Despite the snow on Saturday, I was very productive when I got home. Most of the snow had melted off by the time I got home.
We have gotten a lot of moisture in the past week. The area behind the carport is a swimming pool. This is almost a foot deep in spots.
The creek is flowing again too. This has been dry since either May or June (I don't recall, but it was very early).
The area I filled in down by the old well sunk back in. I will have to fix it (again) next year. Probably with real dirt, I have been very disappointed with the performance of the cheap fill that I have been using.
While the ground was soft and soupy, I decided to put in the driveway markers. Thankfully I had picked up a few extras last time I was at Home Depot.
After that I went and leveled the door. I couldn't find the striker plates, but at least the deadbolt closes again, which pulls the door into the seal (it doesn't have the slop that the regular door latch has). This is the way it was last winter, so if I can't find the striker plates it isn't a big deal.
As I was pulling the random wheel out of the back yard, I noticed that I had a chipmunk that had fallen and couldn't get back up.
I also found the other clamp for the mower I brought down to KY. Not sure how it ended up under the house considering the mower was never underneath there...
With the trailer spare under the house, the slab is for the most part cleared.
Another happy side effect of getting things organized is the back seat of my truck is getting emptied.
While I had the jack out from leveling the house, I dragged it up and finished up the piling for the shed. The jack didn't really like lifting the shed... Those are the front wheels completely submerged in the dirt.
The new piling is complete. For now I am going to mark this off the checklist, though I might still do another piling before winter if the weather holds up.
The difference in angle from the level piling to the stack of blocks is pretty striking.
At that point I was pretty wiped. Sunday I slept in and didn't want to roll out from under the covers since it was in the 50s in the house. I actually pulled out pants for the first time this fall.
Sunday was acrylic day. I had read that you can cut acrylic with a table saw, but it didn't go well. The blade on my table saw was too coarse, and it kept jumping. I could have solved the jumping by placing a board on it, but the edge chipping was bad enough to tell me it was a no go.
It came out much better using the circular saw. It is pretty remarkable the amount of difference that the blade makes. The circular saw has a really nice finer-toothed Diablo blade on it.
One thing that caught me by surprise: the longest part of doing the acrylic was actually peeling off the protective film. Every time I even came close to getting it to roll the plastic film tore apart. It was rather aggravating.
I also made another boo-boo when I installed the corner bracing that I had to rectify. It is a little annoying since it will kind of stick out (it was too cold to put paint on it to match).
Since my drill battery was starting to die (I haven't charged it since before I put up the back wall) I didn't get all the holes and screws put in that I wanted, but it is hanging. I can add them later, it isn't a big deal.
On the side I didn't get as much overlap to the metal as I would have liked, but oh well. Given that the price of acrylic has more than doubled this year, I don't intend to fix the coverage.
As a result of the limited coverage, rain can still get in, but it would pretty much have to be horizontal rain. I am not worried.
When I was doing the north wall I happened to notice that there were a few spots where I went too quick with the paint sprayer and didn't get a thick enough coat down. Perhaps next year I will consider putting a second coat on (though I expect my laziness will blow it off).
Unfortunately I ended up one piece of acrylic short. When I went and bought the acrylic, I couldn't get the larger sheets I wanted, so I wasn't sure if I would need one or two sheets for the back. The piece I cut off from the first part was too short to do the other side though.
Instead I just extended the coverage on the one side. It is all hanging. I still need one more piece to complete the acrylic though.
This checks multiple things off the checklist. The piling is done, the driveway markers are done, the front door is done. I am one piece of acrylic short to finish that. I will hopefully get that done this week. I am surprisingly on track to have everything done before November, which would be a first. Most seasons I don't actually complete the checklist.
Support the shed (either pilings or add additional bracing)- Get windows installed in the shed
Paint the carportRe-route the electrical cordsInstall driveway markers- Get chains and a blade
Finish moving piles around (gravel and dirt)Grade the driveway- Install acrylic and braces in carport.
Realign the front door- Winterize mowers
Shut off hose.
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