From Top To Bottom

There have been several little project done but nothing lately that needed to be posted, until this past week (8 days). It all started with the roof, last year I replaced several rows because they were in very poor condition and the remainder weren't that bad. Well shortly after the snow fell and winds picked up several shingles on the front of the house started to come apart. We didn't have any leaks but they it needed to be re-shingled. It has been very hot this summer and the fall is the best time. My Brother-in-Law Joe Foote offered to help and we did the job. My neighbor lent me 4 roof jacks and I bought 4 to help make the job easier, as the roof line is a 12 in 12, very steep. When all was done, cleaned up and I put the old shingles in garbage cans, and large totes to take them to the dump, I took 430 kgs of shingles in, a lot of work.

The next thing that needed my attention was the septic, things were not flowing as they should, last year we had the tank pumped out and I thought that was it but not really. So I dug up the old line from the tank to the septic field to find the blockage and I did. I took up the rest of the line, replaced it, added some gravel, back filled, let it settle a couple days and with a little tractor work cleaned it up some. We'll know more in the spring. But the best part is everything is flowing well.

You can now see why I called this post "From Top To Bottom".

Right side, hard to see but it's bad.

Left side, small part I dd last year, the rest went.

The job site.

Two sets of roof jack makes the job safer.

One side done.

Finishing off the left side.

Done.

Remove a little fenced and the tractor does the rest.

Found the end of the tank and the line.

Over a 60 ft run.

The box is where the tank cover is.

Back filled and fence back up.

A little tractor work to finish off the heavy work.

Best Looking Pump House Ever.

Well it took 2½  days, because of the weather, to get the ceder shingles on, a bit cool and windy but it's done. Next spring we'll stain it the same as the hen house. Here is a look at this, now very sturdy and secure building.

Our Pump House

It has been a long time coming, but I finally started on our pump house. Late this summer we had to replace the water tank because of a small hole that put about 18 inches of water in the pump house basement. Then about a week later the pump started to fail and it got replaced. With winter coming we knew work was needed and we also wanted to relocate the door so we could see it from the house. The frame supporting the door frame was rotted out at the bottom and did not hold back much of anything, wind, rain, and thank fully not any animals. Once the door was relocated and the wall restructured, soundly and covered with old style building wrap, I restructured and made a new hatch and ladder to get down to the pump, before I had to step down about 2 feet to get to an old folding ladder. Also cleaned up the electrical a bit, much safer. With the rest of the siding off and some small repair work done, two locations that were missing boards. I filled in the underside of the soffits and the gable ends, also I added new trim to the door and the corners, covered the exposed concrete with left over metal fascia from a previous addition.  I made my first set of stairs, two steps mind you, the ceder shingle siding will go on in a day or so. Here are a few pictures of the progress.

What we had to work with.

A look at all sides.

Never had any siding on it.

One of the better sides.

This end wasn't even finished.

Added a light and a switch up here for the pump.

Safe feed line, not exposed anymore.

Another switch, new plug and light.

You can see where it was rotten.

Safe and sound and solid now.

New door location.

A little covering.

New hatch and proper flooring.

Insulated as well and you can see the old ladder.

New ladder.

A little exterior improvements, and steps.

Corner boards and soffits installed.

Starting to shape up.

Awaiting the ceder shingles.

All side ready.

Even a fake window, an old mirror framed out for some style.

The Last Leg

I forgot to post these pictures, the last wall in the mud room is done, well like the rest of this part I still have the trim to do, but the important part is done. It turned out very well and now it's insulated. Here's how it progressed.

The last 19 ½ feet of insulation is in.

Much warmer this year.

Add a bit of sheet rock.

The room even looks different now.

Mud always helps.

Lots to do even on this short run.

Primed and ready.

Add a dash of colour.

And we call it done.

The Lower Studio

Well it just needs trim around the doors and windows (which will come later on) and the lower studio is ready to be put back together. There is a bit of flooring work required, locations were the closet and partition walls were, we have some ideas but will wait until it's done first. The walls got primed, painted and the ceiling turned out rather well, just saying. The wall brackets are up, the top and bottom shelves are in place, ReBecca will decide where the others go. We even put in a small heater to keep the chill out in the winter, it is a wall mounted convection style heater, and with the walls now insulated it won't take much to keep it warm. Here are a few pictures of how the past week and a half went. It is hard to see the colour in the walls but it's there, and it's called "Morning Glow".

Primed.

Ceiling primed, it does look better than this pictures shows.

Painted

Painted as well.

A little better look at the colour.

Last part of the drywall put up.

A simple wall to put drywall up, I liked this one.

Once again more mud.

A quick mud job on this one.

Primed.

Painted.

The colour is light.

The heater is in.

Plenty of storage space.