Tag Archives: Home Re-Construction

Tales of us working on our house.

The Big Dig

Ponderings,

Last Monday, the Husbear and I rented this little beastie for the week.

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Which led to seven days of terraforming. Kind of.

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We had the driveway damage from the heavy rains this summer to correct. And attempt to put new barriers in place to help stop that from happening again. Hopefully.

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Something about the above picture made me think of this…

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You’re welcome.

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Yes. He even did this late at night.
Yes. He even did this late at night.

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The repaired driveway. We will be adding concrete strips in the coming weeks for traction. Then gravel and grass.
The repaired driveway. We will be adding concrete strips in the coming weeks for traction. Then gravel and grass.

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Both berms. Two new ponds. Eventually.
Both berms. Two new ponds. Eventually.

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The upper berm. Eventually there will be a nice big pond north of it.
The upper berm. Eventually there will be a nice big pond north of it.
The trench above the "barn".
The trench above the “barn”.
The trench east and above the house.
The trench east and above the house.
Working on the north trench and berm.
Working on the north trench and berm.
The trench to the north of the house.
The trench to the north of the house.
He's made that face all week.
He’s made that face all week.

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The Husbear and his handiwork. And yes, he pretty much always dresses like this when he's outside in the yard.
The Husbear and his handiwork. And yes, he pretty much always dresses like this when he’s outside in the yard.
The pheasant being... pheasantey.
The pheasant being… pheasantey.
We've started putting down grass seed and burlap to hold the berms in place.
We’ve started putting down grass seed and burlap to hold the berms in place.
And reinstalling the fencing to keep the poultry penned in to their area.
And reinstalling the fencing to keep the poultry penned in to their area.

Here’s a better visual, hopefully, of everything the Husbear worked on this week. It’s the “from space” view.

property

Our five acres is outlined in red. What you can’t tell is that entire property is on the side of ridge. The property slopes at a fairly good angle from the lower right corner of the image to the upper left corner of the image.

The yellow lines are the trenches that the Husbear dug to channel future runoff. The light blue curves are the berms/dams that will eventually fill behind with rain runoff and become large ponds. (The green dashed lines are valleys that run down the ridge.) The purple areas are sections where land was leveled.

Here’s hoping this corrects the runoff issue we have been having.

Until next time...
Erik

Down with the Wetness

Ponderings,

We’ve had a lot of wet weather the last week or two. And even though we need it, it’s all coming down at once. Like several inches in an hour or so.

Last night/this morning, we had another one.

Always a fun thing to see...
Always a fun thing to see…
This system essentially sat over us for several hours.
This system essentially sat over us for several hours.

I went to bed around 1 AM or so, and nothing had happened yet. And then the lightning and thunder started. About an hour later, the Husbear woke up with the feeling that something bad was going to happen. So he went downstairs to look outside. Our home was surrounded by water, and it was starting to come in the back door.

Craptastic.

So much water was coming down so fast from the ridge behind us that it had jumped the embankment behind the house and water was pooling on the back patio. We wanted a swimming pool, but not there. As the water kept getting deeper, it started to seep in under the back door.

Fun.

So the Husbear and I grabbed shovels and rakes and went outside in the deluge and lightning to dig the embankment deeper in an effort to stop the water from coming over the top. It was like fighting Class III rapids. And maybe a Class IV at times.

After about an hour of doing what we could, we decreased the level of flooding in that area, and channeled it away from the back of the house as best we could.

There is another “ravine” on the right side of the property. Which was now a river. Flowing right down our driveway again. And around the well house. I did what I could to stem the flow of that water, but it was pretty futile at that point.

We climbed back into bed exhausted at around 5 or so. But neither of us could really sleep, worried that something else was going to happen.

This morning, after the rain stopped–for the moment–I went out to survey the damage.

