The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over. Ate too much, bought too much etc.
It was a bust for progress on the house and yard.
I am now rebooting myself on the whole project.
Started out yesterday by blowing and raking up a bunch of leaves. Filled
two of the 96 gallon curbside dumpsters. More leaves to pick up today.
Then some more outside work to do until it starts to rain, sleet or snow.
At that point, inside work awaits me.
Bill
12/2/2015 11AM
This morning I tore into the 4x12 shed across from the long shed. I think it's #4 on the plan. It was a jumble of misc. stuff just crammed in. Pulled enough stuff out to sort things. Found a bunch of automotive stuff that goes in Shed #1, the automotive work shed. Sorting and moving things where they go. Found a box of leather that Julie can use for her jewelry work. Taking a break, Temps outside aren't too bad. Got to finish sorting and moving things and putting them away organized and buttoning it up before rain and snow this evening.
It will be one more shed roughly sorted and organized. The secret is not to get stuck on the details. Broad brush strokes is what are needed in this initial phase. Detail work later.
3 dumpsters full of leaves are ready for trash day tomorrow. Perhaps I can add to that.
Bill
2:30PM
Well, that went faster than I expected. I didn't sort too deeply. Mostly rearranged, consolidated, tossed trash and took out automotive things to put in the automotive shed. Now everything is more accessible. Buttoned up the shed and all is well.
Think I'll go back out and see if I can do some tweaking in the yard.
Bill
2/12/2015 7PM
Been a while since I updated this. I won't bore myself or you with all the details. It's water under the bridge and I don't have time to document it. No time for photos either. I'm using all the good weather available to me. Suffice to say there has been a lot of progress on the yard. Instead I will give myself a little To Do list for tomorrow.
Move to back area:
Glass panes
Electric panels
Marble slabs
Granite slab
Piano wood
Slate tiles
2 black chairs
Logs
Put away:
Plastic sawhorses
Table saw
Tanks and cart
Pond (Empty first)
Steel 3 ton jack
Milk crate of auto parts
Move:
Workbench (To next to new shed)
Fire Pit (To cleared area)
Yellow cart (To back area)
Stuff between sheds (To storage area)
Stuff in back area:
Put away and move some things to storage area
Move bikes to storage
Misc,:
Fix lights on and in sheds.
Use recessed lights
Future work:
Build framing for bike storage
Clean up back porch
Move things off scaffold
Finish sheathing new shed
That's enough for a rough guide.
Bill
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Progress Post 11/4/2015
Time to split this blog up into more frequent parts.
Here's today's progress (9AM Wednesday, 11/4/2015):
I already got started this morning at 8AM. Just did 45 minutes of pulling out full dumpsters and staging them. Putting empty ones in place, dragging piano parts to the dumpster, ripping and breaking them apart with my bare hands, and filling it.
Next I'm going to pull some more things out, and widen the pathway so I can drag bigger things through there.
Also going to grab the circular saw so I can cut up things that are too big to break manually. Good way to get aggression out, by the way.
Tomorrow is trash day, but I was mistaken, it is NOT bulk day. So I need to chop up and put everything in dumpsters.
Should be able to fill most, if not all of them, between basement junk, piano parts and leaves.
6:30PM update:
8 dumpsters full. 2 out on the curb. Going to put the other 6 out in a minute. Update, They are all out now.They are called Courville containers. They hold 96 gallons and look like this:
It was a beautiful day but exhausting. Broke up a ruined bentwood rocker and filled them with leaves, a chopped up door, parts of the piano and lots of drek from the basement.Had pizza for dinner. Hot and Ready but not too tasty.
11/5
Can't Win For Losing!
So the trash trucks came and emptied my 8 dumpsters.
And I took our new leaf blower and gathered the fallen leaves into large area piles, hoping to fill a couple more dumpsters.
But I couldn't find the rake and shovel I use to pick them up with. All kinds of things flashed through my mind. Had I left them out, leaning against a tree, and someone just walked away with them? So I looked and looked, and finally found another shovel and rake, and started to work. And then the rake handle broke off!
So I gave up and came in for a break.
And that's when I remembered.
The shovel and rake were in the BASEMENT!
Wouldn't you know it.........Now that I'm clearing out the basement, I have another place to forget and lose things!!!!!
Bill
Update: 11 dumpsters filled and gone today. 11/5/2015
Friday 11/6/2015
Rained last night and this morning.
Is today an "L" day?
Cause I've been LAZY!
Laid around most of the day.
Finally, after Julie got home, I went out and framed 2 of the walls of the shed addition I am rebuilding from a roof to fully enclosed. Then sheathed one wall.
It's dark now.
In the morning I will sheathe the second wall and stand it up and brace it. Then I will either build the 2 stub walls or I will throw the roof framing on and sheathe the roof.
Got to move a bunch of stuff to do that. The stuff that will go in it, so I'll move the stuff into it, and build the structure around it.
The sooner I can get this done, the sooner I can get back on the basement.
Bill
11/7/2015 PM
I never estimate properly, the amount and time it will take to do a project. Pretty bad for a professional estimator, eh?
So I got the walls framed for the shed, and one end wall, and half the other sheathed temporarily. It is 8x12.
The walls need leveling and plumbing and fastening to the existing shed. Then I can install the 2x6x10 ceiling joists for the roof and finish sheathing the walls and roof. I have a tarp over it right now.
Than I can stock it with all the misc. stuff in the yard. I am probably optimistic that it will all fit. At least it will be better than the temporary roof and tarp I had covering some small amount of stuff before.
I also took 15 of the 2x6x10's to the back of the house, to use as walking boards for the scaffolding on the back of the house.
This is all helping use up some of the pile of lumber I have.
And this is all temporary. Everything needs going through. Eventually the shed will come down and the roof boards will be used for a deck.
It's a lot of work trying to protect excess possessions.
Here is a couple of photos.
Bill
Update 11/8/2015 PM
Here's today's progress (9AM Wednesday, 11/4/2015):
I already got started this morning at 8AM. Just did 45 minutes of pulling out full dumpsters and staging them. Putting empty ones in place, dragging piano parts to the dumpster, ripping and breaking them apart with my bare hands, and filling it.
Next I'm going to pull some more things out, and widen the pathway so I can drag bigger things through there.
