I have not forgotten to work on my house…
Posted by aaron in Uncategorized on 13 March 2009
And one of these days I’ll tell you all about it.
Cracked glass
One of the new windows upstairs developed a massive crack, seemingly overnight. Since it’s still under warranty, the window company sent someone (the same person who installed the windows, actually) to replace the pane. When he’d disassembled the vinyl cladding to insert the new piece of glass, he found his initial suspicions as to the failure confirmed – an inch-and-a-half long chunk of glass was nicked out, probably during factory construction. This created stress points that the cold weather exacerbated and caused the pane-length crack.
Doors as far as the eye can see…
Posted by aaron in Uncategorized on 12 February 2009
I need to do a catch-up post soon and clear off my camera. In the meanwhile, here’s an attempt to start posting again with a rundown on today:
– cut wood for shelf supports in shed
– cleared basement some more (tires out back; scrap metal to the pile)
– tacked plastic over the thin window in the living room – last night there were extremely heavy winds (55mph+) and the ill fitting storm for that window was no longer holding up. I need to shop around for storm windows – the company I used for the two picture windows was fine, but I think there might be better options
– moved a few things to the attic; still plenty of space on just the reclaimed lumber partial floor I put in
– discovered three more doors in the basement, bringing the total number of doors in the house but not in a doorway to six, not counting screen panels. No, I have no idea either…
The best $70 I’ve spent on this house so far
Posted by aaron in laundry room on 27 January 2009
I never posted about this, probably because it seems so insignificant in the scheme of things. My washing machine a) was noisy as heck on the old wooden beams of the house and b) liked to take a walk every time it was used. A search online reveled only one really good sounding option, and man were they worth every penny. You can still hear both the washer and the dryer, but it no longer sounds like they’re about to crash through the ceiling. The washer hasn’t moved an inch since I installed these things. Plus the company is family run, they pack their product in those corn-starch-based packing peanuts that dissolve in water, and they donate some of their profits to charity. It’s like Ben and Jerry’s for hard rubber disks. Brilliant, and highly recommended.
Read twice, order once
Posted by aaron in bathroom, electrical on 23 January 2009
Months ago I ordered a cover/grille assembly for the light/fan/heater unit in my bathroom – the original had been lost prior to me moving in. I also got the unit’s install guide emailed from the manufacturer. I scanned the wiring diagrams only long enough to confirm that I’d be able to wire everything on my own, but failed to note a key point – the switch for this type of unit is more specialized than the standard 3 switch combo I then went and bought at Home Depot. So, now, as I’m finally ready to finish wiring things up, I realize I can’t. I just put the order in to the manufacturer for the specific switch assembly I need, but meanwhile I’m feeling a little dumb, and a little irritated that I can’t get this done as planned. Planned being a relative term of course since I’m only getting to it now.
I did at least complete the wiring from the service panel to the unit. Originally I was going to swipe an existing run that goes to an unused heater in the bathroom:
…but it was clamped into the heater unit before the room was finished off, and thus would be a bit of a pain to undo:
Instead, I reasoned that, since I wouldn’t be using that heater unit, I could branch the line for the overhead unit from the same run and not have to worry about overloading the circuit:
exhibit A: the box
exhibit B: the box open, showing the line coming fromthe service panel and the line going to the old heater.
exhibit don’t-be-an-idiot: even if you know you flipped the breaker,check that the line isn’t hot before sticking your hand in there.
new branch tied in to all three wires
…and coming up to meet the wires running from the overhead unit.
Update:
Pics of the wrong and the right switch (specialty switch needed for the job is on the right in both pics):
Quick hits
Got started on the list of things to do that will let me do things on my big list. You’ll see. It’ll all come together soon…
Said list today included:
– cutting two 10′ 2x4s for use in the shed. Of course, these 2x4s were in the attic and I decided not to drag the circ saw an an extension cord up there…
– cut and installed ‘covers’ on two of the three attic ‘windows’ to cut down on the draft up there; it’ll be a little while before I can build the custom windows for those holes, so this is better than nothing
– took ye olde hammer outside to deal with this:
Then spent a few hours helping Marion get more things shipped so he can leave town (again).
More tomorrow. You’ll see…
Everything old is new again
Just in time for the new year, a couple of old pictures from my camera which I apparently never posted.
