Category: lakehouse

Cool to start but warming later?  Maybe.   Yesterday was pretty nice, sunny and warm.   Windy as Chicago until afternoon.  Decided not to burn my slash pile.

Also didn’t mow the lawn.   It would look better but I spent the time doing plumbing.    Took a while in the attic to get holes where I needed them.   Lots of belly crawling, lots of kneeling.  Lots of fiberglas.   Old boy used a kraft faced batt, and the facing is brittle and weak, so every time you touch or move it, it crumbles.   My N95 mask is filthy but my lungs are probably ok.

I didn’t buy the right sized adapter to connect to the existing tub controls, so I’ll head into town today and see if I can find what I need.  If not, I can solder on a copper to pex adapter, and leave a little stub of copper attached to the tub.  I’d prefer to do it without soldering, but if that is what it takes, well, that’s why they make that adapter.

Getting pex to the last hose bib was a challenge too.  I couldn’t get access from above, so I removed more paneling (fortunately in the bedroom closet behind the bath) and made a horizontal run, through a 90 degree bend where the walls meet… couldn’t have done that with plastic or steel pipe.  I’ll feed it from the toilet feed, and will put a valve on it.    It’s not ideal to have a valve in the closet, but there are nifty ‘snap in’ plastic access panels that will hide the mess.   As long as I get the valve in, I can turn the water back on to the toilet and tub, and worry about the hose bib later, with all the other spigots.

Getting the pex dropped into the wall for the toilet supply involved a lot of belly time, with my face down in the insulation.   I pick up yoga mats when they are cheap for just that situation.  Cardboard works too.  No matter what, it’s unpleasant and good PPEs are recommended.  Pex makes it a lot easier to do retrofit than any other system besides copper tube, and we don’t use copper tube for that anymore.

Finishing the tub/toilet/hose bib will leave just the hall bath sink, and the master bath shower on the old copper.   The sink should be straightforward if I remove the vanity.  The master shower is NOT straightforward, unless I open the wall in the bedroom.  Not looking forward to that.  That shower was replaced recently so I’m hoping the pipes are in good shape.   Yeah, I know.  Unlikely.

So today will be more plumbing.  Maybe some organizing.  And later a fire.  Hope the music is more uptempo though.

Stack some stuff and the skills to use it.

nick

Oh yeah, it was pretty clear when I started my fire, but got hazy later.   The lake was dead flat- I could see the reflection of airplane lights in it.   I did see one long shooting star before the haze got too bad.

Cool and damp, getting warmer later, maybe.     National forecast has us in a rain and T storm possible zone.    I’ve got stuff to do that can’t happen in the rain, so I hope it holds off or is very regional.

Started the day yesterday at the BOL.   Rained on and off all day.  Temps came up into the 60s, but were dropping like a stone by dark.  There was a brief rainless period in the afternoon that let me get stuff inside and dried off.  Also threw a lure in the water a few times.   The lake is back to normal levels, but was murky as chocolate milk from the run off.  Fish gotta eat regardless, so I tried something bright and noisy.  No luck though.

Saw a couple of waterfowl I didn’t recognize.  I’m going to have to look them up.   Kinda goose like, kinda not.   The local fauna changes with the season, and it’s interesting watching it and learning about it.

It was a productive weekend.   Wife got a lot of stuff painted and organized/cleaned.   I got the washer plumbed in and tested.  Also got the gas line for a dryer plumbed in and tested.  The dryer that came with the house is electric, older, but doing fine.   I just figured that if I have the wall open anyway, I should put the gas line in and future proof it.  I was already wearing my PPE for attic work.  I also completed the insulation of the pex in the attic.   It’s easier to slide the foam on than to slit it and then tape the slit closed.   Since I was cutting the last big section in half to add the drops for the laundry machine, I took the opportunity to slide on the foam in both directions.

I still need to run pex for all the hall bath, the master shower, and one remaining hose bib.   And in spring I’ll need to connect the other hose bibs too.   That will be next visit, or the ones after that.  No shortage of things to do.  Nice to be crossing stuff off the list.

Hung two doors and put knobs on them…  and discovered that  I got the size wrong on the other doors.   I’ll be looking for more 32″ doors.  I’m still looking for entry doors anyway.  Between the house, shed, garage, and dock house, I need 4 entry doors in various styles.  I don’t want to pay retail for that many.  Thankfully, not an urgent project.

It’s time to start doing some network/media server/pc work up there too.   I’ve got walls open and I’m in the attic, I might as well at least pull the cat cable.   I’d like to get cameras and a nvr running up there, and an internal network even if we don’t have internet access.   It’ll be in between other projects, but cams are starting to push on my brain.  That’s usually a sign that I need to get something done.

Anyway, unless something changes, critical infrastructure FIRST, then other stuff.

And in the mean time, still working on my house, and still stacking…

nick

Chilly and damp.   Was 46F when I got here yesterday, and just slightly warmer when I went to bed.  Should be the same until the sun warms the earth…

I got all the pickups done that I couldn’t reschedule or move into next week.   Nice hunting tool.   Kayak is a bit more worn than it looked in the pix, but not so bad I’m unhappy.  Other stuff is what I expected.

Hit the lowes for plumbing parts before heading up.   Spent some time last night walking through the project and discovered I need a couple more parts.   Natch.    Will have to head into  town and get them.

Got caught up with my fishing neighbor.

Played a game of Rumikub with D2 and the wife.   Read a bit.  Nice day.

Oh, and I smashed what was left of my terminal clamp into a solid bar, jammed that into a new clamp and installed the new, fat, terminal clamp in the Ranger.   Worked great.   Stacks came through.

Today I’ll be working on plumbing, and may move an electrical outlet or two.   May take a break and do something else on the list, like moving broken concrete.  Dunno, might rain according to the wife…   Flexible, that’s me.

Brought up a couple of things to add to the stacks here.   Add to yours whenever you can.   There are no indications that things are getting better.

nick

Cool but damp.  Maybe sunny and warmer later.   I hope so.    It was very nice most of the day at the BOL.  Started a bit dreary, with a sprinkle of rain, but cleared and got sunny in the afternoon.  Here in Houston it was 66F when I went to bed.

I did get a bunch of small things done at the BOL.   Main thing was capping off the supply to the clothes washer, and opening the wall to figure out what I need to add a trap to the drain line, and to pull in the water and gas lines.   I will move that up the list for the next visit.   I really need to get OFF the copper water lines.

Today I’m at home and there are piles of stuff to do.   Which thing gets tackled first is the question of the day.   Knock off some small things, or tackle something big?   I guess it will come down to how I feel at the moment.   Stuff needs doin’, and I need to do stuff.   Match made in heaven?

I know I’ll be adding to the stacks or working on them…   you should too.

nick