Well, Drat ...

We bought our wonderful home four years tomorrow. Overall, it has been a remarkable easy thing to take care of.

Sure, there was all the damage from the 7.1 'quake in Nov. '18, but I digress.

Each level of our three-story structure is its own heating zone. We noticed yesterday that the heat was increasing on the second floor, the main living level with kitchen, breakfast nook, laundry room, living room, entry foyer, half-bath ... but I digress.

The heat wouldn't shut off. It's not been long since I replaced batteries in the digital thermostats on each level, but I put new ones in this morning. Just to be sure.

It's an old downeasterner's adage: start by replacing the least expensive component first. My dad's family was from Vermont, and I learned it from him. "No point in replacing the starter, only to find that the problem is the relay," he taught. Good advice.

But batteries didn't solve the problem.

Shutting off the hot water valve for the appropriate floor would be next, but seems I neglected to determine which valve is which. It didn't take long to figure it out, of course. Only four valves (the kitchen has its own), and trial-and-error is easy with so few choices.

So a visit from Our Favorite Plumber is in order - it's probably a relay ... heh - but they're closed on weekends except for emergencies.

Meanwhile, the weather has finally transitioned into Spring, with a forecast high today of 65 or so. So we opened the windows, and will get by until said plumber can pay us a call.

Like Roseanne Rosannadanna used to opine, "It's always something."

The Week That Was (Updated Pics)

The last four days have been busy around the ol' homestead.

The 7.1 'quake on Nov. 30 put the final nails in the coffin of our septic system (for city dwellers, that's a septic tank and drainfield). It caused the steel tank to collapse, which flooded the drainfield. The field, however, was over 90% saturated and couldn't handle that much water all at once.

Long story short: we had to replace the whole thing. On Monday all the equipment showed up, and for the last four days our front yard looked like a construction site.

It required the removal of many trees in what was a heavily-wooded yard.

North view, driveway entrance

West end of the front yard "bowl"

East end of the "bowl"

Panoramic view from north to east, with the resulting distortion. This shot
covers about 250 feet of road frontage.

The first two days, there was so much smoke from the wildfires that we had to leave all the windows closed. Thankfully, by Wednesday the smoke had mostly cleared, so we were able to open the windows on the south side of the house for some fresh air. It was getting a bit stuffy inside.

A neighbor has claimed the piles of logs in the front (to the right of the driveway, above), which shaved a couple hundred dollars off of the job for hiring a truck to haul everything away.

Wednesday afternoon

Wednesday was the busiest day, with the excavator, industrial wood chipper eating trees, front end loader, chain saw, dump truck, and laborers all going full bore until 8 pm.

But the work is done now, and all we have to do is get enough grass seed to cover some 4,000 to 5,000 square feet.

We also need to repave the north end of the circle drive, although that may now have to wait until next spring.

Oh - and how much has all this cost? Trust me, you don't want to know.

Another Round Completed

The drywall repairs on all three floors are complete: holes, cracks, breaks, splits all gone. Surfaces prepped, textured and ready for paint. Workmen compensated and out of the house. Painting can proceed at our own pace, as time permits.

Front exterior stairs no longer wobble from side to side; that's a good thing. There was no danger of them falling, but lateral support was lacking. No longer. Diagonal and cross-bracing is now installed, making them rock solid.

The remaining two-part project is the replacement of the septic system. Since that involves trenching across our raised driveway, major driveway repair is the second part.

But for now, we're happy to have the house to ourselves again, and without more chunks of damaged drywall falling every day.

God's Word for Friday, 7/19/19

Praise report first: the drywall repairs are 99% complete, and surfaces prepped for painting. Happy dance shall ensue. :)
*******************

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Isaiah 41:10 KJV

Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.

Isaiah 41:10 MSG

It Only Took Eight Months

... but the handyman company will be here tomorrow, to begin repairing all the cracked/torn/split/broken drywall from the Nov. 30 earthquake. We've looked at all these cracks long enough, thankyouverymuch.

The engineering for our new septic system is done, and the permit issued. Just awaiting the septic installers to schedule a time for the replacement tank and new drainfield.

Of course, that will require them to take out several large trees (most of which are dead or dying, so sad but not tragic). Worse is that they must trench across our raised asphalt driveway and stone retaining wall. The repairs for that will probably have to wait until next spring.

But it's nice to finally be moving forward. We've been on hold for far too long.