Bogieblog

More Cover Up in the Basement

Last weekend, while regaling you with tales of the pellet stove move, I was accomplishing more work on the wall along where the pellet stove has resided. It was a major accomplishment to get the one piece of sheet rock that I got done by Sunday afternoon. Before I get into the nitty gritty, let me just say the following picture represents using only one sheet of sheet rock, and one cut for the outlet (okay, 2 as I had to shave the left side to enlarge it just a scoche.

That piece doesn't look like much does it? But there is more work involved than meets the eye. First I had to make a trip to the nearest BBS - 30 miles away. Then I had to cut the sheetrock down to something that would fit in the truck. As an aside, my newer Explorer is not quite as wide in the hatch area as the old one, so I can't get a 4' wide sheet in, even at a diagonal. Second, I bought a 12' sheet of sheet rock, cut it in half lengthwise (for two 6' pieces), then cut a couple of inches off the sides to get them in the hatch.

I also had to get the metal strapping for anchoring the sheet rock to the wall and concrete screws. Okay, back at the house to begin cutting the strapping down to sice, using a metal bit to drill holes for the concrete screws to go thru, tape the strapping to the Reflectix so I could use the hammar drill to drill holes thru the concrete block, then screw the strapping into place. That takes forever. It didn't help that the hammar drill burned out in the middle of drilling a hole (seriously, with 5 holes left to drill.

So, it was online to find a decent hammer drill for home use, and a good price. The hammer drill that I settled on was a Dewalt. At the BBS, where I had been earlier that day, they had it for $20 less than what the local hardware store was selling it for. I was mulling over whether it was was worth the extra $20 to save the drive time and gas when I realized that the hardware store had been emailing me that they would deduct $10 for a first online purchase and pick up at store (purchases over $75). Since I already hold their reward card, I chose that option then found that they also had a special that any purchase over $50 earned a $5 reward - that could be used right then (also had option to use later). Well, being no dummy, I chose to use the reward so the final tally was just $5 over what I would have spent up in Concord - well worth the gas and time! An hour later the store texted me that my order was ready to go.

During the wait for my order to be filled, I readied the outlet to be moved out so it wouldn't be recessed in the wall. I used a 3/4 piece of Azek (a pvc product) to raise the level of the outlet since it was a back mount not a side mount. Oh, and I took a short nap :)

Finally, back to drilling holes for the strapping, then cutting the sheet rock, then the install of that one piece of sheet rock. I also cut the piece that goes above it, but I ran out of "want to" and called it done for Sunday. Well, I began cleaning out the far corner so I could continue work on another day. Should have taken pictures of all the stuff piled over there - suitcases full of artsy stuff and a box of stuff all of which Cop Car had sent me, boxes of collector plates that I had brought from the old house, knick-knack holders (which I took to the swap shop) and other stuff that I don't even remember.

This past Wednesday, I moved the dryer and installed more strapping and another piece of sheet rock.

Oh yeah, see where that dryer outlet is? Well that was installed on a L-shaped board set up that had been lagged into the floor joists (the basement ceiling) and glued to the block wall. That was a bear to remove on Sunday since I was trying not to disturb the foam/reflectix installed around it. And on Monday night I installed rigid foam and Reflectix in that section.

After another trip to BBS, for more sheetrock, this happened yesterday.

Still have more to do, hopefully all today, but that is for next week's post.

 

P61a Install In New Location

So Cop Car was right in her assessment in my last post, I managed to get the big pellet stove moved by myself (Wednesday evening 9/12/18). I didn't take pictures at the very beginning, but hopefully there are enough pics so you get an idea of how I managed it.

This is the set up as I was getting ready to move it (disassembly pics further down). I once again affirmed that I am not entirely crazy for keeping a lot of drop pieces from different projects. The stove set on 4" blocks on top of the concrete floor so I had to even the level between it and the pad. There was that 4" drop, then a 1.5" rise where the flooring system is, then the rise to the stove pad. I put small pieces of plywood between the stove pedestal and concrete blocks to keep from scratching the pedastal base and make the moving easier. I used pellet bags for sliding ease.

After rocking the stove into place onto the pellet bags, I was able to mostly slide the stove over to the stove pad. Once on there, I got it in approximate position then lifted up each side of the stove and used a foot to slide the bags out from underneath. You can see the ramp that I had constructed (the plywood pieces).

