Trench Warfare

Well, we didn't get as far as we would've liked, unfortunately. We did make some solid decisions and some good progress, though. Here it is, with photographic evidence all jumbled with words.

I'm digging, with my tiny helper.

She really doesn't like being more than 3 feet away from me if she can help it.

These are our timbers. 6"x6"x8' Cedar posts. We only got half of what we will eventually need, so we'll have to make at least one more trip. I love cedar, though. This is the non-aromatic kind, and I really love the color of it. I've made some gorgeous pieces out of this stuff in the past, and if I have my way, I'll be staining this bed a dark red.

Gravel! This is about 12 cu. ft of the stuff, which should be close to what we need. We bought bags because they're convenient, but we probably could have saved great wads of cash by getting it in bulk from a landscape supplier.

The menfolk trying to figure out what the heck we're doing.

Winifred loves Grandpa so much.

We dug out the high spot on the right there to try to level the ground a little.

Not really any good place to put the dirt, so we set up a tarp for it. That will at least keep it mostly out of the rocks.

 

We're laying out the area for the bed, trying to get it perpendicular to the fence. nothing is square around here, so it's a bit of a challenge.

This is how we cut the posts. Four passes with the circular saw on maximum depth and then a hand saw to finish it out. Dealing with timbers this size definitely keeps things interesting.

I failed to get a picture of the step before this one, unfortunately. We laid out the timbers on the ground and went around with shovels, marking the edges. Now the digging starts.

This is so much easier on the blog than it is in the yard. That took for-freaking-ever to get done right. I made my trenches a bit too narrow and we had a couple that were a little shallow. We ended up getting it all worked out, though.

This is the trench from the existing sprinkler head going over to the garden bed. We're going to bring a drip system into the bed, tied into the existing sprinkler system. Should make it much easier to keep everything alive.

There we go! If you wonder why we have such large gaps around the sides it's to allow for  movement around the back and all so we can reach stuff to plant, weed and harvest more easily. We're going to use some of those ubiquitous paver stones back there, since we've got so darned many of them.

Heat gun is super effective. If you've ever worked with PEP for sprinkler systems, you know the fitting can be a pain. Well I busted out my trusty heat gun and it made quick work of these connections.

Ta-da! It went in like buttah.

We're laying it into the trench now, but we'll make the connection later on. it doesn't need water anytime soon and we were running out of daylight.

Now, we level. The gravel goes into the trench for drainage, but it also allows for easier leveling. Just apply some hoe to it as needed and everything actually levels out very nicely. We'll see if the level holds with a few days of break and some snow and all. here's hoping.

We'll be back soon with more adventures. thanks for reading!

Raised Beds or Razed Beds?

I'm hoping for the former. We've got a nice big back yard, as you've probably seen before. It's got more than enough grass for our crazy little puppy to run around in, and a heck of a lot of just plain rocky areas as well. We're going to turn one of the rocky areas into a raised bed vegetable garden this year, and this is the beginning of the process.

Here's the plan we found that we like: This Old House: Raised Beds

So, we found a spot where we're going to put it.

That looks good. It gets a lot of sun, especially in the summertime.

Winifred was helping, in her own way. After I raked and shoveled the rocks clear, I got to the landscaping fabric. And then I got to...more rocks? Yeah. There had been a layer of river rock back there and when the previous owners redid the yard, they just put more fabric and more rocks over the old rocks and fabric. Whee. So I pulled up both layers and got to the dirt.

There we go. I'm going to get a trenching shovel today and start digging out the frame shape pretty soon. I'm also going to get some of the wood at least and maybe lay the first course before too long. We'll see. It'll probably have to wait for the weekend, given the amount of work it's going to take just to get the first course put down. Once I do that, I think it'll go pretty quickly.

We also decided to do tile on the seat area around the box. It should help keep it from getting all warped and cracked over time, and make it a nice place for people to sit once we get that whole area done up properly.

So that's it for now, but things are going to start moving again.

Also, Winifred has been helping us with our floors:

She found an edge and just started going to town.

She's super effective. At first I didn't really want her doing this, but then I remembered this picture and the hours we spent on the floor:

Pulling that stuff up is a pain in the butt. If she wants to do it, I'm going to let her. It's a bit earlier than we'd planned, but it needs to be done and this is helping to convince us that we need to get on it sooner rather than later. It's about time that little girl started pulling her weight around here.

Thanks for reading!

Dirty, dirty shisno

For those of you who aren't in the know, this is what a shisno is: Red Vs. Blue - Shisno

Now that you're up to speed, I can say that I pulled a shisno out of my tub drain and you will understand what I'm talking about. I don't think I mentioned this before, but our tub drain was slow and getting slower by the day. Finally, it pretty much just stopped draining completely. Not really, but you'd have 4" of water in the tub at the end of a 10-minute shower.

So I figured we had a clog. I went to Lowe's to get some non-chemical stuff to clean it out. I got one of these: Zip-It and also one of these: Cobra Drain Cleaning Bladder

I used the Zip-it first to try to pull the hair clog out. I did exactly that. I used it probably a dozen times and every single time I pulled out a wad of hair and slime about the size of a racquetball. The smell is indescribable. I know for a fact they were inanimate, but their very form made it look like they were writhing. As I scooped them up with a gloves and a generous wad of tissue, I could hear them mewling at the agony of existence. Obviously, this could not stand. I thought I'd solved the problem, though. No way I could pull that much sheer mass out of the drain and still have it clogged, right? Apparently I misunderestimated the extent of my clog.

Time to get serious. I got this bladder and ran a house downstairs to the spigot out back so I could get some water pressure working on the bee-yotch.

You put it in this way because it's supposed to be able to get to the clog more directly.

Unfortunately, that's about as far in as I got it. The overflow drain makes a tight right angle right there and the brass fitting just couldn't turn the corner. So we had to get get the big guns.

There we are. This one isn't fooling around. And no, that's not my finger in the frame, it's the lens cover that didn't fully retract. I think my phone took one too many spills and maybe one too many winter camping trips.

Okay, I'm going to show you what I pulled out of the drain. Avert your eyes if you have a weak stomach or a heart condition.

Sick.

"Help....me...."

I wanted to do the heavy lifting without harsh chemicals on this one, since i knew it was mostly a hair clog and the only thing that really works on those is the giant bottle of sulfuric acid. So I got the drain clean enough for stuff to flow through, and then dumped this bottle down there to help scour the walls of the pipe a bit. I'm hoping that this will help prevent future clogs as well. Sort of like a plumbing stent, right?

Also, our sink was dripping. I have never fixed a sink before. Here is how it all worked out:

First, you turn off the valves under your sink and open the faucets to drain any excess water. Then, you pry off the cap and find a screw. Unscrew it.

They call this a "cartridge" for some reason. It's the newer sink part, so they're pretty easy to find. There's a ring holding it down, so you have to take that off.

You don't actually need to take it apart. The whole thing should come out as one piece but I didn't know that at the time.

Now do the other side. You could just replace one, but the parts are literally under $5 ea so it makes sense to replace both. If one is worn, it makes sense that the other will wear out soon anyway.

These are actually more like $2 ea, so the whole project was under $5. I like those projects.

Plug the new cartridges down into the holes and then add back all the rest in reverse order and you're set. It's a fast fix and doesn't take much in the way of tools or skills.

It feels good to be back! Thanks for reading.