From outside, it's not quite as evident thanks to the leaves and debris floating in the water.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Living in a Fishbowl
Well, I asked for it in a previous post by calling Mother Nature out to test my chimney flashing, and although she didn't bring her A-Game, she did remind me that she wrote the rules and will enforce them at will. I've been checking my basement for signs of water during the plethora of rain we've been getting, to make sure I keep boxes and other stuff out of the water if any gets in. This afternoon, I went down and found a pretty healthy stream running from the back wall to the drain. It was coming in around one of the window wells, specifically the one by our patio. The same patio which is old, cracked, and which drains towards the house instead of away from it. You can see in the following pictures how much water is in the well - that dark line across the glass is the water level. There is easily 6" of water in that well, but none in any of the other wells. As long as the glass holds, we should be fine. If the glass fails, things could get a little messy. I'm heading down now to put a few layers of duct tape on the glass just in case.
From outside, it's not quite as evident thanks to the leaves and debris floating in the water.
From outside, it's not quite as evident thanks to the leaves and debris floating in the water.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Cheap Tar is not Always Good Tar
So yesterday, I mentioned that I found a small leak around the chimney. It wasn't enough to get me on the roof at night during the rain, so I put if off until today.
Today, I went up to take care of business, and found a couple of potential areas which could have been letting water seep in. I don't blame the guys who did the roof for me, as they used the material I purchased for them. Part of that purchase included $.99 tubes of roof tar on sale at Menards. Although it might have been good for certain roof work, it wasn't up to the job of filling in small voids around the flashing. It was actually very thin and runny tar, although that may be because it was well over 100 degrees when it was being used. The stuff I used today to go over all the flashing was $3.49/tube from Ace, and was noticeably thicker. In fact, it looked like tar mixed with small fibers. It did a great job in filling the voids and creating a smooth surface to keep water out. At least that's what I say now, since it's not raining and I can't prove otherwise.
I also added a cover for the chimney top which should keep water out. Previously, all I had was some chickenwire formed over the top to keep out birds and debris.
Come on, Mother Nature, bring it on!
Today, I went up to take care of business, and found a couple of potential areas which could have been letting water seep in. I don't blame the guys who did the roof for me, as they used the material I purchased for them. Part of that purchase included $.99 tubes of roof tar on sale at Menards. Although it might have been good for certain roof work, it wasn't up to the job of filling in small voids around the flashing. It was actually very thin and runny tar, although that may be because it was well over 100 degrees when it was being used. The stuff I used today to go over all the flashing was $3.49/tube from Ace, and was noticeably thicker. In fact, it looked like tar mixed with small fibers. It did a great job in filling the voids and creating a smooth surface to keep water out. At least that's what I say now, since it's not raining and I can't prove otherwise.
I also added a cover for the chimney top which should keep water out. Previously, all I had was some chickenwire formed over the top to keep out birds and debris.
Come on, Mother Nature, bring it on!
Plumbing Tips for the Day, Learned the Hard Way
Two plumbing tips:
1. When the directions say "finger-tight" or "finger-tight plus 1/4 turn" or something very specific like that, they probably say it for a reason.
2. If you're going through all the trouble of replacing a toilet (or sink for that matter) and supply line(s), replace the old shut-off valve at the same time. It's $3.49 for a new 1/4-turn shut-off valve people, spend the freakin' money.
I bring these items up because I didn't bother listening to my own advice, resulting in a toilet replacement which took twice as long as it should have. I decided to replace the last remaining original toilet in the house because I'm sick of wasting water with the old one. I had the new one sitting here waiting for the past three months, but the bathroom remodel is still a month or two away. Might as well get rid of the old crapper while I have the dumpster! I decided to "save time" and re-use the original shut-off valve, even though it sprays water unless it's fully open or fully closed. Well, with the new toilet in it drips water through the packing. Ten minutes later, the water is off, the new valve is on, and the water is back on. That problem is solved. Now it's dripping water at the braided-stainless supply hose where it connects to the valve. Damn, I just tightened it down with a crescent wrench, well beyond the 1/4 turn recommendation. Off it comes so I can check the rubber washer. It looks OK, so I re-install and tighten the recommended way and it's finally done.
For now.