I picked up this table off of Freecycle, planning on using it in my back room/workroom as just a level surface. Originally it was covered in 30-50 year old contact paper (a lovely star spangled theme if anyone wants it) stapled to the underside of the top. When I pulled the paper I found a) a nicer looking old table than I expected and b) a pretty obvious gap between the boards forming the top.
I was thinking about re-covering the table in something, but then I noticed that the nails holding one of the boards were loose. Turns out the table was very poorly repaired sometime decades ago (as well as probably rebuilt – looks like there are three different woods used, plus I’m pretty sure this once had drawer). So I pulled the four nails and tried to reset the board. At this point I discovered that the attempted repair job had involved a heavy coat of glue:
The glue had hardened around the outside edge of the leg, so the board couldn’t be pulled back evenly. Twenty minutes with a putty knife and razor blade and the glue was chipped away. Snug the board as close to the other as possible (the boards look like they were a replacement top ages ago – neither is fully square so there’s still a much smaller gap between them in the middle), tap the nails back into the same holes, and voila!
Before:
After:
Also, and this was months ago, this is how the window on the steps to the basement used to look:
…and here’s how it looks now:
These two windows were lying around in the basement and happened to be the perfect width. Together they’re a little too tall for the space, but they fit snugly enough with the existing box that a heavy bead of caulk on all three sides seems to have sealed out the wind pretty well. The exterior window (sort of visible in the second photo) is missing a pane though, and I was waiting for the temperatures to come back up before testing out my new glass cutter/glazing points/glazing compound bundle that’s now sitting in the back room desiring to be useful. Better pics of both inside and outside once I lay that last pane.
Dangit…
Posted by aaron in Uncategorized on 20 December 2008
I missed posting on both Wednesday AND Thursday and now I’ve forgotten half the things I did, I’m sure. I do know I finally cleared a couple of things in the upstairs shower room and hung two mirrors I’d taken down from elsewhere – I would post pictures, but the room is kind of small and you wouldn’t get a real good sense of it. Suffice to say a) there are no longer mirrors cluttering the shower room and b) the mirrors now on the walls give it a more open and inviting feel, which it was definitely lacking before.
Minor stuff here and there. Took measurements on the window holes in the attic to prep for making some custom windows. Marked off cuts on 2x4s to use for shelving in the shed. More Kroil and more blowtorch on the stand pipe (still nothing…). Ummm… other things too, I bet.
Today was a bit of a lost day – later start, sidetracked by other projects, and then a lot of wandering Elyria looking for a plumbing supply place in the hopes of getting a couple of small radiator parts. I did manage to get a couple of floor mats for inside the doorways (note to local merchants – selling out of floor mats in December in Ohio is a good thing, and should prompt you to order MORE floor mats because it’s not like everyone in town was smart enough to buy them before now) but they need to be uncreased before I can see if they work with my doors.
Righto. A weekend awaits.
More small stuff
Raked about half the backyard.
More clearing in back room and living room.
Took a wire brush to the stand pipe cleanout, then gave it another dose of Kroil. Will alternate this with a blowtorch for the next couple of days and see if it gets us anywhere.
Mapped a few electrical circuits in the basement, including finally isolating the dining room light so I can install the switch and unit – and have a dining room again!
Also sorted through most of the papers that had piled up on the coffee table, which isn’t really house-related per se, but at least I now have a coffee table again. And now Sarah’s calling saying they’re at the Feve, so I think that’s it for today…
Project Week, the sequel
No work this week, so the plan is (was) to repeat Fall Break where I worked from early to late on the house doing numerous projectsd small and large. Monday got off to a slower start than I’d like, plus this week I do have one responsibility – Street Law at the high school every afternoon helping the students prepare for a moot court in front of the city council on Thursday. But I did manage to get some bits done in the afternoon and evening – more cleaning in the back room, installed the banister in the back staircase, and tackled cleaning the stove. Both Comet and baking soda and vinegar cut through some stuff, but it’s been six months of college students and me using that thing, so it’ll take more elbow grease to cut the grease.
Still working on the stand pipe cover – more blowtorching planned for tomorrow.
I was hoping that cleaning the stove top might reveal why the oven isn’t lighting. When I turn the oven knob, the igniters all spark, but there is no sound of gas flowing as there is when you turn on any of the burners. This unit has a main feed line that runs along the front of the stovetop under the cover, with six ports for the burners and a separaate distribution – two lines (one pilot, one main I assume) for the oven. No visible clogging or grease on that distribution, but I haven’t taken a wrench to the two lines to peer inside yet. No idea what to do if there’s not an obvious clog though.