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Hoard a Cord (pt.3)

At last, with the holiday break, I was able to revisit the firewood holder. The warping OSB was concerning, but ultimately proved not to be an issue once I started attaching the metal. First though, I had to measure and cut it.

Sawing through metal paneling such as this was a new experience. It was too tough for any of my originally-planned methods, but with some protective gear and strong nerve on my part, the miter saw ended up suitable for the job. The screeching of metal on metal was horrendous, and the saw’s reach was insufficient, forcing me to make multiple cuts on each section. And no doubt the blade’s completely shot now and I’ll need to replace it. But, it did eventually work.

And by good fortune, full panel width almost lined up, with just a couple inches of overlap, so I didn’t have to attempt a longitudinal cut. Sometimes, I do luck out.

But as these were not full panels, they lacked the undercurve. They’re designed to hook under the eaves so no hardware is exposed skyward, but as I didn’t have 15 full panels to work with, that wasn’t an option and I had to screw them directly in. I wasn’t concerned. It is just a wood pile. Even if they leak over time, it’s a non-issue.

However, I did still use proper roofing screws – the ones with that synthetic washer that self-seal.

First though, I slid a drip guard under the downward edge, more for aesthetics than concern of water infiltration. I mean, I didn’t install felt or insulation between the metal and wood. I draw the line at overkill somewhere. But either way, it’s an improvement.

Then I added flashing at the peak, this time because I was concerned with water.

And lastly, I spray-painted all the metal parts that weren’t black, to make a nice purdy finish.

I have yet to see anyone else in the neighborhood with a custom-built firewood holder in their backyard, or a metal roof on their house – much less a custom-built firewood holder with a matching metal roof. I guess normal people spend their time and money elsewhere.

But I’m not a normal person, and I have an awesome firewood holder now. Ten years in the backlog and two months in the making. At last!

–Simon

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Rabbits and Rednecks: Addendum

Wanting to have more fun with the Thanksgiving hunting incident, I decided on a more tangible method of memory preservation.

Rabbits and Rednecks

Specifically, my dad likes shadow boxes. And if memories are more important than possessions, it makes for a perfect Christmas gift. Plus, I had a lot of fun with it:

This cranky jerkface gave us, indirectly and unintentionally, a great holiday memory.

–Simon

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Idiot Homeowners Pt. 3

A weeknight wound down. I was drifting into pleasant unconsciousness, in an uncharacteristic moment of mental serenity. The mind was not stressing over the next day’s hellscape, nor the kid’s academic performance, nor whatever unfortunate event would drain my finances next before I had sufficient time to replenish them. Liz sensed this, and mentioned, in such a casual tone, that oh yeah! – something’s leaking in the basement.

To date, here’s what’s leaked in the basement:

  • The aquarium, x3: powerhead wiggled off its mount and sprayed water out of the tank; gasket on the filter cracked; gasket on the CO2 diffuser wore out.
  • Crappy former homeowner repair on the kitchen sink drain.
  • Wash machine drain backing up.
  • I overflowed the coffee pot.

Each of these resulted in varying degrees of water damage. Ergo, to determine the level of severity and therefore the immediacy of action required, I asked some pointed questions, such as: “Where?” and “What?”. To which I received vague and somewhat unconcerned answers.

All right then, everyone out of bed! Trifle not with leaks.

Of course, nothing at that moment was leaking, so I performed a cursory inspection of the usual suspects. The aquarium was being good, and I’m happy to say that my kitchen sink plumbing repair was still in working order. So, I started turning on faucets.

Eventually, a small drip appeared in the laundry room. Following the path of gravity, which is generally straightforward, I was led here:

This was the copper drain line from the kitchen sink. At least it was unpressurized gray-water. But why would it start leaking now? The answer, as you might guess, was once again attributed to some dumbass thing a prior homeowner must have done.

This cross-beam joist support had apparently become detached, and someone partially hammered in extra nails to keep it from falling – not that it was doing anything at that point anyway. If there’s no lateral pressure from the joists, then it serves no function and should have just been pulled down when it separated. Instead, a barbarian with a hammer decided upon a more violent approach. Which led to…

…a punctured pipe.

I’m guessing that the only reason we’re seeing the leak now is that the nails had previously corroded to form a seal, but have now eventually corroded to the point where that seal is broken. I think I’ll pull the nails out and attach a rubber seal with a hose clamp, since there’s really no way to access the pipe for soldering without total disassembly. Then maybe someone else will complain about my own haphazard repair, but that will be minor in comparison to this boneheaded lack of attention to detail.

And maybe, this type of matter might be brought to my attention during waking hours in the future. Hmmmm……?

–Simon

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Every Snow (Part 6)…

El Niño, La Niña – one of these. A wet winter was predicted, and so it has been! Trifle not with the apparently Spanish sea gods. Here’s the second big one of the season:

Additionally, there were some unanticipated consequences from the metal roof install. Most notably, the glaciers that develop, which catastrophically cascade. Some snow shield installs are in the future.

–Simon