It'll have to come out soon so I can gut that bathroom for the renovation. At this time, I'm planning on moving the toilet location to help open up some room in there, since it's kind of a small bathroom in it's current configuration. We'll see how that goes.....
1. When the directions say "finger-tight" or "finger-tight plus 1/4 turn" or something very specific like that, they probably say it for a reason.
2. If you're going through all the trouble of replacing a toilet (or sink for that matter) and supply line(s), replace the old shut-off valve at the same time. It's $3.49 for a new 1/4-turn shut-off valve people, spend the freakin' money.
I bring these items up because I didn't bother listening to my own advice, resulting in a toilet replacement which took twice as long as it should have. I decided to replace the last remaining original toilet in the house because I'm sick of wasting water with the old one. I had the new one sitting here waiting for the past three months, but the bathroom remodel is still a month or two away. Might as well get rid of the old crapper while I have the dumpster! I decided to "save time" and re-use the original shut-off valve, even though it sprays water unless it's fully open or fully closed. Well, with the new toilet in it drips water through the packing. Ten minutes later, the water is off, the new valve is on, and the water is back on. That problem is solved. Now it's dripping water at the braided-stainless supply hose where it connects to the valve. Damn, I just tightened it down with a crescent wrench, well beyond the 1/4 turn recommendation. Off it comes so I can check the rubber washer. It looks OK, so I re-install and tighten the recommended way and it's finally done.
For now.
It'll have to come out soon so I can gut that bathroom for the renovation. At this time, I'm planning on moving the toilet location to help open up some room in there, since it's kind of a small bathroom in it's current configuration. We'll see how that goes.....
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Drip, Drip, Drip
We're getting some much needed rain. Finally.
It's helped me find the first (and hopefully ONLY) leak in the roof. It's a drip every 10 seconds by the chimney, so I figure it's probably the flashing. Since the rain is supposed to continue through the weekend, I should be able to get some quality time on the roof with some tar to seal it up. For now, a 5 gallon bucket in the attic will cover me for a while.
It's helped me find the first (and hopefully ONLY) leak in the roof. It's a drip every 10 seconds by the chimney, so I figure it's probably the flashing. Since the rain is supposed to continue through the weekend, I should be able to get some quality time on the roof with some tar to seal it up. For now, a 5 gallon bucket in the attic will cover me for a while.
The House is on a Diet
Remember this crappy old laundry sink from an earlier post? Rusted out legs, leaking faucet, and slow drain? It was junk and needed to go.
It was replaced with this new unit from Menard's. It's about 400 pounds lighter, since it's not reinforced concrete.
The crappy old sink has been taking up space in the basement long enough, and since the dumpster is here, it's time to get rid of it. Out comes Mr. Sledgehammer and the old sink is now reduced to rubble. That trailer was really not liking carrying that much weight. I probably should have hooked it up to the tractor, but I didn't want to screw around with it since it was raining. If there wasn't so much wrong with this sink, I would have found a way to re-use it. Busting it up and hauling the debris up the stairs in buckets wasn't a whole lot of fun. At least it's done...
It's all your's, Nate. Come get it! It'll be in the dumpster next to your shed for a few more days.
It was replaced with this new unit from Menard's. It's about 400 pounds lighter, since it's not reinforced concrete.
The crappy old sink has been taking up space in the basement long enough, and since the dumpster is here, it's time to get rid of it. Out comes Mr. Sledgehammer and the old sink is now reduced to rubble. That trailer was really not liking carrying that much weight. I probably should have hooked it up to the tractor, but I didn't want to screw around with it since it was raining. If there wasn't so much wrong with this sink, I would have found a way to re-use it. Busting it up and hauling the debris up the stairs in buckets wasn't a whole lot of fun. At least it's done...
It's all your's, Nate. Come get it! It'll be in the dumpster next to your shed for a few more days.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Support the Locals
All aboard for the Going-Off-On-A-Tangent Express!
For this rant, I'm not talking about Home Depot and their "We can help" slogan which is a complete load of crap. Many of you are on-board with me on that one, so I won't kick that dead horse again for a day or two.
This time, I'm talking about one of my favorite pastimes - food. There are national chain stores for food, just like there is for home improvement. Home Depot, Lowes, TGI Fridays, Outback Steak House, etc., are all examples. It's getting harder to avoid the chain restaurants these days, but if you can look past the glitz and advertising of a popular "Australian" restaurant (which has as much in common with Australia as a pair of my dirty socks), there can be some damn good food to be found.
