Movin' on Up!

mean gene · Aug 22, 2022

Looks good Hope you didn't get tooo much rain, I know you needed it but

grandpaul · Aug 23, 2022

At this point, we couldn't possibly have "too much" rain at the ranch. The entire property is sloped, and would fill up my pond then simply keep flowing down the original creek bed thru uninhabited retired pasture land.

Our aquifer BADLY needs all the rain we can get for a good while. More is predicted, but it seems to pass us by more often than not...

grandpaul · Aug 24, 2022

Finished screwing down the 17 sheets of OSB decking, that leaves 24 more that I'll do in (2) loads next week.

Also ran both ducts to the master bedroom and all 3 ducts to the shop. 8" flex duct is getting squashed between joist blocking and where they turn down to the register, but the system will balance out with dampers.

Shop ductwork done, 2 of 3 lights installed...

grandpaul · Sep 21, 2022

Hoo, boy, I'm almost a month behind.

Lots has happened - Decking done, A/C is working, sheetrock is on the last round of tape, float & sand, shed roof is done.

I'll fill in all the blanks later...

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

Condensed version:

My middle son was here for a few days and gifted me with 2-1/2 solid work days for my 65th birthday (9/10). He's young and strong, so it made a HUGE difference.

1 day (more or less) working on the 2nd floor decking, 24 sheets of t&g OSB...

Nice...

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

Interspersed with the decking, we fabricated the fiberboard A/C plenums (as you can see above)

The "Saturn V" supply plenum...

Around 20 years since I did this stuff for a living...

Fairly tidy result (not complete/detailed)

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

Got ahead of myself a bit, I had to refurbish the blower unit, removed the gas heat stuff completely...

Good thing I kept the hand crank that came with the boom crane that I put on my truck, it came in handy with no help to get the furnace upstairs-

10KW of heat should be fine...

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

I refurbished the condensing unit as well...

(before)

(after)

Cleaned up the electrical compartment as well...

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

While Kevin was here, we ran the copper pipes-

Then, I shot myself in the foot (figuratively) closing up the corner of the building after we ran the pipes...

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

Not to worry, I had everything needed to fix it, AFTER I rebuilt my oxygen/acetylene regulators, rebuilt my A/C gauge set with parts from 3 different sets, played "hide-and-seek" for an hour with my vacuum pump, and changed the oil in it.

Looked like a tool explosion...

It's been 20 years since I used the gauges & vacuum pump, 12-14 years since I used the oxy/acet torch. They're good to go for another 20 years, I hope I'm still able to use them when I'm 85!

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

After my son left i got to work connecting all the flex ducts. Gotta love those itchy arms!

Installed a non-fused service disconnect, time to fire it up!

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

We have lift-off!

While the unit was charging, I checked the running amps; much lower than expected! (that's a good thing) Rated at 33 FLA, I was pulling less than 20...

Pressures were great! (93F ambient)

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

Ahhhhhhhh..... nice and cool after only 10 minutes with outer doors still open, drawing in 90-degree air...

Just around the time I was checking air temp, I noticed some dripping from above. Oh, crud, I forgot to connect the condensate drain! I jumped to it and ran a temporary line to just over the shower. Man, that thing was drawing humidity out of the air in a HURRY!

So, I'm satisfied that this 20-year-old equipment should be good for a few years at least. Still lots of stuff to do, but that's a milestone.

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

Now, back to my birthday weekend. I had asked all the adult males in my (local) family and friends to 'gift' me with a work day, so we could put up the shed roof that's been waiting 3 or 4 months since I set the main frame columns and receivers. I got my oldest son, Jason, my son-in-law, James, and my ex-wife's husband, Phil. I would have been happy with 2 guys to help, I got 3! None of the wives and kids made it out except for Sally & Alex, who brought us a load of burgers and beverages.

Here's where I left off, several months ago-

We got up on ladders and started working the purlins into the receivers, and bolting them in place (Phil on the ladder, James handing him stuff)...

Phil on the container, screwing in the cut sheets, Jason fixing the whole sheets (22' long)

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

Since the west end receiver channel was shorter than the others, that meant we could only install 8 of the 10 purlins, and only half the sheets. Still, that was a great day of productivity. 25'x25' complete.

Finally looking like something...

End of a long day.

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

The next time I went out there, I took one look at that unfinished roof and figured I could SOMEHOW finish it solo. Step 1 was to "splint" the receiver and install the last 2 purlins. The splint was not TOO hard-

The 8" x 25' purlins were another story. It was a long, hard process, one step at a time up the ladder, to get them up there.

Then, anchor one end with a pivot bolt, fix the other end, then secure them, etc.

Drenched in sweat after 4 solid hours, I got it done.

I checked deflection, and the splinted corner is almost identical to the opposite one. I'm satisfied, but I'll brace the north end on the container roof anyway, after I install the gutter & downspouts.

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

This last weekend, my friend Jason showed up, apologizing for missing the "work party". He's a workhorse and we crack jokes continuously, so it was a fun day and a half.

We back-tracked and secured the bottom sides of a couple of purlins that we "meant to" go back to the week before...

We got most of it done on Saturday, then finished on Monday...

That's a lot of shade! finally done...

The last couple of days have been spent sorting and re-stacking the leftover steel materials, moving trailers around and cutting the WAY overgrown grass, then parking trailers neatly. Still a couple more days to finish THAT task.

grandpaul · Sep 22, 2022

While I've been doing the shed roof and A/C, the sheetrocker has been taping and floating.

This guy gave me a great price, but he sure is S-L-O-W...

grandpaul · Oct 17, 2022

Well, the sheetrocker got done FINALLY, and the painter is HUSTLING!

Should be done by this weekend (I hope)...

grandpaul · Oct 17, 2022

The new shop is now functional!

Waking the sleeping beast ('83 Honda VF750F Interceptor) after 12 years of sitting/storage

Tires
Battery
Fuel Pump
Gas tank liner
Petcock
Chain
Sprockets
Grips
Replace entire right footpeg/brake pedal/mount that "disappeared"
Brake fluid reservoir
Rear brake caliper overhaul
Rear brake line banjo bolt
R.brk Master Cylinder overhaul
Free stuck clutch slave cylinder
Clutch M/C overhaul
Troubleshoot horn
Connectors for front brake light switch
Total de-greasing/wash
Paint headers
Spark plug
Clean carbs
Fuel & oil filters
Oil change

Filthy son of a gun...

After 4 solid days of work, almost done, just missing a few bits...

Hope to test-ride it this weekend...