Saturday Morning Home Repair blogging 2.47

Greetings from the soggy high desert, where it has been raining; the usual summer rainstorms, crashing thunder and intense rain. Walking rain we call it, stepping here and there leaving puddles a couple of miles from unsettled dust.

My drainage needs a little work: a little rivulet of water found its way into the house again, signaling the need for attention at one place where the runoff can no longer find a way out.

I'm late this morning, so without further ado...

•  tips

  yesterday GrannyDoc gave us all some tips on keeping warm this coming winter, she hearing the warnings of high fuel prices to come and anticipating the impact on many folks who will be struggling with $4 heating oil, just like we are all struggling with $4 gasoline.

  I'll dig up a link...

  by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:04:31 AM PDT

  •  here's that link

    Granny Doc  has a bunch of tips on insulating, weatherproofing and re-arranging one's living spaces to best conserve warmth and reduce the fuel use.  

    My primary heat source is wood heat, and I have this winter's supply already stashed; deadwood harvested from our little spread.  We do burn us some propane, which we get from a local consumer cooperative at a dramatically reduced price than the retail buyers in town pay.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:10:18 AM PDT

    •  All wood heat, here.

      In fact, the stove is fired up as I type.  Pretty nippy night outside, so it sure feels good, not to mention it is the only source of heat in our house.  Had to buy some wood this year, but for most, my Husky and a splitting mall takes care of us.  

      Reckon it saves $1200-1600 in heating costs most years.  And there is something satisfying about the smell of woodsmoke on a cool evening... even the sight of the smoke rising from the chimney is somehow pleasant and comforting:)

      by wgard on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:32:28 AM PDT

    •  about "re-arranging living spaces"

      our first reaction to that is, it would be interesting to HAVE enough space that you could close some off.  not in this house, unless we decide the whole family could sleep in the living room and abandon the bedrooms...

      second reaction is, anybody closing off rooms from heating in the winter must be living someplace pretty dry!  that is, dry cold, and/or pretty extreme cold.  otherwise, closing off spaces in moderate cold, and wet climes is a perfect recipe for MOLD AND MILDEW.  we have enough allergies as it is, thank you kindly.

      by chimene on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 04:00:33 PM PDT

•  'morning Claude and all

  Lovely morning here (they say it's gonna get hot later though). "Walking rain", what a neat description  ;>

  by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:06:03 AM PDT

  •  some of the native people

    call it "male rain", lot's of huffing and puffing, bluster and energy, but quickly disapeted, in contranst to the slow, gentle nurturing "female rain" that falls slowly for days and gives the parched ground time to soak up the water, rather than have it just sun off down the arroyos and into the river.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:14:41 AM PDT

    •  but any rain is appreciated

      and a cause for happiness.  Meanwhile the range has turned a vibrant green and everything is growing as fast as it can, programmed to take advantage of the short wet season and put forth growth and seed while it can.

      by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:18:06 AM PDT

  •  'morning, Rince

    it was down below 60 this morning, but it will quickly shoot up into the 90s once that sun gets up.  Insane growth spurts take advantage of the moisture and hot sun; get that whole reproductive cycle accomplished in a few short weeks.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:21:23 AM PDT

•  Morning guys,

  Nice and warm here in Stockholm. The office here took Friday off and the week after next they are going to close for a 3 week summer vacation. No real plans to go anywhere incredibly special, but, it'll be nice to have a change of scenery, even though so much has been changing as of late:)

  I'm already ahead of you on coffee, +3, those are those Swedish thick and strong cups, and I think I'm ready for some more.

  Plans- furnish the apartment, design some furniture, maybe. Take a trip out to one of the manors in the suburbs and have a picnic, maybe.

  by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:16:24 AM PDT

  •  hello borki

    yesterday I built a quick shelf in the kitchen for the microwave, toaster oven and toaster,  freeing up 4 feet of counter space that had been cluttered by these appliances for years.

    cheapo steel shelf brackets literally screwed to the adobe walls with 4 inch deck screws and a piece of 3/4 inch plywood I had left over from bond beam formwork.  Didn't even have to cut it, just scraped it off and smoothed the edges. Pure functional expediency, no art involved at all.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:27:45 AM PDT

    •  gotta pic?

