Bruce's Journal

[CntryBoy777]

Isn't it amazing when dealing with modern day "Skilled" workers?....

 

[Sara Ranch]

@CntryBoy777 - it is what it is.

I am blessed the pipes didn't freeze and that I have enough clothes to dress in layers.

I am blessed that he is coming back to try to fix the problems. Yeah, it will probably cost me, but there is a cap on the entire project that he agreed NOT to exceed. How many plumbers would agree not to exceed an amount on a project? Not many! This falls under that project.

He built in extra money for "what if's" and "just in case". I said that was fine because I could not have a project without a price cap. Our agreement was if it cost less to complete, that is what he would charge me. If it cost more, then he wouldn't go past the cap.

Sadly (for me,) looks like all of that extra money will be going to his pocket instead of hanging around with me for another week. Gosh darn it!

 

[greybeard]

I checked the power status at my in-laws, it said we were back up. Of course I had an email at 4:30 yesterday saying the same thing and it wasn't true. I finally got back home at 7 PM and indeed we DO have power Checked email messages a short time ago. Had 5 from the power company. First one telling that they were updating the "UP NO LATER THAN" times. Second one said we would be up by 11 PM 11/3. Next one said earlier in the day, next one said 10 PM tonight, next one (at 4:45) said it was up.

The power was out here all day about 5 years ago. A hot August day. They are usually pretty prompt about fixing it or calling with an "estimated time of restoration of power" now as someone on this leg always calls it in, but we didn't have that notification option activated then. The day drug on, it was already dark and I assumed they were working on it, then I noticed thru the woods, that 1/4 mile away, my nearest neighbor's lights were on. I took a drive and everyone else's lights were on too, and that's when I noticed a fallen pine sapling back down on the right of way on my own property. I called and they came right out, cut the sapling off the powerline and had me up and powered in an hour. I felt like a dummy, as I was the only one without power, being the last residence and on the very end of that leg. I learned from that and now make the call myself as soon as the power goes out, no matter what.

 

[Bruce]

@Bruce - Thank goodness for good neighbor and the COLD to save your meat! Did they save your bacon too?

My plumber has tentatively scheduled to come out next week to fix the propane heater thermostat wire that he may have accidentally cut for the sunroom, as well as the propane heater for the main part of the house, as well as reconnect the wood boiler. Er, does that make sense?

I have two options for heating the main part of the house - wood burning and propane. Wood burning was disconnected while he was working on the propane. The propane didn’t appear (or feel) like it worked when the temps dropped. I have a sunroom that has a separate propane heater, separate thermostat. The plumber may have accidentally cut that wire to the thermostat. I know that heater no longer works. I don’t think we were speaking the same language….he kept asking me how many thermostats and I kept replying - two - one for the main house and one for the sunroom, but the sunroom has a separate thermostat. Oh well. He plans to come out next week. I am counting on a great visit that restores heating options for my house! And heat too.

Save my bacon Yes, both figuratively and literally

Um, your plumber should come out and fix the wire YESTERDAY and it should not cost you anything. This of course ASSUMES he did indeed cut the thermostat wire (why would he cut the thermostat wire??).

Do you know where this wire would have been cut?? If so, do a temporary fix yourself. There is nothing complicated about thermostat wires. Usually 3 wires, only 2 are used if you don't have both AC and heat though all will be in the outer insulation. Find where he cut it, strip a bit of insulation off each wire (1/2" is more than plenty) and twist the like colored wires together. These are VERY THIN wires, careful you don't cut the wire when stripping the insulation off. It is low voltage, you can't hurt yourself. But you can switch the thermostat off or turn the temp all the way down first if it is a mechanical one.

How and why was the wood boiler disconnected? I can imagine if there was a possibility of a propane leak while he worked on that he wouldn't want any flames nearby. But he shouldn't have left you without heat this time of year even if he had to work OT (on his dime) to make sure you had heat. In fact, why NEXT week? Why isn't he there TODAY?

 

[Sara Ranch]

My understanding....

