Home Improvements: Built-in removal and painting!

Back in May, Robyn and I got the bright idea to remove some of the built-in shelving/cupboards in our TV/Computer room. The shelves appeared to be made of scrap wood and were somewhat flimsy; if you pulled on the bottom left corner, the unit pulled away from the wall.

Let's start with what they looked like originally:

[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmhyphenhyphena9X4rfxcqBdzQr3zLByQ0g4ID9wPZrQIBi-wW8asGpaJV1UMLQ9GWDONKzjdFaCJ3qdQu22fs-JihmNbeMsPqXgF4OLYg7qLyFuI0HpfeSnP_SZo4Zbjy8UkRom2NCRgY/s144-c-o/1290694135650.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897311315979325810" caption="" type="image" alt="1290694135650.jpg" ]

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

 

I thought that this would mean the shelves were sitting on top of the floor, and would be easy to remove...

Oh, how wrong I was...

The first thing I noticed, is that taking them apart was not easy; each piece was connected to the next piece by about 6-10 nails that did not exactly line up. I also made note that pieces that would have made sense as one piece were in fact several, and some pieces that would have made sense as multiple were one, oddly shaped piece.

I went about demolishing the shelves for the better part of an afternoon, when I made the discovery that changed my mood from optimistic to, "well, that is unexpected."

[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwpcOIkKFcy_NDiRwujMOlNmjJP4Kx7_-qeOCqllrvIqv9sD-XuFtxcgc3Qpot34yldy3Bt6gsKHukVRC5G8Howd74v9VXE70TwRMQmUNxKBvc0AwbHvT4wnP4kxMJQ8eFp-y/s144-c-o/20130527_132219.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724102639730" caption="" type="image" alt="20130527_132219.jpg" ]

 I had just pulled the bottom of the lowest shelf, and was greeted by this. In case you can't tell, it is sub flooring, not the nice, hardwood floor I was expecting.

I had already removed 70% of the unit, there was no turning back. [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCJWQqpKSiD1rmWLGquMUmSGRNnhNE-3FICTrW5CxSoGOTyPy6UF6cEeYS5iL0S4uoxJkamZbOUrT1JGgkL49zG5JAlO0Nn2VXMF6LkewFkldpmyMEYrBPAXTGQNCtxqCTGUP/s144-c-o/20130527_132203.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725721306866" caption="" type="image" alt="20130527_132203.jpg" ]

A slightly better picture of the shelves. This side, was not connected to the wall...

[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnyMs7UHYZmyzH6f6gfbXdZcBSWlR_gwts3C4uK8JEwMEXSKHXMBX_1WLhfk03ilqG-HaxOJN7CDCCM-EcWGY4mvCdB2KNaY7YnGz-9NhkPVhTEFuzeGbqSVZn-sUzvIl10MV/s144-c-o/20130527_132211%2525280%252529.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308726804055586" caption="" type="image" alt="20130527_132211(0).jpg" ]

The corner where the floor to ceiling cupboards used to live. I dig the avocado green!

[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpywJQuqr_M7KZ0daajV84i8rMRMd7F1oKtJJM-zfTt5M-aLyihWK-2SmZ1F7e4-XKZq5QLpqRQFf_mA7DcME19LEP39gDxr5mgNmJ3QM6pjLowFmNoSOnNYWOdNPOdYQO4Gw/s144-c-o/20130527_132242.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724455755426" caption="" type="image" alt="20130527_132242.jpg" ]

Again, the floor was not where I wanted it.

Robyn and I racked our brains on what to do. We decided to not worry about that, and continue the removal, and think about it, since we weren't going  to clean up as nicely as we thought.

Then, some time later, Robyn came up with a brilliant idea; Turn the 12' by 19" non-wood floor into an accent piece. Our current plan is to put down some white tile with a border of Robin's Egg blue tile, running up the sides and along the front. Then, we will take our two handmade bookcases, and use them to flank our Wall mounted TV. We will have to get some sort of cabinet for the wireless router/Media equipment, but we had a plan!

Along with the floor, we obviously needed to do something about the paint.

We decided to take a trip to Lowes on Independence Day and pick out our new wall color. We couldn't find an exact Robin's Egg blue, but we found one that was close.