      I'm thinking that I have to do the same thing in our kitchen, though I kinda hope  to incorporate the vent into the design as I really hate ours.

      by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:30:12 AM PDT

      •  pic

        

        The pootie is watching the hummingbird feeder hanging outside the window

        by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:00:36 AM PDT

        •  that looks really, really nice:)

          by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:04:56 AM PDT

          •  done in a rush

            to surprise the partner when she got home.  Didn't paint it or anything. Does the job, and I coould paint it later (heh heh). It'll probably be just like that for the next five years...

            by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:19:03 AM PDT

            •  it looks great!

              getting things OFF the countertop:  i periodically look at an object and say:  do i really want you right on my countertop all the time?  no?  okay into the cupboard you go!  

              i have an under-the-counter can opener.  i'm looking for a knife drawer and radio, to replace the knife block and countertop radio eventually.  

              by jlms qkw on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:42:54 AM PDT

          •  it looks

            really, really functional -- 4 ft of counter space looks really, really nice  ;>

            (I have steel bracket/ply or board shelves all over my house, usually I paint 'em to match the wall.)

            by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:20:03 AM PDT

•  Morning claude and everyone else

  Going to be really hot here today, so I've already been out and done a bit more than an hour of mowing.

  Missed you all last week, but want you to know I was working on repair and building.

  Spent a day and a half knocking on the doors of Congress and building support for HR 676 - Expanded Medicare for All.

  Spent another 2 days building relationships with over 130 nonprofit organizations and exploring ways we can work together to provide better on-line tools for all of us and how we might occasionally come together with all of our 17 million supporters to leverage our work for change.  Thanks to Democracy In Action and Wired For Change for bringing us together.

  And my last two days were spent with a client inspecting their website and then constructing a plan for a new site.

  It is supposed to get up to 100 today, and I want to start work on my roof - but the forecasts include possible thunderstorms for today, Sunday and Monday.  I need at least 4 days without rain once I removed the current cover....  what to do....

  by SarahLee on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:30:28 AM PDT

  •  hope you have a tarp handy just in case:)

    What, btw, are you doing to your roof? Fixing some shingles?

    by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:34:00 AM PDT

    •  Don't really have a roof yet

      Discussed last Feb. here:
      http://www.dailykos.com/...

      So I will have the current covering to cover it back up - just need enough drying time so that covering doesn't wind up stuck or creating a huge mess.

      by SarahLee on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:44:45 AM PDT

  •  Hot? The heck with you.

    Pittsburgh is a swamp.

    by alliedoc on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:52:19 AM PDT

    •  True - I don't have as much

      humidity to deal with.  It wasn't that hot when I was in DC - but that humidity nearly killed me.

      Still 100 is 100 so planning to try for a nap between 1:00 and 3:00.

      by SarahLee on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:58:55 AM PDT

      •  I'm wearing long sleeves. I don't know the temp

        Google says it's a high of 76°F today.  I wish the rain would stop!!!

        by alliedoc on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:06:47 AM PDT

  •  hi, Sarah

    I've got mowing waiting, too.  If I don't whack it all back, it comes up as weeds fully of nasty stickers.  Almost everything grows nasty stickers, which find their way into the house (pooties) and into the soles of my bare feet.  The grass thrives being mowed, of course, so I wind up with "lawn" so to speak. The native grasses are always there in the soil, ready to make green carpet as soon as  they get some moisture and sun.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:06:03 AM PDT

    •  My lawn is all native grasses as well

      but mowed pretty much look like expensive lawn.

      I love to walk barefoot and used to be the only threat in the yard was an occasional porcupine quill dropped off by a quilly visitor.  

      However, come August when the corn is high and the pastures are dead from heat and over grazing, some cows always manage to find a way into the yard and garden.  With the vandals comes their cow poop which in recent years has been polluted with the seeds of sandburs/cockleburs so now I have them in the yard as well.  I guess it was in hay brought in from elsewhere during the drought.  

