White surprise.

I came into work today (I am writing this from my desk) since I had some stuff to finish up (and was only a couple hours shy of not needing vacation time for Wednesday and Thursday) and the weather was going to be wet and miserable.  The weather still surprised me though.  I didn't expect to wake up to this.

One silver lining though: it toppled over the knotweed, which hadn't dropped its leaves yet.

I took a shower this morning.  There is no immediate evidence of any further leaks.  There was no fresh water there.  The knot in the board is one of the low spots (a mistake I made when I fiberglassed the floor), and the puddle that is normally there (which I normally squeegee into the drain) was still smaller than expected, so I will definitely keep my eyes peeled.  

With the snow, I went and poked the carport.  The slush was sliding as expected, but more curious was a random puddle in the middle.  

There was no evidence at all of water coming in.  The sawhorses, ladder, and tractor were all dry and had no snow on them.  This used to be a wet spot before I filled it in, apparently water still pools here and seeped up through the fill.  We have gotten inches of rain (and snow) in the last few days, and a couple days prior we had another inch plus of rain.  

No movement on the checklist.  I am only going to work a few hours today, and will probably start on something when I get home.  I apparently need to get a move on even though I am making better progress than in years past.  Mid October is early for snow that sticks.

• Support the shed (either pilings or add additional bracing)
• Get windows installed in the shed
• Paint the carport
• Re-route the electrical cords
  
• Install 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.

Rollers and corrugated steel don't mix.

I took half of Wednesday and all day Thursday off from work since I have a little extra vacation time and wanted to take advantage of the nice weather.  

The first task on Wednesday was the concrete.  I had forgotten how impossible it is to mix concrete in a 5 gallon bucket.  

Despite looking really wet in the bucket, it was because a lot of the bottom wasn't mixed.  Next year I think I will buy a wheelbarrow.  This will probably be the only one I do this year, but if the nice weather holds out I might do a second one.  

I fixed it as best as I could.  It doesn't look nice, but it should be fully saturated and mixed properly.  I hope. It isn't quite Aunt Lisa grade mixed. 

The other task on Wednesday was pressure washing the carport.  It came out pretty nice and shiny . 

It didn't quite get everything off, but the bird droppings and the loose dirt that splashed up on it all came right off.  

That was believed to be the last use for the hose for the year, so I stretched it out and drained it.  Sometimes it is nice to live on a hill.  The hose is now ready for winter.

I was a little surprised at how little water the pressure washing used.  The concrete and pressure washing used less than 15 gallons (it backflushed that morning and the countdown starts at 200)

I also opened up the frost vent on the hose.

The big project for Thursday was painting.  It didn't start well to put it mildly.  Even using a small nap roller since metal is smooth, they still smeared a lot, and it was very slow going because it didn't handle the corrugations well either (even though the roller does actually fit in the valleys.  It was arguably not faster than using a regular paintbrush.  This was as far as I got before I gave up on the roller.  This took me two and a half hours.

I did finish the top and the wood parts so I wouldn't have to spray into the carport, since I didn't empty out the carport first.

I ended up buying a relatively cheap power painter.  

It was expensive (I didn't get the cheapo model because they were universally disappointing in reviews).  But it was worth it.  The rest of the carport is painted.

The finish on it is a lot nicer too.  This is what the finish on the sprayer looked like.

Versus the roller.  

I am not sure about the color.  It didn't look quite that dark in the store (it looked more beige and less brown).  I chose beige because it is a neutral color that would go well with white trim and windows on the house and shed, and the dark green roofing I used on the carport and shed.  

The flat finish did its job though.  it is doesn't reflect much light at all.  

As expected, their claims of a 5 minute cleanup was a lie.  The cleanup took a bit longer than that, close to a half hour, but it saved me a lot more time than that.  The rest of the carport took around an hour to paint.  I ran a little over a gallon through it.

I did run into a lot of the common complaints with the Wagner painters. One of the most frustrating parts was even though I didn't paint into the carport over the top, I did end up with paint spray over the stuff inside.  Including my tractor.  Grrrr.

I had a little free time after that so I went and picked up some free gas cans.  I was mostly interested in the larger one (my 5 gallon can cracked years ago).  I didn't really need the 2.5 gallon can; I have 4 of them now (though 1 is mixed gas).

I also had a little time afterwards so I put up a couple of new hooks in the shed.  The hose is now up and out of the way.

I showered outside yesterday since it was warm out the last couple of days, and I finally got around to resealing the wall and drain.  I used an "advanced" silicone this time that advertised better adhesion.  I also put a much thicker bead on it. 

It started raining last night a lot earlier than expected (it originally wasn't supposed to start until this morning).  I walked around the carport this morning just to make sure none of the paint was running.  It all looked good.  

The support for the shed is almost complete, I just need to block up the new piling.  The carport is painted, and the hose is all done.   

• Support the shed (either pilings or add additional bracing)
• Get windows installed in the shed
• Paint the carport
• Re-route the electrical cords
  
• Install 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.

A couple minor updates.

