prairieman

Most of this month’s summary will be devoted to our radiant heat system. After Lucas checked everything on January 2nd, we set the thermostats to the desired temperature for each of the five zones and watched the boiler go into action. Because the system was dormant for 3 days, we lost a considerable amount of the heat stored in the concrete slabs. The boiler had to run continuously for 12 hours (oh shit, the propane being consumed…). Once the slabs are up to temperature, the boiler only kicks on for a few minutes, whenever a zone is down one degree down from the set point. Example: thermostat is set to 68 degrees, boiler will send hot water to that zone when the thermostat sees 66.9 degrees. The cycle is completed and the boiler shuts off when the thermostat is back to 68 degrees. I check the mechanical room multiple times per day, just to get smarter about how this system works. I rarely see the boiler on, from early morning until we go to bed. Typically, during my first check in the morning, will feel the copper manifolds and they are all warm to the touch, indicating the system has gone off and on while we slept. Very energy efficient – when it’s working properly. Read on… lol

Mid-month, we experienced a brutally cold winter storm that settled over most of the US. The only room in both buildings that became colder during this cold spike, was the living/great room. This was not unexpected, with the 15 foot ceiling and the wall of glass looking west. Was pleased to observe when operating the ceiling fan, warm air was pushed down closer to floor level, adding a couple degrees. No surprise when a small fire in the woodstove quickly made the large room very comfortable. Toward the end of the crazy cold weather, the boiler went back to random, infrequent shut downs with a 128 fault code (no flame detected during staging) displayed. This has been an ongoing irritation since November. Thought we were done with that after 2 weeks of trouble free operation. When looking in the mechanical room, if I observe a light flashing on the boiler control panel, would also see the number; 128. When that occurs, the boiler shuts down. It’s a simple procedure, pushing the reset button for 2 seconds, and the boiler is back in operation. Sometimes this occurs one or more times per day, or fault free for days or a couple weeks. It happened during the cold stretch, apparently shutting down shortly after we went to bed. The next morning, it was noticeably chilly and all of the copper manifolding was cool to my touch. As a result, the boiler ran continuously for 7 hours to get caught up. Lucas is calling the boiler manufacturer’s product support engineering group to see if they have experience to share, and the root cause.

In other news, I have a pair of vehicle lifts assembled and operating in the shop. This is literally a dream come true for me. I have spent more than 40 years working under cars with jack stands and a creeper. Finally having a fully heated shop, with the equipment to work under a vehicle – standing up – is making me giddy. lol. Closing out January by developing a detailed plan for the north wall of the great room. It will consist of built-in shelves and base cabinets to store vinyl albums, cds, dvds, books, an audio rack and large flat screen television. I would like to complete that large project by the end of February, but there is a strong invisible force pulling me to the shop to commence getting caught up with vehicle maintenance.

A full month of fun, working on inside trim & finish, and considerable goofing off. Now that we have settled in (5 months) to our lovely home, I have established a routine. AM is spent drinking coffee and searching the internet. Eat lunch and work all afternoon whatever finish and trim detail interests me.

Invited several friends over to move the disassembled 4 post lift from the trailer into the shop. Hope to report this shop tool is operational in the January summary. Also worked on the 2 post life, getting it ready for assembly in early 2024.

Got kitchen cabinet toe kicks installed this month. No more tennis balls getting lost by the dogs. The biggest completion this month is the walk-in pantry. Lot’s of open shelves, a large spice rack near the entrance and a fully functional bar cabinet.

The 31st: Last day of the month and the year. Late morning, and we were sitting around doing nothing in particular when we heard a BANG ! Sounded like it originated from the laundry room. As I approached the mechanical room could hear water running. Opened the door to see water pouring out of the boiler drain pipe. Shut down the system and closed appropriate valves so we didn’t lose all of the water. Called Lucas. He couldn’t come out until Tuesday, Jan. 2

Jan. 2 update: Lucas couldn’t find anything broken. He thinks it was a pressure spike/surge causing the relief valve to trip. Been running it for several hours now and all is well…. Happy New Year !

A busy month with news and updates to report. Lucas & Steve were here to commission the radiant slab heating system. Took them nearly a full day to fill 5 thousand feet of pex tubing and copper manifolds with water, eliminate any air, fire up the boiler, make a few adjustments and correct a couple minor water leaks. Still not cold outside, so shut it down until it’s really needed. We hosted a dinner with cousins Phil and Linda Frantz, who we haven’t seen in a very long time. Hope to get together again the Spring. Spent a day helping Kent with his construction project. We have been friends over 50 years and live a few miles apart. Got going on the kitchen pantry project. Needed to have the pantry at least partially completed to help Carole with cooking/kitchen chores over Thanksgiving.