      When I find them, I dig them up - yet they have spread.  I used to be able to walk barefoot up to the gate (about a quarter mile) with no stickers - now they are everywhere.  All along the sides of the road as well.   When I go for walks with my fourlegged friends, I have to stop and get them out of paws all the time.  Nothing to be done about them; they will never go away now.  But it makes me sad for the change.  

      I mostly mow just around the house (so it is less hospitable to hiding rattle snakes) and then paths out to the fruit trees and berry bushes so I can find and remember to water them.  I have a mulching mower so the cuttings become food for the soil, but have thought that I maybe I should try bagging the clippings in Aug. when the sticker/seeds are coming out.  i.e. maybe I am helping spread the ones I don't see and dig up.

      As another sign of how much warmer it is getting here - I see more prickly pear starting.  Nearly stepped in one a couple of weeks ago on a pa
      th I've walked for years without any sticky hazards.

       Of course we are also getting more southern bugs.  Ants in the yard for the first time.  New types of roaches including those that fly.  I HATE those.

      Humans may not be registering the slight warming already happening, but plants and insects are reacting to the changes.  

      by SarahLee on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:40:06 AM PDT

      •  yup

        New kinds of weeds, new bugs; and the old plants growing weird or at the wrong time. I think we're past the screwed-the-pooch point.

        p.s. I have deer wandering through, munching on the raspberry row, and I live in town!

        by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:55:41 AM PDT

      •  cows will find a way

        ain't that the truth - I don't know how many time I spent chasing cows out of my garden & away from my bananas when I lived on the big island of Hawai'i - but the memories are not the best from my aloha years.

        It was there in Hawai'i that I learned about the wonders of baking soda for keeping cockroaches out of the house - doesn't borax work for ants?
        
        
        ````
        peace
        
        

        by peace voter on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 10:24:29 AM PDT

        •  I think borax does work on ants

          but these are not in my house - just all over everywhere all of a sudden.  There were a few more ants around last year - never in previous years.  now they are everywhere.

          We just are not getting deep down cold enough long enough in the winters anymore.

          by SarahLee on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 11:18:33 PM PDT

•  in the comment thread of Granny diary

  there was some discussion of group purchasing as a solution to high middleman costs, and I realized that a lot of folks these days don't understand that there is a long established tradition of cooperatives in rural parts of the country that many urban dwellers are completely unaware of.

  The "cooperative movement" started back in the 1800s and the legal structures are long recognized and established.

  Despite the best efforts of the for-profit business community, it is still legal here for people to come together and pool their buying power in a not-for-profit cooperative venture to obtain consumer items for the membership and the lowest possible cost.

  I get all these services and goods from non-profit consume cooperatives:

  • propane gas
  • telephone, DSL and cell phone
  • electrical power
  • drinking water
  • irrigation water
  • banking services (a Credit Union is a cooperative, member owned bank)
  • groceries (coop healthfood supermarket in the nearby city, only 80 miles away)
  • and there's REI for my rare "sporting/recreational" goods purchases,

  This is a resource that is not being used, and any group of consumers can get together make use of it.

  by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:42:01 AM PDT

  •  forming a consumer cooperative

    as actually about as subversive an act, economically speaking, as can be done to strike back at the mindless greed of the corporations.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:46:42 AM PDT

  •  Agree

    My electrical power comes from a co-op and I buy my propane, much of my auto gas, and small hardware purchases, and about half of my pet food from another co-op.  

    by SarahLee on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:55:33 AM PDT

•  I just subscribed to Angie's List.

  As a recent widow, I think it is necessary.  I'm good, once I notice something, but mostly handicapped by lack of observation.  Just noticed that my gutters are like a Winogradsky column or an urban garden.

  Any suggestions on Angie's list?

  by alliedoc on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 06:51:38 AM PDT

  •  Angie's list

    is a referral service, right?  Consumer feedback on service providers in a local area?

    I have been hearing of it in their ads on NPR

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:21:03 AM PDT

  •  gutters collect

    the finest of mulch, composted leaves up there.  Be sure to save what you clean from them and put it on some hungry plant.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:22:35 AM PDT

    •  Highest gutter at my house is growing crops

      My ladder is rated at about 35 lbs less than I weigh and is too springy to extend the top half more than 3 feet or so.  

