Bogieblog

Metal Shed Condition

I promised Cop Car I would take pictures of the pre-2003 metal shed condition. This shed was moved from my last place over to this place in 2014. I forgot to take pictures of the side to the left - actually, I really wouldn't be able to take a picture that shows the horizontal crease that  very well.

The front - sure it doesn't look too, too bad, but look at the sill for the door, it is completely buckled and it takes just a slight breeze to unseat the doors and have them swinging in the breeze. I'm constantly re-seating them. The lock is never locked, just helps the doors support each other

The back - you can't really see any of the creases. But you can see the section under the roof support on the right is no longer straight

The dip in the roof on the tent garage side. The worst of the dip is toward the front, so this picture does not show the full extent.

The dip in the roof on the tree side

The inside of the roof showing part of the dip as well as several slices in the metal from limbs, and perhaps the roof rake going thru

If it was just the front, back and sides, I wouldn't worry about it too much. But the dips in the roof are what worry me. They get worse every year even though I try to keep it roof raked when it snows.

Additionally, the floor is rotting and the only way to replace that is to remove the shed entirely - I'm sure that is a recipe for collapse.

I really don't need the building coming down on all the yard equipment.

Actually Not a Surprise

The price of the 20x24 garage that I was going to have built to replace the tent garage, has just gone up by $8,000. They had put off the build from April/May time frame to July because of a labor shortage (they lost a couple of people and couldn't find anyone willing to work). They contacted me yesterday and said the price was going up by 30%.

I know that isn't unreasonable because of what has been happening with lumber, but OUCH! I told them I would mull it over for a couple of days. Part of me says just do it. Part of me says - nope, you'll regret not waiting until next year.

Then part of me said, at the least I need to replace that poor, wicked old metal shed that I'm shocked hasn't fallen down yet. That shed sits smack dab where the garage is supposed to be installed. Can't move the placement of the garage, but maybe I can get a shed from a BBS and put it up somewhere else. I looked around the yard and the only place I would be happy with is in the back corner of the yard near my sitting area. That means I would want something aesthetically pleasing (as opposed to a metal shed). I found one that I'm good with and know the installed price. The issue is, that I would have to have a bit of site work done to get that area fairly level. My guess is that would push the total cost to about $5,000.

So now I'm going back and forth in my mind - is potentially saving $3k worth the wait? No guarantees the market will settle down any time soon. Although I've heard that wood prices (basically futures, not right now) are going down recently. But, how many people are in the same boat I'm in and waiting for that to happen? Will there be a major run on wood again, pushing the prices back up?

I could drive myself crazy with all this thinking!

Mini-Split Install

Monday was the big day for the mini-split install. Although capable of heat, it's main function for me is the A/C and the system is to replace the portable unit I used for the living room as well as the window unit I had in the office. It was an auspicious time for the install as we had a 4 day heatwave, starting of Saturday, and the morning lows being in the high 60's and low 70's so the A/C's running full bore thru the night to cool the house. Then Wednesday the top temp was only 89* with full sun.

Monday started with the guy calling me at 8 and saying he had to make an emergency call before he came to my house. That was fine, I had a meeting at 9, and he would not have been able to access my office, and I would have had to have my office closed up while he was in the house (I don't work with secret stuff, but it is sensitive). He and the electrician did stop by real quick so that he could show the electrician where it would be installed (I have no idea why since neither of them stayed - maybe he was just confirming he wouldn't need anything special). I do know the place he needed to visit was in town, so it wasn't out of his way. Shortly after 10 am they came back to begin the install.

There was nothing really exciting besides a couple of times I had to shut down and take a break from work. I had previously informed my boss that my availability would be erratic and I had that message as an automatic reply for my email. Mondays are my light day for meetings and the 9 am was the only one scheduled for the day.

Shortly after 4 pm, the system was up and running. Oh, so quiet - even the outdoor unit. Once they had left, I opened up the bedroom doors; The back bedroom was at about 77 (being on the NE side of the house) and the cats were happy to get out of there and stretch their legs. The front bedroom (what I use for the master), was at 80* and at that time of day is climbing steadily since it is on the west side and at that time of day it starts catching the full sun. It didn't take long for those rooms to get cooled down with the new system pushing out cold air.

