New Life in the Woods

Well, the weather has been awful for the last few days. And it turns out my two step ladders here really aren’t tall enough for me to do this work in bad weather. I need to get up high enough to tack up plastic over the area around the bathroom where I want to remove entire sheets of siding, and I can’t reach that far.

Meanwhile, I have been trying to reach Mark up at the main house, but he doesn’t answer his phones and I never seem to find him at home. Supposedly there is a ladder up there and Susan, the owner, has told him to pay me some money he owes her — to use for plumbing supplies. I have left messages and sent him emails asking for those things and to borrow the chainsaw, which is also owned by Susan. So far the only response I seem to have gotten was to find the chainsaw left on his doorstep today.

I did come up with an idea to build some scaffolding to get up high enough at the side of the house, but the weather has been miserable, a mixture of freezing rain and snow for the last couple days. Today it is just snow. I measure about 4 inches outside on the back deck right now.

Meanwhile, Mari sent me a little money to get a membership at the YMCA. I went in today to get a membership and found out that their prices had been raised in January but the website had not been updated yet. However, it turns out they are having a promotion where anyone can use the facilities this week (starting Monday) for free. So, I will definitely go back tomorrow for that shower… if I can get out of the driveway. Actually, I have snow chains, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

Postscript: Well, the power went off last night before I could post this, but luckily most of it was saved. I keep getting brown-outs that restart my computer, so I will post this fast and update you all later.

Well, I got the package from my Brother today. It included a bunch of PEX pipe, work gloves, boots, a drill, and some electrical wire. It has been raining hard since last night and the winds are high, but the temperature is still in the mid-40s.

I am hoping to get out and get that siding off tomorrow. One more trip to town to get a few fittings and I should be able to replace all the copper pipe pretty quickly. The hard part is going to be getting that siding off. Getting the old pipes out of the walls won’t be too hard since I can essentially just cut them up into small pieces once they are exposed. If the weather isn’t too horrible, and nothing else goes wrong, I could have plumbing tomorrow!

Well, we know how that goes, but who knows? As usual, wish me luck!

Well, it was pretty depressing finding those new leaks. I probably wasn’t thinking of all the possible solutions due to the funk that put me in. Luckily my mother called last night and did some trouble-shooting with me over the phone. I realized that I could disconnect all the new plumbing and just reconnect the incoming water to the kitchen sink again, which I did last night.

That feels a bit like a failure, or a step backwards, but the truth is all the work I have done so far is still there, waiting to be reconnected when I have the rest of the copper pipes replaced. And this gives me water for the time being. It was a big relief to have running water again last night and I was even happy about being able to take a sponge bath and shave! Funny how one’s perspective on these things can change from day to day.

Well, for those of you who were doubting that this was the last leak, congrats, you were right. Hehe

I got the section I cut out replaced with PEX pipe and it seemed to work fine, but a few seconds later, I saw water dripping out of two more locations at the side of the house. I think all of the old copper pipe is rotten, cracked, broken, kaput.

This will mean taking more siding off to replace it all. Some of that will be a real bear. I will also require a ladder to get to some of it. Susan has said she will pay to have it all replaced, but so far I haven’t gotten the funds.

In any case, contrary to previous forecasts from a couple days ago, it is raining again today and I don’t want to be outside prying off siding while the weather is bad, so I will take a break today.

It is supposed to rain today, be dry tomorrow, rain again Xmas Eve, and then be dry Xmas morning. But that last storm may bring snow, especially to the passes through the mountains, but maybe as low as 2000 feet. I think I am probably at about 1500 feet here, so I probably won’t have a white Christmas, but who knows?

Anyway, it looks like it will be another week or so before I get this all fixed. After that it may take me another week to put the house back together. In the meantime, I will be taking it easy and maybe working inside a bit. Hope everyone else is doing Ok with holiday madness reaching it’s peak. At least it is quiet and peaceful here in the rain in the mountains of Oregon. Happy Holidays!

