Category: House
Trials, tribulations and accomplishments as a home owner.
Redneck Lawncare Update
In hindsight, putting a clutch on the blade to keep the drive shaft from breaking probably would have been wise. I wonder what I can do with an extra 30 cc 2 stroke engine.
Update: It was suggested that I make a go cart! I could do a motorized skateboard.
Homeowner stupidity
I have found a sharp 7″ circular saw blade. It is clearly marked "max rpms 5,400" and I have attached it to a weed eater with a max rpm of 12,500. Why should this matter? To make it interesting, the shaft diameter is smaller than the hole in the blade so I imagine I might get some wobble. There is no safety mechanism to keep the blade from being thrown. My legs will only occupy roughly 35 degrees of the circle so if the blade gets thrown there’s a good 325 degrees left for the blade to fly into safety. Of course, I’ll be pushing the blade into brush so that probably increases the chance that the blade will come back toward my ankles. We’ll see. Next post from the ER.
Bush Hogging
I own a John Deere weed eater. They used to sell a variety of snap on parts for it like a chainsaw extension, edger and so forth. I never bought any. Last time I was at the John Deere store the sales person responded with surprise, "Are you sure it’s a John Deere?" Apparently they got out of that business a long time ago.
My yard is overgrown. I have about an acre and the brush is shoulder high in places. Using a machete is slow going and painful. Using a lawn mower guarantees bent blades. Renting a bush hog for the weekend has been my desire but is a bit costly and just hasn’t happened. I need to be able to take brief breaks on the yard and pull this down over time. The heavy duty trim line just isn’t working out. For every 5 feet of brush I knock down I have to spend 5 minutes fidgeting with the line or reloading the spool.
The solution? A brush blade! These are about $25 if I can find one which I doubt I could today. Instead, I believe my Dremel and bench grinder are going to help me repurpose a rotary saw or table saw blade into a wicked brush destroying weapon. If I do this correctly, I won’t end up with shards of metal thrown at high speeds into my ankles and the hill out back will have a better chance of being used for sledding this winter.
Read more at Homeowner stupidity, and Modified weed eater, and Redneck Lawncare Update.
Burying the past
I just went through a box circa 1999-2001. It contained newspapers that were so large they felt awkward in my hands compared to today’s tiny paper. I recycled stacks of business cards of names that brought back interesting memories but will never be contacted again. I tossed papers of a defunct business which reminded me of the many things I had my hands in. I did some neat things back then. I found an uncashed check for $1 from 2000. It feels good to get that stuff out of the house.
Update: I filled up a 30 gallon trash bag plus another 13 gallon trash bag with papers I’ve been holding onto from 1999-2001. The recycle can is full! That was cathartic.
Our Door Greeter
Every night this spider builds a web by our front door that would make Charlotte proud. Every morning it is gone. I think the large view is awesome. Check out the really close up view!
Today is drippy faucet day
There are so many leaks in this house that if it were a boat it would be sunk. Today I am replacing washers and spigots and fixing all leaks. Here’s hoping our $90 water bill cuts in half next month.
Goals
- Replace spigot in front of house.
- Replace spigot in back of house.
- Evaluate leak in kitchen faucet.
- Fix leak in kitchen faucet.
- Evaluate leak in upstairs bathtub faucet and determine whether or not to replace the entire mechanism or just the washers.
- Fix leak in upstairs bathtub by replacing entire mechanism or just the washers.
- Attach water supply to downstairs sink.
First trip to Home Depot
I’m off to get supplies: 2 outdoor spigots, 1 box of assorted washers(oops forgot), and one 30 meter outdoor hose(didn’t like their hoses).
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Unnecessary Trip #1 – Rocky Hill Hardware
It appears my spigots are sweated on instead of threaded. I am afraid I’m going to break the pipe. If I do that, I’ll have to tear out wall and perhaps brick to make the repair. Instead of using force, I’ll try heating the pipe first and see if it comes off. I can’t find my torch end for my propane bottles so I’m off to the local hardware store. I’ll have to resist the urge to buy the new fangled hotter torches on the market today.