When I moved here, there was just a wood furnace (separate building) that supplied the hot water. The floors have radiant floor heat. Since the wood furnace heated up all the water, it was all pumped into the house system and distributed based on demand. There were water line valves on each line to turn it on or off for the radiant floor heating. The hall thermostat controlled the temp for the radiant floor heat. (How that little box with a lever does that is beyond my comprehension!!)

My plumber, at my request, also did maintenance and repair work on the wood furnace and existing pipe valves.

I was not use to the big picture of always having a fire going in the wood stove. And with it being in a separate building, it was pretty easy to forget about it. Which I did. Until I took a cold shower. By then, too late to go start the fire and have hot water. Morning get up time came early....

I hired the plumber to install a propane tankless water heater that could also provide/run the radiant floor heating. It might be a part of my DNA to always have two sources for stuffs. So for heat and hot water, I can choose to use the wood furnace or the propane tankless heater. Two choices.

To install the propane tankless heater, the plumber had to disconnect the existing wood furnace from the water lines. (Not sure if that part is accurate - he had to connect the propane water heater to the pipes.) Part of the project was to install a switch or a lever so I could choose which system I wanted to provide the hot water. He hasn't gotten to that. (Partly his fault and partly my fault.)

While doing the work of installing and trouble shooting the system, the plumber had asked me about thermostats. I am not sure why. The spool of thermostat wire was in the utility closet. Not sure if there were two lines or what. (I so don't get how it works.) I had responded with there were two thermostats - one for the main house which depended on the wood furnace and the other for the sunroom which depended on the propane tank outside. When we were testing the thermostat in the main house, it was 90+ degrees outside and I don't have a/c. So it was pretty challenging to tell if the thermostat wire was down there for both or not. I haven't seen a dangling wire/loose wire/cut wire. (If the wire was cut - and I am hoping it was - it was done by accident. He probably thought it was not needed. Again, I don't know if that is the problem or not. I know that the propane heater worked before and during his prior visits. It did not work after his last visit. It could be that the heater itself went kaput. I dunno.)

This project has taken some time to complete because other projects (emergencies - like a well pump stopped working, a pump hydrant broke, a water pipe broke, etc) that need immediate attention. I totally understand. If I was that person that called & said I have no water or one of those other things, please help, I'd want my plumber to arrive asap!

Then I had to put a hold on things while I dealt with some medical stuffs.

We reconnected and have tentatively scheduled for next week. I know if someone else has an emergency, he will push me back. With the temps at/below freezing, I should be moving towards the top of the priority list. Lol - and you know what the high temp was yesterday?? 81. Yeah. 81 degrees. Today was 65. But last week and the months prior, the temps were dropping to freezing and below. With temps that warm (only falling to the 40's at night) it wasn't necessary to rush back out here.

If the problem is not fixed on Tuesday, then I will ask that he do what is necessary to make things work so I can have heat via propane tankless water heater. Worse case scenario, I have to do wood. (I don't have a lot of wood stocked or saved - burned through most of it already and have been focused on animals this summer. My thoughts were I didn't have to worry as much because I would have an alternative heat source from the wood furnace.)

On the bright side, the hot water from the tankless water heater is awesome!! And hot!

 

[Bruce]

(How that little box with a lever does that is beyond my comprehension!!)

You mean one of these?

If so there is a motor inside that opens a valve in the pipe when the thermostat triggers it to do so. That little lever will move from left to right when this happens. If you want to have it open when the thermostat isn't calling, you can push it to the right and up into the slot, there will be resistance. It will stay open so water will go through that "branch" anytime the pump is running.

I understand now why he disconnected the wood boiler but only kinda-sorta. Is there a "wood or propane" valve in the plumbing? If so and he had put that in right off the bat then started building the propane side of the system, you could be using the wood boiler now while he is off on his "pressing" problems. If he is just connecting the propane furnace water lines to the wood burner water lines with no valve, he may have drained the line coming from the wood burner but is not yet ready to fill the lines back up and the wood boiler can't be used no matter how much wood you have or if the thermostat wire is intact or not.

