Friday, November 15, 2024

some progress

Earlier this week, we had the electrical inspector out, everything passed and we got the needed sticker for the power company to be able to energize the place. Now we just need to get them to come out and do it.

We also had the fire marshall inspection done, also passing with no issues.

In between time, I got insulation put in the new wall around the window.

And finished fitting the drywall around it and sealing the gaps with some foam sealer. We needed it to match with what was already on the wall for thickness. It's ready to put the paneling up. We found one that matches over in Richmond at Menards.
 

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Siding installed

As posted a few days ago, this is what I started with after the wall section was put in place and had some house wrap covering the openings in the studs.

I got it up to this point yesterday, with only the top piece left to do. That piece required a lot more cutting and fitting.

Before the rain started this morning, I got it all put into place and fastened in. The siding needs washing, but it has been just hanging around here for several years waiting to be useful.

Once that was finished, the rear gutter had to be cleaned out. It had filled up and composted all the way up to the roof and was growing things. I did get started adding shut-off valves to all the sinks and toilets, but only got about half of them done today.

Monday, November 4, 2024

Back wall rebuilt



After I got the transit patch pulled off, I took the recliners over while I had a big hole to work with. It's much easier to move furniture that way. 

Then I finished up the window frame part of the wall and set it to the side while I swapped the furniture around. The recliners are going in the girls place while the sofa was headed here. It turns out that it won't fit through the dooway going into the living room, so we'll have to do something different for our living room. 

The new wall fit nicely in the hole and is well secured. 


 So I added the window and some house wrap to seal it up (sort of). After voting tomorrow, I am going to get the siding up and seal it in for real.

Saturday, November 2, 2024

The girls' place has arrived

Friday afternoon about 2:30, the mover arrived with the girls' place. It is a very tight fit on our small road.

They did block traffic for a few minutes getting it ready to turn it in to the lot.

Starting in, while watching all the clearances underneath.

The did have to pause several times dropping down off the road to adjust the height and the offset of the hitch on the truck.

He pulled it into place over the top of the foundation and they unloaded the blocks and ground cover before stopping for the day.

They were back early this morning to finish it up. It is leveled, anchored and the moisture barrier is in place.


 We still have to get everything hooked up and the fence for the dog yard put back up, but it's here and the project is moving along.

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

car is running again


On our way back from West Liberty last week, we got hit with some debris from the storm coming in. A branch went right through the grill and took out the radiator and the A/C condenser.

 I ordered a new radiator, but the first one they sent had a leak. The second one is now in the car and doesn't seem to be leaking any. I started it up and idled it up to operating temperature and it seems to be OK. A road test is still in order.

Sunday, September 22, 2024

A couple more minor updates


I picked a bucket full of pears from Lisa & Jim's tree today and started processing them. I canned 8 jars and the rest are currently cooking down for pear sauce and pear butter.


 Harry was down a couple days ago and we buried the rest of the electric trench and smoothed it all out. Everything is ready to have the trailer delivered as soon as I can get that done. We had a hauler look at it today and I'm hopeful we will get it here soon.

Friday, September 13, 2024

Electric conduit is all in place

When I found out that my plan to run the electric service on the surface was no longer allowed by the power company, I had to run all of it underground. After pulling everything I had already done back out, I started by drilling a line of holes with my power auger.
Then all the middle walls of the holes got dug out.
Once that was all done, the new, longer piece of conduit was slid into the trench and through the tunnel under the foundation. Heather helped out with this part. It was a two person job to get it to get it through the tunnel and pull the extra wire through it.
Then I had to feed it all through the elbow and settle it in to the bottom of the new trench. I started to bury the trench at the tunnel and packed some of the dirt into the tunnel to help keep it from settling too much. I forgot that the power company supplies the wire up to the meter. I have more wire than I need now.