      I won't do that gutter until I replace ladder.  I'm too old for that adventure.

      by Bronx59 on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 12:34:39 PM PDT

      •  OMG. Total fear of heights. I even get queasy

        watching TV.  No way.

        It doesn't creep me out that my husband would say (when mowing), "What would you do if I died?".  I would sneer and look at him as if he were crazy, and say, "Hire someone of course".

        And, I am.

        by alliedoc on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 05:02:23 PM PDT

    •  Good idea. I think I need a mulching machine.

      Again, a widow, I am actually looking forward to having the kids gone.  I have a great flower garden that is completely overgrown and waiting for me to have more time.  Two more years.  I bet I'm really depressed then, tho.

      Thanks

      by alliedoc on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 05:00:29 PM PDT

•  appliance problem

  My 2-yr-old self-defrosting fridge (first one I ever had, my last fridge finally died at 19). For a week or two the fridge has been getting warmer and the freezer colder (and getting heavy frost all over) -- at first I thought the grandbaby was messing with the control but every time I checked, it seemed okay. Well, yesterday I'd had enough; jello was getting runny and my choc cheesecake melted!

  Emptied both fridge and freezer, turned the thing all the way off and propped the doors open, took out all the racks and trays and bins and other happy shit. After a while I noticed that 2 small square openings and a small plastic housing at the back of the 'ceiling' of the fridge compartment were dripping/almost streaming water. Stuck my head in there far enough to look up into the openings, and they were solid blocks of ice.

  I put one rack back in on the highest tracks, and set a couple bowls of HOT water directly under the openings and shut the door -- periodically checking on the ice and reheating the bowls of water. Took several hours (while I scrubbed all the removable parts and the freezer and the doors, and went through all the contents and threw away anything that seemed suspect), but when the openings seemed completely clear of ice I cleaned up the last of the water, put all the parts back in, and turned it back on to the "normal" (between 3 & 4 on the knob) setting.

  After a bit, the freezer was getting nicely cold, and cold air was coming out of the plastic housing thingie in the fridge compartment, so I put all the food back in. It seemed to take a LONG time, but eventually the fridge did get noticeably cooler.

  This morning, the freezer is freezer-cold, and the fridge seems about normal-fridge-cold. So, is this something that's expectable/normal for self-defrosters? You just gotta do a manual one every once in a while? Or is my fridge whacked? Or ???

  by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:04:17 AM PDT

  •  the blower

    there is a fan in there that blows cold air from the freezer down into the fridge compartment, spreading it out.  This fan can just die, or it can get clogged up with ice and stop moving, giving the symptom of too cold freezer and not cold fridge.

    You should be hearing this fan blowing when you open the freezer door. It may not run all the time, just when the controls tell it to.  This is a common repair item, and is usually accessible from either the freezer compartment or below in the fridge area, behind a cover.  An appliance service place can sell you a new fan and you may be able to replace it yourself.  The couple I have done were not very hard to get at. Last time I bought one, the fan was about 40 bucks, but that was a while ago.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:15:15 AM PDT

    •  thanks Claude

      When I hold my hand up to the plastic housing thingie in the fridge compartment I can feel cold air blowing out, and some motor kicks in -- so that means the blower is working? I fixed it???

      (I suppose if I ever find the instruction booklet, it'll tell me I have to manually defrost it once in a while....)

      by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:33:23 AM PDT

  •  sounds like the 'defrost timer'

    is sticking.

    by elkhunter on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:26:49 AM PDT

  •  I had a problem like this once...

    There's a drain-hole at the back of the freezer for the defrosted water to exit and to then run down to a drain pan that's at the bottom of the fridge.  That drain hole got plugged somehow, and the defroster stopped working.
    I defrosted the beast manually a couple of times before I figured out what was wrong.  I had to disassemble the freezer (all the plastic parts in the freezer compartment) before I could see the problem.  It's this little hole that was plugged with ice.
    I kept pouring hot water onto the plug until it finally broke through and I heard water falling onto the drain pan.  Freezer has been fine ever since.
    If this is your problem, manual defrosting will not solve it.  That little ice plug in the drain hole won't go away quietly.

    by godwhataklutz on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:16:30 AM PDT

•  How long is your warranty?