Joe and I agreed on a price for his 2 post vehicle lift. I got a great deal, because it includes access whenever he needs to do car repair in the future. He and I disassembled it, loaded onto my trailer and unloaded in my shop (see picture). We will get it reassembled sometime this winter…

We have been using the heat pump to keep the house comfortable, but the shop was slowly getting cooler (55 degrees), following the same trend for outdoor weather. We were keeping Carole’s studio warm with a small space heater. Finally started up the slab heat for both buildings on Nov 19th. I eased into it, by selecting a couple zones at a time, then turning down those thermostats after partial warming, and starting other zones. I went with the idea of going back and forth for a couple reasons. Foremost, so the boiler wasn’t operating continuously at TRT (full power) until both buildings were fully up. Second reason, is the lag associated with radiant heat, if you get the concrete too warm, the room temperature will rise to an uncomfortable level. After a couple days of inching up the temperature, both buildings are at 70 degrees, and the boiler is off for the most part, firing up occasionally for one zone or another.

Had our first overnight guests when Travis, Lynn, Jackson, Elliott & Oliver arrived from Olathe KS and Alex & Lacey got here after driving from Edmond OK to spend Thanksgiving with us. We were less than 100% prepared for them, so it was a bit rough due to a lack of comfortable beds and the guest shower needing a shower door installed. Carole and I were thrilled to have everyone under one roof, and know what needs to be done before they (or other guests) plan to stay here overnight.

Found a new 4 post vehicle lift at an attractive Thanksgiving internet sale price. Drove to Indianapolis to pick it up, saving 350 bucks for freight. Will get friends over to help unload it into the shop next week. Add that to the list of things to do in the shop during the winter.

Carole and I are still giddy about living in this space we designed and created. The house suits our lifestyle perfectly, and we both have fantastic areas dedicated to our hobbies. We encourage anyone reading this blog, to stop by for a visit. We’ll leave the porch light on for you… IYKYK (lol)

Hello ! The post title says it all. I am changing the blog format from a weekly to a monthly summary as I hinted in the previous post. When the blog was launched in March 2021, the first 20 posts were titled for the specific activity, with the details provided in the post description. When construction began on April 18th 2022, I thought a weekly summary was appropriate (not imagining a spring monsoon would make the next five posts the same while waiting for the rain to abate) because there would be reportable activity on a daily basis. Now that we have moved in; I have gotten lazy (in more ways than one) and have enjoyed days where NOTHING happened (with no regrets)…

October found us continuing to unpack and complete home and shop details. Carole is nearly completed her move into the studio. I have just began moving into my shop. Helped a friend place and finish a concrete slab for a home he is building. Woodstove installation is complete with flue pipe installed. Finally got around to a long overdue interior clean and a wash for our 2 primary BMW’s. Did some work on the truck I purchased in February. Weather for the month was still warm and dry with a couple exceptions. Had a cold spell toward the middle of the month. We did not turn on the heat pump, just to see how the house performed. With overnight temps and the 30’s and highs in the 50’s during 3-4 days; the temperature inside the house ranged from 68-70 degrees. Another cold front arrived on October 30th after hitting 70 degrees on the 29th, 30 overnight. Yesterday’s high was 50 and it was 27 degrees this morning. Inside temp was 64 when we got out of bed. Tonight will be similar, so we fired up the heat pump and brought the house up to 68 degrees. Lucas will be over soon to commission the slab heat system. The plan all along is to use the heat pump until cold weather has become the norm. We want to minimize propane consumption, and wait until the system is truly necessary to keep us warm. The forecast has us back in the 50’s and 60’s later this week. The image for this post was taken from the front porch when the leaf color peaked in Brown county earlier this week.

Wow. Sorry about that. I am negligent by not providing timely posts. Nothing wrong here, we’re just having so much fun in our new home. Carole has unpacked and is spending several hours every day in her studio. I’ve been working to get my shop unpacked and organized to be productive. We need to have the walk-in pantry completed ASAP. I’m acting more my age (retired) by sleeping in and taking longer breaks (sometimes, all day). Still working hard helping friends; poured & finished a concrete slab on Tuesday (17th) and will do it again tomorrow (21st). Best time of my life.

With construction behind us, I think the blog should take a slightly different direction going forward. I’m considering a monthly posting frequency with a summary Carole’s studio and my shop.

