Doing well, or maybe not so well.

       The bottom line is, I need running water in the house. I've been working around it for 4 years. Lugging barrels of fresh water up to the house nearly every weekend, and not having running water (or a toilet that flushes) has taken its toll on me.

     Bob, my boiler tech says he needs water to fill the system and so I've been on a mission to get the well going. I called two well companies, one of which would not service my area, and another who came out to the house and said he would give me an estimate, but just ran me around in circles for over a week and then just stopped returning my calls.
 
    Finally, I called Gary Tyler of Tyler Pump and Well Service.  I should have called them first,  they were professional, polite, prompt, and punctual.  This morning right at 8:30 (just like they said) the guys from Tyler Wells came to the house. They replaced my pump with a new 220 volt Pentair well pump, I think it was a 1/2 horsepower unit. They also ran all new wiring, installed a new fiberglass pressure tank with a boiler drain valve and a main shutoff ballvalve.  A new pressure switch was also installed.

     I came so close to having running water today, but hit a small problem. My 100 amp circuit breaker panel does not have a ground rod in the earth tied into the ground bar.  Rather than running the ground to the neutral, I ran it to the "fake" ground bar and had some arcing in the box when the breaker for the well was turned on.  I should have my friend Matt up to the house within the week and get that issue resolved, then the water should flow!

    Here's a few photos from today:
 

 Old pump is out:

 New pump being wired up:

 New pressure tank:

Pour some more.

The second concrete pour has cured. This one was a full 24" tall on top of the 8" footing that I pored the day we dug the trench.  One of the photos shows that there is still another foot of concrete needed to reach the existing sill plate under the wall.  A lot of the original sill plate is rotted and gone, so I will most likely build the next forms at 14" tall so that some of the concrete can flow under and around the wall studs and timbers where the sill plate was. This will definitely strengthen and support the wall while stopping water from getting in the basement.

    After removing the plywood forms, I backfilled the trench alongside the new wall with dirt.

   

     After playing in the dirt, I went back to the piano room where I proceeded to put a coat of white paint on the ceiling as well as the first coat of grey paint on the walls.

I ditched on the piano room.

      Well, I know that I said in my last post that I'd be doing paint & vinyl floor next, but I took a left turn at Albuquerque.  I actually got the chance to have some young helpers join me to dig a twenty foot long trench alongside the foundation on the north side of the house.

       You see, for some time now the north wall of the stone foundation has weeped water into the basement after heavy rains. Parging and re-mortaring it from the inside slowed it, but did not stop the dampness at the floor alongside that wall. I decided last year that I wanted to dig it all out from the outside and pour a concrete wall on the outside of the stone wall to stop the porosity.
 
       Rob and I began to dig it out last summer, but thats when we discovered the in ground oil tank. That discovery led to us addressing that project first. (see blog entry from 11/3/19)  Then Rob became ill, and heavy labor such as digging a deep trench was too much for me alone. 

     Last week,  my son Chris and his friend Steve joined me at the house. The three of us dug a trench alongside the stone foundation. The trench was four feet deep, 18 inches wide,  and twenty feet long.  Seeing the stone foundation uncovered, it was no surprise that water was getting in. There was no traces of mortar left anywhere, and there were gaps, voids, and holes everywhere in the wall.

      It took about four hours to dig it out, and then the boys helped me carry the cement mixer out and they carried 16 eighty pound bags of concrete outside so I could mix it up and pour an eight inch deep footing at the bottom of the trench.  We did not take any pictures of the digging process, but I went to the house yesterday to pour more cement, and I did snap a picture of the trench with the cured footing.

       I bought a pallet of concrete mix (42 bags) and headed to the house yesterday to pour the wall. First I built a plywood form which was 24 inches tall at its lowest point and 36 inches tall at the end nearest the cement mixer. I mixed and poured every single bag into that form, and I still need more. I'm about a foot (12") short still, so I will have to get another pallet of mix.

      Here's a photo of the wall so far:
 

 
        I'll photograph the wall at its current height once I remove the forms and before I backfill with dirt. Then I'll build the next form for the last 12" - 18" of the wall.

Up next: Paint & Vinyl

   Four sanding sessions is what it took to get the piano room done. Yes, there are a few small spots that need tiny touch up here and there but basically, its ready for paint. Once the ceiling and walls are painted, the window casing, crown moulding, and then the wood floors can be installed.

     Having completed my sanding for the day, I moved on to the kitchen floor. Most of the luan underlayment was straight forward, full sheets mostly except for a few 2' X 8' half sheets along the back wall.  The exception was the sheet that curled around the hallway wall and into the three doorways.  That one took the better part of two hours to cut & trim and fit into place nicely.  Nonetheless, I got it done.