A few dozen spackle patches later, and we were ready to prime the walls where the cabinets had been.

Before...

[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bvNhlIcVJ-Ci0FChS9P0xPmdk1dNcZ-wOQDrVutsEvIMDiKI3XEXZDqFluF4A9L0kK0LCKMcsymI7h5XQdvdU5WfmiXA43F2jeDGquBFerpfO99ONmwbFJFPJcRXEnDMS2-L/s144-c-o/20130704_125522.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308723875323602" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_125522.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiohvyyTSA6NCCWveH0YEvzeDrTGdF5EmVSHFrdtO4gxqN8334gzz19_QG04z37Ip3BOsvJdqRUE1gJtu2iOrwyW67dwbDqJ1ZvxiEtwtXK4yF4V1j3zJAp5Eddut4nNqzet5U6/s144-c-o/20130704_125528.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724982923794" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_125528.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCdBx-IJzmjt_ib2dloxfea1Fi97wAIO2t0EZQWGOVYvuPj4u6xIMAVf__tmwAydLbgF-KPG5oQqoE3oahsbI96p2-txGQiVE27MrlkcbzNk5G7sy_hFWy0WooDXJTI-X4v4W/s144-c-o/IMG_20130704_125542.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725242977250" caption="" type="image" alt="IMG_20130704_125542.jpg" ]

I even had a helper!

[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wwz9sQMZp_hDMJhvOdVteM6YHNnhEdPXab-Ce9E5dg3d_P8BrrdduAE67cIfdg_6XiKNuQoGcglyIWPiTSsmN2HI6p04rNpFaMy0lKxQeGNZ-DKhyphenhyphenm6Pvm7-HjoSTKERifiY/s144-c-o/IMG_20130704_134722.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725724076178" caption="" type="image" alt="IMG_20130704_134722.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCAuVzG1FA9hmRR1TW7oXHaARItYPc00OyBly2D5pb_OalpDLSC68x2a12XIA05At2l9Zz4ATLzpiPABjmVgaw2epPLyP20MlU2X1nbh4JSyOLtpVYP0ybXOK0V23ctuf2sIy/s144-c-o/20130704_134824.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724552581106" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_134824.jpg" ]

..or two!

[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5JP0Nt_iIPutrFHQkJujv67H2kaSgUBWyqP533UJOreqrJE8zUms767TxUs051O2eFlMACplzh8j9mRYjipYyib4-SH-L1_G6XgrttVdtnZutC-r10lOIoqR_BDImw7arg64N/s144-c-o/20130704_134834.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724948849682" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_134834.jpg" ]

 

 

While we couldn't paint over the primer that day, we did manage to paint about 50% of the room. I wasn't sure about the color before, but after it was on the walls, I really liked how it looked!

 

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 Those two pictures don't really do the color the justice, but you can start to see it.

Today, we went full steam ahead after I got home from work, and got the other walls painted. Two hours later, we had the walls done, and even were able to go back and touch up some of the painting from yesterday.

[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWz42X5fj7F5twkCqLrULCaSIHN8wvsckg9sJYDYxQrBw2h4MTO5-tKaU9OBFWK8ZNiCg2plROXbMhamdmpQ2hv4DkWsWW_7CWnfkLfLG4UryExyVon30IjNS0xM8C5_7WEwyi/s144-c-o/20130705_155211.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725327965442" caption="" type="image" alt="20130705_155211.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnp166mDcUjKfevXspp3U140EM6yoh2eXaze3hTq0kvk9SfjbYNNVO0ENrjvO7NB7AkVJg15k2TkU8Nii95ZNbEpV4e3IVM7b5_XkjHwQ9f9XUvCudxlVczkSxWtiIh9Sm0vl/s144-c-o/20130705_155229.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725135203394" caption="" type="image" alt="20130705_155229.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSZ9FpLHwQR0-sjCTLYH6KrF8VNNzz8ZaJNIMEl0XTbdLUqZNpI0gHq47GD1lcCCIqij6vPkazWS1w1DT3ovwsR5UXqJ5_t0p057rh4CZLfg5IdJ7YPQuhFfeKKVZBGpwtXM-/s144-c-o/20130705_155229_HDR.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308727704142450" caption="" type="image" alt="20130705_155229_HDR.jpg" ]

Now, all that's left to do is pick out the tiles, order the tiles, remount the TV, find a cabinet, and put the room back together!

