One year ago today: February 20, 2016, breakfast in Lake Placid.
Five years ago today: February 20, 2012, cardiomyopathy – it’s for real.
Nine years ago today: February 20, 2008, my happy hour.
Random years ago today: February 20, 2010, Mosman, the evil Judge.
MORNING
That’s really early morning. It’s ten to 3:00AM and I’m wide awake, also famished. It’s my own fault, I skipped meals most of Sunday, wasn’t hungry. This gives me the opportunity to sketch out the next step of the building. So much effort goes into the renovating, I’d guess around 70% of that needed to build something new. Happily, the work is proceeding much as expected, no major snags. A few underestimations, but those were based on inexperience, not poor planning. As an example, the relocation of that one outlet box required nearly two hours of drilling, pulling, and climbing the ladder. That was a major delay. Times like this, I’m glad I wired the bedroom with two separate circuits.
I’m nearly convinced the porch and sunroom should be floating structures. Attached to the mail building, but having their own separate foundations that don’t sag if the old house does it again. I reviewed several methods and the one I like is some loose lag carriage bolts fit into slots that allow an inch or two of play. The most the foundation was out so far is only 1-1/2”. But I believe I told how the blocks visibly compressed into the dirt when I released the jack hydraulics.
The only practical solution I come up with is to go deeper. No sense making the pylons wider, as that raises the possibility they could sink from their own weight. Stick with the 8” pylons but go deep enough that the sand as some rigidity from its own weight. The number six feet comes to mind. And I’d like to get this step out of the way before the hot weather arrives this spring.
This is to happen simultaneously with finishing the master bedroom. Once the windows are finished, it’s time for drywall. When that is done, at least in the back section, it is time to permanently move in there. The floor will be left at the bare plywood for now. Because I haven’t decided on a finish and because during the dirty work, I found evidence of other attempts to Mickey Mouse the job. No, no, guys, you got to get down and dirty. Afterward, I turned the shower water black for five minutes. I’m leaving the floor bare in case I have to get at those joists again.
I will need twelve pylons for the sun room and eight for the porch. That’s all new territory to me, so no time estimate. But once that is done, the shingles get replaced and except for cosmetics, the exterior is finished. Inside, I’ll still be wanting a garburator and dishwasher, and the new bathroom. But I can work inside any time. Add my washer/dryer and massive hot water tank. I don’t skimp on hot water. You want to shower an hour, be my guest. That’s one reason I was looking at a solar pre-heater. I have a roof that’s the right size and direction, so I could go pipes or electric on that.
As for the electric, I’ve drawn up a diagram that shows if I stick with 20 amp wiring, there are two easy splices I can make that free up five circuit breaker slots in the existing panel. I only need three, but I have not really planned on how I’ll electrify the sheds yet. They are still temporary.
Microburst storm (Phoenix, AZ).
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NOON & NIGHT
This shows the outer frame of of new lumber with the old siding boards not cut away yet. The color difference the new and old lumber makes for nice contrast, I thought. The double center stud is both for strength and to space the windows enough apart to have a visually pleasing strip between the casings. It should work out okay. If you look really close at about center, you can see the shadow of where the cripple stud will be, that’s the size of the individual window.
“Why is the bus twice as fast when you are after it than when you are in it?”
I had not planned to sand the window trims and such down to the bare wood, but the paint job was really that bad. So I took the last part of daylight today to get that done. It’s dusy, messy work but so is most useful learning. Ask me anything about wood windows now. I’m even going to repair that one sash with the broken weight. They are double hung windows, both sets of pulleys are present, but modified so only the bottom half opens.
That’s sufficient, since the open part is convenient for a nice breeze when sitting, the situation I would expect if a person has a window open for any length of time. The windows were factory assembled, but not the exterior trim. I cut out and repaired all termite damage that was encountered, an important point for the future. Shown here, the view at this time is just the messy back yard, but once that is raked and made nice, it will be a priceless view, like those mini-garden scenes you see in New York magazines. Only this one will be big enough to walk around in.
The front garden with the wild flowers did not take. Agt. R says it is not the cool weather, often in the low 40s overnight, but the lack of soil nutrients. I’ll try, since not even one wildflower made it. So much for that experiment. He says avocado trees do well. Apparently there are three sizes of avocados, the ones you see in the grocery store are the mid-size. There was an avocado back at Wally’s Folly, but I found it to be spindly, not that great for shade or wind protection. The one spot in the front yard I would like to plant one of his pink lemon trees is directly above the water lines, so that’s out.
Even the sunflower plants that started under the birdfeeder reached around ten inches height and stopped. I don’t understand how a plant that can survive on the Russian steppes can’t thrive in a place like Florida, with a twelve month growing season. I’m used to Texas, where wildflowers and berries will naturally take over any open area, but even dandelions don’t grow in Florida. There isn’t even a lot of wild grass. The big empty lots all around my place are owned by the church up the road, so they are left to nature. And still nothing grows there except a mat of tiny sprigs.
That’s the whole day. Do not be expecting lively adventure tales any time soon. I knew what I was getting into with this place. I am learning plenty and it is becoming worth a lot more money than I paid for it. That, and the sheer satisfaction will keep me at home for a while yet. Everybody talks about buying an old place and fixing it up, so how come except for contractors, you never meet somebody who has actually done it? There’s another lesson in there somewhere.
Last Laugh
(Caesar salad, get it?)
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