My plumbing tools were in hiding

I felt dreadful most of the day Saturday, and didn't really do much most of the day.  I played some games, napped, tested my septic system, and napped.  It was on the chillier side and the wind was howling most of the day too.  I did hear back from the scrapper, and he was too far away.  Not sure why he was advertising in my area (he was over an hour and a half from Keene), but I understand not coming out for dead snowblowers.

Sunday I felt a bit better, and while it was colder and still windy, I got the back of my truck cleaned out, got the paneling and whatnot out so I can make a dump run today. 

I started on the kitchen faucet as well.  The old one looks to be really nice, there is no crud in it like there was the bathroom sink, which I find odd.  Maybe that was leftover crud from before he installed the water filter and he used the master bath sink to test it?  Not sure.  But at any rate, I have a spare kitchen faucet if anyone needs one.  It is a cheap plastic one but worked fine.  I mostly wanted a sprayer and one that had more rise to it.

This is what the new one will look like.  

It is attached to the sink, but that is all.  This faucet uses 3/8" fittings though, the old had straight 1/2" pex threaded fittings (MPT), so I will need an adapter.  The biggest problem though was I couldn't find all my plumbing tools.  They weren't with the faucets, in the plumbing closet, nor in the plumbing tote in the shed.  I did eventually find them though, in my electrical tote (???).  Not sure why I would have put them in there.  So if I have time after shopping tonight (I am out of 1/2" pex rings), that should be finished up, otherwise it will be tomorrow.

While I was unable to find the pex tools, I took a quick stab at mounting the rings under the cabinet.  This is what I wanted to do.  

I am debating whether I want to rip off the drywall installed underneath the cabinets though.  I might be able to get the front rings installed without it, but I still have not found a way to install the back set.  I did pick up some vases for them, and I have some concerns about the larger utensils fitting in them too.  

I have also started to do a more formal comparison of the post-Markem options.  The spreadsheet isn't ready for primetime though.  Mostly looking at costs, traveling costs, feature trade-offs, additional requirements it forces, stuff like that.  And I decided to give trailers more of a fair shake this time.

The plumbing stuff can be done anytime, so hopefully I can finish that up this week.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

The great cleanse. Okay, not really.

Not too much exciting the last couple of days, I have mostly been working on a deep clean for the house since clutter is everywhere.  

I started with a head to head vacuum.  I picked up my mom's old Kirby at Christmas, as well as my Aunt's old Dyson.  Someone came to pick up the big monstrous elliptical last night, so I had carpet that needed it.  The results: 

The Kirby got about 5 feet and tore the belt.

The Dyson was pretty disappointing with what it picked up.  I think it needs its filter replaced (it is a bagless), but I ran over the area with the Eureka I have been using since I moved in, and it did a very visibly better job (even though it has gotten so loud that you almost need earplugs to use it now).  

I also started in on the shower in the master bath.  I tried a more aggressive way to clean it this time, but still not great.  The shower seems to collect what I assume is rust in the water (I know that I still have metals in the water even with the filter).  Last time I cleaned it I used scrubbing bubbles, a stiff brush, and a ton of elbow grease.  And it literally took at least 6 hours to get it all off.  This time I tried using a pumice stick.

It didn't work great, but it looks a ton better than it did.  

The biggest problem is that it didn't get into the texturing on the tub.  

If anyone has any better ideas, I am all ears.  I am considering dousing it in toilet bowl cleaner, which is more aggressive than scrubbing bubbles and takes the stains out of the toilets without too much hassle.  I don't think it would hurt a shower. 

I contacted a scrapper about taking the old dead snowblowers and the trailer off my hands, we will see if that goes anywhere (I am not holding my breath).  I am thinking of rearranging the living room, but I think I need to finish the shelving since the lumber pile for it is  all but blocking the entrance to the third bedroom.  It is supposed to be cold but dry the next several days.  I doubt dry truly means dry (like last night we got an inch of snow), but the evenings should be good enough to cut pieces if needbe.  I obviously can't finish it; it is too cold out for stain, but oh well.  They are just shelves.

I ran out of time and didn't get the kitchen faucet done, but that should be easy to finish up this weekend. I might try to do the whole house filter too, especially after seeing the tub and the crud in the bathroom faucet I already replaced.  I have an indoor shut off for the main I am about 90% sure.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

More snowblower ugh.

