Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Baymule]

Dividing the king bed might not give the results you want. A regular twin mattress will be too short. To fit the king box springs you would have to order twin extra long mattresses. It would save space to get a twin daybed and put a pull out trundle underneath it. You don’t have to get a pop up trundle (they are aggravating) . There are just straight pull outs that don’t pop up. That might work better than a Murphy bed.

I have a twin/full bunk bed for the granddaughters. I ordered it from McCoy’s. I didn’t know they carry furniture, you have to go online.

 

[SageHill]

Thanks! I will look online for the parts and on U Tube for plans.

Shelves or desk on the fold up bed bottom wouldn't work since I'd have to remove everything to pull down and use the bed, but I can attach a fold up/down table on the underside for sewing. I have seen plans for those with and without support legs. If I want artwork when it is folded up like a wall, I can screw the picture frame to the wooden bottom. I can use premade kitchen cabinets to make the fancy surrounding cabinetry like the set ups online.

Stack the 12" deep wall cabinets to make a tall wall unit and leave a space between the bottom 30" tall cabinet with a wooden or tile counter top to use as a bedside table. Since the wall cabinets come stock 30" high, and a standard interior house wall is 96", you can install the first cabinet on a 2x4/2x6 for a toe kick, stack 3 cabinets, and add a piece of pine at the top to attach the crown molding at the top if the stack. Paint it out or stain and finish it and you have a nice custom storage cabinet to hide the side of the closed bed. If you want a "bedside table" put a piece of finish grade wood on the first cabinet as a countertop, then add measure and hang another cabinet or set of open shelves above it for a custom look. If you need hanging storage on either side of the bed, use premade pantry cabinets. They are only 18" wide, but 24" deep which will accommodate a hanging rod. Some have a full-size door, others have several sets of doors. All can be modified with the right tools. When stacking overhead cabinets, use long screws to attach the face frames together as well as attaching the cabinets to the wall studs. You can also purchase premade wardrobe cabinets (like Ikea has).

The fancy ones you can buy with the built in desk and or shelves you can change to a bed w/o clearing the shelves. Pretty ingenious - but way $$$$$$ I can appreciate the function, but not the $$$$

 

[Bruce]

I have never understood putting a refrigerator in a cabinet. First, you need airflow to keep the compressor from overheating and somewhere for the fan to blow air out. Second, they don't put grab handles for pulling refrigerators out of cabinets for maintenance. I have enough trouble pulling ours away from the wall let alone out of a cabinet.

The Master bath has a stall shower which is very nice but the shower head is only about 5' off the floor. We were unable to get one of those S pipe to lift it higher (Lowes was out) and will be bringing one back with us. Even I had to crouch to wash my hair. LOL The men had a terrible time. DS1 kept hitting his nose on the shower head the first time he took a shower.

Thus the sliding bar for the handheld showerhead!!!!! Why would you want to rip out drywall in the closet (that you then have to replace, paint, etc) and replace the tub valve with a tub and shower valve ($$) when you could just replace the spout and add a slide bar and have a MORE FUNCTIONAL shower?

Get a bar for the shower as well and put a hose fitting where the showerhead is now.

When we put in the shower in the prior house 30 years ago I got a "tub only" valve and piped a fitting for a handheld shower hose below the valve.

DH wants to get rid of the two hot water heaters in the house and install "Instant On" water heaters but for that we need propane for them to work efficiently.

We have an on-demand heater - yes you need propane, electric won't jack the temperature enough unless you have 2 of them in series (and wow would THAT jack your electric bill). I'm not overly fond of the on demand except for the shower (no one uses the tub upstairs). They probably made more sense when no one cared about how much water they used but now with all appliances being "water saving" the "fires after 3 seconds of 1/2 gallon/minute of water flow" is kinda useless. We don't fill the kitchen sink to wash dishes so every time you turn the hot water on, you hear the heater fire 3 seconds later .... while sending unheated water into the pipe first. You end up with a shot of cold, then some hot, then cold, then hot. Same thing happens when I shave in the bathroom. I'm not going to let the water run for either scenario. Our washer starts by spitting some water in, rotating some, do it again a few times. That doesn't fire the water heater so nothing but "basement cold" water coming in until it adds more water continuously.

I've solved the problem for all but the washer (the piping goes the other direction from the kitchen and bathrooms with a 12 gallon 110V heater heater in the crawl space directly below the kitchen sink (I already had it). The "cold shots" from the on-demand end up in the 12 gallon tank with all the hot water that is already there. And if the on-demand runs long enough to actually provide hot water, the 12 gallon doesn't have to heat it.

You might want to consider replacing the current water heaters with a heat pump water heater if they actually need to be replaced. The HP heaters are more efficient than pure electric.