 While disassembling, I thought to take pictures. So under the plywood was almost every drop of lumber that I have ever saved. Under that is a sheet of plywood and under that are a couple thicknesses of dura-rock pieces. That piece of lumber in front of the "puzzle" supported a construct that bridged the 4" drop (obviously I had already disassembled that part).

 

I had the stove nearly in place and I was trying to match up the original exhaust pipe. But, it was a foot too long and no matter how I configured the stove (even trying a corner install - moving the entire base with stove on it), I found it wouldn't work. Happily, there was a 1' section between the stove connection and a 60" pipe that I could remove. However, I couldn't for the life of me get the pipes to twist apart. My hands are just too small to bet a good grip. The next day while at work I was stewing over the possibility that I would have to buy all new pipe. I was thinking that surely they made something that would be useful in this situation when I realized that an oil filter wrench, if they made them large enough for 3" pipe, would probaby work. After doing some research I found strap wrenches were available for up to 6". Yay!!! They even had some at the L*wes that is less than a mile from work. I bought it, it did the job, and I was ready to assemble.

So, here is the pipe, almost set up. Unfortunately I needed a 6" piece to install between the 90* at the top of the 60" pipe and the part that extends out of the house. The people that installed the stove used a brand of pipe that is not available around here, nor do they sell commercially. I have spent some time trying to get a distributor to sell me such a piece, but to no avail.

Last weekend I set up the OAK (outside air kit). I didn't use the old pipe as it was beat up, abused, and had an extension on it that was not up to fire safety being that close to the stove (the extension piece had been way away from the stove in the previous configuration). I already had two sections of semi-rigid aluminum pipe, which I used aluminum connecter rings to join, then installed between the stove air inlet and the existing connector pipe to the outside. In this picture you can see how the exhaust pipe is almost against the wall without a 6" extension. The exhuast should be 3" away from the wall.

So, at this point I can't get a 6" pipe and other brands won't work (I've tried). However, I can do what I was trying to avoid - remove the pipe going thru the wall (which involves removing all the air/weather tight rubber/silicone gasketing), add the 1' section I removed earlier, and then reinstall to my liking. The exhaust will extend about 6" further from the outside wall than it had, but it should be okay. Then I will have to re-gasket the pass thru which I usually make a mess of :D

Hearth Pad Build

Last weekend I made a hearth pad for the basement stove to sit on. I used piece of a shipping container, that I had salvaged from work for the base of the pad. I don't know why I had grabbed that piece last year, I had no plan for it, but it came in handy so I didn't have to build the base from scratch. Since I was using materials on hand, it has odd dimensions so the tiling came out a bit funky, but it will work just fine and I now have some experience for next time I want to tackle tile.

First step was to place backer board on the form and screw it in place. You can also see the edging for the tile as I was fitting it up.

Tile was laid with thin set - this has no grout and shows all uneveness.

Here the tile has been grouted and it looks a ton better. You can still see imperfections but they aren't so in-your-face. Not only was this the first time I have ever tiled, but I had to cut tiles too. Sometimes it worked great, other times, not so much.

This shows the metal egding (top layer), and I used J-channel to encase the edges of the backer board (white)
I didn't feel the need to formally edgen the entire form as the wood you can see below the white is actually inset from the edge about 1" so you can only see it if you are on your hands and knees.

Before I started tiling, I had a moment of brilliance and put large felt pads (made for teh bottom of furniture) so it would be fairly easy to move around. Best forward thinking I've done in a while!

Wednesday the grout had dried long enough, and I had some ambition when I got home from work, so I decided to see if I could move the stove by myself. I did have a backup plan, calling the guy that helped me move the P43 a couple of years ago, but I really thought I could do it myself. It was more a matter if I could keep from damaging the floor, the stove or myself :D. BUT, you will have to wait for that story.

 

 

Kittens at 15 Weeks

This was taken on a day that I had penned up the kittens because the front door was going to opened on and off. I put Rita outside. Fortunately, the kittens are just fine being in the pen and played and slept while they were in there. TI obviously was not stealthy enough to grab this picture while they were sleeping. Okay, this is a picture at 14 weeks.

These pictures are from yesterday morning - kittens are 15 weeks old now. Rainey likes to pose for pictures - these two were taken within 5 minutes of each other.

I was trying to get a picture of Spot's golden eyes, but getting her to stay still only happens while she is asleep. BTW, Rainey's eyes are a nice golden too.

I disturbed Spot sleeping on my office chair. Actually, when I grabbed my phone, she was asleep. She seems to have this weird 6th sense though. Pics are in order taken - all at 6:47 PM.