The temperature hadn't yet fallen off a cliff on New Year's Eve, so I decided to go out and do some of the maintenance I had neglected.  I kinda wish I had neglected it though.  I got the tractor greased up for the winter, and thankfully I did the tractor before the snowblower.  I got about halfway through the snowblower and then this happened.  I tried to get it back in, but it wouldn't go.  Ugh.

After I got the fitting out of the grease gun, I got another two fittings in and another chunk broke off.  I couldn't get it out, and I am pretty sure I destroyed the end on my grease gun trying.  

I did remember to do one thing that I forgot last year, I put the feet down.  

I also got the PTO shaft connected.  What a major pain in the neck that was.  It took me almost an hour to figure out how things had to aligned, and to get it set up correctly with no level ground was a major pain.  I did eventually figure it out though.  

I had enough of outdoor stuff at this point and it was nearing the end of daylight, so I shifted to indoor stuff.  I started with the bathroom faucet.  I had previously wrecked the aerator screen when attempting to clean it, so it shot sideways out of the faucet.  The new one is installed.  It was kind of a pain getting the drain lever to work (which is normally the case if you don't replace the drain, they are all ever so slightly different and only kind of compatible), but a few "tweaks" later everything works.  

I was surprised at the amount of dirt in the pipes.  This looks like sediment, which makes me wonder if my water filter isn't doing so great anymore.

I pulled out the kitchen faucet.  I apparently bought one with more bells and whistles than I thought.  I was surprised to see batteries and all that in there.  It has a proximity sensor so you can turn it on without touching it or something like that.  I got ready to install it, but then realized that I had started the dishwasher which branches off the kitchen sink.  Oops.  

Today is back to the drudgery at work unfortunately.  I really need to make a dump run, I have a pile of boxes that is taking over my living room, but I need to clean out the back of the truck first, so maybe that will be tonight's project, so I can go to the dump tomorrow on my lunch break.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.

Christmas trip.

Merry Christmas everyone!  

 

I didn't get to make the final post before I left on vacation, the last day at work was rough, and then just never got around to it after I took off.  I did notice when I made another trip to Home Depot to get some stabilizer and mechanic in a bottle for the snowblower since the one I bought ran a little rough from sitting, that there finally exists an electric weed wacker that can use a metal blade.  Milwaukee is an expensive system to get into though, though Northern frequently runs what at least appear to be decent sales on them.  

I also got my wrapping all finished up.  

I tried to dig a channel to drain out some of the water in the trench since ice is a really poor insulator, but the ground was frozen solid.  

On the 18th I worked a half-ish day.  We got a bunch of precipitation we weren't supposed to though.  It actually looked kind of pretty though. 

Some random tracks, my failed construction hasn't scared everything away.

I got home with a couple hours of daylight left, so I tried one of my siphon bulbs.  It didn't work either.

Since I was running short on time at this point, I kind of just said to hell with it and tossed the sand bags in anyways. 

Literally.  Oops, I soaked myself too.  I had to do laundry before taking off the following morning anyways though.  

The drive down wasn't bad, though I did hit a deer.  Fortunately it didn't do much damage to the truck.  It looks like it just popped off some clips on the fenderwell.  The Subaru behind me took the brunt of it. 

As is frequently the case, I worked on a bunch of projects while I was down there.  I helped dad and Benny (neighbor) attach the drains to the house, added a handrail to the steps, I replaced the paneling in the living and re-laid the carpet down (admittedly poorly), swapped out an exterior light and fixed the wiring for it, and helped Bill work on the hot water that had the top element in it cooked.  Hopefully those pictures make it up onto other blogs (notably my dad's and sister's) but here is a couple of pictures just in case.  

A nice sunrise while I was down there, even despite Google's best efforts to make the picture look terrible.  

I came back to my Aunt's and Uncle's on the 27th and stayed there.  Christmas Part 2. Along with the supervisor who later shredded all the tissue paper.

The Christmas trip was 2029 miles, and I averaged just under 20mpg (the computer is a bit optimistic).  

Thinking about this, my Aunt is going to be selling her car when they trade in my Uncle's car.  Her car is in good shape, only a few minor dings which I don't care about, but it has less than 100k on it.  I checked while I was out there, and it is large enough I could set up my sleeping bag in the back and sleep in it for a night if needed.  This would be an excellent mileage sponge for my truck, which as you can see above is already well north of 62k, and is only a little over two years old, so I will be buying that when it becomes available.  It would also be really nice to be able to drive fast again without my gas mileage falling off a cliff; when I take the truck to KY I normally don't go faster than 65-67mph, since just below 70 is where the mileage starts declining quickly.  The CR-V won't have that problem, or at the very least it is a lot faster than 67mph before it drops (I have driven that car to KY before). 