  If only 1 year...

  My little dorm fridge develops the same kind of ice jam, but it doesn't claim to be self-defrosting. My understanding (which is not great) is that there are supposed to be small electric heating coils that switch on every so often and melt the ice in those air channels. They or their control switch could have failed, but since you can't predict when they are supposed to be on, you can't check them.

  You could try googling the model number and see if anybody else has had this trouble, but it's a long shot.

  by Leo in NJ on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:22:04 AM PDT

  •  howdy Leo.

    thanks for stopping by and helping.

    by claude on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:24:13 AM PDT

  •  that's exactly right

    there's a heater element inside the coils. the defrost timer kicks it on every so often to melt them out. when the timer fails it can either cause the heater to stay on, melting everything, or cause the heater to never come on, overloading the coils with ice. and like claude says, it can cause the fan blade to freeze up.
    don't ever put bags of melting ice in your freezer or it could also cause the fan blade to freeze up.
    you might try  repairclinic
    they're expensive but helpful.

    by elkhunter on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:32:56 AM PDT

    •  thanks Leo and elkhunter

      So now I wait to see if the problem starts again? If all I have to do is manually defrost, no biggie -- I just didn't know I would have to.

      by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:42:46 AM PDT

      •  Yes, be alert

        for a recurrence. Keep a thermometer in the fridge if you can, and defrost if it starts warming up again. Probably less hassle than trying to diagnose/repair the defrosting gizmos.

        by Leo in NJ on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:46:39 AM PDT

      •  many defrost timers

        are accessible after removing the little grill on the front of the fridge just below the door. the ones i'm familiar with have a screwdriver slot in the middle you can use to advance the timer, or unstick it. sometimes they work just fine after that. they're easy to change as long as you turn the power off and make sure you properly connect the color-coded wires.

        by elkhunter on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:50:05 AM PDT

        •  thanks again, guys

          Jeez, I love this place! Somebody always knows the piece of information you need ;>

          by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:02:32 AM PDT

          •  Also.......

            Try this - write down the manufacturer, model number of the fridge, anything else you can, and look here:

            The Repair Clinic
            and here:
            Appliance Parts Pros

            They have sections with diagrams for wiring, and exploded parts drawings, so you should be able to find the fridge info you need. You might even be able to locate a manual to download - sometimes that's quicker for me than trying to find my printed copy! ;-)

            It does sound like the defrost timer to me also, and if this is the first time you've had such an ice buildup that's a BIG clue that it worked until now. They aren't hard to change, but look for drawings and info first so you know what you're getting into.

            by CodeTalker on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 10:05:51 AM PDT

            •  thanks, CodeTalker

              Those are great links -- explained things I didn't know about how the defroster thingie is "supposed" to work. One site couldn't find my model #, but the other one did so if I have to get some parts I'll know where to go.

              by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 11:44:37 AM PDT

    •  still, this is a bit abnormal, no?

      I'm not sure our fridge has this feature, but, in the normal usage of a freezer, shouldn't it take longer for frost to build up anyway?

      I would think to check the seals to make sure some gunk hasn't stuck itself to that area, allowing air to enter into the box.

      by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:34:09 AM PDT

      •  the seals

        That was my second thought, borki (after thinking it was the grandbaby); but a) I scrubbed the seals pretty thoroughly about a month ago after a juice incident (he's 2, he thinks he can do everything himself), and b) the seals are so tight that you can't re-open the door immediately after shutting it.

        (I did 'em again yesterday while in general scrubbing mode, a nail brush gets in the folds nicely.)

        by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:15:23 AM PDT

        •  funny you mention B)

          I'd totally forgotten about this, but we used to have in our old place, a fridge that had some sort of vacuum mechanism that would turn on when you closed the door, make a quieter airplane sound and wouldn't allow you to open it for a second either.