We replaced the entire head of it with a new head (non-Kobalt) that also uses a heavier string. That, so far is doing well.

 

[Ridgetop]

Great ideas Bruce! Thanks!
Hot Water Heaters: I am going to talk to DH about not replacing the 2 water heaters after all. Both are pretty new 30-40 gal. "energy saving" so no need to replace right now. One HWH is for the front - Master BA, kitchen and laundry. The other is only for the back family bathroom (3 BRs). Since the back bathroom doesn't have a shower yet, we don't use it and I am considering shutting that water heater off for the time being since all 3 of us use the master bath stall shower. Not sure if shutting off the water heater is a good idea or not - would it lead to rust in pipes?

I have not heard of a heat pump water heater - will have to look into it. Having the water heater right outside the master bath in Yantis means that we have instant hot water for showers - unlike our current house where we have to run the water a while since it has to travel 60 feet from the HWH. The water lines are not insulated (not necessary here in so Cal) so not too bad in summer, but in winter almost 5 minutes for hot water. Also, I mostly do laundry in cool water, except when I want to sanitize heavily soiled stuff. Replacing the water heaters with instant-on propane ones means installing propane to the house so extra $$$ as well as plumbing to install 2 instant water heaters. And if we install propane for a Generac, we can still use the electric HWH and visit the replacement of the electric HWH later.

Update: Looked up heat pump HWH and we probably won't go with one. They are not recommended for places where temps go below 30 degrees (6-7celsus) although are good for hot climates. They are also expensive systems both in equipment and installation. They require a large area for installation and are very noisy to operate (maybe like an AC condenser). So although it would work well in Texas summers, we would need a backup HWH for TX winters. Probably not a good choice for us.

Showers: I like the idea of not having to rip into the drywall in cupboard and just putting the shower assembly on the outside of the wall using the diverter in a new faucet assembly. Much easier and cheaper. We have a sliding bar with removable shower head in the Yantis master bath in addition to the stationary low shower head. The previous owner had lost part of his leg in WWII so it was installed for him, and shower equipped with grab bars. (We also have the same set up in our master shower that I had installed when we were not sure if DH would lose his leg due to the staph infection.) We like the convenience of that so will keep it in the master shower and install same in family bath per your advice.

Refrigerator closet: I agree that the fridge will need some ventilation. The electric HWH closet is right behind the back of the fridge closet so I plan on cutting through the drywall into the HWH closet and installing return air vents on each side of the wall. This will allow air flow from the HWH closet to the fridge through the interior wall. Not sure if electric HWHs need venting so will check on that.

Love sharing ideas and getting good advice from BYH friends that have experience with these things! Saves me lots of time, trouble, and $$$! LOL

Update on our fencing: Since Cody is not bringing cattle back, but will use the leased pastures to produce hay this year, it frees us up to enclose the ponds inside our sheep ranch fencing. We are installing 16' gates for Cody to get his equipment into the pastures to mow and bale. Being able to fence in the ponds makes fencing cheaper because we can just run 826' of 6' fencing straight instead of over 1200' zigzagging around the pond. We can use the ponds to water the sheep instead of piping water to them from the well saving money there too. Drawback is possibility of liver flukes.

I was able to use computer and scanner to enlarge the survey map showing the property boundaries which I outlined in heavy lines. Then I drew in the house, driveway, barn, well, shed, ponds, trees, etc. Next, I drew in the existing different types of fencing (see Key), then the new 6' fencing and 16' gates. Finally, I drew in proposed rotational pasture fences (in orange) to submit to the NCRS. There will be 4 pastures measuring between 2.5 to 3.5 acres, all using the ponds as water source. The pastures can be divided again later if necessary. I really don't want to have to move sheep weekly, so am hoping that by moving sheep through the pasture and leaving one pasture fallow between the 2 groups, I can avoid reinfection with parasites.

Comments on the pastures please - I have placed 16' gates in the corners of the pastures leading into the hayfield (the 30 acre area to the left of the drawing. I am wondering if I should go ahead and put another 16' gate in the middle of that fence line for ease in getting into the hayfield with equipment. If Cody decides he doesn't want to continue making hay in that 30 acres I will have to arrange for someone else to cut and bale for me so . . . . Thoughts anyone?

Also, how far into the pond should I fence to prevent the sheep from getting around the end of the fence into the next pasture? My sheep don't seem to like water much - based on how they fly into their shelter at the hint of rain - but they might not mind wading out into it. I think I need pipe welded together to put wire on into the water. Again, thoughts or info would be appreciated.

DS1 was sick all day yesterday and the night before. Constant vomiting and mild fever. Last night DH also sick. Good thing I rescheduled the vet visit to next week. DDIL2 fled to her folks taking both babies with her. Good idea to keep them away from any illness. Don't want it rotating through the family! Light rain today and last night too.