I got back home Sunday evening and it appears that the sand bags worked; I had no apparent split pipes or mud in my water, and everything was in working order, despite the frigid temperatures while I was gone.  I really didn't do much yesterday, mostly napped.  Ate some, caught up on videos from while I was gone, and napped some more.  It rained all day and I didn't feel any particular motivation to do anything.   

Today though I got a bit more restless.  I finished my unpacking, and went out for a walk.  It is the last time for a while that we will be up in the 40s, another colder air mass is moving in.  I also decided to go out and see if I could do something for the drainage ditch in the back.  It was full again.

 

The ground wasn't frozen, so I dug a little channel.  It is still draining as I write this.

I still have another day off before I have to go back to work, so I might try to start some of the winter projects; I can at least do the easy ones like changing the faucets.

Winter Projects:

• Build shelving for second room
  
• Design deck
• Eliminate cap
• Install whole house filter.
• Install new faucet in kitchen
• Install new faucet in master bath
  
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

2025 Projects

• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Build Deck
• Add the roof over to rocks
• Move carport up hill
• Smooth grade to shed.
   

Short update, the snowblower is free.

This is the picture I forgot yesterday; the front being all cleaned up.  

The big news from yesterday though is that when I got home last night, the tractor was all freed up.  

The PTO shaft as well.

As part of my shopping list last night, I picked up a bunch of tube sand.  I plan to put this in the trench over top where the water lines are.  The hope is that the bags of tube sand will survive long enough to be removed in the spring (I always have a need for fill) and provide the insulation needed for the below zero weather this weekend.  

The trench is still underwater, but at least the ice on top has melted enough (this picture was taken this morning).  By tomorrow I expect that it will be completely gone.  

I still need to do some greasing (the tractor is due and I haven't greased the snowblower yet since my grease gun was frozen over the weekend) and attach the PTO shaft (should be quick now that it is free), but it looks like the snowblower will be good to go for this winter.  Good news for a change.  I think after Christmas I will create a new winter checklist, since some of the winter projects like the shelving that I started, and the various faucets I wanted to replace aren't on there.

Before Winter:

• Back yard drainage.
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Clean off driveway at top.
• Smooth driveway enough to not catch the snowblower.
• Winterize equipment

Unlikely to happen at this point until next year:

• Build shelving for second room
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Eliminate cap.

Winter Projects:

• Design deck
• Install whole house filter.
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.

Tractor snowblower not working either.

The focus of the weekend was trip prep and winter prep.  Saturday I started on winter prep.  I forgot to take a picture, but I got the front area over by the steps all cleaned up.  I had intentionally left the sawhorses since there was a bunch of little blocks and the like over there.  Those are all cleaned up, and the sawhorses moved.

I also gave it one more crank, and the old snowblower still won't turn over, even after spraying the cylinder with PB Blaster, so it get deposited in my graveyard.

The carport looks a lot better.  

I also got all my Christmas presents wrapped (except the last one that hasn't come in yet), and did some cleanup in prep for my trip this week.

Sunday was dedicated to getting the tractor snowblower going.  Once I remembered all the tricks, I finally got it on without issue.  It is harder to put on than the grading blade since I can't really move it around (it weighs almost 600 lbs).  Unfortunately the good news kind of ended there.  I managed to get the chute freed up.  It had iced up, and the ice patch looks conveniently like a leaf :P  For those curious, the liquid on top there is chain oil.

I checked the gearbox oil, it still looks good.  

Despite all that though, I couldn't get it to break free.  Last year I was able to turn everything easily by hand.  This year the second stage (which is scarily rusty for a unit that is only a year old) was frozen up.  I don't know if it is iced up or just rusted up.  I hope it is the former.  I sprayed everything down with lube and it is now under cover.  The next couple of days are all supposed to be above freezing, so it should thaw out if it is ice.

On a side note, I have been thinking about it a bit and am starting to warm up to the idea of a used Uhaul.