We're practically done! :)

And then there was three...

Tons to move that is!

Since both the Bills and Vikings games were depressing, I made two quick back-to-back trips to TSC and managed to get one ton of pellets in my garage in under an hour.

Stacking said ton took about as long.

I am now tired.  I also realized that I don't have the room to store too many more bags there.

Maybe I can make a run once a month to get the remainder, or get another pallet to put another Ton in the basement.

At least for now, we have over 50 bags in the basement.  That should get us through the holidays...I hope!

A good way to move 4 tons by yourself...

That is my current dilemma.

I have 4 tons of pellets on four pallets waiting for me to pickup at the local TSC.

The manager there has been kind enough to let me keep them there, but that might not always be the case.

I need to come up with a way to move those four tons from TSC to our house, about a 7 mile trip.

Here is how it works now:

1. Open pallet, and take half of the pallet (25 bags) and load them into the back of my Sonoma.


2. Drive 7 miles home.


3. Take 25 bags and stack them on pallet in the basement/outside.


4. Repeat.

This way is the easiest from a logistical point of view: I only need to have the time move 1000 pounds around.

Grabbing the pellets this way would mean another EIGHT trips to TSC to bring the pellets home.

That is a lot of trips, and a lot of man power (from me).  The other thing with this plan means the pallets need to be opened, which means they are no longer sealed from the elements.  If I continue this way, I would need to store all the pellets in the basement and/or garage.  I like the idea of having the pellets still sealed during the winter.  If I don't pick up the pellets until January, they are just sitting outside in the elements anyway...

Here's my ideal situation:

1. Fork lift the 4 tons into a truck.


2. Drive truck 7 miles.


3. Use another fork lift to get them off the truck.


4. Store pellet pallets on the backside of my house.


5. Move pallets inside one at time.

The only issue with this plan is I do not have a Fork lift..

I could rent a pallet jack, but the wheel width would be too wide for a normal rental truck loading ramp.

I guess a makeshift ramp could be constructed...

This now adds ~$100 to the price.  Not a deal breaker by any stretch, but I'm not a big fan of spending MORE money if it can be avoided.

I want to find a solution that is easy for me to do without having to rely on several friends to come help move my solid fuel source.  I'd also like to find a solution that isn't dependent on my truck, as it is now approaching 12 years old...I'm not sure how long Vera will be with us (hopefully 2-3 years).

I'm thinking about delivery services for next year.  I would need a pellet chute and a place to store them.

I smell a new spring project!

As far as my remaining 4 tons, anyone have an idea?

Stove Update: still rocking!

Ever since the last time I "fixed" the seal, the stove has been running great: The temperature in the house has hovered above 75 even when outside it is below freezing!

The only issue I have is I need to remember to fill the stove before bed!  Two mornings I've woken up without heat on...

 

I smell a calendar entry coming!

Finally Scheduled!

Well, it only took two months, three or four visits from the sales consultant, two visits from the technician who will be doing the work, and one office visit, but we finally have dates for our home insulation installation!

 

They say it will take six days to do all the work, which doesn't sound too bad.

Here's a rundown of what we're having done:

• Blow in insulation into attic space above kitchen and pantry


• Blow in insulation into attic space above the office and stove room


• Blow in insulation into attic space above the second floor bedrooms


• Installing Soffit vents and baffles in Attic space above kitchen and pantry


• Sealing the rim joists in the basement


• Blowing insulation underneath the Kitchen


• Blowing insulation into the walls on the north side of the house*

*Not sure if this will actually be done, as we discovered on the south side that the walls are an odd construction.

This all begins on December 5th, and should finish on the 12th.  Hooray for properly sealed house!

Gutters are NOT fun.

I had to buy a ladder today to clean my front gutters.

Apparently a 16' ladder is adequate, but i should have sprung for the 20'.

 

Picking wet, heavy leaves out of your gutters is not as much fun as it sounds.  It doesn't help that while you are perched upon said ladder you are convinced that the next scoop will be the scoop that topples you off the ladder.

