Winter Prep

Winter is coming fast, so one has to get water out of systems.  This is the place in our basement where we turn off the water to the garage faucet.  I have to turn them off then unscrew a screw to have them drain out.  You also have to open the values in the garage otherwise a vacuum forms and water doesn't come out.

I also like to drain some water out of the water heater at this time of year to clean out any mineral build up.  I generally don't get much, which surprises me since we have hard water.  I can only imagine what the inside of the tank looks like...

This time though I loosened the nut and the faucet started dripping.  Luckily it was a simple matter to tighten it up again.

I also ran anti-freeze through the yard sprayer tonight, because it would be a bummer to lose that.

Apple picking and worm burning

 We went to my Mom's on Saturday to visit and help her out with a few things around the house.  While there the kids wanted to pick apples from her tree, she is debating cutting it down, but that seems like such a waste!

The kids had a good time picking apples, most of the apples will require some selective slicing to make edible however, as there are quite a few worms nests in the tree.  So after we had picked what we could, I taped a torch to the end of a poll and went to work on the nests.  

Nothing most satisfying then watching burning worms fall to the ground.

We also played some Phase 10, which the kids have been getting into lately.  And also a new game called King Karma, which was pretty fun as well.

In addition we moved a bunch of wood into the garage for her so she would be ready to burn.

Attic Room Expenses

FYI:

• Attic Ladder: 104
• OSB (8x4) 3 pieces: 52.41
• Brad Nails (5000): 9.59
• Furring Strips (10): 11.50
• Framing lumber (4 2x4x6): 9.56
• Door lumber (2 1x2x6, 2 1x3x6): 5.34, 7.44
• Construction Screws (5lbs 3inch): 14.99
• Construction Adhesive (3): 6.75 + (8) 17.98
• ABS cement: 5.4
• 1.5 inch vent elbows (4): 5.48
• 1/4 inch plywood for "shiplap" (7): 139.93
• Pine Screen "Trim" (13): 41.47
• Pine Corner Trim: 4.39
• Poly: 42.96
• Carpet: 94.08 + 102.90 + 10.90 (remnants, good for the Earth)

Total: $687.07

Not bad for 18' x 4' 8" = 86 square feet ($7.99 per sqft)

The attic continues (and drags on into the cold months...)

This is a bit of an old picture, but you can see the "shiplap" walls there, it is working OK.  We ended up having to put in drywall anyway because 1/4" wood isn't very strong... duh.  The hole in the wall there is for storage, I will need to build some slide in door to insulate that when we aren't accessing it.

It has been a bit of a dragged out process and is taking way too long.  It is tough to find time.  The sides are insulated now, but the end wall has yet to be build.  So it is really cold up there.

My wife done lost her mind! Putting in an attic space.

Jen let me put a hole in our closet to access the attic more easily.  We are on the way to having a fun little reading nook/storage room above our upstairs!

Sunday I went into the attic via Maddie's closet and was able to clear out the space above the closet of insulation.  Then I drilled down 4 holes about where I thought the opening would be between the trusses.

Once back down, I was able to cut the hole and away we went.  I have been working on putting in floor boards, the most difficult task is getting them up through the hole.  Then the kids and I have been putting down furring strips so we are able to avoid moving a bunch of wires and putting the floor boards down.

Nick has swimming last night so we weren't able to work on it, but tonight we were able to reroute a vent pipe and get another floor board down.

We are thinking of doing ship lap for the walls, that way we can use thin strips and it looks pretty nice.  We will see.  Jen's hope is that it doesn't take too long.  We will see, we are pretty busy and it takes some dedicated time to make progress.

Toilet Trouble

So based on "peer pressure" from the internet, I purchased a bidet.  Not something I thought I would ever buy, but enough people and reviews said that they are wonderful that I thought I would try one.

Where it was leaking.

I purchased one from Amazon, it was this one.  It was on sale for 19.99 and it seemed like a what the heck purchase.  Of course in order to get free shipping I had to add a shower head as well, which works well.

Tiny little gasket that wasn't doing the job...

When I went to install the bidet, I disconnected the water supply, installed bidet and reconnected everything.  Found out quickly that the connection between the tank and the diverter leaked.  So now the wife wasn't happy with me, so I took it all apart and hooked it back up as it was before.  And it leaked!  Ugg.

The value that my builder used was a FlowTite valve by Accor Technology.  The problem is that the tube is crimped to the value, so there isn't a way to replace the connector.  I was reading about twisting the value to get it off and replacing it with a regular value.

However, I saw some beveled washers while wondering around at home depot hoping to figure out a solution and thought I would try them.  They provided enough additional material that the gasket seated in the connector and didn't leak anymore!

FlowTite Plastic Value Assembly

More Storage...

Seem like all I do these days is build storage space.  With plans for more!

When in doubt go vertical, why waste the space right next to your ceiling?