of Joel and Alex, two hardworking young fellows with strong backs who are able to take directions well, so things are stepping along. It's wonderful to say, "Sweep this up" or "tear this out" or "cut this back" and they make it happen while I'm off puttering on other things. It's a great blessing.
Thanks for reading my "stream of consciousness." Off to the land of Nod.
Doug
Friday, July 11, 2008
Mid-summer progress
I've taken more time in June than anticipated with outside activities, but my board is now clear and Walnut Hill squarely in my sights. (To mix metaphors) This week has been spent getting the grounds whipped into shape. I spent the better part of two days just mowing the grounds and dealing with rocks. I've discovered that the rocks which jut out of the ground and bedevil my lawn mower can be reduced to ground level relatively quickly with a few deft blows from my sledgehammer. Thus mowing in the future will be much smoother and less troublesome.
I've also once more cut down a huge growth of sumac trees that continue to spring up from the old roots on the north side of the property where I want a rock garden. I was going to spray them in June but didn't get to it. By the time I got to them this week they were way too big to tackle with spray (many over 8' high), so I cut them down with the brush cutter, again, and will nail them with extra strength Roundup when they start to sprout again. I'm astonished at how persistant these trees are. If I could only find a use for these trees I could be a rich man.
That goes double for burdock. This weed pops up all over the place and if left unattended to will grow to prodigious size (8'+) very quickly. It seems to grow best in the areas I mow infrequently, rarely in the areas I've let go wild, which is odd.
As for the house itself, the ceiling is now down and out of the kitchen area. I've removed all the plumbing and wiring from the area as well. The floor needs to come up and then a window and a door opening widened. I also have to cut a new door opening in the north wall and from the dining room to the kitchen. Then we can begin thinking about installing the PEX tubing, insulation, etc. in there.
The trailer is set up and open for business. I put the awning out yesterday and had a refreshing lunch sitting in the shade. Still seems strange to actually own my own Airstream.
Today I plan to cut down a few remaining sumac and then toss the limbs on the burn pile. Also there are some hedges to cut back along the road. If I have time I'll install the new starter in Eloise. (The old one I took in to be rebuilt had no repairable parts in it, they said. $200, whew!) Once she's up and running it'll make the job of mowing MUCH faster. But it's been good to do the whole yard with the walk-behind because I've been able to note and eliminate so many of those rocks. Eloise will probably need a new battery before I can get her going though.
It feels good to have the grounds getting much more "trimmed up" than they've been in the past. The trees we cut down earlier are all now cut to firewood length and stacked up behind the chicken coop and the "cutting floor" area there is now cleaned up of weeds and whatnot.
Tomorrow I'll consult with a mason friend of mine on the best way to widen the window openings and cut the new doorway into the north wall of the kitchen. He's also got the right equipment to cut those openings cleanly and he's offered to let me borrow his big diamond blade saw.
Next week I want to first focus on getting the shop squared away and cleared for action. It would save a lot of time if I don't have to go hunting for things, so creating shelving and getting organized will be the first priority. Then I'll get the pool open. :)
We're on our way!
Doug
I've also once more cut down a huge growth of sumac trees that continue to spring up from the old roots on the north side of the property where I want a rock garden. I was going to spray them in June but didn't get to it. By the time I got to them this week they were way too big to tackle with spray (many over 8' high), so I cut them down with the brush cutter, again, and will nail them with extra strength Roundup when they start to sprout again. I'm astonished at how persistant these trees are. If I could only find a use for these trees I could be a rich man.
That goes double for burdock. This weed pops up all over the place and if left unattended to will grow to prodigious size (8'+) very quickly. It seems to grow best in the areas I mow infrequently, rarely in the areas I've let go wild, which is odd.
As for the house itself, the ceiling is now down and out of the kitchen area. I've removed all the plumbing and wiring from the area as well. The floor needs to come up and then a window and a door opening widened. I also have to cut a new door opening in the north wall and from the dining room to the kitchen. Then we can begin thinking about installing the PEX tubing, insulation, etc. in there.
The trailer is set up and open for business. I put the awning out yesterday and had a refreshing lunch sitting in the shade. Still seems strange to actually own my own Airstream.
Today I plan to cut down a few remaining sumac and then toss the limbs on the burn pile. Also there are some hedges to cut back along the road. If I have time I'll install the new starter in Eloise. (The old one I took in to be rebuilt had no repairable parts in it, they said. $200, whew!) Once she's up and running it'll make the job of mowing MUCH faster. But it's been good to do the whole yard with the walk-behind because I've been able to note and eliminate so many of those rocks. Eloise will probably need a new battery before I can get her going though.
It feels good to have the grounds getting much more "trimmed up" than they've been in the past. The trees we cut down earlier are all now cut to firewood length and stacked up behind the chicken coop and the "cutting floor" area there is now cleaned up of weeds and whatnot.
Tomorrow I'll consult with a mason friend of mine on the best way to widen the window openings and cut the new doorway into the north wall of the kitchen. He's also got the right equipment to cut those openings cleanly and he's offered to let me borrow his big diamond blade saw.