The embankment behind the house. Or to the side of it, I suppose. Not that much is left of it.
The embankment behind the house. Or to the side of it, I suppose. Not that much is left of it.
The water made a new course from the embankment and ate out the fence line.
The water made a new course from the embankment and ate out the fence line.
More of the fence being washed out.
More of the fence being washed out.
The path the water decided to take, eating out the area next to the ponds, and all the way down to the road.
The path the water decided to take, eating out the area next to the ponds, and all the way down to the road.
The view from the road.
The view from the road.
The view from the other side of the fence.
The view from the other side of the fence.
That's deep.
That’s deep.
To the left of the ponds.
To the left of the ponds.

That’s going to take a bit to fix. Lovely.

And then there’s the driveway and the well house.

This could be a problem.
This could be a problem.
Looking down the driveway.
Looking down the driveway.
A deep mess.
A deep mess.
Looking up the driveway.
Looking up the driveway.

More fun to fix!

This is the riverbed next to the house. Which is normally empty.

The empty creek. That's not empty.
The empty creek. That’s not empty.

And this is what I saw on the way to work. Normally, there’s a small creek here, if it’s running at all.

Little Sugar Creek, as viewed from the bridge on Hwy 72. This is normally a field.
Little Sugar Creek, as viewed from the bridge on Hwy 72. This is normally a field.
Little Sugar Creek. Normally, the creek is back in that tree line.
Little Sugar Creek. Normally, the creek is back in that tree line.

Fun times!

And we’re expecting more rain all week….

Until next time...
Erik

12 of 12, June 2013

Ponderings, , ,

My eighteenth “12 of 12”.

The 12 of 12 challenge was created by Chad Darnell and picked up from a number of random bloggers who then linked back to him and vice versa. Chad stopped doing the 12 of 12 links in December of 2011, but has now passed the torch on to Janet Hughes. I’m linking with her, but I’m also giving a shout out to to Blobby’s Blog as Blobby is the one who inspired me to do it.

All pictures were taken by me with my iPhone 4S.

So, this is my last 12 of 12. As a 30-something. I should make this good.

9:29 AM: Speaking of old. Today's pills.
9:29 AM: Speaking of old. Today’s pills: Vitamins, minerals, and antibiotics. Oh my! Pretty soon I’ll need to invest in one of those fancy every-day-of-the-week cases or something.
9:29 AM: Trying to find a photo of my for #throwbackthursday tomorrow.
9:29 AM: Trying to find a photo of my for #throwbackthursday tomorrow. I really need to get around to scanning all these old photos one of these days. When I have some free time. Which I’m sure will never happen.
10:17 AM: Red and blue.
10:17 AM: Red-ish and blue-ish.
10:18 AM: The "grand" staircase. Up closer.
10:18 AM: The “grand” staircase is finally making it’s way up the ridge. The Husbear and I have been building this step-by-step, and it will go from road level to the level our house sits on. Eventually.
10:20 AM: Thistles growing along the road near the house.
10:20 AM: Thistles growing along the road near the house. And right after I took this picture, a strong wind blew and knocked one of the thistles into my head.
11:05 AM: My pile at the studio.
11:05 AM: My pile at the studio. I feel like I’m starting to get behind with all the projects I’m working on.
12:20 PM: Uploading files to my FB page. Damned social media.
12:20 PM: Uploading photos to my personal business FB page. Damned social media and all it’s demands from a business owner.
12:41 PM: This sign reads something totally different to me that what they were probably intending...
12:41 PM: This sign reads something totally different to me that what they were probably intending…
8:35 PM: Why is Deadmau5 in my sink?
8:35 PM: Why is Deadmau5 in my sink tonight?
10:34 PM: Closing time. 2.5 hours later than normal.
10:34 PM: Closing time. 2.5 hours later than normal. So much for making it to my buddy’s impromptu birthday dinner party. Or the gym. All because of two tattoos that went… wrong.
11:04 PM Mopping. Always with the mopping.
11:04 PM Mopping. Always with the mopping. And the bleaching.
11:08 PM: These two tattoos caused me a great deal of suffering tonight. Mostly because the wrong tattoo was put on the wrong person, and no one noticed until it was finished.
11:08 PM: These two tattoos caused me a great deal of suffering tonight. Mostly because the wrong tattoo was put on the wrong person, and no one noticed until it was finished.

