Monday, August 31, 2020

Electric panel swap out (part 1)

      Today I began running the new electric service cable, I wired the kitchen, dining room, and well pump circuits up to the new panel,  and I installed the service disconnect switch.  Matt is definitely coming up this weekend to swap in the new cable to the meter.
   




      I also finished trimming the windows in the library(see post below) and got all the hardwood for the floor into the dining room loaded into the house.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Trimming out the walls & windows

    I finally got around to installing some wood trim in the library.  I got the 1/4 round piece on top of the entrance/arch casing, and I got the middle window done.  I started the other windows, but ran out of material. I'll need to make a trip to Lumber Liquidators and get 5 more pieces.

 


edit (8-31-20):  windows all done,  crown molding next. 

Playing with concrete. (episode 3)

    Another 42 bags of concrete mix have been removed from the shelves of home depot.  I poured the third and final section of the outer foundation wall on the North side. It is 13 inches deep where it met the stone, and slopes downward to 10" as it heads out toward the yard. I bought in some dirt to meet the pour and tapered it down away from the house. This will hopefully be the end of the rainwater getting into the basement.  It was quite dry down there yesterday.

     I also concreted a 24" iron casing onto the top of the well opening. After a 24 inch extension is placed onto the concrete, the dirt can finally be backfilled  around the hole and the lid replaced.


Wednesday, August 19, 2020

New electric service soon

Just got the service entrance cable and the disconnect switch, so we should be able to install the new electric service and wire up the panel this weekend my friend Matt is coming to give me a hand with it.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

I tried my hand at landscaping.

    Today I rented a skid steer with bucket and tried some landscaping.  I removed a ton of dirt from the north side of the house and relocated it to the south side and the front where there were a lot of low spots.  I re-graded and sloped the dirt down and away from the house which I'm told is a good idea.  I really need to get back onto the concrete work and finish the wall on that side of the house.

    Here's a few photos:



        After that was done,  I re-installed the baseboard moulding in the kitchen, then laid down some protective paper and bought the appliances back into the kitchen.



    I went down into the basement and began installing the new electric panel in anticipation of Matt coming up this weekend and replacing the service entrance cable.

   

     Lastly, I did some work around the well in the backyard. I have a new taller casing  ordered up to bring the opening up above ground level.  I  didn't snap any photos of that.

   Oh and by the way, I put in a claim to my homeowners insurance to see if they will pay for some of the damage from that hurricane last week. I should know in a few days.

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Floored!

    Yesterday, I bought my wife Robin up to the house. She's a pretty good painter, I had her put a second coat of paint in the piano room.  By the way, we're going to start calling that room the library because thats where all the bookshelves are going to be, and of course we no longer have the piano.

    I also installed the permanent ceiling light fixture after the ceiling got its second coat of white paint. Here's Robin putting the last coat of grey on the walls:





     

         While she was painting in the next room, I was laying down the vinyl floor in the kitchen.
It was a bit tricky to get it centered and then the first few cuts made me nervous, but then it began to get easier. There will only be one short seam in the floor over by the basement staircase.  I still have to install the baseboard moldings back over it too.