Also going to grab the circular saw so I can cut up things that are too big to break manually. Good way to get aggression out, by the way.
Tomorrow is trash day, but I was mistaken, it is NOT bulk day. So I need to chop up and put everything in dumpsters.
Should be able to fill most, if not all of them, between basement junk, piano parts and leaves.
6:30PM update:
8 dumpsters full. 2 out on the curb. Going to put the other 6 out in a minute. Update, They are all out now.They are called Courville containers. They hold 96 gallons and look like this:
It was a beautiful day but exhausting. Broke up a ruined bentwood rocker and filled them with leaves, a chopped up door, parts of the piano and lots of drek from the basement.Had pizza for dinner. Hot and Ready but not too tasty.
11/5
Can't Win For Losing!
So the trash trucks came and emptied my 8 dumpsters.
And I took our new leaf blower and gathered the fallen leaves into large area piles, hoping to fill a couple more dumpsters.
But I couldn't find the rake and shovel I use to pick them up with. All kinds of things flashed through my mind. Had I left them out, leaning against a tree, and someone just walked away with them? So I looked and looked, and finally found another shovel and rake, and started to work. And then the rake handle broke off!
So I gave up and came in for a break.
And that's when I remembered.
The shovel and rake were in the BASEMENT!
Wouldn't you know it.........Now that I'm clearing out the basement, I have another place to forget and lose things!!!!!
Bill
Update: 11 dumpsters filled and gone today. 11/5/2015
Friday 11/6/2015
Rained last night and this morning.
Is today an "L" day?
Cause I've been LAZY!
Laid around most of the day.
Finally, after Julie got home, I went out and framed 2 of the walls of the shed addition I am rebuilding from a roof to fully enclosed. Then sheathed one wall.
It's dark now.
In the morning I will sheathe the second wall and stand it up and brace it. Then I will either build the 2 stub walls or I will throw the roof framing on and sheathe the roof.
Got to move a bunch of stuff to do that. The stuff that will go in it, so I'll move the stuff into it, and build the structure around it.
The sooner I can get this done, the sooner I can get back on the basement.
Bill
11/7/2015 PM
I never estimate properly, the amount and time it will take to do a project. Pretty bad for a professional estimator, eh?
So I got the walls framed for the shed, and one end wall, and half the other sheathed temporarily. It is 8x12.
The walls need leveling and plumbing and fastening to the existing shed. Then I can install the 2x6x10 ceiling joists for the roof and finish sheathing the walls and roof. I have a tarp over it right now.
Than I can stock it with all the misc. stuff in the yard. I am probably optimistic that it will all fit. At least it will be better than the temporary roof and tarp I had covering some small amount of stuff before.
I also took 15 of the 2x6x10's to the back of the house, to use as walking boards for the scaffolding on the back of the house.
This is all helping use up some of the pile of lumber I have.
And this is all temporary. Everything needs going through. Eventually the shed will come down and the roof boards will be used for a deck.
It's a lot of work trying to protect excess possessions.
Here is a couple of photos.
Bill
Update 11/8/2015 PM
Got
entire space swept out and organized and besides adding 3 1/2 file
cabinets and 2 rolling tool cabinet stacks and a table saw, and all the
things that were in there before, except the bikes and camp chairs, I
have room to walk around in it and access everything.
Still need to finish building the shed around the stuff.
And no space for the insulation, so into the trailer it will have to go.
Still have some lumber out, so it will have to go into the trailer and get covered.
I've made enough space between the sheds, so that I can put a bunch of dumpsters there for storage.
And I have access between the back yard and the further back, back yard.
Plus will have used up a bunch of lumber. Still need to level the scaffolding and put the 15 2x6x10 walking boards on it. Need to get some safety pins and cross braces from the scaffold store for it.
Need to make a place for gas cans and coolers. We have a bunch of each.
Then I need to go through piles in the yard.
Update:
Just got home from weekly shopping and put everything away.
Exhausted and hips and teeth hurt. Just immobile.
Did weekly food shopping and picked up a M.O. for the hangar rental and some wire from Lowes, that I had ordered. This is the 40LF of 2-2-2-4 SER to geive me a 90AMP feed to the garage sub panel. The only Lowes with it was far away, so long trip at night and eyes not good.
Took $45 worth of cans and bottles back to the store too. We needed it. We're broke until the third Wednesday.
Dr's. appointment Wednesday.
Tomorrow morning I will find more ways to put things away in the yard and put the walk boards on the scaffold.
Still need to finish building the shed around the stuff.
And no space for the insulation, so into the trailer it will have to go.
Still have some lumber out, so it will have to go into the trailer and get covered.
I've made enough space between the sheds, so that I can put a bunch of dumpsters there for storage.
And I have access between the back yard and the further back, back yard.
Plus will have used up a bunch of lumber. Still need to level the scaffolding and put the 15 2x6x10 walking boards on it. Need to get some safety pins and cross braces from the scaffold store for it.
Need to make a place for gas cans and coolers. We have a bunch of each.
Then I need to go through piles in the yard.
Update:
Just got home from weekly shopping and put everything away.
Exhausted and hips and teeth hurt. Just immobile.
Did weekly food shopping and picked up a M.O. for the hangar rental and some wire from Lowes, that I had ordered. This is the 40LF of 2-2-2-4 SER to geive me a 90AMP feed to the garage sub panel. The only Lowes with it was far away, so long trip at night and eyes not good.
Took $45 worth of cans and bottles back to the store too. We needed it. We're broke until the third Wednesday.
Dr's. appointment Wednesday.
Tomorrow morning I will find more ways to put things away in the yard and put the walk boards on the scaffold.
Bill
11/9/2015 8:50PM
COLD!
This morning that is.
Frost to scrape off the car.
Bill
11/11/2015 PM
Dr's visit today.
Got a stack of referrals.
Trying to put Humpty Dumpty (Me) together again.
Bill
Update for Friday the 13th, 11/13/2015
I need to put tarps on the house roof until spring, when I can re-roof.
There is no budget, so it's me, a box of nails, some misc. tarps I have, and a bunch of used 2x4 pieces I have laying around.
