Friday, March 4, 2011

March 4 Update. Plumbing, Stairs, Cold Weather.

Thought I better put a little something on for a change. At work we hav'nt been real over busy, but a little bit here and there. Ever since they rebuilt the engine in the the truck, I have been pretty busy taking it back to them quite often to get things fixed. They have been unfriendly, kinda like it's all our fault or something. One mechanic has been anyway, but the boss kinda rectified that one day. lol. It is really unbelieveable the attitude some people have after you spend in the area of $50,000.00. (Tranny and engine). They just seem to try and pretend that nothing is wrong with things. One would really think that at $137.50/ hour shop rate, that they would have some kind of idea what they're doing. But oh well.
We have had some pretty darn cold weather lately, and alot of snow. I am quite determined that I will not spend another winter in this little shack. I could do it, I just don't want to. When the the temps drop below minus 30C the heater no longer keeps up. It runs constantly, and the floor is very cold. lol. I think I will really appreciate a nice hot crackling fire in the wood stove next winter. We have been getting alot of snow and wind with those cold temperatures. I have noticed that I am getting some snow coming in the new house through the ridge cap on the roof. I guess this spring or summer I will maybe change the whole ridge cap with one a little bigger and also purchase the snow filters that I guess I should have put in the first place. It's just a good thing that I'm not a quick builder and had it all closed in. I might not have ever known until things started to rot. I have never had this problem untill the real cold and windy stuff came.

I have found a little time for building off and on lately. I managed to get some stairs built for the loft. I am actually quite impressed as to how it all turned out so far. I still have to take the top section off and do some finishing touches. Then the fancy railings eventually. The stairs over stairs concept actually worked out pretty good. I thought I could possibly run into some clearance problems, but it's all good. I think. Just wanted to show off my simple little stairs marking tool. All it is, is a normal 2 foot sqaure with a couple of stair nuts. (Or what ever the real name is for them). You just screw one on at the right distance for your run, and the other at the distance for your rise. To figure out your rise and run, there are alot of books that can teach you all that. lol. But one thing I will say is that it is'nt nearly as complicated as some might think.



My plumbing permit is about to expire again on the 15 of March 2011. Maybe they will extend one more time for me, but I'm not sure. The plumbing could all be done very quickly, but alot of it, just dos'nt seem to make sense to be done until other things are done first. So thats what kinda slows me down. I'm trying to get it to a point where the inspector could come and have a look at it though. I have been buying things slowly. I bought that pump with the small tank quite awhile ago. That tank is 5.5 gallon. Then I bought another tank (20 gallons) that was on sale. I still want to get another tank, and it will be about 80 gallons. I'm the only one I know who has more than one pump, hope it's all ok. What I am thinking, is that I will have a switch up stairs so I can somtimes control when the pump kicks in. Pump water in the sunshine and try to have enough pressurized water for the evening for solar power consumption reasons. If I were to use just the one tank that came with the pump, that pump would be cycling on and off constantly while running water. Starting a pump is where the most power comsumption is. All those little fittings and valves and all that really add up in price after while. Anyway, just a little update on things. I do hope to be really going crazy on this thing soon.



Disclaimer--IMPORTANT


This is a personal blog, mainly for my own use. I am building a house with my own two hands, but I am learning alot of things as I go. I do not claim to know what I am doing, or if anything I do is even close to being done correctly or safely. So please, if you are planning on using any of my ideas or methods for your own use, please get professional advice before actually following through with your actions. I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damages of any kind caused by information or comments from this blog.



16 comments:

  1. Stairs look great and plumbing is a nightmare no mater how good you are at it. You get almost finished and figure out you have the wrong thread on a fitting or need 1 more "Y"..I just hate it. Finish the plumbing first just to get it out of the way. Most mechanics are parts changers and not very good at diagnostics. If you find a good mechanic marry his daughter!

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  2. Mark, most excellent job on those stairs! Hat's off to ya. :)
    I'll never complain about paying a mechanic to work on my pick up again. lol Hope they get all the "kinks" worked out of your truck.

    Still learning so much from you...Thanks again for sharing!
    Keep warm.. :)

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  3. Hello Hermit,
    The stairs look great! So glad you found some time to work on yer house. Its so exciting to see any progress when someone is building their cozy little homes with their own two hands. I always enjoy reading yer updates. You've done a fine job my friend!!! ~Jen

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  4. Frann. Ya I kinda noticed that about some mechanics. It don't matter to me though, as long as they don't get rude at us for spending so much money at their place. I'll be glad when I'm done with the plumbing. I don't really have all that much to do, but I'm afraid to do some as it might get in the way of other things in future.

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  5. Thanks Jeanie. Shop rates are pretty high up here ar'nt they? I might be in one of the most expensive places in Canada. Not sure though. I'm sure they will get it figured out eventually.

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  6. Thanks Jen. A little at a time and I guess it will have to finally come to an end sometime.

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  7. always seemed to me that trucking repair expenses are priced in a manner in which they should be bending over backwards and kissing our rears when we bring in the truck for work. where do they get off being rude when you're forking over a small fortune to them? The stairs look great and it sounds like you've got lots of great ideas going on!

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  8. Greetings from Southern California

    I am your newest follower. I invite you to visit my blog and follow me if you want too.

    God bless you :-)

    ~Ron

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  9. Hey Sarah. Ya I don't understand it, the rudeness to customers, but there really does seem to be some of that where I am. I'm starting to get a little tired of it myself, and in turn it seems sometimes I have been getting a little rude back at times. lol. It's fun though. Well not really, but it happens. Thanks Sarah.

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  10. Thanks for stopping by Old Geezer. Southern California sounds like a great place to be.

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  11. Looks like you are moving right along, buddy! Outstanding work!

    Good luck on the plumbing work!

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  12. Hope your truck woes get finally resolved.
    It's nice to see you have made progress again. The plumbing sure can be a challenge. Sometimes people don't realize how difficult it can be to have hot, pressurized water when you are off grid. We're trying to figure out how to do ours without propane or natural gas and it's giving me 'laugh lines'.
    It's great to see how close you are getting. I'm sure you'll be in there before next winter.

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  13. Hey Muddome, I think they might have figured out the truck thing. I hope. I've always put alot of thought into different ways of heating water also, but it just seems to kinda complicate things with the code people for now. I might do some experimenting later on though when I'm in there and done with the permitting stuff.

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