In March 2018, our home inspection noted that our roof was at end of life, the underlayment was original and 40 years old. We were given a 1-2 year timeline for a re-roof, and on April 7, 2020 it happened: roof leaks. San Diego County suffered a deluge of a storm system, receiving 7+ inches… Continue reading Day 955: New Roof Underlayment
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Day 896: Emergency Water Supply 2.0
If you haven’t seen Day 119- Emergency Water Supply and Pump, check out our original configuration based on the space and budget available. It turns out these were initiated 777 days apart! Our original solution suffered from a building error, the top rack 4×4 was placed on the wrong grain orientation, causing a very visible… Continue reading Day 896: Emergency Water Supply 2.0
Day 942: New Mailbox
During the summer of 2020, it became apparent that our mail was not safe overnight. The major tipping point was a text alert from our cellular carrier saying “pay now or have your service shut off.” WHAT?! A review of bills showed we didn’t receive a bill for three months! One of our vehicles registration… Continue reading Day 942: New Mailbox
Day 856: Driveway Area Dress Up
Our driveway is bordered by inconsistently growing turf, which is either a weedy mess, or a muddy sippy hole. Parking our vehicles was only available part of the year, and the maintenance trying to keep some lawn thriving and green was more than the effort was worth. This area also contains our septic leach field,… Continue reading Day 856: Driveway Area Dress Up
Day 445: Heatilator Fireplace Registers
Our Heatilator fireplace vents were damaged during the horrific tile demo, and they needed to be replaced. They were cast aluminum, and no ready made replacements could be located. These also had tiny blower fans to help aid the convection process. You can see the intake vents on the bottom, and exhaust on the top.… Continue reading Day 445: Heatilator Fireplace Registers
How to: Sharpen Tools/Knives
Sharpening cutting tools is imperative for safe and effective performance. The theory is simple: keep the cutting edge sharp, clean, burr free, and at the correct angle. Our preferred method is using a stone, and in this case, a rotary wet wheel. Items needed: an edge to sharpen, a stone of your preference, and a… Continue reading How to: Sharpen Tools/Knives
Day 13, 572, 773: Surveillance System
Our last foray into this topic was in 2014, and since then technology has increased exponentially while costs have dropped in unison. We will walk you through our current surveillance system that was used as a security feature while our home was vacant and under construction, to the final form that can keep an eye… Continue reading Day 13, 572, 773: Surveillance System
How to: Two Stroke Premix
Eric: I’ve been lagging on adding to our Life 101 series, where we document some basic skills that aren’t readily taught anywhere these days. Today’s lesson is properly mixing two stroke oil and fuel. I needed some fresh mix for my Husqvarna 450 chainsaw to cut down a tree in our backyard. Premix simply means… Continue reading How to: Two Stroke Premix
Day 984: Gas Furnace Retrofit/New HVAC
Come join us for a round about look at the final piece of our all electric to propane conversion: replacing our aging and ineffective heat pump with a gas furnace. Just like our roof, we were well aware that this HVAC system was at end of life expectancy. Similar to the roof, an episode in… Continue reading Day 984: Gas Furnace Retrofit/New HVAC
Day 738: Front Yard Fence and Gate
Project Contain Phillip started five months before we broke ground. We worked with our friend and fence contractor Mike Smith, owner of Fence Smith to plan and install front yard fencing and a gate for our driveway. Linear footage and measurements were taken December 2019. This is one marker to visualize our new gate. We… Continue reading Day 738: Front Yard Fence and Gate