Today I am going to reorganize the shed I am building/rebuilding. Don't know if I mentioned it, but I now have finished the roof framing and tacked on the sheathing and covered it with tarps, since it is raining every day or so. Framing is 2x6x10's at 16"o.c. and sheathing is plywood. I have some rubber roofing to put on that. Still need to sheathe the rest of the walls. Have 3 sheets of ply up and need 4 more tacked on. They are leaning in place right now. I ran electric to it yesterday for power and light.
Once organized, I can stock it with misc. things that are in the yard, and button it up for the winter.
Only got rid of 3 curbside trash containers, mostly full of leaves, yesterday.
I'm excited about the transformation that is happening.
As I sort and go through and organize things, I end up tossing stuff, which decreases the space needed for stuff. At the same time, I am clearing out the basement, which will give me a lot more space, once it's cleaned. Eventually there will be a place for everything, and excess space. At that point, the plan is to disassemble the extra sheds and convert the 2 big ones into carpentry shops, using the materials to expand them.
But for now, the yard is the first focus, and then the basement. Put away all the misc. stuff in the yard. One pile is kitchen stuff, under a tarp. That needs sorting, and the good things brought in before snow flies. After I put away all the misc. things in the yard, that will be the next task. Then back to the basement clear out.
Bill
11/15/2015 3:45PM
I don't think I've ever had good habits.
Jumping up to pick up a dropped item has never been in my wheelhouse.
I have a perfectionism streak. I remember buying all the perfect things to set my table when I had an apartment. Never got the table.
And I set a perfect table here, but never used it.
Today is a beautiful fall day with temps up to 64 degrees and sunny right now.
Been working in the yard, but have to go to the viewing at 7PM, so need to start getting ready at 4:30 or so.
Started out by re-stacking the lumber on the trailer so I could get to it easier and added all the loose boards that I had taken off a few days ago.
I have been working in areas of the yard that haven't been touched in a couple of years. Pulling tarps off of piles and not so much sorting, but putting away boxes and bins and all sorts of things. Tools to the shed I just made. I'm calling it the tool shed. Making better access everywhere and increasing cleared areas. Moving things out of sight and to where they go. Simplifying. Folding up unneeded tarps.
Brought some bins of clothes inside for sorting.
Got the 2 generators in one spot.
Put the Workmates in the tool shed and also the portable air compressor, benchtop grinder and small welding tank cart..
Took empty bins to the back.
2 long sessions and a lot accomplished.
Bill
11/17/2015 6PM
Yesterday was all used for my brother in laws funeral.
Today I got a late start.
Just raked up 9 piles on the side alone. Supposed to rain tonight, then they will stick together better for picking up and putting in the dumpster.
When I got home last night, the plumbing fitting I bought wasn't in the bag. I forgot it at the self check out.
At least I got the electrical boxes and lamp bases I needed. Wired and installed 2 lights, a switch and a duplex receptacle in the shed I just built. Makes it nice to work in there, so I organized it some and put some more things in it.
Still need to install the wall sheathing.
Moved a bunch of stuff in the yard. Moved the M416 military trailer up and moved a dock box, file cabinet, some lumber and a freezer so I could move the newly enclosed utility trailer up about 6 more feet. This will give me room to install the sheathing on the rest of the front and side of the shed.
Put away more things elsewhere and organized and covered things.
Bill
Here's a couple of photos of the inside of the shed, showing the new lights and some of the stuff in it.
Bill
Tomorrow is trash day, and today is about the last good weather day available. I have 8 of the curbside dumpsters full of trash and leaves, and ready for putting out. Just got them filled before the rain started. Still two big piles of leaves in the yard.
I've been thinking about it, and have decided to open this blog up to comments. I noticed a lot of page views and wonder who is looking at it.
Bill
11/9/2015 8:50PM
COLD!
This morning that is.
Frost to scrape off the car.
So
didn't want to go out, and got a late start. Plus teeth hurting still.
Tonight the last bit of my last front incisor broke off at the gum line.
Started
out by leveling the scaffold on the back of the house and then lifting
the 15 2x6x10's step by step, up through the scaffold and created a
walking deck on the highest level. I am afraid of heights, but now, with
this set of walking planks on 2 levels, makes me feel safer. I can stand
on the top and the edge of the 2nd story roof is below waist high.
A
beautiful day once it warmed up. So I got going on a project I have
been wanting to do. That is enclosing one of my 2 utility trailers, so I
can store the insulation in it for a while, until I'm ready to use it.
This is another tarped pile, and winter won't do it any good. So I
removed the low wood framed sides and replaced them with 4' high plywood
sides with exterior 2x4 framing. Got it about half finished. Need to
cut the plywood for the front and back and screw things together. The
trailer is a Harbor Freight 4x8, so the volume is now 4x4x8. I will
cover it with a tarp and rope tie downs, like a military trailer. I
struggled with the cheap blade that came on my inexpensive circular saw,
and finally I changed it out for a good quality multi tooth carbide
blade I bought for just this kind of problem. What a difference! Cuts
smooth as butter and much safer. The old blade that came with the saw
was starting to catch and kick back.
I
see it's supposed to rain late tonight through the morning hours, so I
had to cover everything I've had out for the last few days. That was a
giant chore that I just completed. Thank goodness I had multiple short
and medium and tall ladders. Got everything covered with my array of
tarps.
One good thing.........rain or shine, I won't run out of fun!
11/11/2015 PM
Dr's visit today.
Got a stack of referrals.
Trying to put Humpty Dumpty (Me) together again.
Teeth, eyes, colonoscopy, blood work, B12 shot, tetanus shot, check lowT, all need doing.
Tonight severe storms, high wind and rain coming through.
Before
eI went to the Dr., I went out and pulled the tarps and loose sheets of
plywood of the shed and constructed the roof framing and tacked down
the sheathing. Covered it with a light tarp.
I
now need to go out, before the storm hits, and put a heavier tarp over
top and throw some boards on it to hold it down. Also lean a piece of
plywood up against it to cover an opening.
Then I have a couple of dumpsters to put on the curb. Didn't get the fallen leaves up yet.
Teeth
still hurting. Took a half an Oxycontin. Will be in LA LA land. Hope I
don't fall off the roof. I did slip off the trailer earlier and have a
big swollen shin.
Good news is I lost 20 pounds since my last Dr. visit. Down to 227. Want to go to 220 now.