I survived, and my gutters are clean.

Take that front trees!

I also installed two emergency overflow pipes; one on my water heater and one on my hopefully-not-going-to-turn-this-on-at-all boiler.

Now to relax, and muster up the will to rake my front yard, again.

 

Home insulation saga continues - Updated!

I'll have to write-up a longer piece about our experiences with getting our home's insulation upgraded, but here's a quick recap:

• The company we are working through (a well-known and acceptable company)kinda sucks at communicating.


• It involved an excessive (in my mind) amount of home visits.


• They are having "Mike" stop by to double/triple check that the work can actually do the work they said they can do. (Work we have put a down payment on).

Now Mike has another job at 8:30 today and will be swinging by "before then" to check that they can actually blow in the insulation in our attic.

For their sake, I hope they actually told Mike...

UPDATE: I like Mike.  Mike is a nice guy.

Mike was here right around 8, and quickly explained what he was here to do.  He has concerns about the tile ceiling in our two bedrooms on the second floor.  He was not sure if there was drywall behind the tiles.  If there is not, the blown-in insulation could cause the slopes to bow in.

After taking a quick peek, Mike confirmed the sloped walls will bow in.  He is going to write-up a new quote to include putting drywall up in the two rooms upstairs.

Unfortunately, this means another discussion with our Sales Consultant, Norm.

I'll explain Norm in another post.

Let's just say, I wish I could only have to deal with Mike.

 

Stove is running fine

I think I have the stove running pretty good now.

After resealing every joint in the exhaust and the door, I think it is finally airtight.  I'm not happy with the amount of silicone in the door gasket, but as long as it works for now, I'll take it.

I fired up the stove after the sealing and the draft fan sensor turned off, which means the loss in pressure was gone!  I still had an issue with the pellets just piling up in the burn pot.  After about 12 hours, the pot would be over flowing, and the bottom would be covered in "clinkers" or fused ash.  This clogs the air holes which causes the flame to be lazy, as well as not allow ash to be trapped in the ash trap.

So, I also modified the draft fan thresholds a bit.  The Factory setting is 100 for low, and 300 for high.  I wish I knew what the units were, cfm maybe?

Anyway, after adjusting it to 170/315, the flame seems to be more stable, and the pellets are not piling up in the burn pot like they were on the default settings.  If anything, I might need to turn it down just a bit; I think the flame may be too active.  Although, my ash is nice and chocolate in color, a good sign the stove is running fairly efficient.

I'm sure that this will be an ongoing thing, but for now...I have heat :)

 

Two Hours in...

And the stove is holding steady!

The new board (along with some more sealant around the draft pipe) and The stove is humming away.

 

We'll see how it goes this weekend, but I'm be cautiously optimistic :).

Stove Part Delivery

Called the stove company to get an estimate of when the part would arrive, as it had not shown up today.

 

...Apparently it will be 5-7 Business days....

 

Sigh...

 

Stove saga continues!

Well...

 

Looks like stove is still "a work in progress."

Spent the morning on the phone with Tech Support at US Stove.  After trying several different things, they believe the controller board may be faulty on my stove.  They are sending one (overnight I think) to swap ou the bad one.

 

Quick note:  If you want to adjust the threshold for the Draft Fan on a 5500M, just hold down the draft fan up and the aux up simultaneously..this will change the higher threshold.  Press on when you have it set to what you want. Repeat for the lower threshold by holding down Draft Fan down and Aux down.

 

We'll see!

First Early Morning fun with the stove!

Well, we had an exciting morning today!

 

Around 1:30, I woke up and smelled smoke in the house.  It took me about 30 seconds to realize this is "not a good thing" and got downstairs to take a look.  The Glass of the stove was covered on the inside with black soot.  The fire was still burning ok, but there was a haze in the house.  I shut down the stove, opened the windows and let the house air a bit.  Around 6:30, I cleaned out the stove and tried to piece together what happened.

Here's my current hypothesis:

1. When I cleaned out the ash pot yesterday, I didn't push the latch all the way down, allowing the ash to flow into the burn chamber more than it should have


2. There was quite a bit of wind last night.  This, combined with the excess ash, caused a backdraft scenario that allowed some smoke to come back into the house.

