Winter Repairs are underway

This Winter one of our sillcocks (through wall hose faucet) froze and ruptured. Apparently insulating the soffit was a bad idea for the pipe, but a good idea for stopping a cold draft. Without insulation soffit space was kept above freezing, but it made the first floor cold and drafty. With it insulated the space close to the outside wall actually got to freezing temperatures.

While saving on excessive heating, it resulted in a the poorly installed hose bib freezing and rupturing because it didn't drain out, and there was no shutoff valve between it and the water main. We got lucky in that it ruptured between the valve seal and the wall, and not between the valve and the water main.

The old sillcock is now replaced by a 16 inch, 1/4 turn, freezeless, anti-siphon sillcock and PEX piping. After pulling the ruptured sillcock out it would appear that this was not the first time that this sillcock had frozen as the rupture had a solder repaired split that blew out.

So this now starts the organized PEX replacement of the jumbled mess of copper piping from multiple remodeling jobs done before us.

Here is the PEX manafold with a temporary "U" installed until I can connect in the hot water heater.

The old ruptured sillcock was connected below the first shutoff valve in the blue circle. I don't know what the plumber was thinking installing a line subject to freezing without included a shutoff valve on it. Had the sillcock ruptured behind the seal, we would have had to turn off the water to the whole house until it could have been repaired in the dead of winter.  Also in the blue circle is where the new PEX connects back to the whole house. This shutoff valve feeds everything except the hot water heater.

The red circle is a the system drain faucet. Guess what, it doesn't work at all. More precisely it doesn't open at all. The handle turns and it feels like the valve gate is moving. Unfortunately is appears that the galvanized pipe fittings in that jog have built up enough scale to seal off that branch of the 'T'-fitting with the faucet.

Next plumbing tasks:

• Replace the other sillcock with a leaking handle (leaks only when on)
• Connect the Hot Water heater to the manifold replacing the red 'U'
• Cut out about 15 feet of dead end copper tubing
• Install a new earth ground. Pretty sure my copper pipes were never connected to the earth unless that get grounded through the hot water heater

Aside from the upfront cost of the PEX crimping tools and the manifold block these updates are pretty straight forward and they are much quicker and easier than repairing the system with more copper. 

If you are in a position to be able to work on your own plumbing and questioning if you can do it yourself the answer is probably yes. If you can change a faucet or toilet, you can work with PEX.  If I had to do this with copper, the tight quarters and electric lines would have made the repairs very difficult or impossible to solder in place.

My dream closet

The first of the rooms that I actually remembered to photograph now that it's (mostly) done:  my closet!

Okay, our closet.  Joe's stuff is in here, too.

Before, with peach walls and random hooks over the windows:

And a shot of the truly hideous wall paper that was on one wall.  It's a tough call, but this might be the ugliest wallpaper I had the joy of tearing down.

And the after.  I repainted with a cheerful blue-green on all of the walls.  We decided against any structural changes to make it attached to the master bedroom or build in the shelves since most people wouldn't devote what was obviously a bedroom to nothing but clothes.  It's right next door, it takes about five extra steps to walk over.  The next people to own this house are going to think we're crazy enough and it would wreck the resale value. 

Left wall is all of the hanging clothes, drawers for stuff that doesn't hang up well (socks, tee shirts, undies) across the back, and the right side is mostly my stuff.  We still have a printer cart tucked up next to the door that will probably get moved upstairs to the offices at some point so I can have a spot for hanging up the long stuff.

  
 My vanity, with hooks for my necklaces.  My bathroom is too darn small for a lot of this, so it's nice to have the girly stuff all together.

One entire wall is devoted to hanging space.  Top row is Joe's, bottom row is mine.  And the green basket is Cowboy's portable bed.  If he's napping, it's easier to just move him from room to room in the bed rather than wake him up.  I still need to find a storage solution for my shoes.

Close up of the vanity.  We covered the walls with those Command hooks and it's made a big difference for storage and using up the wall space we usually ignore.

Other than some fiddly details like hanging up the full length mirror by the door and getting the shoes straightened out, this room is done.  I love how it came out and it's resulted in less bickering with me and Joe.  Everything has space and we don't trip over each other in the mornings when we're both getting ready.  The entire third level is like a sprawling master suite, with the master bedroom, the two bathrooms, and now the closet. 