Update for Friday the 13th, 11/13/2015
I need to put tarps on the house roof until spring, when I can re-roof.
There is no budget, so it's me, a box of nails, some misc. tarps I have, and a bunch of used 2x4 pieces I have laying around.
Today I am going to reorganize the shed I am building/rebuilding. Don't know if I mentioned it, but I now have finished the roof framing and tacked on the sheathing and covered it with tarps, since it is raining every day or so. Framing is 2x6x10's at 16"o.c. and sheathing is plywood. I have some rubber roofing to put on that. Still need to sheathe the rest of the walls. Have 3 sheets of ply up and need 4 more tacked on. They are leaning in place right now. I ran electric to it yesterday for power and light.
Once organized, I can stock it with misc. things that are in the yard, and button it up for the winter.
Only got rid of 3 curbside trash containers, mostly full of leaves, yesterday.
I'm excited about the transformation that is happening.
As I sort and go through and organize things, I end up tossing stuff, which decreases the space needed for stuff. At the same time, I am clearing out the basement, which will give me a lot more space, once it's cleaned. Eventually there will be a place for everything, and excess space. At that point, the plan is to disassemble the extra sheds and convert the 2 big ones into carpentry shops, using the materials to expand them.
But for now, the yard is the first focus, and then the basement. Put away all the misc. stuff in the yard. One pile is kitchen stuff, under a tarp. That needs sorting, and the good things brought in before snow flies. After I put away all the misc. things in the yard, that will be the next task. Then back to the basement clear out.
Bill
11/15/2015 3:45PM
I don't think I've ever had good habits.
Jumping up to pick up a dropped item has never been in my wheelhouse.
I have a perfectionism streak. I remember buying all the perfect things to set my table when I had an apartment. Never got the table.
And I set a perfect table here, but never used it.
Today is a beautiful fall day with temps up to 64 degrees and sunny right now.
Been working in the yard, but have to go to the viewing at 7PM, so need to start getting ready at 4:30 or so.
Started out by re-stacking the lumber on the trailer so I could get to it easier and added all the loose boards that I had taken off a few days ago.
I have been working in areas of the yard that haven't been touched in a couple of years. Pulling tarps off of piles and not so much sorting, but putting away boxes and bins and all sorts of things. Tools to the shed I just made. I'm calling it the tool shed. Making better access everywhere and increasing cleared areas. Moving things out of sight and to where they go. Simplifying. Folding up unneeded tarps.
Brought some bins of clothes inside for sorting.
Got the 2 generators in one spot.
Put the Workmates in the tool shed and also the portable air compressor, benchtop grinder and small welding tank cart..
Took empty bins to the back.
2 long sessions and a lot accomplished.
Bill
11/17/2015 6PM
Yesterday was all used for my brother in laws funeral.
Today I got a late start.
Just raked up 9 piles on the side alone. Supposed to rain tonight, then they will stick together better for picking up and putting in the dumpster.
When I got home last night, the plumbing fitting I bought wasn't in the bag. I forgot it at the self check out.
At least I got the electrical boxes and lamp bases I needed. Wired and installed 2 lights, a switch and a duplex receptacle in the shed I just built. Makes it nice to work in there, so I organized it some and put some more things in it.
Still need to install the wall sheathing.
Moved a bunch of stuff in the yard. Moved the M416 military trailer up and moved a dock box, file cabinet, some lumber and a freezer so I could move the newly enclosed utility trailer up about 6 more feet. This will give me room to install the sheathing on the rest of the front and side of the shed.
Put away more things elsewhere and organized and covered things.
Need to go replace that plumbing part.
Here's a couple of photos of the inside of the shed, showing the new lights and some of the stuff in it.
Bill
Tomorrow is trash day, and today is about the last good weather day available. I have 8 of the curbside dumpsters full of trash and leaves, and ready for putting out. Just got them filled before the rain started. Still two big piles of leaves in the yard.
I've been thinking about it, and have decided to open this blog up to comments. I noticed a lot of page views and wonder who is looking at it.
Bill
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Introduction
This blog is a place to journal the progress on my house and yard cleanup project.
Let's get right to it.
After more than a year of off and on work, I am in the middle of a second round of yard cleanup. This blog will show how big a job this is, and also document my progress.
This was occasioned by a spring purge of the house which made all the rooms in the house accessible and at least minimally usable.
So first let me post a photo of a thumbnail sketch showing the layout of the house and yard. This shows the 9 sheds (1-9) and 3 trailers (A-C) on the 40 x 100 lot.
The circle in the upper left is a very large maple and between sheds #7 and 8 is a large blue spruce.
Now that we are oriented, I can show photos of how things were earlier in the summer. This was after a couple of weeks of clean up and sorting and tossing trash in many areas of the yard. It gave me access down the back sidewalk to the side gate. Photos:
This is the back sidewalk. Photo is taken looking toward the side gate, leading to the side public sidewalk. Just to the left of the ladder is a set of scaffolding and the back of the house.
This is standing at the gate, looking back the other way. On the right is a tarp covered pile of kitchen stuff and a tarp covered pile of tools. On the left is a tarp covered table full of kitchen stuff and misc. Just to the left of the photo is shed #1.
This is standing back from where the first photo was taken, with the tarps removed from the piles, and looking toward shed #1, which I have designated as an automotive shed. All my car repair tools and supplies are being put in here, so that the one car attached garage can be used as a metalworking and machining shop.
Time to take a quick break...
Back again.
Lest you think things haven't improved since the last photo, I'll post a photo of one spot that got cleaned up recently. This location, next to the big maple tree, used to have a pile of stuff about 12' in diameter and chest high, all covered with tarps. I don't have much in the way of before photos, as I was too busy working on it to take them. In the last few days I sorted, tossed, organized and put away the remainder, so all that is left is some leaves and debris to rake up. Many other areas have also been attended to, and we'll look at each in turn, as we go along.
Yesterday was taken up with trying to install sway bar links on the Astro Van, a task that I failed at because of missing a part of one sway bar end. But I took the van up and got it washed, after it sitting under trees for a year. I put a new battery in it the other day. And yesterday I cleared it out and used a brush to brush out the carpeting. The van had become a catch all and storage place, so the task took all day. Here are the results. Note it is still on jack stands. And that IS a nice Arcan aluminum 3 ton jack.