Pros: 

• Cheap.  You can get a UHaul with under 100k miles on it for about $10-11k
• It is expected that this would still be true when it comes time to rebuild/replace the vehicle
• This is cheap enough that I could just buy one next year and start on it at my leisure (because I clearly need another big project...).  It doesn't require trading my truck in to purchase
• I haven't yet run the budget, but this might actually make it tenable.
• The box is already built and watertight.
• The box is all metal, so I don't need to worry about resealing it periodically like an RV roof..
• Low deck height means I don't need to build stairs.
• Comes with a big back bumper.  I might be able to put a moped or something on there so I don't have to take the truck itself everywhere.
• Comes set up for towing.
• There is plenty of available exterior space to add toolboxes and stuff to the frame for exterior storage.
• The 10' U-Haul is over a foot shorter than my truck (a 10' uhaul is 236" long, similar to a van, whereas my truck is 250" long), so adding a box or something on the back isn't a big deal.
• I might even be able to bump up to a 14' truck (which is actually only 2' longer than a 10')
• No side door to eat up a bunch of wallspace (unless I want to add one)

Cons: 

• They get bad gas mileage (~13mpg if I don't build it heavy)
• It should be noted that while worse than a van, 13mpg is in the expected range of a truck house.
• Suspension tends to be stiff and low-travel, this is how they get the low deck height.  It also means no ground clearance.
• The engine is undersized; they come with a 4.8L V8 (for the 10').  
• The 4.8L however is bolt compatible with the 5.3L and 6.0L though if I want to update it down the road.
• I would not expect a uhaul truck to make 200k; it is likely to be beaten up/run hard when I get it.
• Requires more work, they are very de-featured trucks.  I will need to add the following before I would take it out, at least off pavement.  This is in addition to the list of adjustments for a regular truck/van (things like the light bar, winch, etc):
• Cruise control (no, they don't have it)
• Locking rear differential.  4WD is out of the question, so this is a must.
• Swiveling seats (I would probably replace the seats, Uhaul seats generally suck).
• Significant exterior work since they typically only apply a wrap to resell it, they don't remove the Uhaul decals and whatnot.  This may not need to be done immediately though.
• Cut out the passage between the cab and box.
• Remove/replace rear door.
• Roof and flooring insulation might be limited.  Some of these trucks are only 6'2" tall inside (depending on the year), before insulation.  They do have plywood flooring that I could remove to add a little extra insulation.  
• I don't have a problem putting laminate flooring like what I had in the tiny home down directly on top of foam board, I think it would be rigid enough.

I drew up a quick floorplan too.  It is very similar to the van one I drew up.  This has a full size fridge in it too, not a short under counter one like the van had.  This is roughly to scale, each square is 4" (since I didn't put it on the diagram)

I am not sure if I will have another post before I leave for Christmas.  It did get down to single digits over the weekend, and my water line was okay, but it looks like we are supposed to be below zero while I am gone, so I am going to go ahead and put down some sand bags anyways.  I thought this was supposed to be a mild winter; it has been well below average for temps thus far.  Grumble

Reinforcements have arrived.

I went and picked up some snow reinforcements the other night.  I forgot my ramps, which wasn't really an issue since the guy had a ledge in his yard I could back up to.  It started rough, but I did get it running okay eventually.  The guy said it hadn't been used in a couple of years.  Hopefully it lasts longer than the last one I bought that had been on the shelf.  The last one only made it through 2 or 3 driveway clearings before it blew out the main seal.  At least this one was cheap though.  Turns out it doesn't fit under the cap which surprised me a little.

The bar for the shifter came off as I was trying to cram it in the back of the truck.

This one is a Toro, but it looks literally identical to all the MTDs I have owned.

So the forecasters finally got it right.  It has been rain the past couple of days.  Most of my snow is gone now.

More importantly though is the path up to the big snowblower is now clear.

I was curious and took a look at the trench.  It is very full.  Looks like I have a bit more slope than I needed too.

One annoying bit though is that I apparently didn't fully close the door of my truck last night.  Ugh.  

It is supposed to be brutally cold this weekend, but I really need to get the snowblower on anyways, as unpleasant as it might be.  With all the snow gone I might need to put down foam board or pick up some sand bags or something to put down over the water lines too.  

Before Winter:

• Back yard drainage.
• Close up tiny home.  Seal up plumbing.
• Clean off driveway at top.
• Smooth driveway enough to not catch the snowblower.
• Winterize equipment

Unlikely to happen at this point until next year:

• Build shelving for second room
• Insulate the water lines
• Take scrap metal to Buffum.  Clean up trash.
• Storm doors
• Gravel the driveway
• Side yard drainage
• Eliminate cap.

Winter Projects:

• Design deck
• Install whole house filter.
• Access panel upgrades in master closet
• Cut trails, or at least mark paths.