Home Depot Trip #2
Rocky Hill Hardwared morphed into a trip to Home Depot. I hate paying $13 for a tool I own but since I cannot find it that’s what I have to do. I’m also wondering if just trying to replace the washers might now be the route to go.
Trip #2 to Rocky Hill Hardware
Turns out it looks like this repair has been done before. I heated the pipe and removed the sweated copper. Turns out a threaded adapter has been sweated onto the pipe before but its so bonded to the old spigot that I think I would have broken the pipe trying to remove it. This was the correct approach. Now I need to buy a threaded adapter.
Completion Status
After 2 trips to Home Depot and 2 trips to Rocky Hill Hardware, the faucet/spigot on the front of the house has been upgraded and no longer leaks. The weed eater which hasn’t worked for 5 years is functioning and cleared a path to the back of the house to discover a steady stream of water from the back faucet/spigot. That one may have to wait until tomorrow. It looks like a previous DIY’er got creative with concrete. Time to cook dinner.
The soil 3 feet from my stoop
An hour ago, stepping out my front door included having your ankles swarmed by 100 mosquitoes, a dead bird, and enough landmines to give a Vietnam vet flashbacks. I relented. Determined to rid myself of the mosquitoes I pondered ripping out the entire front porch. Instead I looked under it. A dog toy in the shape of a tire..holding water. 5 planters holding dirt and water..no plants. Some plastic cups..lazy children. Toys and trash.
One can of back yard fogger later, the mosquitoes have cleared out enough for me to work. Under the porch is now clear. And the bird is buried with enough dog and cat manure that I’m sure we’ll grow a new one quickly. I’m know it will grow. The ground seems fertile. My 7 year old girl found the remains of a potato filled with airsoft pellets hanging from the branch of a tree. It had a couple of sprouts so she took the target and buried it 3 feet from the stoop. We now have a healthy looking potato garden standing about a foot high. Imagine the convenience! Two steps to dinner!
Spring is here! Stay outside!
As a home owner, I have frequent battles with nature. Mother Nature’s latest assault appears to be a yellow jacket nest near the house. Not the cute tiny yellow jackets that make you curse loudly when you run over their nest with the lawn mower but these are kind that need Rico, Dizzy and Rasczak to show the Orkin man how it’s done. We’ve had 3 of these in the house in the past week:
I know their nests typically have 2 entrances. They return to their nests at dusk. They fly faster than I can run. They tag you with a pheromone when they sting that alerts the rest of the nest that you are a bad guy. They don’t die when they sting like honey bees. And traps near the entrance work as well or better than gasoline down the holes but take longer. One evening this week we will do battle.
Handyman of the Day Award – Hot Water
Old busted water heater element replaced with shiny new one. Only two floods in the process, one sliced open hand, and no electrocutions. A 48 gallon tank is too small for a 7 person household but stands a better chance with two working heating elements. (Yes, I cross posted this with Facebook.)
Rigging the tree
I have tied a ladder to the rotting tree out front as the first step to rigging it to bring it down in pieces. But I cannot find my climbing harness. I think Cathy hid it. She’s going to hide my shovel now too. Yes, I am still considering hiring someone with a crane to bring it down professionally.
Heading to the trenches
Yesterday I inspected the trench that one day will become a French drain which keeps water out of our basement on heavy rains only to discover that a wall has partially collapsed. With rain in the forecast for Sunday night and Monday, I have to redig the trench or face having a pool of water that will slowly seep into the basement.
