Category: lakehouse

Cool and damp this am, followed by really nice.  Thermometer says it got over 100F in the sun but I find that hard to believe.  Didn’t feel like it at all.

I got a bunch of stuff done, but the pace was a bit leisurely, and some stuff jumped up the list and had to be dealt with.  Stuff that I thought would be next week, and done by someone else!  It just points out that every single system here, and all the parts, will need to be updated.   I have no idea how I’ll get to the hose bibs, outside of opening interior walls, but I know I better do it before they fail.  I’ve got at least a rough plan for the other stuff.

Today should involve some electrical, some plumbing, and maybe some carpentry.  I’m also meeting with the foundation company’s foam guy to talk about getting the house ready, and to take a look at the bulkhead.  It’s a lot easier to do electrical and plumbing when the family isn’t here.   I can turn stuff off without considering them, and I’m not under the gun to get it back on.  On the other hand, it’s awfully quiet.

That should end tomorrow evening.

Having some spare parts stacked sure made yesterday’s issue a whole lot easier to tackle…   stack some repair and maintenance parts.  And if you don’t already have the knowledge and skills to use them, stack some reference books.   !Stack all the things!

nick

Chilly in the morning getting hot in the afternoon, with cooler temps in the evening.

It was pretty darn chilly when the contractor got here yesterday.   Might have been 58F?  Felt cooler after they started working too.  It did get pretty hot in the sun.  I took a break and did some fishing, and I might have even got some sunburn on my neck.   Didn’t catch anything, although lots of fish were out eating.  The minnow were schooling and following my lure, and a turtle followed it all the way to the dock.  I could have let him catch it if I slowed a little bit.  Between the minnows and the turtle, I think the bait is convincing, the fish must just not have been biting.

The work crew got all the holes dug, and the house is ready for jacking… which might not happen until next week.  They are awaiting a deliver so they can use their  new machine.  Everybody seems to be waiting for deliveries.  In any case I get to sleep in today.

Then it will be working the list.   I think I may go into town for some plumbing  pipe.  The supply line cut off valve will need to be replaced, and a new service entry for water installed.  It was buried and it’s rotten.   The foundation guys are also licensed plumbers so I asked them to quote me for the work.   They will also need to fix the transition from the house’s iron sewer pipe to plastic that feeds into the septic tank.   The current joint is broken and leaking.   We didn’t see it during the septic work because it was under the sidewalk, and buried.

We also discovered that there aren’t any repair piers along one wall where we expected them to be.  Since the fill dirt level is only a couple of inches to a foot, the plan was to just ‘tune up’ those piers.  But they aren’t there at all, which would explain the foundation sinking there…  there will be additional charges for new (traditional) remediation piers along  that wall.  The other piers are mostly bearing on sand.  Not sharp, compact-able sand.  Soft sand. Or should I say, NOT bearing, as they are sinking through the sand.   Shoddy work.  All going to be replaced.  Just as soon as the part comes in.

So supply chain issues continue to plague industry.   Grab it if you need it,  there might not be any for a while…

Stack it high.

nick

Cool and humid, but getting warmer later in the day.  Perfect weather in other words.   REALLY nice.

Did my stuff yesterday.   It involved driving across Houston to Baytown, or an hour drive with no traffic.   Houston metro is big.   Stopped by my favorite gub store.   Business isn’t booming.   You’d think it would be, but people don’t have a lot of extra money at the moment.  I’m hearing that from every direction.   And coincidentally, the guy I picked up from in Baytown said the same thing one of my hobby guys said about Texans selling off their cattle- they’re doing it as fast as they can.   Buy beef while it’s here, ‘cuz there is going to be a shortage later.   That is getting baked into the cake as we speak.

Today I’ve got stuff to do before heading out for a couple of weeks.  Mainly I have to get my storage organized and get some shelves set up.  I don’t think I can leave stuff in the foyer for 2 weeks while I’m not here…  Then I’m meeting a guy about selling my forklift.  After that, I’m doing a pickup on the way to the lake.

I should be at the lake all week.  I might come home mid week if the work pauses for a day.   There are reasons it might.   Otherwise, I’ll be there.  I’m taking my laptop, and doing normal (if somewhat thin) posts, but my access to news and commentary will be limited.

I’ll be working on getting stuff ready up there, y’all need to be working on getting your own stuff ready too.

Like stacking up the food.  And the friends.

n

Cool to start but hot later.  And probably sunny.   And hot.  I’m reasonably sure there will be humidity too.    That’s about how yesterday went.

Did my pickups.   Nice score for my non-prepping hobby.  And the Encyclopedia.   It is in great shape, smells right…

Gas prices seem to be going back up.   Almost everywhere outside of Houston was $2.96 or even higher.  I paid $3.09 and it was E15 so my mileage will suck.   That was a Loves, where they had biodiesel at the pump and a CNG pump too.   There was a big sticker on the E15 pump listing all the things you can’t use it in.   It says to do so is a Federal offense.  WTF?  We need a Federal law about putting the wrong gas in  vehicles?  That right there is a good example of what’s wrong with .fedgov

Part of today will be getting ready for the foundation guys.   We need to clear out the 1/3 of the house that will get foam injected through the slab to lift it and fill the void.   Anything to keep moving forward.   I’m sure I’ll find stuff to do to fill any remaining time…

Keep stacking while you can.  Work that meatspace too.

nick

Hot later.  Nice now.  Too bad it only lasts until about 10am.   ‘Course the humidity is there all day.   The hot part of the day is getting shorter though.  By yesterday evening it felt cool again.  Still over 80F, but cool compared to 104F in the sun.

Did a couple of pickups.  Lot of driving, but I got a steel cabinet (double door office supplies type cabinet) for less than $20.  It’s in good shape, no rust or dents, and hasn’t been painted.  I like to think I learn from my mistakes, so I’m going to use cabinets and not open shelves to store food at the BOL, when I can.  The plastic tubs have been working great to keep the cans and boxes and pouches clean and un-eaten, but they make it harder to see what I’ve got, and harder to just grab something.   My storage conditions suck.   Cool, dry, and dark they ain’t.  Hopefully at the BOL, I can get enough cabinets for the garage to keep everything out of sight, and rat pee free.

Speaking of the BOL, wife and kids took the dog and headed up last night.   I’ve got a couple of pickups today, so I stayed home until later.  I’ll head up as soon as I can.   I may try to get a couple more plumbing parts before I leave.  I’m thinking that I will have to run both my new pex and the old copper at the same time for a while.   The easiest way to do that is T into the hot water heater, both the cold line, and the hot.  They are the newest, are accessible, and are both the same 3/4″ size.  I won’t have to cut and splice anything either to get supply into the pex if I do that.  Every time I touch the existing copper, I cringe, just hoping it doesn’t break loose or spring a leak.

I’m sure I’ll be breaking some more concrete too.  Joy.

But hey, I’m building out our BOL.  That counts for a lot.  And it gives me a whole new place to stack all the things.

Stack some of your own.

nick