Interview with the Solar Panel Installer

Installation of the panels and electronics

So, we've got a crew of four installing the hardware for the solar system...brackets, racks, panels, inverter, and the connections.  They feel they'll get done today. At first they were a little nervous about the three story building, then they realized that the roof is only slightly pitched (15 deg) and consequently easy to work on.

brackets and racks for panels

So we're rocking!  As I wrote this, I got an email from the the company, O3 Home Solar, that we are ready to start the next step, connecting the system to the grid and dealing with the power company.  Moving along indeed.

UPDATE:  Tim and I discovered an issue.  We did not get the system that allows us to draw power during a blackout.  He was right that our contract didn't call for it.  So I called the office and spoke to Ronnie.  Between the two of them we figured out a solution and settled it very quickly and professionally.  It takes another service call, but we got it handled.  Yay.

[any further updates will be new posts]

Un año de progreso

A lot has happened in a year.

Since that last post we have been busy little worker ants.  We hosted Christmas for my extended family. (lots of fun) We moved into the upstairs.  Had AC/Heat installed building-wide.  Kathy is teaching yoga 4 times a week- 3 times at the Manor and once at Anytime Fitness.  I've started teaching acting classes twice a month (now on hiatus).  Kathy is painting again!! Woohoo!

I've also started to build a handicap accessible restroom on the main floor.  I keep running into roadblocks that slow down the progress, but I WILL PREVAIL.  We are hosting Christmas again this year and I want to have things in better shape than last year.  I've been focusing on the downstairs a lot more than the upstairs so upstairs is little changed...at least visibly.

There's been a lot more, but that's all for the blog.  Hopefully it'll be less than a year before the next post.  :)

Progress isn't over-rated

Okay...since last I posted much has been accomplished.

Posts for the gate have been set.

A wedding has been hosted in the back patio area.

An A/C window unit has been wired and installed.

The enclosure for the living quarters access stairs has been framed, sheet-rocked, and a door hung.

The basement wall on the corner has been repointed and sealed. (Thanks Brandon and Malick)

And an access panel was cut in the upstairs ceiling and a cupola built to cover the roof access hatch.

Lots has been done.  Summer is a time when I can really get things done if i stay on task... and I have.

That's plumb purdy!

Rough plumbing is done!  Huzzah!  Thanks Greg Ellis of Ellisco Contracting.  Tub is "dropped in" its place, lavatory is nearby, and there is pex running everywhere.  I'll finish framing in the master bath shower and hardi-backer the walls therein.  Then I'll put a lid on the guest bath enclosure and hardibacker the bottom part of the wall.  The top part of the walls with be the green, mold resistant wallboard.  It will be painted later.

Pouring the concrete for the mailbox has been delayed and delayed...by weather, time, and physical condition of this writer.  Hopefully this week.  The forms are up (as they have been for nearly two weeks.)  We'll get there.

As this week goes on, I have to plan again the wiring pattern.  Things change.

I'll get by with a little help from my friends...

January 2015
Things are moving in the right direction.  My friend, Greg Ellis has been "helping" with the plumbing.  I write helping with, and mean doing.  We had made a boo-boo earlier when placing a toilet drain...too close to the side wall.  While working to correct this, he offered to finish the rough-in plumbing.  What a mensch!

I've decided that instead of finishing the corner of the front fence as planned, I'm going to build a brick pillar for the mailbox instead.  I've readied the forms for the concrete pad, but ran out of daylight before I could do the pour.  I'll try to get it before the rain on Thursday.

I've agreed with the owners of the property behind to split the cost of the fence between us.  I'll buy the materials later and submit a bill.  We'll work on it together.  I've got to get the fences done.  I've had too many things stolen from the yard to leave it open any longer.  It was bad enough before, but no that they have taken the chain-link fence between us down, even more people pass straight through.  That's going to stop.

I've found a floor guy who will do the floors at a reasonable price.  I need to do that before putting in the cabinets.  Need to start the electrical soon (it keeps getting put off for other things).  I also need to get the plumber to run the gas lines.  They are needed for the fireplaces (downstairs and upstairs), the hot water heater, and both HVAC systems.

At an auction a week ago, I bought an English pub sign.  The Brookes Arms closed and was being demolished.  The sign made it to Palestine.  We'll put Nickel Manor on it with possibly our coat of arms or some other graphic.  It should look great out front.

Lots to do, little money to do it with, and not a lotta time to spread around.  Ah well, the life of a landowner.

Getting the lead out.

Okay, so the title of this one is a little tricky.  Think lead, pronounced  /led/, the metal.  Then go to its Latin name plumbum from which we get the elemental symbol Pb for it.  Finally morph that into the modern word for the pipes that carry water and waste around our homes and you have it: Plumbing!