I checked the exhaust piping for any leaks taht might have caused the smoke, but could not find any.  There is a spot around the door gasket that looks a bit singed, but it is still an airtight seal.  The flame does not appear to be lazy, and three hours into today's burn, and the window is still almost as clear as the cleaning this morning.

I'm definitely going to keep an eye on it, but I think we are ok.  Hickory smoked, but ok :).

Home repairs #2: The Dryer

Another project I tackled between the stove installation/inspection was the faulty dryer.

About two weeks ago, the dryer just stopped heating at all.  I started to do some research into the probable causes.  Several fixit sites pointed to either a faulty heating element, fuse, or temperature sensor.  Considering replacing all three of these would be under $100, I figured it was worth a shot.

I started by pulling my dryer apart, the correct way: I found the owner's manual online that showed me how to replace said parts.  After I opened it up, I discovered another problem: the bottom was covered in a 1/2" thick layer of lint.  The lint trap harness was not properly sealed to the dryer and was letting lint through.  This apparently is another common problem with old dryers.  I proceeded to clean it up the best I could, and removed the Heating element.  Thankfully, all the parts that were potentially going to be replaced, were attached to the back of the heating element.  I grabbed by trusty Multi-Meter and tested almost each part ( more on that in a minute).

When I tested the full circuit, it gave me a reading of infinite resistance, which means the circuit was open somewhere.  The main heating element itself passed, so I moved onto the thermometer...which fell apart as I attempted to take it off.

"No problem!" I thought.  "Super simple fix!  I'm done!"  I went to my old friend, Internet, and ordered the $5 part and paid $7 shipping....because I was impatient.  Two days later, the part arrived, and I installed the new thermometer and believed I was on my way...

...Home repair fact #34: If there is the possibility of more than one broken part, and you don't test all of them, you'll have more than one broken part.

Sure enough, replacing only the thermometer didn't fix my dryer.  I did what I should have done in the first place, and tested all the parts.  I discovered the Safety fuse was blown.  Apparently, this is very common in old dryers, as the lint buildup causes the temperature to rise above the safety limit.   The fuse did what it was supposed to and blew to open the circuit to stop the drying from catching fire.

I went back to the internet, and ordered another $5 part and spent $7 on shipping....because again, I was impatient.  I'm sure I could have found the parts locally, or found a better deal once I knew which parts to replace, but I needed to get my dryer back up and running quickly...and not many places are open at 9pm on a Wednesday.

The second part arrived on Saturday, and I installed the fuse.  I fired up the dryer, and it started drying clothes!

In retrospect, I think the dryer had been slowly dying since we bought the house.  Originally, we thought it was because of the OVER 70 FOOT LONG exhaust with EIGHT 90 degree turns.  Turns out (ha!) that it was more than that.  My test load of a Comforter and a few sweatshirts dried in ONE cycle, instead of the normal 2.5...

I win!

Day one of Stove use

So far, the stove is working wonderfully.  The vent system is doing what it should: Venting the smoke out of the house!

The Stove is current set on HR-1, or Low heat.  Current temperature outside: 51 degrees.  Current temp inside: 82 downstairs, 78 upstairs.  At these temperatures in the spring/fall last year, we were struggling to keep the downstairs at 67 and the upstairs at 68.  Even then, the Boiler was running pretty much non-stop.

I plan to keep a log of when I add a bag to the stove, and the temperature range for the day, and Stove heat setting to help track of usage to plan for next year and see how we do.

We spent Just under $975 on Pellets.  The stove, heat board and pipe work was about $1375, and another $55 for caulk and drywall.  We just purchased a gate for $43.  That puts the total cost of the Stove installation at around $2448.

According to NYSERDA, the current cost of Fuel oil is $3.65 per gallon, up from $2.79 last year.  That puts us at around $730 to fill our tank.  Last year, we went through around 800 gallons. ( I'll have to check that number...).