 I haven't too much done after work the last couple of days.  One of the things that was missing from my winter checklist was cleaning the heater.  It was kind of dusty.

The filter wasn't too bad though.  Everything is now cleaned.

The new silicone didn't fix the leak.  It looks like a deeper dive will be required.  This presents an interesting issue, since I can't just shower at work.  So I briefly looked at alternatives.  The easiest option would be to put in a real shower stall right here.  I could move the counter to the other side of the fridge and put in a small stall here.  This is 2x2, which is the right size for a small shower.  The plumbing is right on the other side of the interior wall, and wouldn't require any floor modification.

The counter will fit under the light switch.

Longer term I am wondering if I should take out this wall and put the shower in the middle.  That would be a rather large undertaking and would require reworking a lot of plumbing and redoing the floor though.  

I also stopped by Tim's last night and picked up the pressure washer.  The plan for today is to do the concrete and wash the shed siding.

We got a lot of rain yesterday, and there are some small channels in the back yard.  Sigh.  

No movement on the checklist yet.  More coming soon in the next couple of days I hope. 

• Support the shed (either pilings or add additional bracing)
• Get windows installed in the shed
• Paint the carport
• Re-route the electrical cords
• Install 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.

 

Nice Autumn weekend.

Saturday I intended to go hiking until I saw cars parked on the road a half mile from the trail head.  The trail at Monadnock isn't a long trail (and has a big parking lot to boot), so that many people means you almost wouldn't be able walk up the trail.  At that point, I turned around and headed for Skatutakee, but I couldn't find the trail head; I haven't been there in a couple of years.  I did have a hitchhiker when I was driving around though.  

It was still a lovely day to be outside.  I did snag a couple of pictures while I was out. 

I went for a walk instead.  Sullivan is a little past peak, but there are still pockets of good foliage around.  

Keene is still in peak.  Despite the abnormally early start to fall, this is right on time; the second week of October is pretty normal for peak foliage.

I didn't do much else on Saturday, which unfortunately bit me on Sunday.  Sunday I started looking at the shed.  It is still a mess.  Apparently the pile fell over making the mess worse.  The pile in the corner is inaccessible too.  Sigh.

I heard the scurry of a fuzzy infestation as well.

After that I went and dug out the next piling.  I didn't have to go far, only a few inches before I hit rock.  I took a wire brush and cleaned the rock, so that hopefully the concrete will adhere to it.

I then built a square to contain the concrete, since the hole isn't deep, the concrete will come up a bit.  

I went to go mix up some concrete, and my concrete bags were hard as... poured concrete.  

While I was looking at it, I am not sure how I am going to fix the support on the middle.  I can't really fit underneath the shed to redo the piling underneath.  The subfloor framing is only 2x6, which is slightly undersized for just ignoring it (a 12 foot span should have a 2x8, which is why the center support is there).  In hindsight, I should have built the shed a lot differently, but I am not going to change that now.  I could just get a 16 foot steel beam or come up with a triple PT 2x6/2x8 support beam so that I don't have to use the piling under the middle.  Either way, the 2x6 joists won't collapse if the support should fail and I don't intend to do anything about it this year. 

I went and picked up more bags of concrete.  Home Depot was mobbed and it took forever to get through there.  Apparently there was a run on concrete, so I got the regular 80lb bags (they were out of the smaller fast-set bags I normally buy).  Looking at the temperature in my truck on the way home though, it never got as warm on Sunday as it was supposed to, so I elected to wait for warmer weather to mix them.  

Instead I started putting up some organization in the carport so it doesn't become a giant pile of disaster like the shed is.  I miscounted when I bought the tool hooks; I am a couple short.  I don't have a spot for the pick, but oh well.   I have enough space to put another small lumber rack.  

I also put up some racks for longer lumber.  I think I might get another set so I can put one in the middle, since this is intended to be holding scrap/spare lumber, and the racks are 80" apart which is good for 8' boards, but bad for 4' scraps. 

The bike is hung too now.

The carport is getting full, but is more organized now.  The sawhorses in the back corner are free so I have a place to work on stuff now.

With all my tools hung in the shed, the little outdoor storage thing I got from Greg is now empty.  I used to store my various cans and commonly used tools for it.  I moved it over behind the carport for now, but I might see if anyone wants it, or I might repurpose it for something.

The slab is pretty close to cleared off at this point.

I also went and fixed another leak in my shower last night.  I am a little disappointed; this is the third silicone failure I have seen in the house (the kitchen sink, the toilet, and now this).  It really makes me wonder if something like the floor drain seal is broken which wouldn't be readily visible until well after large amounts of water had leaked.  I might redo that as well, just in case.  All in all, I have been very disappointed with the adhering properties of my silicone.

Not much movement on the checklist, though the shed pilings are now underway.  I am taking a couple days off this week when it is supposed to be warm enough to paint and finish up the concrete.

• Support the shed (either pilings or add additional bracing)
• Get windows installed in the shed
• Paint the carport
• Re-route the electrical cords
• Install 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.