My focus is directed in this case to a new Indian restaurant near by. Prior to it opening, I had a 20+ minute drive to the closest place for Indian (Taste of India, in Brookfield WI - damn good food, but too far for a quick meal or take-out). Now I'm nice and close to the Taj Mahal which also has excellent food at very reasonable prices. Unfortunately, Muskego Beth and I are two of the few people who actually eat there. We're there often enough that the owner knows what my wife will order before we even sit down. Hell, I don't even know what it is, but I know it's not on the menu and they happily make it for her.
There is nothing wrong with the food or menu, and it's in a decent location with plenty of vehicle traffic. It's also gotten decent scouting report here by the local food critic, just prior to him dying and before he could go back and finish his review. They've also got a kick-ass buffet at lunchtime, which is just within my time limitations during the week for lunch.
For those of you not paying attention to what the problem is, they're getting no business while people line up around the block for a fvcking Bloomin' Onion. They can't go on like this for long, and I fear that next time I go there for dinner, they'll be out of business. That will suck.
I'll be second (behind my brother) to say that this part of Milwaukee isn't filled with the most worldly of people - probably part of the reason he got the hell out of here - but come on people, get out and live a little before you die. Next time you're going out to eat, try something different. Try some place which doesn't have tens of thousands of dollars to blow on advertising. Hell, try a local pub or brewhouse if nothing else. Try Indian food, or a Mexican place other than Taco Bell. Speaking of Mexican, there is a local place in a somewhat dumpy looking building which serves kick-ass food. The inside is very nice, and the owner/chef has some serious credentials in the area. Word spread and the place does good lunch business and gets packed for dinners. Yeah, it costs more than a Nacho-bel-Grande and you won't be served while you sit in your car, but the food is top shelf. Every city has places like this, get out and find them!
* This isn't mean as a knock against Outback - I like their burgers and cheese-fries. Given the choice, though, I think local-owned places like Kopp's has better burgers for the money. I've only had Outback's steak once, and was far from impressed.
** Note to my brother - Taj Mahal is in the same strip mall as George Webb's in Hales Corners, across the street from A&W. Since those places were there before we were born, you'll know where I'm talking about.
*** Warning to everybody else, my brother's blog is filled with vegetarianism stuff and info about commuting by bike. You've been warned... or informed, if you like that kind of stuff. On the good side, it's also got plenty of beer reviews.
Since Google will eventually crawl this post and anybody looking for a review of the Taj Mahal Restaurant in Hales Corner may find this post, let me just say again that the food at Taj Mahal in Hales Corners Wisconsin is fantastic. 5 out of 5 stars. Thumbs up. Gold Spoon Award. Just go try it. Hopefully the owner of the place finds this and gives me a free meal for the effort! :)
I'm done ranting now.
For this rant, I'm not talking about Home Depot and their "We can help" slogan which is a complete load of crap. Many of you are on-board with me on that one, so I won't kick that dead horse again for a day or two.
This time, I'm talking about one of my favorite pastimes - food. There are national chain stores for food, just like there is for home improvement. Home Depot, Lowes, TGI Fridays, Outback Steak House, etc., are all examples. It's getting harder to avoid the chain restaurants these days, but if you can look past the glitz and advertising of a popular "Australian" restaurant (which has as much in common with Australia as a pair of my dirty socks), there can be some damn good food to be found.
My focus is directed in this case to a new Indian restaurant near by. Prior to it opening, I had a 20+ minute drive to the closest place for Indian (Taste of India, in Brookfield WI - damn good food, but too far for a quick meal or take-out). Now I'm nice and close to the Taj Mahal which also has excellent food at very reasonable prices. Unfortunately, Muskego Beth and I are two of the few people who actually eat there. We're there often enough that the owner knows what my wife will order before we even sit down. Hell, I don't even know what it is, but I know it's not on the menu and they happily make it for her.
There is nothing wrong with the food or menu, and it's in a decent location with plenty of vehicle traffic. It's also gotten decent scouting report here by the local food critic, just prior to him dying and before he could go back and finish his review. They've also got a kick-ass buffet at lunchtime, which is just within my time limitations during the week for lunch.