Outside unit (condenser). The verticale piece hides the wire/tubing management system (tubing for coolant and condensate drainage)

Living room head. Yes, it looks strange located like that, but there is a reason. Being partially above the window, some of the airstream goes down the hall towards the bedrooms. However, it couldn't be centered over the window because of the header. This was the only installer that suggested this location. The other quoters wanted to place the head over to the right, centered between the window and the front door. Then the full airstream would have bounced off the opposite wall, back into the living room and been trapped (been there, done that with the corner install pellet stove I used to have, then I used a lot of fans to get the air to move down the hall). Unless you are looking for the head, it really isn't noticed.

The wire and tubing management for the office head. At the bottom, it is turned into the basement, goes across the basement ceiling, and out to the outdoor unit. You can actually see in the first picture where it comes out between the wire management system for the LR head and the electric box (the dark circle which is both wires and putty that closes up any gaps)..

The office head blows toward the door to the kitchen. The wire management system goes out the wall to the right.

I turn off the head in the office when I am done working for the day; The overhead light is out, all monitors off (not in sleep mode) both computers put to sleep (but not off). Looking at the temps in the room the next morning, I am glad I put in the second head. The office will be 2-3* over the LR/BR and bath temps, which indicates to me that it would be even warmer once I start all the electronics up. Sure, I could set the LR head colder, but I don't want it any cooler that the 72 I keep it at.

When nights are scheduled to go below the mid 60's I turn off the LR head when I retire for the night. On such mornings (like this morning, at 54), I set up fans in the bedroom windows, open a window in the kitchen for air egress, and allow mother nature to get it as low as 67 in the house (yes, I wear a sweatshirt during those times - LOL).

I already sold the portable A/C on Craig's List. Put the ad up Friday morning and it was picked up Friday evening. That was a 12k unit an has the advantage of mobility. The 6k window unit is also on CL but hasn't had any interest yet. I'll lower the price a little and see if that changes.

Oh, and this past Thursday night I turned on the pellet stove since it had been a cold and heavily overcast day so the top temp in the house reached was 69* and would do nothing but drop thru the night. Will be the same on Monday.

Week of 5/30/21 Gardens

If you remember, the winter of 2019 was not kind to the rhododendrons in front of the house. The part that really gets rhodies is winter winds since that will dry out the leaves. 2019 was particularly brutal in that regard, and this is how the rhodies looked May of that year (order: from mailbox, from driveway, from road)

I waited until mid summer to prune out obviously dead areas, but left branches that seemed to be recovering. The summer of 2020, the rhodies were still in bad enough shape that I didn't even bother taking pictures (IIRC, only the very bottom bloomed anyway). I pruned out a few more branches that were struggling. Then the drought hit. I watered them a few times (when the leaves were super drooped), but not many since I was conserving water while trying to keep the new roadside garden alive. I figured this year would be another bust for the poor beleaguer things.

Well, obviously they have recovered just fine and my doubts were misplaced (mailbox, driveway, road, front door)

And this picture here pretty much sums up why I needn't bother putting plants on my front porch

They are once again the envy of the neighborhood. Even people going down rt 149 can enjoy the view of those beauties.

One of the new peonies, Alertie, is blooming

Yesterday I picked a bouquet of nicely scented flowers for the house. Order: Alertie peony, Black is Black iris, some sort of purple iris

Yesterday it got up to 92 degrees. We did have a late afternoon thundershower that brought a quick 1/2" of rain and a drop in temperature to 73. It is supposed to be in the 90's every day until Thursday - and the humidity high (yesterday it was 70%). Our average amount of days over 90 is somewhere around 10-15. I've already had 5 or 6 of those days. Because of those expected temps, I installed the window A/C in the office early yesterday morning. I was holding off hoping the mini split system would be installed before it became an issue, but that was not to be.