More later. I'm burning daylight and good weather.
Had to take a break and go to the Dr.'s office for flue shots, so sitting in the parking lot at CVS while Julie get some stuff.
So you might ask, why so many sheds? Well, they just sort of grew. And they are allowed, so why not. But they have become permanent storage structures, not daily use things. Part of the reason for that, is I never made proper doors for them. Some have been closed up for over a year. Now I am opening them up and sorting, tossing and organizing them. Each is assigned a particular use, automotive, woodworking, office supplies etc. Do I need this much storage? Yes, at the moment I do. I'm purging the house so needed repairs and improvements can occur. And while the stuff is stored in the sheds, I am going through it again and again, and tossing more things each time. In fact, I tore into the long shed again yesterday, and today will continue with that work. 10/23/2015
10/23/2015 Noon update.
I feel a lot freer to update this blog, than to post on GJ. I don't have to do what posters require of me, because there are no comments here, save my own. I can do what I want.
Today I was to continue on working in the long shed, but couldn't get started. So I decided to look for my box of electrical supplies, that I had spent some time looking for yesterday, without success.
I had looked in the shed, dining room, kitchen, garage, auto shed, even the bedroom. It ended up being in the dining room, in a stack of boxes of kitchen stuff.
The task I had in mind, was to finish installing an outlet on the front of the house. There was already an exterior box, conduit and a PVC-LB conduit body. I just needed to install wiring, and outlet and fasten the box to the wall.
Of course, that set off a search for the proper tools. I had some Tapcon screws the right size for the brick facing on the house, but no bit. So halted in my tracks, I went out and started working on the shed. After emptying 3 boxes of my old papers into the dumpster, I ran into something I didn't even think I ever had..........the Tapcon drill bit, in the proper size! Turns out the bit is an SDS type, and luckily I have a Hilti TE2 hammer drill, and found it in the garage!
So I just went and installed the outlet and wiring and secured the receptacle box to the wall. NICE! Now I want to install a couple more. Funny thing is that the first two holes ran big, so I had to use the next larger Tapcon screw. The next 2 did OK. Need more boxes and screws.
It is SO satisfying to have the tools and knowledge to do things like that!
10/24 AM
Woke up early this morning and it's raining. Forgot to keep up with the weather and I left a lot of stuff out of the long shed. Drat! Had to run out and cover and put things away! Everything was wet but a lot of stuff was in boxes that just got soggy outsides. Lesson learned.
Probably work inside today as it's supposed to rain this afternoon too.
Did work inside. Cleaned up the office.
10/25 2:30PM
Went through all my clothes hanging in two closets. Organized and rehung on better hangers. Set one closet for flannel shirts (Have about 50) and pants. One closet for heavy and light jackets and one set of dress clothes. All the short sleeved silk Hawaiian shirts will go in storage somewhere. I'm going to pick 2 dress outfits and 4 ties and toss all the other sport coats and ties. I never use them nor do I ever expect to use them. I had my years of office dress. Now I like to dress down as much as possible. Jeans and T-shirt or flannel, that's it.
Went through another leather suitcase and tossed it.
Did the clothes sorting. Tossed 6 sport coats and kept 2. Tossed all but about 8 ties and 2 dress shirts. Still need a place for 8 pair of pants and the same number of Hawaiian shirts. Got a couple of little practice sessions on the guitar in while doing it, and fixed a cauliflower for dinner. Office isn't complete, but you can walk around in it and get to most everything. Cleaned out and vacuumed the closet that now holds the spring/fall and winter coats.
10/26 1:15PM
The last 10% ALWAYS takes 50% of the effort.
Woke up today and realized I still hadn't gone through all my hanging clothes and put them properly away.
Found some more of the nice thick aluminum hangers and had to switch a bunch of shirts I had hung up yesterday on wooden hangers, to the aluminum ones.
[IMG]https://img0.etsystatic.com/004/0/7069185/il_570xN.376919036_pvaw.jpg[/IMG]
Also decided to use the pants hangers instead of just looping pants over a bar type hanger. Now they hang full length. It helped make a little space, as everything is real tight.
[IMG]https://img1.etsystatic.com/011/0/7090703/il_570xN.429293509_3o8n.jpg[/IMG]
Tossed all the odd wire and plastic hangers, but still have a stack of Hawaiian shirts to transfer to the wooden hangers, so I can toss the rest of the old wire and plastic ones.
Should be outside in the good weather, but wanted to finish this, once and for all.
Still feeling a little loss at tossing all the sport coats and ties, but I would never use them and would have to just live over them.
10/27 7:30AM
Tonight we are due to have an entire night of rain, so time to button things up in the yard and install the tarp on the roof as additional insurance. I need to get a fall protection kit for that 2nd floor roof, as I'm scared of heights. Also want to use the leaf blower, although the rain will likely bring down lots more leaves.
Moved the keyboard and stand into the office/music room. It had been blocking my dresser in the bedroom.
Another problem that we have is wasting food. We only go grocery shopping on the weekend, so tend to overbuy. Hard to shop for only 2 people. Having a couple of small under counter fridges helps, since we can only keep so much. It makes you keep up with tossing food that is kept too long. But these fridges are not self defrosting. So I defrosted one last night. Cleaned out and defrosted the small under counter freezer the other day as well.
Need to get all the winter hats and gloves and boots into the closet with all the winter coats.
The more you look for things that need doing, the more you find.
10/27 Evening
Rain coming tonight. Remnants of the hurricane. Should be an all night and day thing. Everything is buttoned up and dogs inside. 4 1/2 96 gallon curbside trash cans full of leaves and trash for Thursday pick up.
Remembered this today:
https://www.google.com/search?newwin...87.LSGfhx1XRwU
10/29 Mid day
6 dumpsters (96 gallon) picked up today. A mix of leaves and trash and tossed things.
More leaves on the ground from storms and wind. Raked into big piles and will go out and fill 2 more dumpsters.
Cleared all the boxes and bins and baskets of clothes off the stairs and put in Julies dressing room for her to sort.
Just took a look at some old photos of the house and yard. WOW! What a change!!! Still have a long ways to go, but man, there has been so much stuff tossed over the last year and a half or so. Now it's a matter of going deeper into things and finding small pockets of stuff that I don't need. It really is becoming more difficult to find those items, while at the same time, I'm getting much better at parting with them.