If the prices stay at $3.65, that would mean a cost of $2920 to to heat our house at the 67/68 degree mark through winter. That means, this year we'll spend about $472 LESS than we would have just using Fuel Oil, and have a house that will be warmer.  I'll keep an eye on the price of Fuel Oil, and at the end of the month, I'll take the average price and compare to our usage last year.  We went through almost a tank a month during December, January, February, and March.  November and April were partial, so we'll say another tank.  that's a Total of around 4 Fills.  I'm not expecting this installation to pay for itself in one year, but it just might.

Here's a link to the picture gallery:

Pellet Stove

 

 

Hopefully Soon...

This post will be replaced by a post entitled: "Stove Update: It Passed!"

I hope the Fire Marshal shows up tomorrow, as I haven't heard back from the messages left on Friday, but initially, we had setup tomorrow as the inspection day.

 

I've met all the requirements to the best of my knowledge...but I guess I'll find out if that's enough :)

 

 

 

Stove woes

Well,

We were close.

Fire Marshal stopped by today and said the stove was too low, by about .5"

Need a slightly thicker pad, and to rework the hole.

Looks like my weekend will busy!

Rented a reciprocating saw to make sure this goes super fast.

Home projects: Heating!

This is my inaugural post in regards to home improvement projects.

Our first "Major" project will be to replace our Fuel-Oil based heating with a Wood Pellet Stove. Initially, we looked into having it done by a local resource.  Unfortunately, the cost was almost 4 times the cost of doing it myself.  Considering the specifications as to what needs to be done is all online or included with the stove, I'm going to take a stab at doing it myself.

On Thursday, I talked with the Fire Marshall about the prospect of doing this myself.  He said that most people, if they take the time to read the instructions/UL requirements, can do this themselves.  Once we are done with the installation, we just have to give the building office a call and they will verify our work.  Feeling confident, I told him that Robyn would be down to pickup the permit the next day.  $25 later, we have a piece of paper that says we can do it!

We picked up the King/Ashley 5500m Pellet Stove from our local TSC on sale.  We also picked up the vent kit as well.  This thing is a Beast!  I'll post pictures of it tomorrow, after I have a few friends over to help get the darn thing out of my truck!

So, here we go!

 

Weekend Activities

This weekend has been pretty low key.  After dealing with some "plumbing"  emergencies the past couple of weeks (Base board heat pipe leak and shower engager break) I am happy to NOT have to play with Piping.

I took advantage of the calm and bottled the All-Grain IPA I brewed back in January.  I was going to write up that experience, but...reference plumbing experiences referenced above.

I started by running the beer through cheese cloth to help snag any residual Crud.  I discovered that there is a vast difference in cheese cloths:  This one didn't seem to catch much.  A test glass was very cloudy.  After letting it rest in the Bottling bucket for a few minutes it seemed to clear up a bit, but I didn't have a good way to re-filter the beer again so I had to make due with what I had.  I suppose I could have put some sort of filter on bottle bucket spout if I had more time or didn't have beer anxiously waiting for bottles. :)

I need to devise a good way (or find a pre-made solution) to filter beer.  I'm thinking a two stage filter: A first stage that stops "large" crud from even leaving the carboy, and then the second stage that catches any smaller/fine crud before it enters the bottling bucket.

I already have the second stage, a funnel with Cheese cloth..I just need better Cheese cloth.  For the first stage, I"m thinking a steel "balloon" that  I can attach to my tubing.  This would make it easy to clean/replace.

Now to find some decent cheese cloth..

 

I'm thinking I"m going to tackle a small water related project this weekend.  I need to move our washing machine about three feet.  Currently, it sits right in front of the Utility Sink in the Laundry space...this makes it really hard to use said utility Sink.  To move it, I need to get slightly longer Water line tubing.  I think I can handle this.

 

Well, Anya is asking for food, so I'm off to feed the baby!

 

 

Weekend House Projects 2

Well another weekend, another few projects done!

Saturday found me lurking in the garage trying to organize the "gift" the previous owners left us: a loft filled with random wood scraps. I pulled it all down, and sorted it into keep and throw piles. While sorting, I discovered a full box of the flooring they used in the kitchen! This could come in handy...I stacked the wood up in the loft, and managed to put Robyn's Tires and our non-sleeping camping supplies up there along with the Chairs I need to fix (which I think I can with some of the gifted wood!!) at some point. I then threw away the broken baby swing they also left behind. After all this work, I then began trying to see if I could fit both vehicles in the garage AND still be able to pull the snow blower out....turns out I can! There is just enough room at the front of the garage to park the snow blower between the vehicles and be able to open the doors without hitting anything! I'll admit, it kind of felt like a losing game of Tetris for a bit...but then finally getting the long piece needed! I have some finishing touches (like hanging the bikes on the wall to free up the front right corner) but for this coming brewing weekend, We'll have plenty of room!