Nope, not looking at you

Big yawn

Go away, I want to go back to sleep (her squinty eyes crack me up)

Basement Projects

A couple of things on home maintenance/improvament that i never mentioned:

Way back in early August I finished sheet rocking the work shop wall. It was only in need of one piece, but I ran out of sheet rock (way back in 2016) and when I got some I was too lazy to move everything from against that wall. I figured since the cats aren't allowed basement access, now was the time make a mess in the area that the cat boxes sit.

Here is almost "before". I actually put up the bottom piece of sheet rock sometime after getting those boxes of bathroom cabinets out of there (late summer 2016 when Cop Car and her HH visited). That piece was never mudded or painted and the top of that wall was still straight to the insulation.

My excuse was I had to tear out the wall seperating the stove room from the office. Anyway, the sheet rock all put up, mudded and painted.

At the first of this month I decided that it was time to insulate the wall behind the pellet stove since it was still bare block. that would involve moving the stove since the exhaust is laid too close to the wall to have flammable materials behind it. The plan is to move it so it is no longer pointed at the back of the stairs. With the wall between the workshop and stove room opened up I should be able to point the stove so it blows into the shop.

The beginning was to unhook the incoming air and exhaust pipes

Then install the rigid foam

Yesterday I finished covering the foam with Reflectix - a class one fire retardant (reflects heat back) The metal tape to close it all up takes forever :)

 I have started on a hearth pad to place the stove on and should finish it today - so pics will be forthcoming.

On another note - this morning it was 64 degrees in the house so I started the P43 (small, main floor stove) to take the chill off. It has been such a warm, humid summer, Thursday it was 77* in the house at 4:30 AM, that it seems weird to start the stove.

Snapping Turtle Adventure

The town has been digging up and replacing sewer and water lines along Rt 149 (200 feet from my house). This has been going on for several weeks, but apparently Tuesday they disturbed this guy/gal. I had let Rita out and she was intent on a spot behind the middle section of fence. When I looked, my first thought was "how in the heck did that large, flat rock suddenly appear in my backyard?". Since it was resting and mud covered, you'll have to forgive my mistaken identity. Once I realized it was a large turtle, my next thought was to grab my phone and take pictures.

The turtle rested for about 10 minutes in the shade

Then continued his journey (toward the swamp)

 

He did burrow in below that evergreen shrub and rest for a while more

A while later I looked out and saw he was heading toard the clothes line

 

Close up while still approaching clothes line

He got past the clothes line and entered the shade garden, where I quit watching figuring he was done for the evening.

I don't know where he ended up as I haven't seen him since. For all I know he has set up shop in the shade garden under the crabapple tree since that is very dense so I couldn't tell if a large pig or dog were in there. I'm guessing he found the swamp.

Paving the Way

The landing below the ramp leading from the back door is a PITA. It was constantly muddy (from the constant rains we've had), very low from the edge of the ramp, and hard to mow or snow shovel. Additionally, there were two "moats" from the rain running off the roof (remember, my roof has runoff from all 4 sides), so there was a line parallel to the edge of the ramp, and another parallel to the ramp railing. Hopefully I have fixed those issues.

The before pictures - I had to take two because Rita was just way cute turning to look at me like "what are you staring at?" Unfortunately I did not think to take a picture of the difference in height from the edge of the ramp to the ground. You can see one of the "moats", where dirt has washed away from rock that  is perpendicular to the fence, about where the green stake is. The other "moat" can be seen (barely because the weeds are lush there) if you follow the drip line from beside the ramp railing out into the yard.

 

After I dug out that area, I added sand, then set the pavers so they sloped away from the house and the ramp. It does give a bit of an odd appearance with the left hand paver jutting just above the corner of the ramp (it looks worse in the picture than it is - maybe 1/8").. That is mainly due to needing to raise the level of the paver at the right hand railing side while keeping a slope. Admittedly, smaller pavers would have served me better here as I could have fine tuned it more than the 16 x 16 pavers allowed.

Looking at the close up picture, I immediately noticed that the right hand paver nearest the ramp is the wrong orientation - grrr. Too late since the setting medium had already set up.Wish it had been the middle paver because then I could have said it was an artistic expression :) .

Later I may extend it all the way to the fence, but the summer has been so rainy, hot and humid, that getting anything done outside is a challenge - and I have other things to do to get ready for the inevitable change of weather to come.