          I wonder if they are the same? But I'd never seen any of these stateside, so, hmm, I wonder if they are there.

          by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 01:49:06 PM PDT

•  Whats wrong with this picture #3??

  This is another of the oddities of my house. The wiring you see here is a swicth coming off of an out let.

  It has a HUGE error here and one that anyone who works with electricity shold see right away, its that obvious.

  In a decades long career of building, working on and inspecting houses, this house was the first I ever saw with this defect and this is the 2 place I found it here.

  Its one of the most basic electrical wrongs ever. You can tell just looking at this that not only did this person not read the code, they'd never even read The Little Golden Book of Electricity.

  .

  by exlrrp on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:30:21 AM PDT

  •  oops, here's the picture

    

    by exlrrp on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:30:59 AM PDT

    •  Little fuzzy but...

      ...it appears that the ground wire is hot.

      by carver on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:36:10 AM PDT

    •  Oy!

      Once I figured out that the blurry thing on the left was the switch, it did jump out at me.

      Rule 1: The black wire is always the hot "supply" wire; the white wire is neutral.

      Rule 2: Always put switches in the hot wire, never the neutral.

      So either they've got the colors backwards, or they're switching the wrong wire. Both/either is dangerous.

      by Leo in NJ on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:37:59 AM PDT

      •  You both got it: Switched neutral

        This is right out of the Electricity for Stupids book.

        You never, NEVER switch the neutral (grounded conductor in code phraseology.   The reason is safety. When you turn the switch off, everyone assumes that the powweer is off to the light but with a switched neutral its not---you can electrocute yourself when you got to change the light.

        White or gray is always neutral according to the National Electricl Code. If you ever see white or gray hooked up to a switch, its completely wrong.
        In over 3 decades of working with this stuff, this is the first time I ever saw this, its that basic a fuckup.

        The cure was simple, and with the same wires----just run the hot lead from the outlet to the switch, connect to the hot ("Ungrounded") lead and then to the black wire of the switch leg, run the neutral into th e neutral side of the outlet and Bingo---all's hunkydory once again.

        by exlrrp on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:50:06 AM PDT

        •  But don't assume the white wire

          is actually neutral. The white wire is supposed to be neutral, but test it to be sure, especially when you see horrible mistakes like this.

          by Leo in NJ on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:11:50 AM PDT

          •  The white wire carrries current

            Yes indeed, you don't want assume anything, espcially after looking at stuff like this.

            But just because they call it "neutral" don't believe that it doesn't carry current. Although you don't switch the neutral, the neutral does carry current when the circuit is closed. You can get shocked on the neutral side when the circuit is complete.

            this picture is once again proof that electricity should be done by people who know WTF theyre doing.

            When I first took this apart, it took me  minutes to figure out what was happeneing, its that rare a thing.  Its one of the things youn learn ahout that you think: Naaaaaah, No one's THAT dumb!!
            well, thhey are: One picture speaks a thousand words.

            by exlrrp on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:39:56 AM PDT

•  At long last, my Gotland trip pics.

  OK, I hope 30ish thumbnail pics wont be so disturbing, nor bother people's dial-up...

  So, as the story goes, the GF, Bunn and I took a week off and went to the Swedish island of Gotland just off the eastern coast of, a bit southish of Stockholm. (I'm not going to get too detailed into what the pics are, that'll take me years, but if anyone is curious, I'll definitely elaborate.)  

  
  This first set is from the medieval town of Visby, the first two pics of a cloister that had been converted into a cafè, the third you really have to see larger- of a crèperie sandwiched in between two streets. Visby is a very photogenic little town that for the most part doesn't seem to belong to Sweden architecturally. I should have taken more pics of this main town, but, alas, this being my second time there, we weren't so interested in spending time there and wanted to see some other things, but, alas, were hindered by a sick bunn who made a nice recovery. So, to make up for the lack of images from this little town, Flickr has my back.

  Gotland is quite remarkable for its stone- the island seems to be nothing but limestone, a flavor of which i'm not accustomed to stateside, as it seems to be filled with an infinite amount of fossils. Similar to Sweden, I'm guessing that the same glaciers that covered much of the region covered Gotland, scraping over the land and carving (as in rouks,) and breaking free many of the free stones one sees in the landscape. Of this, stone walls delineate the landscape where in other places like the mainland they are primarily wood.