Sorting my receipts for the 2 Texas trips, the Dorper Judging class trip (ranch deductible), and sheep/farm expenses. Doing them now means I don't have a rush at tax time. DH likes everything on the credit card so I can compare the receipts and make sure I have all the expenses. When DH goes to the store, he often loses the receipts by the time he gets home. I wish I had a dollar for every time he said, "The receipt is in the truck". And then can't find it. People probably think Iam very rude when they see me snatch the receipts from DH. When we travel I have a small expanding coupon holder that I use for all the receipts. It has pocket for gas, food, lodging, repairs, etc. DH also keeps track of mileage every time we gas. Works well for keeping track of expenses.

I have been wandering around the house deciding which pieces of furniture we will take with us. My beautiful formal living room will either go into storage or I will sell off most of the furniture. It has taken years of finding just the right furniture, paintings, etc. to fit with my family antiques to balance out the room. The new house is smaller and the wood paneling dictates a different style. I think I regret leaving that room more than leaving my kids! LOL I better take pictures of it.

Ozel has been doing well. She has decided that Rika is the dog to emulate. She follows her out onto the field and etches what she does. We don't put her in the barn until midnight and she is fine outside. She seems to realize that going too far out on the field at night is a bad idea and stays closer to the yard between the house and barn.

 

[farmerjan]

Have read through your whole post... gates should not be in the corners... too tight to try to run equipment along a fence to go through...or to try to get a vehicle of any kind into or out of..... we absolutely will not build a fence with gate in the very corner... needs to be at least 1 or 2 posts up...or if there is one already there, we will put in another gate where there is room to maneuver. Plus it is a bad habit for any animal to think that they can go to a corner to get through a fence... and sometimes they will not want to head towards a fence that is in front of them... in order to find an opening in the corner... if they learn it then it is okay... but they seem to "get it" if the gate is somewhat away from the corner...
I have to spend a little more time looking at it because I have to go to bed to get up and test in the morning again... I don't know about a fence out into the ponds.... no experience with it... not for sheep... for cattle it sometimes doesn't matter, they will find a way to go around them... many have an enclosed area to access water in ponds ... using gates or fence panels so they can't go in but so far....

 

[Baymule]

Fencing across a pond is not a good idea. Unless you fence all the way across it, they can swim to the open area and go in the other field, likewise for the dogs. If the pond is deep, getting a good fence across it is a challenge.

My sheep will run in off the field to drink clean water from the buckets. They seldom drink from the pond. Of course, it could be the Swamp Monster (Buford) swimming around in it, that discourages them. The Swamp Monster might snatch one of them and drag them into the pond depths.

Are you going to bring the sheep in to the barn at night? Changing the fence lines, radiating outward from the barn would make that easier. Keep water out at the barn, then fencing sections of the pond won’t matter. If you can k to the barn, call the sheep in, then you don’t have to go across a field to open a gate, run them across that field, to another gate, to put them in the barn for the night.

 

[Bruce]

Not sure if electric HWHs need venting

Should not. I know ABOUT HP water heaters but haven't had one. I see they "require" about 12'x12' (equivalent) unoccupied (why??) space to have access to enough air to suck heat out of. And 40°F to 90°F temps which makes a basement a good place for them. I've been told by someone who has one that they dehumidify as a byproduct of functioning.

I don't know if they are economical or not but there are also solar hot water heaters that circulate water from a holding tank to the solar water tubes outside, the holding tank is between the water coming in and the water heater. Presumably a cheaper way than 240V electric to heat the water in the long run.

 

[Ridgetop]

So we probably have to fence off the pond and leave an area for the sheep to obtain water. The reason I show the sheep getting their water from the pond is that the NCRS requires a water source in each pasture. John Stone did say that people usually fence off the pond and fence in an area where they have a tank area to drink from. We can do that and either have a submersible pump to fill the troughs, or pipe water from the well eventually. Probably easier to fence the pond with shorter woven wire and have a trough area bounded by block for them to access water. That would also keep them away from liver fluke egg coated grass around the pond ad allow the ducks to eat the snails in peace.

Have notified fenc builder of change i gate placement from corners to middle of fence in 3.0 acre field and middle of fence in 2.5 acre field. By the way, I realized I did not show directions on the map.
Here is another.

Since the sheep fencing is being added after the 6' fencing is competed, I will draw up another design trying to get the fields to feed to the barn. Not sure how it will work, but I will give it a go.

 

[Margali]

I would keep pond fenced off and use a small solar powered pump to fill trough.

 

[Baymule]

If you have a lot at the barn with water, the sheep can walk back to the barn. You can divide the lot to accommodate several flocks, ewes, weaned lambs, ram pen. Close the lot gates at night.