Next week I want to first focus on getting the shop squared away and cleared for action. It would save a lot of time if I don't have to go hunting for things, so creating shelving and getting organized will be the first priority. Then I'll get the pool open. :)
We're on our way!
Doug
Friday, May 30, 2008
Progress comes in little steps sometimes
Yesterday I attended the funeral of a friend from school. His son was in my homeroom for several years. At age 52 he died of a brain tumor. Makes you think.
After the service I stopped by Lowes and picked up some drainage pipe to finally get the apron by the shop door fixed up. I managed to dig a trench there, some of it through solid rock, but hadn't had time to lay the pipe. Now the pipe is laid and most of the area back filled. No more trying to jump the ditch with the wheel barrow! Hurrah!
And last week I bought an Airstream to put on the back of the property as somewhere to stay when the day ends and I don't want to drive home.
Hope to tear into this full bore next week.
Doug
After the service I stopped by Lowes and picked up some drainage pipe to finally get the apron by the shop door fixed up. I managed to dig a trench there, some of it through solid rock, but hadn't had time to lay the pipe. Now the pipe is laid and most of the area back filled. No more trying to jump the ditch with the wheel barrow! Hurrah!
And last week I bought an Airstream to put on the back of the property as somewhere to stay when the day ends and I don't want to drive home.
Hope to tear into this full bore next week.
Doug
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Spring is sprunging again
I know that title's bad grammar, but I wanted to get both past and present tense in the same word. :)
It's been a busy spring around Walnut Hill. A few weeks ago I went over with my little gas powered push mower and tried to begin to catch up on the grass over there. I spent about an hour mowing, hit a small stump hidden in the grass and bent the blade. I only had a little more to do to finish that section so I kept going. The vibration snapped the bolt off which keeps the blade tight to the drive shaft though. So now I had a repair job.
With Eloise out of commission, I've now got TWO broken mowers on my hands. I basically decided to cut my losses and went out and bought a new mower the next day at Sears, a Snapper, self-propelled walk behind. After seven or eight hours I felt I had gotten things under control. On my arrival with the new mower however, I noticed that the glass in the back door had been smashed in (and out) but nothing seemed to be missing.
I called the state trooper, who showed up about 4o minutes and three phone calls later. ("Where is your house again?") I thought to myself, "I'm going to have a BBQ for the Chambersburg state police barracks sometime when the house is done. That way they'll know how to find my house in the future." :) He was a very nice man, went through the house and made sure there was no one inside lurking around. Gave me some ideas on what to do to prevent further problems in the future, etc.
I then set to mowing and later managed to make a cover for the opening in the back door to prevent further attempts at entry through that means. I'm going to have to make sure we board up any window openings when we remove windows.
By the time I'd done mowing, I felt like someone had been beating on my hands with a hammer. Between the rough ground and the small wheels on the mower, it really did me in there for a few days. But my body seems to have bounced back and we're getting the yard shaped up a little.
2008 Spring creeps along
My friend Dustin came over the other day after school and we put in two pretty productive hours. I managed to get about 2/3 of the tree trunks cut up that I'd taken down last fall. Dustin worked with the brush cutter and cleared the garden area, plus some land behind the house. The grass was above our knees and really tough and thick. Nice to know the soil can be so productive!
The other pictures have to do with the truck, which lost an alternator belt, and then the battery gave out. Hope that's the last repair, replacement I have to do with it for a while. I was really glad to have a second vehicle when it gave out on me.
My next task is to pull the starter motor off Eloise so I can hunt down someplace to rebuild it. With her up and running it will be MUCh easier to keep the weeds under control around the house. What took me seven hours would have taken less than two, I'm sure.
I'm also talking to a contractor friend of mine about coming in and doing the south face of the barn. I want to get that "locked up" sooner than I can get to it because there's another month left in school. I don't want to have folks wandering in and out of my workshop when I'm not around.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. More to come as time allows.
Moi
It's been a busy spring around Walnut Hill. A few weeks ago I went over with my little gas powered push mower and tried to begin to catch up on the grass over there. I spent about an hour mowing, hit a small stump hidden in the grass and bent the blade. I only had a little more to do to finish that section so I kept going. The vibration snapped the bolt off which keeps the blade tight to the drive shaft though. So now I had a repair job.
With Eloise out of commission, I've now got TWO broken mowers on my hands. I basically decided to cut my losses and went out and bought a new mower the next day at Sears, a Snapper, self-propelled walk behind. After seven or eight hours I felt I had gotten things under control. On my arrival with the new mower however, I noticed that the glass in the back door had been smashed in (and out) but nothing seemed to be missing.
I called the state trooper, who showed up about 4o minutes and three phone calls later. ("Where is your house again?") I thought to myself, "I'm going to have a BBQ for the Chambersburg state police barracks sometime when the house is done. That way they'll know how to find my house in the future." :) He was a very nice man, went through the house and made sure there was no one inside lurking around. Gave me some ideas on what to do to prevent further problems in the future, etc.
I then set to mowing and later managed to make a cover for the opening in the back door to prevent further attempts at entry through that means. I'm going to have to make sure we board up any window openings when we remove windows.