  Rauks, polished limestone patio detail, wall detail.

  Wall, wall and shed, shed, base and platypus-esque windmill.

  During this time that we were on the island, the winds were blowing so hard that it felt like a storm. And since we were there last, a large development of windmills for generating power were built just to the north of where we were staying. Took some pics but they were too distant, though I did count about 75. Looked amazingly beautiful.

  Poppies, mystery plant 1, and smultron.

  Smultron as it is known in Swedish, is Wild Strawberries, which, coincidently, is the English name given to my favorite of Ingmar Bergman's films, (which, really, was called Smultron Stället, the second word translating to something like place or patch.) Bergman lived on a smaller island in northern Gotland called Fårö/Sheep Island before passing away last year. Word had it that there were daily screenings of his films- not sure if he present at some of them, though I got the impression that he was relatively visible to some tourists. I would have wished- would have been great to have met him- I took a whole class on his work.
  

  
  Another beautiful mystery plant and one called Blåeld/Blue Fire, Echium vulgare or Viper's Bugloss...?
  
  The notorious Gotland Sheep Cronesense was wondering about, need to go to tell her...
  
  Details of Kattlunds, an old 1700's farm. First image shows the game of tying into the walls the rafters for the second story, placing them through the exterior wall and how to avoid contact water. Images of the roof- huge pieces of slate with a continuous 30ish foot heavy timber sill.  
  
  Typical architectural archetypes on Gotland- neoclassical, a thatch roof barn converted into housing, and the most typical structure- a barnlike structure. These normally have a central fireplace and rooms extend from the warmest spots. These days, electrical or other heating elements expand around the building envelope towards the ends.

  Two pics of stucco work I thought Claude and you guys might like. This is also a typical characteristic of architecture on the island. Makes for some lovely plays in shadow when the light is just right. Last pic is of the place we stayed- an old converted barn.
  

  
  More pics of the perimiter...
  
  Teahouse and neighbors shed with a green roof. He said it dates indicating the origin of shed state it was built in the 1750s, if you can believe.
  
  Interior pic showing the living room and long kitchen counter of our home, and, last but not least, pics of the Maypole people were crafting in a small village to the south.

  by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:21:32 AM PDT

  •  lovely pix, borki

    Mystery plant 1 is maybe some kind of clematis? The second one looks like a weird rhubarb.

    Re: the Kattlunds farm -- what are the boxes below the rafter extensions for?

    by rincewind on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:01:36 AM PDT

    •  ja...

      those plants did look like some sort of rhubarb, but strangely shiny... ?

      The boxes surround the actual rafter, I'm assuming to deflect driving rain from coming into direct contact from it. As I was saying about the winds, they were incredibly powerful.

      by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:06:47 AM PDT

  •  Oh boy!

    About time you got these pics loaded.  Stone fences fascinate me.  

    Like the open shelves in your house - though the thought of all that dusting makes me cringe.  

    by SarahLee on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:18:18 AM PDT

  •  Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful

    architecture as well as your everyday living space with us. I ask permission to copy some of the pictures - this is just such a great study of vernacular architecture. I love the stone work, the tea house and of course the Visby photos.

    And foremost, I envy the 3 week holiday! We Americans are always too slow to adopt European ways that actually better everyday lives. We are too stubborn to learn from others it seems. holidays, drug laws, health care - you name an issue and we surely lag what seems decades if not centuries behind modern counterparts's solutions elsewhere.

    by paige on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:37:08 AM PDT

    •  oh, this is my friend's summer house,

      not mine, though, considering she is a bit older, and really sorta my adopted grandmother, I probably wouldn't mind buying it if they feel the up keep is too much.

      You can definitely copy the images, no problem. Though, honestly, I do feel that  missed taking pics of some of the more interesting things as there were so many nice fascades, old windmills and areas I just didn't have time to get to, or the desire to stop the car and take a pic of every thing every 2 seconds.