For those of you not paying attention to what the problem is, they're getting no business while people line up around the block for a fvcking Bloomin' Onion. They can't go on like this for long, and I fear that next time I go there for dinner, they'll be out of business. That will suck.
I'll be second (behind my brother) to say that this part of Milwaukee isn't filled with the most worldly of people - probably part of the reason he got the hell out of here - but come on people, get out and live a little before you die. Next time you're going out to eat, try something different. Try some place which doesn't have tens of thousands of dollars to blow on advertising. Hell, try a local pub or brewhouse if nothing else. Try Indian food, or a Mexican place other than Taco Bell. Speaking of Mexican, there is a local place in a somewhat dumpy looking building which serves kick-ass food. The inside is very nice, and the owner/chef has some serious credentials in the area. Word spread and the place does good lunch business and gets packed for dinners. Yeah, it costs more than a Nacho-bel-Grande and you won't be served while you sit in your car, but the food is top shelf. Every city has places like this, get out and find them!
* This isn't mean as a knock against Outback - I like their burgers and cheese-fries. Given the choice, though, I think local-owned places like Kopp's has better burgers for the money. I've only had Outback's steak once, and was far from impressed.
** Note to my brother - Taj Mahal is in the same strip mall as George Webb's in Hales Corners, across the street from A&W. Since those places were there before we were born, you'll know where I'm talking about.
*** Warning to everybody else, my brother's blog is filled with vegetarianism stuff and info about commuting by bike. You've been warned... or informed, if you like that kind of stuff. On the good side, it's also got plenty of beer reviews.
Since Google will eventually crawl this post and anybody looking for a review of the Taj Mahal Restaurant in Hales Corner may find this post, let me just say again that the food at Taj Mahal in Hales Corners Wisconsin is fantastic. 5 out of 5 stars. Thumbs up. Gold Spoon Award. Just go try it. Hopefully the owner of the place finds this and gives me a free meal for the effort! :)
I'm done ranting now.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
An Easier Way to Read Blogs
I know this may be old news for many of you, but for everybody else this could be useful (after re-reading a number of my previous posts, even I don't believe this blog has provided anything "useful" in the past).
Up until a few days ago, I bookmarked about 7 or 8 blogs which I liked to read. There were more that were of interest, but I didn't have any easy/quick way to check all of the individual blogs to look for updates. Anybody who's tried keeping up with a dozen different blogs knows what a headache it can be jumping around looking for updates.. Somewhere along the line, I read about the Google Blog Reader, which made keeping up to date with dozens of different blogs quick and easy. What I really like about it is how I can now track a couple of dozen different blogs, and each time I log on it tells me which blogs have updates. It'll also pull those updates right into the reader so I don't have to jump from blog to blog if I don't want to. It doesn't have the "charm" of the individual blogs, but I can live with that. If I want the charm, I just click on the link which takes me to the original blog. Try it if you haven't seen it. Now. I'll wait.
Google Blog Reader
Here's a picture of the program in action. As you see, you get the graphics from the blogs along with the text. If any of the blogs I'm watching had updates, they would be listed in bold on the left along with a number telling me how many new posts are on each blog. If you're completely anal retentive you can even put the blogs in folders to classify them - ranch houses, Victorian, east coast, milf, etc.
Up until a few days ago, I bookmarked about 7 or 8 blogs which I liked to read. There were more that were of interest, but I didn't have any easy/quick way to check all of the individual blogs to look for updates. Anybody who's tried keeping up with a dozen different blogs knows what a headache it can be jumping around looking for updates.. Somewhere along the line, I read about the Google Blog Reader, which made keeping up to date with dozens of different blogs quick and easy. What I really like about it is how I can now track a couple of dozen different blogs, and each time I log on it tells me which blogs have updates. It'll also pull those updates right into the reader so I don't have to jump from blog to blog if I don't want to. It doesn't have the "charm" of the individual blogs, but I can live with that. If I want the charm, I just click on the link which takes me to the original blog. Try it if you haven't seen it. Now. I'll wait.
Google Blog Reader
Here's a picture of the program in action. As you see, you get the graphics from the blogs along with the text. If any of the blogs I'm watching had updates, they would be listed in bold on the left along with a number telling me how many new posts are on each blog. If you're completely anal retentive you can even put the blogs in folders to classify them - ranch houses, Victorian, east coast, milf, etc.
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