     And just like that, the kitchen was ready for the vinyl floor. I bought in the roll and hopefully my son Chris will be able to help me unroll it and get it into place next weekend.

 

Sand, spackle, repeat...

     Yes its true, the worst part of any home renovation is the endless sanding and inevitable re-spackling  of all the seams and screw heads. I'm two sessions in and by my calculations I'll have two more before the primer/paint gets applied.  Its tedious and exhausting, but necessary.

     After I was all spackled out,  I installed the last three pieces of 1/2" plywood on the kitchen floor around the sink cabinet.  Following that, I began laying down the 1/4" luan underlayment. I used construction adhesive and about a thousand inch long crown staples to hold it down.  I'm guessing the vinyl floor will be going down in about two weeks.

edit 6/7/20:
    Sanding session #3 indicated that many of my screw heads & seams are done, so I rolled some primer on the completed areas. This should prevent me from re-sanding areas that no longer need sanding and allow me to concentrate on the remaining rough areas.
   

Meet Mike.

    In my March 22nd blog entry, I mentioned that this season I will be helped by three new friends: Bob, Mike, and Matt.  I've already introduced Bob, he is the boiler tech who is scheduled to return in July and complete the boiler install.  Now I'd like to introduce Mike.

     Mike is my friend, his primary business is sealcoating driveways, but he is also quite good at drywall and masonry work.  I was planning to start using him next month when we complete the foundation repair on the North side of the house.  With the unexpected loss of Robbie last week, I bought Mike up to help me finish the sheetrock in the piano room.

     I'll not lie, it felt a bit strange working with Mike instead of Robbie, but Mike did a great job! We hung the last of the sheetrock and then Mike did the first coat of tape & mud.  We left the bottom strip of sheetrock off until the floor repairs get made just in case the height of the floor changes due to unexpected surprises.

      Here are a few photos from this morning:

 

By the way if anyone in the Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, or Pike County areas needs a good sealcoat guy who uses top quality oil based sealer and does neat professional work, call Mike at (845) 469-SEAL

I lost my friend.

 I’m not sure how to write this blog entry, I don’t really know how to say this. Robbie has passed away.

I found out yesterday and I hoped it was a mistake, but I just got confirmation from his cousin.  He’s gone. 

     Anyone who has read this blog for the past 5 years knows that Robbie was my friend and my worker.  Robbie could do anything. His specialty was tile and stone work, but he did masonry, framing, roofing, plumbing, sheetrock, etc.  Hell, Robbie could do anything! I met Robbie nine years ago, he had his own business and my boss hired him to re-model the office at our shop, and replace all the windows. I was so impressed with his work and the speed at which he completed the task, that I asked for one of his business cards:

When a car crashed into and destroyed the detached garage at my house back in 2012, I hired Robbie to re-build it. His price was unbeatable, and the garage was completed within three days. He repaired a section of the foundation, and widened the garage door opening by framing out custom swing out barn-style doors.  From that point on he was my guy for construction and home repairs.  In 2014 I had Robbie install hardwood floors in the upstairs of my house. The results were amazing. Since then he has re-tiled two bathrooms for me, done plumbing repairs, rebuilt a deck and gates at my sons house and installed some very nice railings on two staircases. 

  When I bought this 1861 Lackawaxen house in 2016, one of the first things I did was to get Robbie up there to get his opinion.  I remember how he looked at me after assessing the damage. His eyes got big and I feel like he  wanted to tell me that I had made a mistake buying something this bad, but he said we could fix it.  Robbie is responsible for at least 90% of the progress that was made on this house. It would not be where it is today if not for him. He was truly an amazingly talented man. For the past five spring/summer seasons, we worked on this house every weekend.  We worked side by side, just him and I.  I learned so much by working with and helping Robbie. Most importantly we developed a great friendship.  I got to know Rob’s family and he got to know mine. My wife Robin was always referring Robbie to her friends and relatives who needed work done.  

       The coming weeks and months of working on my house without him are going to be tough. He’ll no longer be there to show me how to do things and help me to do them. He won’t be there for me to ask his advice and to tell me what materials to buy.  But the hardest part will be that I’ll no longer have my friend there to talk to, to laugh with, to work along side of.  I’m going to miss you Rob. May God wrap his arms around you and may your soul be at rest.

Fritz

https://www.lsvpmemorialhome.com/Obituary/4965/Robert+J+Pilgrene

https://www.gofundme.com/f/843jv-funeral-expenses-for-robert

Here are a few photos of my friend Robbie.