10/31 Paying the price...
The price for not having a particular place for everything.
The other day, when I finished using the circular saw, I tucked it away under the covered area, just so it wouldn't get rained on.
Today, I uncovered the pile of lumber on the trailer, determined to do some carpentry, and use up some of the lumber.
Then I went looking for the saw. I looked EVERYWHERE in the house, yard, sheds, vehicles, piles under tarps, even in the trash cans. I tore the long shed apart again and organized it even more, in the search for the saw.
Rain coming this evening, so had to put everything away, cover everything and button everything up.
Just started to sprinkle and I went one last time, and looked at the first place I had looked.......and there it was! To late to use it today.
A place for everything and everything in it's place. That takes on new meaning for me now.
11/2 Morning
Hope everyone changed their clocks. Most of ours are battery powered, so I changed the batteries.
It's a good time to change the in smoke detectors and check the CO2 detectors too.
Yesterday was a beautiful day here, but couldn't get Julie to go outside and see it. She did make a slow cook meal.
I started the day by cutting a bunch of 2x4's from the lumber pile on the trailer. These will be the walls for the covered area. That's where all the rest of the misc. stuff in the yard will go. Tore down the existing roof and will rebuild it with better and stronger framing.
Got interrupted because I had to go pick up a free table saw I found on Craigslist. It was 45 minutes away, so that took up the rest of the afternoon.
Supposed to be another gorgeous day today, sunny and high of 68, so will be framing and sheathing this addition and then stocking it.
The whole week should be good outside working weather. We'll see how much I can accomplish before the ground freezes.
My leaf blower quit, and now the ground is covered with leaves. I think I'll leave them until they all fall, and rake them.
Still want to get a post hole digger and straighten the fence.
Went into the basement twice last evening, to reset a fuse. Not as bad as I thought. Doable, but must wait for outside work.
Julie's car is leaking trans fluid, so that will have to be done as well.
On a more positive note, I am finding that having things in a particular place, is saving some difficulty. Car needed a quart of oil this morning, and i knew just where to go to get it. I find that when something is assigned a permanent place, it doesn't matter where that place is, as long as it doesn't change. Your mind reinforces that as THE place for the item, and you always know that. Moving things from one temporary place to another confuses you. It's like playing a game of hide and seek with yourself. A cruel game for us with failing short term memories. It takes two habits to be ingrained. One is to assign a permanent place for each and every thing you own. The other is to always put things away after use. The payback makes it worth doing.
11/2/2015 Update
We've been having unseasonably mild weather, that will end Sunday. I've been working outside. But today, despite the great weather, I started on the basement. That is the big scary job here. It flooded years ago, and is full of ruined things. When I say full, I mean hoarder full. I've filled 1 1/2 dumpsters and have been pulling lots of stuff out.I've filled the basement stair 4 times, with boxes and piles of stuff, and then brought it outside. This evening I disassembled a ruined piano. Here are some photos just after I began. I've got a long way to go.
Looking at my own photos, I am struck at how awful this looks, and is. What a mess to clean up. Progress has been made since these photos were taken, early in the day. Will post more tomorrow.
Actually, it's pretty easy. Almost everything is ruined. The hard part is the physical work of going up the stairs with heavy load after load. I'm out of shape and old, panting and sweating and gasping for breath. Probably only have done a 20th of it so far. I feel like going down there and doing more tonight, but I haven't got any gas left in the tank. Will have to hit it hard early in the morning. Lift that barge and tote that bale.
Update 11/3/2015 4PM
3 sessions today.
Got going late. Just didn't want to do it.
First sessions was quick. I wanted to try out the new leaf blower, but didn't want to do the whole yard. Takes too long and leaves are still falling. Instead, I went up and down the sidewalks with a 100' cord. Looked better, but more leaves have fallen since then.
Then, after a break for The Woodwright's Shop and a little play on the computer, I got down to business.
Moved a full dumpster out and brought in an empty. Started filling it. Dragged buckets of drek, and armloads of wood from the broken up piano, up the stairs and out. Filled the second dumpster. Dragged piano sub-assemblies up the stairs and out. Shoveled up buckets and trash cans full of misc. and toted them up.
Finally, I finished disassembling the heart of the piano. the steel frame, from the large wood main beam. Had to cut every piano string, undo dozens of screws and remove large lag bolts and very tight large screws.
Then, after everything else was out, I had a 200 plus pound steel main frame to lug up the stairs, inch by inch and tread by tread. I started by pushing from below, but it slipped and almost got me, so I worked from above after that. It's now on the back porch The scrapers are going to love it.
This Thursday is trash day, and also bulk trash pick up day. So I don't even have to cut these big pieces of wood up to fit them in the dumpster. Just lay them on the curb.
My hips are talking to me, and telling me to take a break. so I will.
Here are some photos showing the progress. They show a pile of the piano parts at the foot of the stairs, the big metal part in the basement and then on the porch, a bunch of the bigger sub-assemblies outside with the electrical panels. and the trash can. Just a few of the things I hauled out. This only cleaned a small area at the bottom of the basement stairs.
Bill
Let's get right to it.
After more than a year of off and on work, I am in the middle of a second round of yard cleanup. This blog will show how big a job this is, and also document my progress.
This was occasioned by a spring purge of the house which made all the rooms in the house accessible and at least minimally usable.
So first let me post a photo of a thumbnail sketch showing the layout of the house and yard. This shows the 9 sheds (1-9) and 3 trailers (A-C) on the 40 x 100 lot.
The circle in the upper left is a very large maple and between sheds #7 and 8 is a large blue spruce.
Now that we are oriented, I can show photos of how things were earlier in the summer. This was after a couple of weeks of clean up and sorting and tossing trash in many areas of the yard. It gave me access down the back sidewalk to the side gate. Photos:
This is the back sidewalk. Photo is taken looking toward the side gate, leading to the side public sidewalk. Just to the left of the ladder is a set of scaffolding and the back of the house.
This is standing at the gate, looking back the other way. On the right is a tarp covered pile of kitchen stuff and a tarp covered pile of tools. On the left is a tarp covered table full of kitchen stuff and misc. Just to the left of the photo is shed #1.
