Today, I finally got a chance to continue working on the replacement door for the sun room.
Cutting out recesses for the hinges.
To line them up with the recesses that are already in the door frame, I dragged the broken door over and lined it up with the replacement door.
After making sure they were facing the right way, I used one of the hinges we took off to line up the recessed area, then traced around it.
And only now, as I look at this photo, I realize that for all the care I took to line it up and facing the right way, I got it backwards.
Dangit!
Ah, well. We’ll work it out.
*sigh*
I ended up carving out the recess with a combination of chiselling it, and shaving it with a utility knife.
My daughter then turned the door to access the outside of it, painted the carved out areas, and gave the outside of the door a final coat. It’s got some rough areas in the wood, so she really wanted to make sure it was well coated to protect it from the weather.
Now that I realize I goofed on the recesses, I’ll just carve out the remaining bit, so the recess runs across the door, then we’ll paint that over, too.
Ugh. I can’t believe I made such an obvious error. I even remember telling myself, when thinking about it a couple of days ago, to make sure I didn’t do that!
This spring, our sump pump is actually going off pretty regularly. Which is great, because it means we have moisture in the ground. The last two springs, I think it went off only once or twice, aside from when we drained the hot water tank into it.
Which brought to my attention some damage to the drainage hose outside.
I think it might have gotten stepped on, while frozen… and it was likely me who stepped on it! :-D
So I went into town to see if I could pick up some replacement hose. Something longer, so that I could direct the hose towards the garden by the old kitchen, instead of having it drain next to the well.
At the hardware store, I was very happy to find sump pump hose kits with 24 ft hoses!
Except… well… see for yourself.
They are very different diameters!
On reading the package, I realized that this hose kit is intended to attach directly to the sump pump itself.
That is not what we have.
I found a very knowledgeable employee to help me out. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take any photos before I left, so I had to try and describe to him what we had instead.
We’ve got this semi-rigid hose cobbled together, instead. The diameter of this hose, however, should fit the hose kit. It was on the other side that the size is somehow modified so the larger diameter flexible hose could be attached. I had looked at it before and saw that it was clamped very close to the wall, but could not see what it was clamped too.
I still can’t really see.
Something has been wrapped around the end, and then the larger hose was clamped in place.
That “something” looks, for all the world, like batting. Like quilt batting, or aquarium filter batting.
Whatever it is, it’s been there long enough to be covered in crud.
In talking to the guy at the hardware store, he picked several different attachments that I might need, and a plumber’s adhesive that I would need if I had to use one of them. Once I get working on this and remove the broken hose, I should have the pieces needed to attach the hose kit, if it’s a different size. Or, if the end coming out of the wall is the size I’m seeing from the basement, and doesn’t have something weird done to it on the outside, I might be able to use what came with the kit itself.
He said I could return anything I don’t end up using, but that’s not going to happen. Even if I don’t use the pieces, they are things that will come in handy in the future and will not go to waste!
Plus, just in case, I picked up two hose kits. If things are bad enough, I can replace the cobbled together hose that’s inside the basement now and replace it with the flexible hose that should have been there in the first place. If I do end up doing that, one hose will not be long enough to run along the side of the house and reach the garden.
With that in mind, I asked the guy at the store if I could attach the hoses of two kits together, mentioning in passing that right now, the hose is draining next to our well.
That got a rather dismayed and understanding “oh, dear!” as I continued to say why I wanted to have longer hose!
He then found me the piece I would need to attach the hoses together, should I need to.
I was one very happy customer by the time I left the store!
When it comes time to actually start working on the hose, I’ll have to make sure to have the sump pump shut off in the basement. It would not be good for it to turn on while I’m working on the house outside! :-D
So this is a task prepped for, but will have to wait for another day. At least we’re all ready to get it done, though. Other things had priority for today, which will be in my next post. :-)
We’ve had a bit of progress regarding our septic pump problems so far.
This morning, bathing involved using basins, then tossing the water outside. Meanwhile, I did my rounds, as usual.
Check this out.
See that dark spot in the middle of the bird bath?
That’s water that isn’t frozen! :-D
Some of the water that got into the basement drained into the sump pump reservoir enough to trigger it. Which means that, outside, there’s a melted patch in the snow.
The cats like it.
Beep Beep tucked herself right in there, and Two-Face came over to investigate. Beep Beep didn’t like that!
Who won?
Two-Face won! :-D
I also called the septic company again. While talking to the guy, he asked where we were, including our driveway marker number.
I drew a complete blank. I couldn’t remember our own driveway marker number! I could sort of remember it, but not really…
Only later, when driving past it and looking, did I realize I had the numbers reversed. The cross road number is at the beginning, not the end.
Still, he had no problem finding us. He’s been here a few times before. I had time to drive my daughter to work, get some cash to pay him, and even start shoveling a bit before he arrived. Thankfully, that big, heavy truck can go through pretty deep snow without getting stuck, though I did shovel a couple of paths while I was there.
While he was pumping out the tank, I talked to him about what was happening. He could see no problems off hand. I even remembered to ask about the float, since one possibility is that the float was stuck, but it was working fine.
So that is all done.
I later went into the basement, which is drying quite nicely right now. One of the things I noticed last night was that the old laundry sink was full of water, so I made a point of checking it.
Sure enough, it was slowly draining.
Gosh, that’s disgusting.
Now, with the tank empty, we actually need to get water in there for the weight. While I was downstairs, my husband flushed the toilet – and I saw water burbling up into the sink!
Nothing came out of that pipe, though.
So what it looks like is that water first started backing up into this sink, while the laundry was being done. Then, when it filled to a certain point, it started backing up out of the pipe, instead.
If there is a clog causing this, it’s somewhere near the pump.
But why would a clog in the pipe cause the pump to stop working? It gets triggered by the float outside.
I don’t know, but when my brother gets here to replace the well pump, we’ll be able to look more closely.
Fingers crossed, it’s just a relatively minor fix that we can take care of ourselves!
Yesterday’s plans to take my mother to visit her sister at the nursing home changed. I got a call in the morning, because she was worried about the weather. It was blowing pretty hard, and she was concerned. We ended up postponing for now.
When doing my rounds this morning, I found some minor tree damage from the winds.
Yesterday was a fairly long day, as the girls and I made another trip into the city. Which should be the last supply trip needed. From now on, anything we’ll need over the month can be picked up locally.
Of course, before we headed out, I fed the critters. As I was putting food and water in the sun room, I discovered I had some quiet company.
We’ve had a steady rain, all day today. A perfect day to be indoors, with a hot cup of tea.
But nooo… That would be too easy!
Late in the morning, as the girls were heading upstairs, they discovered water.
The bathroom floor had water all around the toilet, and with our uneven flooring, it also flowed into the hallway and around the doorway into my office. Continue reading →
High winds last night. Lost the internet a few times. A bit of a storm, later on.
Several times, I took a quick walk around the yard to check on things and picked up downed branches (one of the apple trees in the west yard lost a big one).
I paused to take a short video, during which my heart was in my throat.
Can you see those power lines?
Can you see those branches, whipping about at the power lines?
When we can finally get those cleared, it’s going to be so much better for my blood pressure.
The Re-Farmer 