By the time I'd done mowing, I felt like someone had been beating on my hands with a hammer. Between the rough ground and the small wheels on the mower, it really did me in there for a few days. But my body seems to have bounced back and we're getting the yard shaped up a little.
2008 Spring creeps along
My friend Dustin came over the other day after school and we put in two pretty productive hours. I managed to get about 2/3 of the tree trunks cut up that I'd taken down last fall. Dustin worked with the brush cutter and cleared the garden area, plus some land behind the house. The grass was above our knees and really tough and thick. Nice to know the soil can be so productive!
The other pictures have to do with the truck, which lost an alternator belt, and then the battery gave out. Hope that's the last repair, replacement I have to do with it for a while. I was really glad to have a second vehicle when it gave out on me.
My next task is to pull the starter motor off Eloise so I can hunt down someplace to rebuild it. With her up and running it will be MUCh easier to keep the weeds under control around the house. What took me seven hours would have taken less than two, I'm sure.
I'm also talking to a contractor friend of mine about coming in and doing the south face of the barn. I want to get that "locked up" sooner than I can get to it because there's another month left in school. I don't want to have folks wandering in and out of my workshop when I'm not around.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. More to come as time allows.
Moi
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Follow up pictures
by Stickbug54
As promised on Valentines Day (!) here are some shots to show what we've been up to.
Click on the thumbnail above to go to the Webshots gallery. If you open it in a new window you won't lose this page (right click on the thumbnail).
There are no pix of the interior of the kitchen or the sumac grove, I'll have to work on those. However, there are some shots of the barn north end, newly enclosed, and the shop interior. We also have a few shots of an ice storm from a few weeks ago which were quite enchanting. The photos don't convey it as nicely; if the sun had been out they'd be spectacular.
We're still on track for Spring Break to be a big push. Finally gutting and roughing in the kitchen area is the goal. If you want to come help between March 17-21, let me know. ;)
After that, we turn our attention to the north wing and west wing foundations and get this puppy moving.
For those who haven't heard, I've decided to take next year off from teaching to make sure that I can get this project wrapped up and the two of us settled in. I knew from the start this was a gigantic undertaking and thought I had what it took to handle this during the summers. Clearly that wasn't the case, so it's time to take the hit and get it done. I hope to spend next winter warming by my fire instead of forking out more money for oil.
Warmly,
Doug
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentines Day!
Hard to believe the last time I posted here was August! Things move at warp speed during the school year, but not with regard to the house, unfortunately.
Our progress since August:
The kitchen area is about 90% gutted (the previous bathroom and flooring still have to go and I have to figure out how to support the headers and widen the window openings in the outside walls) but we're almost to the point of beginning to rebuild there.
Before winter set in I hired a friend of mine who's a "pro" and had him reside and close in the north end of the barn. He even put up a sliding barn door for me. I was able to get over there one day a month ago and have about half the shop cleared out and set up to work in. I was able to mount some racks on the wall to hang tools from, hang some cabinets for loose items and generally straighten up, organize and de-clutter. Another day or so and I'll get the rest squared away. It's exhilarating to see progress being made. I almost feel organized! I'd forgetten I had a floor in there! :)
The yard needs lots of TLC too. The sumac I cut down two summers ago has regrown from the stumps and needs to be wacked before spring or I'll have a new forest there by next summer. The brush cutter is all greased up. The trees along the road need to be thinned out too. Chain saw is all set to go too. I just need the time...
As fast as this year is rushing past, summer will be here before I know it. I'd better get a "critical items" list together soon or I'll be hanging around waiting for permits when I could be working...
I have several pictures of the above mentioned items. Perhaps one of these snowy days I'll get to upload them. Thanks for reading.
Until later,
Doug
Our progress since August:
The kitchen area is about 90% gutted (the previous bathroom and flooring still have to go and I have to figure out how to support the headers and widen the window openings in the outside walls) but we're almost to the point of beginning to rebuild there.
Before winter set in I hired a friend of mine who's a "pro" and had him reside and close in the north end of the barn. He even put up a sliding barn door for me. I was able to get over there one day a month ago and have about half the shop cleared out and set up to work in. I was able to mount some racks on the wall to hang tools from, hang some cabinets for loose items and generally straighten up, organize and de-clutter. Another day or so and I'll get the rest squared away. It's exhilarating to see progress being made. I almost feel organized! I'd forgetten I had a floor in there! :)
The yard needs lots of TLC too. The sumac I cut down two summers ago has regrown from the stumps and needs to be wacked before spring or I'll have a new forest there by next summer. The brush cutter is all greased up. The trees along the road need to be thinned out too. Chain saw is all set to go too. I just need the time...
As fast as this year is rushing past, summer will be here before I know it. I'd better get a "critical items" list together soon or I'll be hanging around waiting for permits when I could be working...
I have several pictures of the above mentioned items. Perhaps one of these snowy days I'll get to upload them. Thanks for reading.
Until later,
Doug
Friday, August 17, 2007
Back to School!
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
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
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