This is standing back from where the first photo was taken, with the tarps removed from the piles, and looking toward shed #1, which I have designated as an automotive shed. All my car repair tools and supplies are being put in here, so that the one car attached garage can be used as a metalworking and machining shop.
Time to take a quick break...
Back again.
Lest you think things haven't improved since the last photo, I'll post a photo of one spot that got cleaned up recently. This location, next to the big maple tree, used to have a pile of stuff about 12' in diameter and chest high, all covered with tarps. I don't have much in the way of before photos, as I was too busy working on it to take them. In the last few days I sorted, tossed, organized and put away the remainder, so all that is left is some leaves and debris to rake up. Many other areas have also been attended to, and we'll look at each in turn, as we go along.
Yesterday was taken up with trying to install sway bar links on the Astro Van, a task that I failed at because of missing a part of one sway bar end. But I took the van up and got it washed, after it sitting under trees for a year. I put a new battery in it the other day. And yesterday I cleared it out and used a brush to brush out the carpeting. The van had become a catch all and storage place, so the task took all day. Here are the results. Note it is still on jack stands. And that IS a nice Arcan aluminum 3 ton jack.
Had to take a break and go to the Dr.'s office for flue shots, so sitting in the parking lot at CVS while Julie get some stuff.
So you might ask, why so many sheds? Well, they just sort of grew. And they are allowed, so why not. But they have become permanent storage structures, not daily use things. Part of the reason for that, is I never made proper doors for them. Some have been closed up for over a year. Now I am opening them up and sorting, tossing and organizing them. Each is assigned a particular use, automotive, woodworking, office supplies etc. Do I need this much storage? Yes, at the moment I do. I'm purging the house so needed repairs and improvements can occur. And while the stuff is stored in the sheds, I am going through it again and again, and tossing more things each time. In fact, I tore into the long shed again yesterday, and today will continue with that work. 10/23/2015
10/23/2015 Noon update.
I feel a lot freer to update this blog, than to post on GJ. I don't have to do what posters require of me, because there are no comments here, save my own. I can do what I want.
Today I was to continue on working in the long shed, but couldn't get started. So I decided to look for my box of electrical supplies, that I had spent some time looking for yesterday, without success.
I had looked in the shed, dining room, kitchen, garage, auto shed, even the bedroom. It ended up being in the dining room, in a stack of boxes of kitchen stuff.
The task I had in mind, was to finish installing an outlet on the front of the house. There was already an exterior box, conduit and a PVC-LB conduit body. I just needed to install wiring, and outlet and fasten the box to the wall.
Of course, that set off a search for the proper tools. I had some Tapcon screws the right size for the brick facing on the house, but no bit. So halted in my tracks, I went out and started working on the shed. After emptying 3 boxes of my old papers into the dumpster, I ran into something I didn't even think I ever had..........the Tapcon drill bit, in the proper size! Turns out the bit is an SDS type, and luckily I have a Hilti TE2 hammer drill, and found it in the garage!
So I just went and installed the outlet and wiring and secured the receptacle box to the wall. NICE! Now I want to install a couple more. Funny thing is that the first two holes ran big, so I had to use the next larger Tapcon screw. The next 2 did OK. Need more boxes and screws.
It is SO satisfying to have the tools and knowledge to do things like that!
10/24 AM
Woke up early this morning and it's raining. Forgot to keep up with the weather and I left a lot of stuff out of the long shed. Drat! Had to run out and cover and put things away! Everything was wet but a lot of stuff was in boxes that just got soggy outsides. Lesson learned.
Probably work inside today as it's supposed to rain this afternoon too.
Did work inside. Cleaned up the office.
10/25 2:30PM
Went through all my clothes hanging in two closets. Organized and rehung on better hangers. Set one closet for flannel shirts (Have about 50) and pants. One closet for heavy and light jackets and one set of dress clothes. All the short sleeved silk Hawaiian shirts will go in storage somewhere. I'm going to pick 2 dress outfits and 4 ties and toss all the other sport coats and ties. I never use them nor do I ever expect to use them. I had my years of office dress. Now I like to dress down as much as possible. Jeans and T-shirt or flannel, that's it.
Went through another leather suitcase and tossed it.
Did the clothes sorting. Tossed 6 sport coats and kept 2. Tossed all but about 8 ties and 2 dress shirts. Still need a place for 8 pair of pants and the same number of Hawaiian shirts. Got a couple of little practice sessions on the guitar in while doing it, and fixed a cauliflower for dinner. Office isn't complete, but you can walk around in it and get to most everything. Cleaned out and vacuumed the closet that now holds the spring/fall and winter coats.
10/26 1:15PM
The last 10% ALWAYS takes 50% of the effort.
Woke up today and realized I still hadn't gone through all my hanging clothes and put them properly away.
Found some more of the nice thick aluminum hangers and had to switch a bunch of shirts I had hung up yesterday on wooden hangers, to the aluminum ones.
[IMG]https://img0.etsystatic.com/004/0/7069185/il_570xN.376919036_pvaw.jpg[/IMG]
Also decided to use the pants hangers instead of just looping pants over a bar type hanger. Now they hang full length. It helped make a little space, as everything is real tight.
[IMG]https://img1.etsystatic.com/011/0/7090703/il_570xN.429293509_3o8n.jpg[/IMG]
Tossed all the odd wire and plastic hangers, but still have a stack of Hawaiian shirts to transfer to the wooden hangers, so I can toss the rest of the old wire and plastic ones.
Should be outside in the good weather, but wanted to finish this, once and for all.
Still feeling a little loss at tossing all the sport coats and ties, but I would never use them and would have to just live over them.
10/27 7:30AM
Tonight we are due to have an entire night of rain, so time to button things up in the yard and install the tarp on the roof as additional insurance. I need to get a fall protection kit for that 2nd floor roof, as I'm scared of heights. Also want to use the leaf blower, although the rain will likely bring down lots more leaves.
Moved the keyboard and stand into the office/music room. It had been blocking my dresser in the bedroom.
Another problem that we have is wasting food. We only go grocery shopping on the weekend, so tend to overbuy. Hard to shop for only 2 people. Having a couple of small under counter fridges helps, since we can only keep so much. It makes you keep up with tossing food that is kept too long. But these fridges are not self defrosting. So I defrosted one last night. Cleaned out and defrosted the small under counter freezer the other day as well.
