Thanksgiving Wonderland

Getting Winterized

I decided that I had pushed the weather envelope about as far as I could, and it was time to get everything ready for winter. I banked the house with hay and covered it with plastic; I've been doing this for many years, as it is the only way to reliably prevent frozen pipes. I had been hoping that, once I'm living in the JayBee, I won't have to do this anymore. If this would be the only way to keep the JayBee's water supply and septic pipes from freezing, I guess it wouldn't be so bad to keep doing it.

I also insulated the basement/crawlspace door.

Although I usually keep the JayBee fairly neat, it has become quite messy lately.

I moved all the lumber that is eight feet long or shorter out of the JayBee and into the "shop." I dismantled the water-shield crib I had made, since I don't think I will have another use for it.

I set out another box of wood scraps, and it was taken before today's snowstorm began.

I moved the saws that were in the yard...

inside under cover.

I decided to move some of the lumber piles that have been in the yard for years.

I moved the shorter lumber into the shop and the longer lumber into the JayBee. All of the shingles went inside the JayBee.

I freak out every time I see a snake skin...

but there were so many of them in the lumber pile that I started handling them by hand.

I organized the mess in the shop...

...to accommodate the additional lumber and saws.

I sorted through a huge pile of extra tarps--storing some away, throwing away the others.

During the last rainstorm, a lot of water ended up inside the JayBee. Not through the roof, which is finally, truly weatherproof, but through the door and west end. Turns out that, without the tarps hanging over the roof edges, the tarps that were protecting those sides of the JayBee were no longer up to the task.

So, I added some extra cover to the west end...

...and I raised the tarp over the door. I also removed the concrete-block steps in front of the JayBee, so the plow guy won't have to navigate around them.

I don't usually see good sunsets due to the tree-covered hillside to the west of here, but I did see a crimson sky through the trees last night.

I was so determined to finish all this work yesterday, I worked outside (with a flashlight and headlamp) until 6:30 last night. Didn't work. I still had to spend a few hours this morning finishing everything up. When I put the last things away, snowflakes had started to fall.

Two hours later...

Roofing 6

I added another piece of drip edge to the east gable end, so the drip edge on that end of the house is done.

I pulled the tarp off the roof--determined to finish installing the ice and water shield underlayment. After initially taking great pains to keep the roof vent holes open as I was installing underlayment, the whole strategy shifted to cover everything (including the vent holes) to make the roof weatherproof. Then, when the sheets of metal roofing are installed, I will open up the vent holes.

I didn't finish sealing the underlayment down with the heat gun until after dark, but at least I finished!

Also see:
Roofing 1
Roofing 2
Roofing 3
Roofing 4
Roofing 5
Roofing 7
Roofing 8
Roofing 9
Roofing 10
Roofing 11
Roofing 12
Roofing 13
Roofing 14
Roofing 15
Roofing 16
Roofing 17


Every time I set up two ladders to work on the drip edge, Bear thinks one of the ladders is for him.

There have been large groups (rafters?) of turkeys wandering around lately. I was able to catch some in flight the other day.

The Value Added by the PEOPLE in the Workplace

There has been this theme running through my days over the last few weeks... It has to do with noticing and thinking about how much value is added by the worker-bee type people who provide the products and services we buy. For example, when I take my redeemables to this particular redemption center, my spirits are always buoyed by the people who work there--pleasant, funny, hardworking people who make it a good experience rather than drudgery to deal with all those bottles. During my routine eye exam last week, my opthalmologist and I got going on a mutual rant about organizations that value their bricks and mortar more than they demonstrate how much they value the people who work in their buildings, provide the services, and give those organizations their positive reputations.

My regular readers will remember an earlier post in which I was bemoaning the loss of "my lumber guy" who moved to Florida. He always made my trips to the store pleasant, quick, and productive. Since then, I have been to the store five times. I have dealt with at least half a dozen different people, and I have spent hours there on multiple occasions. Exhausting hours--like I-need-a-nap-to-recover kind of exhausting. [A little off topic, but equally annoying: To top things off, I ended up with a flat tire after driving, as directed, through the back customer-service lot to pick up an order. I had to buy a brand new tire to replace one that had less than 3,000 miles on it.] Don't get me wrong; everyone I have dealt with at the store has been pleasant enough. But I have also encountered a lot of inexperience, and skepticism, and some pass-the-buck behavior. There is a very nice young man who has helped me some, but he is brand new to the store. It will take years for the new trainees to reach the level of experience and performance that Tim demonstrated with ease every day. I have no idea how this company treats its employees. For all I know, it may be an exceptional employer that demonstrates appreciation for its employees in many meaningful and ongoing ways. I do hope that Tim heard each and every day he worked there that he was valued and appreciated.

Roofing 5

After the trim was installed around the east end bumpout, I could install the metal drip edge. Here is the bumpout after all three pieces of dripedge were installed.

I installed the ice and water shield over the sheathing and the drip edge. (Note that the new roll of underlayment is a lighter color green than the old stuff.) Now the east end bumpout is weatherproof!

Also see:
Roofing 1
Roofing 2
Roofing 3
Roofing 4
Roofing 6
Roofing 7
Roofing 8
Roofing 9
Roofing 10
Roofing 11
Roofing 12
Roofing 13
Roofing 14
Roofing 15
Roofing 16
Roofing 17