Next up I'll chase the vacuum around the offices and get some pictures.  We've got a bit more time to go before the snow is gone and I can work on outside projects, so might as well make the best use of my surge of spring fever.

Spring fever

Finally, finally, we're getting our first indications of spring.  After weeks where we barely got out of the teens during the day, we got up to 35* today.  This week is supposed to be 40's every day and we might even see 50*!  Spring fever is upon us.

I let the chickens out to romp while I added litter to their run and flipped the bedding in their coop.  They enjoyed the change in scenery. 

Our little rooster isn't so little anymore.  I'm pleased that his crowing is barely audible in the house and doesn't bother me a bit.  Our neighbors love hearing him in the distance, it adds to the ambiance.  He's also turned into a gentleman, so he gets to escape the soup pot.  For now.

While I've been cleaning and getting my dream closet in order, Joe's been hard at work in my little bathroom.  Toilet is back together, new sink and mirror are in, new lighting is in, and he's got the new dry wall up in the nook.

Pardon the mess, since it's a bit of a construction zone, but it looks downright massive with the slim sink and the new lights.

And here are my new LED dome lights.  I think I could get a suntan in there and I will never, ever have to hit my head on that stupid pendant light again.

You can also see the new outlet cover.  I installed that.  It was my great contribution to this phase of the project.  Mostly I'm in charge of wallpaper destruction, painting, item selection, and financing.  I'm not supposed to use most of Joe's power tools.  Could have something to do with getting distracted in the middle of projects while using a nail gun . . . 

A better view of the new sink and mirror.  Much more appropriate for the size of the bathroom and I just love this mirror.  The sink is from Ikea, since they have all of the stuff for tiny bathrooms.  The mirror we picked up from Home Depot.

And finally, the nook with the new drywall in and joint compound drying on the seams.  It was a serious challenge getting dry wall through the opening and into place.  Joe would like everyone to know that just putting sheet rock over the old, nasty popcorn was my idea, not his.  He wanted to get in there with a respirator and a palm sander.

I think he's crazy.  But that's nothing new.

The nook will be painted white and have some new shelving put in, ready to tuck towels and bathroom goodies away.  I can't believe the bathroom overhaul is almost complete!

With the spat of warm weather, I've gone into spring cleaning mode.  I've also realized that we have almost no pictures of completed rooms, like our offices once we got fully moved in or the updates in the kitchen.  I need to fix that, starting with my amazing closet now that it's mostly done.  I just have to vacuum first.  No need to advertise that our dogs love to throw stuffed animal guts all over the house.

Hibernation

 I told Aura it was -2* out.  This was her response.

 
No, we're not dead.  Just hibernating underneath the deep blanket of snow Mother Nature has decided to drop on us in February.  About four feet of snow in the last month has made Joe a bit crazy.  Thank goodness for the snow blower and the tractor. 

The birds are going crazy, too.  They can barely get out of their coop and the ducks keep invading the chicken run.  It makes for a crowded situation.  But we still have six chickens and four ducks, so that's a good sign!  Despite the nasty cold, we've only got some bits of frost bite on the single comb girls to show for it.

As for the indoor projects, I can finally report some real progress!

The bathroom, prepped and ready for paint.

Purple!

It's my bathroom, I can paint it any color I want.  I wanted one room in purple and this room was the winner.  Now we get to put the toilet back together, install the new sink, and get the nook rebuilt to hide the yellowed, nasty popcorn mess.

Seeds have arrived and the earliest of the indoor started plants are going in.  Sure, it's still only 15* for a high and I don't even know where my garden is under all of that white, but spring has to come eventually, right?

Please?

Poultry protest

The chickens have had it with the cold and insist that we migrate south.  Immediately.

Cold snap

Half of the wallpaper is down.  Progress is slow due to my respiratory distress when working in there.  Allergies suck.  But I'm rounding the bend and we should soon be hauling in the new dry wall to cover up the popcorn in the nook and make everything look up to date and nice.

