Progress Since Moving Day

Before the excavating company left me to my own devices, they leveled up the JayBee on stacks of cinder blocks.

They finished burying the electric lines that run from the pole to both the new shop and to the JayBee.

They also finished up the top of the driveway and made a nice little walkway to the front door.

After they left, I tweaked the leveling a bit to fix a low corner. Since I don't plan to ever move this house, I want it right before I anchor the house to the slab!

The electrician came and finished bringing the power from the power pole to the panel in the JayBee. 

I only have one working outlet inside the house at the moment because the prior electrician did not label a single wire he installed. I have a bit of work to do to get everything labeled before the panel can be all hooked up.

I found a plumber who said he could do the rest of the plumbing during Thanksgiving week, so I scrambled to get things ready for him. I stacked the tires more compactly under the JayBee to help give the plumber some maneuvering room.

Next came removing the axles and springs. Honestly, this had not even been on my radar. I just figured I'd leave the axles and springs attached--hanging out under the house. Once the plumber showed me, however, it was obvious there was no way he could plumb to the septic line under the house because the axles and springs were in the way. I could not find anyone who could do this work in the timeframe I needed it done, so I decided to do it myself. The thought of taking this on scared the livin' daylights out of me but, once I figured out how to disconnect the brake wiring from each axle end, I was on a roll. I bought an air impact wrench and a new face shield, and got all set up to start dismantling.

The air impact wrench worked great on all the nuts connecting the springs, but I could not maneuver it to reach the nuts holding on the u-bolts. For those, my arthritic hands had to make do with hand wrenches. It took me almost three hours to get the first one completely dismantled, but I did it!

Before letting all the axles drop to the ground, I propped them on boards and bricks so I could roll them to the correct side of the waste line while they were still up above it.

Finally, I got all the axles and springs off. The axles are stored up off the concrete, on pieces of plywood. I coated all the various nuts and bolts in a thick layer of grease and stored them away. See how the plumber can now access the waste line under here?

While I was sitting inside the JayBee, listening to a podcast and greasing up trailer parts, look who came to visit! I don't know his name, but he regularly wanders over from the neighbor's yard. Makes me wish George and Bear were still here to move into the JayBee with me.

I moved everything out of the end of the JayBee that has plumbing runs to make it easy for the plumber to get to things.

I installed the bathroom faucet and hung the sink on the wall...

 

...and hung the on-demand water heater.

I also installed the front steps--to make getting in and out of the house a whole lot easier. Railings and the rest of the deck to come--but probably not until spring.

Here's the bad news: The plumber did not show up, and he has not been in touch. The one phone number I have for him rings forever and then disconnects, so I have not been able to leave him a voice message. <sigh> I'm beginning to think I might end up buying some plumbing tools and doing this work myself. Stay tuned...

Preliminaries

I don't think I moved the steps in front of the JayBee's door last year at all. As you might imagine, having the steps in place makes it a whole lot easier to run in and out the door all day long while building.

I moved the step sections to the driveway, but they looked to be in rough shape. (I spread out the particle board in the background because I think I might use it to help support new piers to level up the JayBee.)

The edge of the front step was also very beat up. I thought, "I'll just sand and re-stain all of the steps before I put them in place."

After sanding for hours and still having more sanding ahead of me, I thought: "Oh, right. Just about every step I take with this project takes me way more time than I ever anticipate." Finally, everything was sanded.

I paused working on the steps when my friend arrived to help me with this tree. I noticed after the last wind storm we had that this tall, very-straight tree was leaning across the driveway.

Closer inspection revealed a lot of dramatic splitting in the base of the trunk.

Observing proper physical distancing between us, my friend used his chain saw to cut down the tree, while I hauled away the branches.

The middle of the base of the trunk was completely rotten!

The rot didn't go very far up the tree, though. The logs are very straight. I wish I had a way to use them for something.

We were surprised to have it all done in under an hour. We left the heavy trunk pieces for now; at least they are not blocking the driveway.

Back to the steps, the staining didn't take me that long. I even remembered to put the gritty stuff in the stain so the steps won't be too slick when they're wet. It shouldn't take me long to assemble the steps. Maybe I can get that done tomorrow before the rain moves in.

...

The next morning, first thing:

All assembled, but not yet leveled up. That's it for the next few days. (I am very grateful to be working full time [at a job I love--added bonus], especially now, but it does limit my house building time. :-)

Warm Day!

I thought today was going to be a re-set day--cleaning out the JayBee to get ready for the next phase of building, putting away shingle-related stuff, etc. But, once I got out there and realized how incredibly warm it was (mid 70s!), I knew I had to use the warm day for other things.

When I first built the front steps, I only stained the top cedar boards. I left the pressure-treated structural boards alone--to weather before I stained them. Well, today was the day! I disassembled the three sections, and started staining.

In process...

I even re-stained the tops, complete with the gritty stuff that keeps them from getting too slippery when wet.

Done!
(Yes, it won't be long before I have to move the steps out of the way of the plow guy. <sigh>)

Staining the steps took me longer than I'd anticipated (doesn't everything?!). Even so, I still managed to get the caulk applied around the lower east-end window. Four more windows to go.

On a different note, I think I have enough pears now to make some pear sauce.

There are still over a hundred pears in the tree. All too high to reach, I have to wait for them to hit the ground.

Steps 3

Anticipating assembling the steps for the JayBee, I made these step connectors.

And I made these pieces that I call "feet" for the steps.

Today was so warm; it actually reached 66 degrees! I decided today was setup day for the steps. First, though, I added another topcoat of stain/sealer to all of the steps. I added a non-skid additive to the stain so the surface of the steps will have a gritty surface rather than be super-slick when wet. (Every time I shoveled snow off the deck this winter, the surface of the deck boards was so slippery I had to work hard not to fall. Thus, the additive.)

I added a coat of the non-skid stain to the entryway step as well.

Here's the bottom step with the feet added.

And the bottom step with the connectors attached.

The middle step with the feet and connectors added.

Top step with feet.

Here are the top two steps assembled.

Finally, all the steps assembled and set in place!

Also see:
Steps 1
Steps 2


Very slowly, the snow is leaving my yard. I can see the top of my septic-pump caution sign again.

The hillside behind the JayBee faces south, so most of the snow is gone there.

Directly behind the JayBee, the snow has finally melted away from the the north wall of the house.

In the woods, though, there is still plenty of snow.

A few mornings ago, I was surprised to see frost not only on the top surface of everything, including the JayBee's roof, but all over the sides as well.

George spends all day outside again. Sleeping on the hillside...

...following me around and chattering at me all day...

...and sleeping in the hay up against the house. (The hay is exposed thanks to the FairPoint repair guy who stomped on the plastic earlier this week and tore it away from the house.)

Open water again! Today, large chunks of ice moved upstream on the incoming tide, and then back downstream on the outgoing tide.