I then moved on to our bed that needs some more bolts to complete it. I found that the bolts are hard to find! The original bolts are 2 1/4" in length, while the closest I could find at Lowes was either 2" or 2 1/2". I decided to go with the 2 1/2" screws. I used them to secure the head/base boards to the frame, and utilize the original bolts for the canopy. I ended up using one of the new screws in the canopy, and it fit nicely.


The next project I tackled was the mirror on Robyn's Dresser. The mirror was not put on when we moved because one of the support wood blocks had split at some point and time. I decided to use some of the scrap wood I organized from the garage to replace it. I measured the good block and set off sawing, chiseling and sanding the block until it was as close to the original as I could get it. IT wasn't a clean piece, but it was usable!

I drilled the holes for the screws/bolts and secured it to the back of the dresser. Low and behold! The mirror was supported! I tightened down the bolts, and angled the mirror so it rested against the wall to give it a little more support.

After that, I consulted with Robyn about our Dryer Dilemma: Our Current dryer vents out the opposite side of the house with a 50 foot run with about 7 90 degree turns...This might be one reason why things never dry!

We talked about it, and decided that the best answer would be to move the dryer to the pantry, so that way the dry run is about 2 feet. I took a look at our current dryer electric line, and realized I could safely disconnect power, and thread it through our closet into the pantry. This will require drilling two holes, but I think it is doable. After that, I can use a standard wall dryer venting kit, and should be all set!


All in all, another successful weekend! This coming weekend will be brewing weekend, so probably no project updates, but who knows? Maybe Sunday I'll feel like drilling test holes...

Weekend House Projects

Well, after the fun of the Boiler last week, I decided to keep our house projects to a dull roar. I mean, as much fun as it would be to start tearing down walls, or installing new lights, you kinda need capital for that, and the boiler sucked most of that dry, like are nice WARM air! (Heat is a great invention :) )

The original plan was to put plastic on the windows, to help cut down on the drafts. Notice the use of the words "original" and "was" in that sentence. Those priorities soon changed. Friday night, as I prepared for bed a new, more pressing matter came up:

The Toilet handle.

Through the use of my sheer manly strength, I managed to snap the mighty plastic handle at the joint where it meets the resistant plastic handle the lifts the rubber stopper in the water tank. My original idea was to replace the entire tank mechanism, until Robyn pointed out that the toilet works, just the handle is broken. I wasn't if Lowes/Home Depot would carry such an exotic product like that...but we took a gamble.

Who knew they sold just toilet handles! :) And the amazing thing is: Handles are WAAAY cheaper than the entire kit! Crazy!

So, after finding that, I was feeling good. So good in fact, we took another gamble that there may be a replacement drain for our tub. The tub used to have one of those Push down drains that doesn't have a strainer. Notice the use of the phrase "used to." That's right! We replaced the push down with a strainer AND a rubber stopper! After two Anya Tubbers, it appears to be holding up fairly well. No leaking, and the strainer is catching hair and debris (chucks of soap mostly) that normally would just go down the drain and potentially cause a problem later on.

I was feeling really good at this point. So good in fact, I went down to the basement and grabbed the storm window for the kitchen window that never go put on for some reason. I set it in place, tightened the screws, and marveled at...well me!

We also managed to de-christmas tree the house (which involved a lot of needle sucking/sweeping) and put the canopy posts back on our bed. We're short a few screws, but I took measurements and plan to pick some up this weekend, along with the raw materials to fix the mirror on our Dresser. One of the wood supports has split, and I plan on replacing it with all new pieces. Robyn and I also started planning for the big bathroom re-do that will hopefully come to fruition sometime later this summer/fall.

All in all, a fairly successful Home repair weekend...granted they were all small, but baby steps people, baby steps.