What prevents me from completing the trench? Higher priority projects, time, money and materials. The digging of the trench has to be completed. Long ago I concluded that renting a backhoe or paying someone to complete the excavation would be wiser than digging the rest out myself. I am going all the way down to the footers so that this repair is as long lasting as possible and adds value to the house. I need 2-3 dump truck loads of 3/4inch gravel. Tar for the wall. A thick millimeter plastic or other liner to go on top of the tarred wall. 4 inch heavy PVC with holes drilled in it OR ceramic weeping pipe as the drain. Must debate the pros and cons of wrapping the pipe in fabric as it helps keep sediment from clogging the pipe but the filtering material itself can become clogged and defeat the purpose of the pipe. May be better to have an easily accessible cleanout from the driveway. Need backfill dirt. Additionally I may take advantage of the exposed wall to run an additional waste water pipe to the property waste water main pipe so that sinks, or a washing machine could easily be installed in close proximity to the front wall of the house in the basement or garage. Estimated cost to complete the French drain project: $600-1200.
So how cold is it?
It’s so cold that people are turning to witches’ titties for warmth!
It was -12°C this morning outside and probably 10°C in my office. I’ve had to put on the same layers of clothing that I would use to go outside simply to work in my office. The cold of my office has been so unbearable that I almost haven’t been able to work. I finally broke down and decided to sacrifice the door that leads from my office to the outside and covered it in thick plastic. The temperature in my dungeon almost instantly became more bearable! I think I’m going to get a little crazy with the plastic and see how warm I can make this house. Maybe I’ll get a spool of insulation and insulate the ceiling in the garage which is under the family room upstairs. What I wouldn’t give to be installing new windows right now!
English to metric conversion by OnlineConversion.com.
I did a little plumbing
Some programmers take smoke breaks. I don’t smoke so I take demolition/construction breaks.
Flood update
The 8 gallon shop vac had sucked up 4 or 5 gallons of water. Using towels, I had dammed off most of the water and prevented serious damage to furniture and other belongings. The shop vac was doing a great job of keeping the floor dry without me standing over it so I decided I should go outside and tackle the root of the problem head on. Silly me. I should have emptied the 4 or 5 gallons of water first! I don a swimsuit, a pair of socks I don’t care about, a ratty t-shirt, and some boots I’ve been meaning to throw away that have holes big enough to stick a toe through. I remind myself that it is January and pouring rain outside but in 3 minutes it won’t matter if I was naked; I’m going to be cold.
Standing in the rain I seriously consider just going back inside and working the symptom instead of the problem. The problem of course is a trench that hasn’t been completed nor maintained. Water is pooling instead of flowing out and away from the house. I decide to throw myself at it and see if a little dredging will do the trick but I have to remove six inches of leaves just to get to what should have been dirt. It looks more like quicksand and I sink deep. Trudging through this mess is like walking in watery cement just ready to pour, or a runny oatmeal. The shovel moves half dirt and half water. I fling it over my head to the mound that originally was in the trench. Half of what I throw pours back down on top of me and into the trench. The walls collapse and the pool gets deeper. I realize I didn’t ask anyone inside to keep an eye on the downstairs. Yikes! The shop vac has filled up and is no longer maintaining the floods! The levees of towels have become over saturated and are failing to hold back the waters. Worse yet, there are no dry towels left! I cannot go inside to help because my repair has worsen the situation and I must finish the job. My fingers start to blister. I slip and fall in the mud. My headlamp is weak and barely lights the "ground" in front of me. To make it worse, when I exhale all I see is fog making it nearly impossible to decide where to dig. The simple goal is to make the puddles flow and drain. One end of the trench must be higher than the other.
After 3 hours of digging, dredging, chanting, singing, and fighting the urge to give up, I am startled as I hear a splash and rush of liquid. The dam has burst and the waters are flowing out of the trench and away from the house.
The danger and problem is far from over. The shop vac cannot run all night. The ground is still supersaturated. And along I made vast improvements to the trench, it is still puddling in places and really needs a small backhoe to be completed. For nights like this, we should be allowed to buy small dosages of serious pain medicines without a prescription. Typing this entry, hurt.