Need to get all the winter hats and gloves and boots into the closet with all the winter coats.
The more you look for things that need doing, the more you find.
10/27 Evening
Rain coming tonight. Remnants of the hurricane. Should be an all night and day thing. Everything is buttoned up and dogs inside. 4 1/2 96 gallon curbside trash cans full of leaves and trash for Thursday pick up.
Remembered this today:
https://www.google.com/search?newwin...87.LSGfhx1XRwU
10/29 Mid day
6 dumpsters (96 gallon) picked up today. A mix of leaves and trash and tossed things.
More leaves on the ground from storms and wind. Raked into big piles and will go out and fill 2 more dumpsters.
Cleared all the boxes and bins and baskets of clothes off the stairs and put in Julies dressing room for her to sort.
Just took a look at some old photos of the house and yard. WOW! What a change!!! Still have a long ways to go, but man, there has been so much stuff tossed over the last year and a half or so. Now it's a matter of going deeper into things and finding small pockets of stuff that I don't need. It really is becoming more difficult to find those items, while at the same time, I'm getting much better at parting with them.
10/31 Paying the price...
The price for not having a particular place for everything.
The other day, when I finished using the circular saw, I tucked it away under the covered area, just so it wouldn't get rained on.
Today, I uncovered the pile of lumber on the trailer, determined to do some carpentry, and use up some of the lumber.
Then I went looking for the saw. I looked EVERYWHERE in the house, yard, sheds, vehicles, piles under tarps, even in the trash cans. I tore the long shed apart again and organized it even more, in the search for the saw.
Rain coming this evening, so had to put everything away, cover everything and button everything up.
Just started to sprinkle and I went one last time, and looked at the first place I had looked.......and there it was! To late to use it today.
A place for everything and everything in it's place. That takes on new meaning for me now.
11/2 Morning
Hope everyone changed their clocks. Most of ours are battery powered, so I changed the batteries.
It's a good time to change the in smoke detectors and check the CO2 detectors too.
Yesterday was a beautiful day here, but couldn't get Julie to go outside and see it. She did make a slow cook meal.
I started the day by cutting a bunch of 2x4's from the lumber pile on the trailer. These will be the walls for the covered area. That's where all the rest of the misc. stuff in the yard will go. Tore down the existing roof and will rebuild it with better and stronger framing.
Got interrupted because I had to go pick up a free table saw I found on Craigslist. It was 45 minutes away, so that took up the rest of the afternoon.
Supposed to be another gorgeous day today, sunny and high of 68, so will be framing and sheathing this addition and then stocking it.
The whole week should be good outside working weather. We'll see how much I can accomplish before the ground freezes.
My leaf blower quit, and now the ground is covered with leaves. I think I'll leave them until they all fall, and rake them.
Still want to get a post hole digger and straighten the fence.
Went into the basement twice last evening, to reset a fuse. Not as bad as I thought. Doable, but must wait for outside work.
Julie's car is leaking trans fluid, so that will have to be done as well.
On a more positive note, I am finding that having things in a particular place, is saving some difficulty. Car needed a quart of oil this morning, and i knew just where to go to get it. I find that when something is assigned a permanent place, it doesn't matter where that place is, as long as it doesn't change. Your mind reinforces that as THE place for the item, and you always know that. Moving things from one temporary place to another confuses you. It's like playing a game of hide and seek with yourself. A cruel game for us with failing short term memories. It takes two habits to be ingrained. One is to assign a permanent place for each and every thing you own. The other is to always put things away after use. The payback makes it worth doing.
11/2/2015 Update
We've been having unseasonably mild weather, that will end Sunday. I've been working outside. But today, despite the great weather, I started on the basement. That is the big scary job here. It flooded years ago, and is full of ruined things. When I say full, I mean hoarder full. I've filled 1 1/2 dumpsters and have been pulling lots of stuff out.I've filled the basement stair 4 times, with boxes and piles of stuff, and then brought it outside. This evening I disassembled a ruined piano. Here are some photos just after I began. I've got a long way to go.
Looking at my own photos, I am struck at how awful this looks, and is. What a mess to clean up. Progress has been made since these photos were taken, early in the day. Will post more tomorrow.
Actually, it's pretty easy. Almost everything is ruined. The hard part is the physical work of going up the stairs with heavy load after load. I'm out of shape and old, panting and sweating and gasping for breath. Probably only have done a 20th of it so far. I feel like going down there and doing more tonight, but I haven't got any gas left in the tank. Will have to hit it hard early in the morning. Lift that barge and tote that bale.
Update 11/3/2015 4PM
3 sessions today.
Got going late. Just didn't want to do it.
First sessions was quick. I wanted to try out the new leaf blower, but didn't want to do the whole yard. Takes too long and leaves are still falling. Instead, I went up and down the sidewalks with a 100' cord. Looked better, but more leaves have fallen since then.
Then, after a break for The Woodwright's Shop and a little play on the computer, I got down to business.
Moved a full dumpster out and brought in an empty. Started filling it. Dragged buckets of drek, and armloads of wood from the broken up piano, up the stairs and out. Filled the second dumpster. Dragged piano sub-assemblies up the stairs and out. Shoveled up buckets and trash cans full of misc. and toted them up.
Finally, I finished disassembling the heart of the piano. the steel frame, from the large wood main beam. Had to cut every piano string, undo dozens of screws and remove large lag bolts and very tight large screws.
Then, after everything else was out, I had a 200 plus pound steel main frame to lug up the stairs, inch by inch and tread by tread. I started by pushing from below, but it slipped and almost got me, so I worked from above after that. It's now on the back porch The scrapers are going to love it.
This Thursday is trash day, and also bulk trash pick up day. So I don't even have to cut these big pieces of wood up to fit them in the dumpster. Just lay them on the curb.
My hips are talking to me, and telling me to take a break. so I will.
Here are some photos showing the progress. They show a pile of the piano parts at the foot of the stairs, the big metal part in the basement and then on the porch, a bunch of the bigger sub-assemblies outside with the electrical panels. and the trash can. Just a few of the things I hauled out. This only cleaned a small area at the bottom of the basement stairs.
Bill
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