So I've been working on the plumbing of the Manor, trying to get it roughly to where it needs to be before finishing.  As I got to the point of putting in the drainpipe for upstairs, I found something surprising and problematic.  In the space between ceiling and floor, running next to the joists, I found the original ceramic drainpipe still in place.  This is, however, when we bought the place, that was not being used as an upstairs drain.  It was sealed off and "alternative plumbing solutions" were employed.  (For that read rubber hoses run behind the walls.)  The problem this creates is that I must now remove this ceramic pipe to make room for the new drains.  That means cutting away a large section of the ceiling to get to it.  My back can't handle that these days.  And that means I have to hire someone, which in turn means less moolah for other things.

Bummer!

On the good side, Kathy and I got the big pile of rubble cleaned up and hauled off.  It was all the broken brick pieces, concrete shards, chunks of plaster, and just plain rocks that had been piled up in the back yard of the Manor for nearly a year.  Of course it kept growing during that year.  The area looks sooo much better.  Step by step-- inch by inch-- task by task--- we approach our goal.

Baby it's cold out there.

Okay, so I've been pretty lax about working down at the Manor for a bit.  It gets really cold in there!  Freezy fingers get smashed and slashed and gashed pretty easily.  Boy's gotta be careful.

Once I got my propane heater back from the "Grinch's Lair" (Jeremy Janz, Sonia Martinez, and Ian Warmke), I am able to work pretty well.  I've done some down there, but it's hard to find the time.  So much to do- so little time.  There are three upstairs windows I need to rebuild, one ground level window to finish rebuilding, and most of the basement windows to redo.  After that, rehang the garage/basement "barn door" and work on sealing it.  Those are the next things on the agenda.

After that, plumbing to the upstairs.  It shouldn't be too hard to rough it in since we will have a  "wet wall".  (Am I over-using quotation marks today?)  I want to get this done before spring break in March.  I am NOT on track for a July move-in so I must get myself in gear.

Entropy Schmentropy

I have made great strides this week.  Some of those strides have been backwards and sideways, but still...great strides.  I have done a lot of cleaning and organizing.  Much needed, I must say.  Among the many things I have tackled is the glass (or lack of) in the windows.  Many windows have glass that is broken or cracked.  While working to prep one of them, I took off the thin plywood that covered the hole where the glass should be.  When I did, the whole window fell to pieces.  Even the base plate under the window was rotted.  I now have to rebuild this window.  I suspect that there are others in a similar condition (two of which I already know).  This will slow down the overall process of sealing the building against the cold wind.  Damn.

Speaking of cold, I am doing something I shouldn't.  I bought a kerosene heater... the "jet" type.  Makes a lot of noise, but puts out a lot of heat.  Thing is, it's supposed to only be used in "a well ventilated place" like outside.  I'm using it in the great hall.  Have to remember to ventilate now an again.  But boy does it keep the work space warm and dry.

I did finish hanging the door I wrote of, and put in the mortised door latch and lock.  Looks good.  Tomorrow I must finish re-building the windows and try to cut the glass to re-glaze them, otherwise I'll have to hire the work done.  I can't afford that.  More pictures coming tomorrow.

It just floored me!

     Today I finally made some real headway on the floor of what will become the handicapped accessible restroom.  I was having trouble largely due to the fact that, as with much of this building, nothing is regularly spaced.  The slots for the floor joists vary as much as 4 inches from one to the other.  Even their lengths vary as much as 2 inches.  But, regardless, I have one-third of the decking down now.  When the decking is done, I'll lay the hardi-backer down, then the flooring.

     On an even more positive note, the inspector passed the new breaker box and meter assembly.  By the end of business Wednesday we should have the meter moved from the old, rather dangerous box, to the new, and a new power drop from the pole connected.  Then the wiring can start.  We will start with the upstairs- the living quarters.  Once that is done, we'll do the main floor.  Of course is has to be commercial code, whereas the upstairs is residential code.  Once all that is done, the basement will get the electrical make-over (also commercial code since it is connected to the floor above).

     One sad thing to report:  Some #@%&$# bag shot our male hawk. We have, sorry, had a pair hunting the area of the creek that runs along the property. I found the male in the yard Saturday... dead with a gunshot to the body. There can be no reason and no excuse. And since red tailed hawks mate for life, the female is now a widow. No more baby hawks.  I'll call the game warden Monday.

The Nickel Church (Avenue A Baptist Church) Adventure

OK, my old blog is no longer accessable by me, so a new version has appeared. Today marks the beginning of a new adventure for us. We are purchasing a church built in 1882. It hasn't been a church since about 1910, but has been a residence upstairs and a business downstairs. Some "before" pictures can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnickelchurch.shutterfly.com%2Fpictures%23n_5&h=60fde New pictures of the downstairs will be added next week.