Whoops ! So… I had so much non-stop fun during week 75, I didn’t give a thought to this blog until this time LAST week. Sorry about that.

Nothing special, just living (and loving) the retired life. Doing nothing at all, getting stuff done, socializing with friends, sleeping late in the morning, home repairs at dad’s house, bird watching, fun drives on the twisty Brown county roads, working on the house & shop, and so much more !

Week 76 was pretty much a repeat of week 75. Toward the end of each day, while sipping a Manhattan, I will make a plan for projects or tasks to be accomplished the following day. Sometimes I stick to the plan, but frequently abandon the plan and go in a completely different direction. Everyday is Saturday, and most of the planned activities on any given day; can wait another day or two… Grass needs to be mowed (since Friday). Maybe today is the day. Today’s picture is the shop, my fun place to be. Starting to get things moved into position, storage shelves are going up. Enjoy your day ! I certainly am.

2 months in the new house, and we are just giddy with the way this has turned out. I’ve said it many times – with GE moving us every 6-7 years, we had homes we loved and others not so much. When I came up with the floorplan for the house and shop, I incorporated all of the things we loved, and none of the things we disliked. Everything about the house and shop floorplan is just what we wanted.

I talked about this in late July; the stress of working 7 days a week after the drywall and interior paint was completed, along with the overall 15 month commitment it took to build this thing…. took a toll on me. For the past couple months, I’ve gone on “construction sabbatical” – taking it easy and enjoying retirement. I’ve done some simple tasks (toilet paper holders) lol. There have been days when I totally goofed off and didn’t accomplish a damn thing. Spent time washing a car or two, working on cars, helping friends in Bloomington with projects, sleeping in, etc. Hell, I’ve been getting real enjoyment simply sitting on the deck and bird watching.

Summer is retreating and Fall is near. I’m getting firewood cut and working to get the woodstove installation completed. This week’s picture is an example of my geekness – I cut a piece of cardboard into an 8″ circle, punched a small hole in the center, and placed it in the flue pipe up in the great room ceiling. A plumb-bob was utilized by hanging it from the center hole in the flue pipe round cardboard down to the woodstove. I monkeyed around moving the woodstove, until the round flue pipe exiting the stove was accurately centered / located to the pipe in the ceiling. Yes – I AM easily entertained !

We have broadband internet in our home on Howard Ridge ! So-SO nice to have access to the world wide web without having to travel. I visited the operating headquarters of the SouthCentral Indiana Rural Electric Membership Co-op (aka: SCI-REMC) on Tuesday morning. Explained our situation: request made June 1st, was told 3-4 weeks lead time. called back for status at the end of June, called again the week before we moved on July 12th, called again at the end of July, etc. At one point, I was addressing four employees who had been summoned to the lobby. I was friendly, spoke calmly, smiled, and asked a lot of difficult questions. Finally, one of them got on a computer behind the service counter in the lobby. She got our account activated and an installation appointment setup for Thursday. Note: I had a similar experience with SCI-REMC getting the main power to the house last Fall. In other news: the ice maker stopped working on our new refrigerator. Called customer service, and they said a technician would be out to see us within 5-7 business days. On the 7th day, they sent an email and said “parts were not available, would we accept a $500 concession”. My reply: uhhhhhh… NO. no thank you. not acceptable. If you can’t repair the fridge we have, then bring us another one and haul this one away. More to this story. and finally for this week’s summary of our adventures: this my second week of physical therapy to correct a “frozen shoulder” or…. adhesive capsulitis. I have a very sore right shoulder with limited range of movement. near constant pain. the shoulder started giving me trouble midway through construction. did what I could to limit right shoulder involvement, but using only my left arm was impractical. I thought I was in pain before physical threapy began, but this is torture ! They tell me my range of movement is improving – I think they are blowing smoke up my ass, but will continue for 5 more weeks.

Crazy hot weather was the theme this week for us and most of the central USA. It was so hot, we had to close windows and turn on the air conditioning. The hot temperatures provided pleaseant memories of living in Kansas and Oklahoma. I am really getting comfortable with sleeping in, drinking coffee and bird watching to start each day. Not much progress on outdoor projects for obvious reasons. Got the first garage door opener installation completed. First time using Liftmaster 8500 door openers. A lot of nice features, a poorly written instruction manual, and a bit complicated to get working properly. The next 2 door openers should be go easier. Moved additional shop tools, materials and supplies from dad’s garage and the storage unit. Getting the shop organized is motivating me to get back in the business of finishing construction. Carole is continuing her effort to get the textile studio operational. Bottom line: the longer we live here, the better we like it.