      Not sure if I mentioned, but the island really has this sort of French feeling to it that is just so wonderful.

      by borkitekt on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:50:27 AM PDT

  •  Wonderful pictures, borkitekt......

    thanks for coming to find me and show me the pictures of the Gotland Sheep.  I see they had been sheared fairly recently.  I have been looking for pictures for a long time as they are not listed in this register of sheep breeds.  However a close cousin, the Spaelsau, and the Old Norwegian

    I did find this reference to Gotland Sheep  It is considered a fur blend type of sheep.  I remember when spinning its fleece I had to take a different approach as it has less 'bounce' in the fiber.  I also did some felting with it too.

    What a wonderful place to stay - no wonder you had such a great time.

    by Cronesense on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 10:57:41 AM PDT

•  Great pics!

  Looks like a place I could enjoy visiting, for sure.

  by wgard on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:45:29 AM PDT

  •  yeah, thanks borki! nt

    by exlrrp on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 08:57:56 AM PDT

•  progress at casa smith!

  husband put the ikea flooring up on one wall, bottom half of second wall, and started on the ceiling.  he is talking of finding a contractor for the tiling and i have some hope of having a finished kitchen.  

  of course, nothing will happen around the house while we are in sante fe - we fly out of here tomorrow morning.  

  when we get back though, the kids and i are home for 10 or 11 weeks!  

  i am working on de-stuffing.  small remodeling stuff i can do, now that i have learned to drill.  and making sun tea, growing sprouts, and baking bread.  

  i think we can call our utility for an energy audit?  i should try to schedule that while i am gone.  

  by jlms qkw on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:01:09 AM PDT

•  Need advice on stone work

  Good morning Claude and all.

  Any stone masons out there? I need some advice for my buddy. He tore out his wood deck, @ 12'x24' between his house and in-ground pool curb, and had the ground scraped (heavy clay, flat area on a pine tree slope). Then he spread 2-3" of compacted run-of-crush, some of which had no stone dust in (due to the ill-advised slinging of the first 5 yards into his yard).

  

  On top of that I had his boys spread a little stone dust which I raked around and compacted into the stone. Then we spread another layer, @ 2-3" of stone dust, which I also compacted.

  

  Now comes the tough part - laying slate, large, irregular pieces, some of which are 6' long on the pallet, range from 2-4" thick. He's breaking them before laying them, and the boys have been spreading another inch of stone dust, or more, underneath them as they lay them. It isn't working; they gained too much elevation for the drainage pattern I had laid out, and the spacing is too wide, IMO. Remember, this is no concrete, simply slate in stone dust.

  

  I say he should lay all the slate out now, on the compacted stone dust, and concentrate on his pattern - good rock near the house where they'll walk all the time plus have their table and chairs, try to minimize spaces between stones, don't bother trying to fit any that rock when they set them down, look for even stones, toss any that don't lay flat to the back of the pool where no one walks, don't waste any time on trying to fit the stones yet as they lay them down, either they fit in as is or they move them to the back and get the next batch. Then, after he's got all the good stones laid in a decent pattern, he can go back and work on tamping them in with additions of dust between/under/around the stones.

  Is this a good approach, or is there a better way? He certainly won't make any progress the way he's going, because for example, he already has to take several areas out as they've gained elevation when they shoveled stone dust under them to make them stop rocking, and now the patio won't drain the way I laid it out, plus the stones at the house would be up against his shake siding insead of coming up to his foundation.

  I admit, neither of us have ever done this before, so it's been a matter of getting the guidelines and puzzling the rest out, but I can't see him laying them out one by one as it's clearly not working.

  Any suggestions? Thanks! (Hope I explained it well enough!)
  John

  by CodeTalker on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:47:00 AM PDT

  •  PS:

    Do we need to compact the slate when it's done? How - put plywood over the stones and run the thumper over the wood, or is tamping with wood posts going to settle the pieces in well enough? I can't see banging on the monsters with a mallet and block doing any good, so I had them tamp the first three with a six foot post!

    What about flooding around the stones with the hose to make the stone dust "run" under the slate?

    These are the things I don't know...

    by CodeTalker on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 09:53:26 AM PDT