Indoor projects are all the rage with January temperatures arriving in force.  Last night it got down to -11 with a -30 windchill.  Even coming from Minnesota, that's chilly.  I was really worried about the birds with that big of a temperature swing.  One of the barred rock girls has already lost a point on her comb to frost bite, and that was at 13 degrees.  The muscovies never even go inside!  They're out swimming in the creek every darn day, regardless of the weather.  So long as they can find open water, they swim.

I knew foul weather was on it's way when Draco brought his girls up to the pen for shelter.

I closed the chickens in their coop to keep the wind out and left it at that.  There's seven of them (no more hawk attacks!) so they can produce a good bit of heat.  The muscovies put themselves in their hut once the sun set.  The next morning, everyone was out in the early morning sun, warming up and preening.  No frost bite or losses.  Score one for the geeks!

The ducks went right back in the creek, taking advantage of the sections that are fast moving to find open water.  Weirdos.  It was about 5 degrees out.  For a Central American species, they really don't seem to feel the cold much.

We found these in the duck hut while prepping for the cold night.

Heck of a time to start laying!  We're collecting them since it's just too darn cold for them to try to brood.  With the chickens producing 3-4 eggs a day and now duck eggs, Joe is back to eating omelets daily.  I made some cookies with the duck eggs, they really do make baked goods fluffier.

2015 is off to a roaring start.  Seed orders are going in, pick up my bantam chickens next weekend, and our little rooster crowed for the first time.  It's starting to actually feel like a baby homestead around here.

So we meet again

For the first time, for the last time.

Bonus points if you know what that line is from.

After losing two barred rock girls to the hawk, we locked all seven of the remaining chickens in the covered run together.  We're pleased to announce that we still have all seven!  We've started giving them limited access to the pasture and that seems to be working.  The group combined with minimal trouble and no violence, so at least that part is done.  We now have just one chicken coop occupied, which cuts down on my work.

We also had some guys out to deal with the trees that were too close to the house.

There will be updated pictures of the back yard later, now that the big hemlock in the middle is gone.  I have a lot more room for my vegetable garden.

But this post is mostly about my midwinter project:  my bathroom, and specifically, ripping out yet more wallpaper. 

 My husband is a very smart man and got me my own tool set for Christmas.  Now we don't have to bicker over tools and where they should be stored.  Cowboy approves.

The bathroom in question is technically the guest bathroom, a two piece on the landing at the third level of the house.  I keep all of my stuff in there, making it my bathroom.  It's quite tiny but has a big built in nook that gives me a lot of space for storing stuff.  The original sink jutted out into the room and I was constantly clipping my hip on it.

So that had to come out, along with the matching mirror.  It's going on Craigslist, since it's in good shape.  We have a new sink and cabinet from Ikea that's made for tiny bathrooms and it will fit a lot better.  Joe's also going to replace the obnoxious light.  I hit my head on it a lot.

That leaves the nook that has not been updated since . . . ever and the horrible wallpaper.  Yes, I hate all wallpaper, but this is particularly obnoxious.

The nook had some rather off center shelving and blue shag carpeting.  Yes, that is blue shag carpeting in the bottom that smelled a bit off. 

Glad to see all of that mess gone.

And then I started pulling out all of the base board and trim in preparation for removing the wallpaper.  I got an extra little surprise.

Well, hello there, my single celled nemesis.  I'm allergic to mold and mildew, so that was an unpleasant discovery.  The good news is that we've found it, so it can all be torn out.  Throwing out the base boards, tearing off the wall paper, and soaking the dry wall with mold and mildew killer should take care of this.  The root cause (condensation from the toilet) was already handled.

I also don't know my own strength.  I punched a hole in the dry wall with the flat bar.  Oops.

I'll be taking some benadryl tonight and probably using filtration when I go back in there tomorrow to start tearing down the wallpaper.  Once the wallpaper is down, the nook is getting new dry wall to cover the popcorn stuff and cover the gaps.  I want a seamless inset that I'll paint white.  The walls are going to be purple (my bathroom, my favorite color).  Silver shelving in the nook and recessed lighting will make my little bathroom look like it's actually from this century.

Another room of wallpaper bites the dust!