And I’m publishing this from the studio tonight, as it’s 11:30 PM, and I still have to finish some artwork for the next few days. If I don’t hit “Publish” now, it’s not going to happen on the 12th.

Until next time...
Erik

Three Years Later

Ponderings

Progress was made today on the master bathroom addition. You remember, that one that started in one form or another THREE FREAKIN’ YEARS AGO?

The last big chunk of work was done back in November 2010. Since then, it’s essentially just sat idle as we’ve worked on other projects like remodeling both businesses and the laundry room. And since we are paying for it all out of pocket, it takes time.

It took me most of the day but I was able to run the majority of the MC cable today. Well, yesterday now. You can kind of see it all in the pictures below.

Entryway into the existing bedroom.
Entryway into the existing bedroom.

That’s the entryway into what will become the walk-in closet, master bedroom, and vestibule library. It all sounds grandiose, I know.

To the right of the door is where the double sink vanity will begin.

Immediately to the right of the previous photo, the area for the sinks.
Immediately to the right of the previous photo, the area for the sinks.

And that’s where the rest of the vanity will continue. The idea is to have a double sink vanity with center tower cabinet.

To the right of that is the walk-in shower.

Adjacent and to the right of the previous photo, the shower and watercloset.
Adjacent and to the right of the previous photo, the shower.

It’s a rather large walk-in shower, to be sure.

To the right of the shower, the watercloset.
To the right of the shower, the watercloset.

And next to the shower is the watercloset. Yes. A room just for the toilet. I really think it’s a necessity with the Husbear. Because, well, yeah.

Back in the existing bedroom, the location for the electrical subpanel.
Back in the existing bedroom, the location for the electrical subpanel.

A subpanel has to be installed for the new power connections.

Tomorrow I’ll run the service cable from the exterior main breaker box to the new subpanel, and install the subpanel. I also need to install the bathroom fan/light combos in both the watercloset and the shower area.

Then we’ll get all that checked off by the electrician and connected.

I’ll also run speaker wires, CAT5e, and COAX cables. Because the bathroom will be a happening place!

After that, we start sheetrocking!!!

Until next time...
Erik

Busted pipes and clogged ballcocks

Ponderings,

I think a lot of stories I tell start with the phrase: “So… I’m sitting on the toilet.”

Which I was at the time this story began.

The windows in the house are open. Those two aren’t related. It’s a really nice day out for a change. Almost 70 degrees. That’s why the windows are open.

The Husbear is outside working on one of the walls in the yard. I can hear the *clink* of the pickaxe hitting the ground in a somewhat steady rhythm.

I hear a *clink*, a pause, then swearing. At the same time the toilet starts making a gurgling sound.

Damn. My brain immediately knows what just happened: the Husbear hit the waterline to the house.

I quickly finish in the bathroom and rush outside.

To find this scene…

Sheepish-looking Husbear and a large puddle.
Sheepish-looking Husbear and a large puddle.

The Husbear went and turned the well off. And I went back inside to shut the incoming water lines off in the house. I knew we added those for a reason.

After the water drained away, this is what the Husbear cracked:

Broken pipe.
Broken pipe.

Of course we didn’t have any PVC coupling at the house for that size pipe, so off to Lowe’s I went. For the second time today.

After we got the section of pipe replaced, we had to let it sit for about an hour before we could turn the water back on and repressurize the system. So we stretched out in the hammock together and enjoyed the afternoon sun.

We turned the water back on, and all appeared to be well.

Until we went to flush the toilet later.

Apparently when I was finishing up my business in the bathroom and flushed, the waterline sucked in dirt and gravel and clogged the ballcock on the toilet. *sigh*

Clogged ballcock. Dirty toilet.
Clogged ballcock. Dirty toilet.

So off to pick up a replacement at the store. Which we did. After we went out on a dinner date. With each other. Because we don’t do that very often.

Now the toilet fills and flushes again. Apparently with great force. As the Husbear managed to overflow the toilet on the first flush. Massively. *sigh*

The house smells of bleach now. Massive amounts of bleach.

And that’s how we spent Easter.

Until next time...
Erik