You'll need some sort of switch in the thermostat wires that is the "wood or propane" 'chooser', perhaps he did intentionally cut the thermostat wires but doesn't have this switch installed yet? I would think, given how simple that would be, he wouldn't cut the wire until he was ready to install the switch and that would be the last thing done after all the plumbing is finished.

 

[Devonviolet]

Wow Bruce! I just had a few minutes to check your journal, and realized I hadn't looked at it since the 18th or 19th of Oct. Time sure flies when you don't know if you are coming or going!

You sure have had a time of it, with your Winter storm & power outages! What a PITA!!! So, you said your power was supposed to be back on by the 4th. I saw you posted around 1:00 yesterday (on the 4th). Is your power on to stay? I hope things get back to "normal" quickly, for you and your family!

 

[Bruce]

@Devonviolet The power actually came back on Wed the 1st about 5:30 PM. There were ZERO lines down on our road and the power on the main road never went out. Must have blown a transformer at the top end of the road, easy fix once they eventually assigned someone to it.

The girls finally all seem to be getting into the coop at night. I see a lot of squabbling and pecking when I'm there to herd them in so I don't have to come back later. I really don't know why, with 36' of roosts at 4' high, 17 girls can't just sit somewhere and leave the others alone.

We went to the Bday party for DWs aunt, 100 years old today. It was held at the retirement place where she and DW's parents live. The other 3 older siblings lived out their lives there as well.

Aunt Ruth told me that when she got her driver's license renewed, they gave her a "Junior operator" (ie under 18) license She had to go back and get that fixed. Approximately 40 family members ranging from 100 years to less than one for the "family only" lunch part. I don't know how many more of the residents for the second part, probably 60 or 70. Ruth, for good reasons, is well thought of!

When we left the house at 10 AM, Oreo and Trill had exited the "stay behind the gate" space. Seems to always be those two or Mint and Cassie, never a "mix 'n match" combination. In any case, all 17 girls in the coop when we got home at 0 dark 30. Or in this case 6 PM. I hate the daylight "saving" time changes. We aren't "saving" any daylight, the sun comes up when it comes up and goes down when it goes down. Today it started to get JUST a bit light about 6 AM and was pretty gone by 5 PM when we left my in-laws. Started checking the forums about 7 and it already feels like I should be going to bed!

 

[CntryBoy777]

Sounds like a really good time with the family, and that's quite a few yrs to be Celebrated....
Glad there was a great turnout for her.
2 words for your chickens....Pecking Order. It may seem silly to us, but it is their way of life and how their "World" functions.
We tend to the animals according to the sun, so even tho the clock pings back or forward, we stay on the same schedule according to the Sun. Our bodies maintain the same cycle, so we will be getting in bed early according to time, but it will be the same time before sunrise....

 

[Latestarter]

Ahhhhh we don't need no stinkin' clock! The animals get fed after I wake up and get presentable (mostly). They get taken care of again just before it gets too dark to see what's goin' on. And sometimes, they get taken care of just cause they need it... like this afternoon when my silly boy goat decided to lift the hoop house tarps with his nose and stick his horny head through the cattle panel... and get stuck I guess the view must be better looking out from inside. Maybe he's tryin' to tell me they need a window? Luckily, he didn't freak out or go crazy but just nonchalantly stood there waiting for me to notice and extricate him... As I approached he looks up at me like "who? me? I'm just standing here looking around...no big deal" So I moved his head the way needed to get those scurs back through the fence and I doubt he'll attempt that again (maybe? I hope?) When he grows in size more, his head should get too big to fit through.

Clock be danged... days are getting noticeably shorter, noticeably sooner. Lot less daylight available to work with. Previous few nights I haven't been able to sleep. Last night I was just so dog tired that when I finally laid down I tossed for about 5 minutes and then went out. Overslept this morning and didn't get up till almost 10 (pre clock change, so really 9am ) That was when my eyes opened, so that's when I got up. Still run down.