If I am very lucky, then I might have water, even hot water, tomorrow. Here’s what’s been going on.

Remember I said that there was a bad leak somewhere in back of the bathroom near the toilet? Yesterday I pried off some of the plywood under the floor at the front of the house to see if the pipes ran through there. They didn’t. It was a lot of work for nothing. Truth is I was avoiding trying to take off the siding at the front of the house, because that would be a whole lot more work. I also stacked a bunch of the wood that we split on Wednesday, but it was still raining off and on, the wood was wet, and my gloves kept getting soaked, so I had to keep coming inside to warm up.

Cold can be terribly debilitating. It is important to pay attention to how you are doing in the cold, and getting wet makes it even more dangerous. My coat and hat kept the rain from bothering me, mostly, aside from the back of my neck. But I was working hard and dressed warmly because it was in the 40′s outside, so I was sweating underneath everything, and anytime I stopped to, say, rebuild a section of my wood pile, I very quickly got cold. I think the money I spent on that wood was very well spent because that plus the new wood stove meant that I was able to come in and warm up quickly each time I felt the cold getting the better of me. I also ran out of dry gloves after a while (I have 4 pairs of varying types) and then I just gave up on it.

Today I finished piling the wood, and then I moved a whole bunch of it from the porch out to the new wood pile, because I was gonna have to dismantle part of the porch railing in order to pry off the siding at the front of the house. The railing overlapped the siding and there was no way to pry it off unless I took it apart first.

It took forever to get it apart. I had to move still more wood, this time some inside and more out to the main woodpile. Finally, after a couple hours of work, I managed to pry the siding off enough that I could peek under the little strip right by the door. No luck. No pipes in view. Then I pried up the larger piece next to that and that was when I found the pipes, and the leak.

This picture shows the pipes with the leaky section cut out. The leaky section was actually just to the left of the stud shown here. You can see how the stud is wet just below the hole through which the pipe passed through the stud. That whole section was thoroughly soaked, which was my first clue. The leak itself was not immediately obvious but by moving my flashlight around, I eventually saw it.

Here you can kind of see the split in the pipe. It is hard to see with the glare in the picture. It was actually split lengthwise in a section about 1-2 inches. I talked to Susan, the owner, last night. It seems that there had been breaks in the copper pipes before, down in the utility closet, before the place was vandalized and those pipes removed. There were two breaks down there that she had never told me about. Well, I found two more in the walls. Seems my hypothesis about water damage last year (or possibly even the prior year) was right. She thought that the house may not have been Winterized properly after the last tenants left (long before the vandals came in).

Well, obviously I cut out the damaged section. I went to the store tonight and got a couple fittings that will allow me to replace it with some of the plastic PEX pipe, but it was dark when I got back and getting cold. Instead of finishing that (the water is drained out now, with the pipes cut, so it should be safe), I went into the utility closet and put more insulation around the new pipes down there. Tomorrow I will fix the damaged section and try turning on the water again. This time the new section will be insulated. Eventually I may replace all the copper pipe, but that will be a project for another day. Right now I just have my eyes fixed firmly on a hot shower.

I watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” last night, so it put me in the mood to count my blessings (and the Christmas mood too). I didn’t get a call from Susan, the property owner, today but I did have a couple other good experiences.

George, the guy delivering the wood, showed up at about 2 p.m. today and, even though it was raining pretty hard, helped take down the dead Madrone tree by the cabin. It was leaning towards the cabin a bit, so it is a relief to have it down and the extra firewood from it is great too! He actually cut up the whole thing into logs for me and then, since he hadn’t had a chance to split the other logs he brought yet, we both stood out there in the rain with our mauls splitting wood for an hour. We got through all the wood he brought and all the wood from the tree we took down. We talked a bit. He seems like a nice guy and he offered to take me fishing sometime. He also knows some of the edible mushrooms around here so I hope to pick up some of that knowledge too.

At 5 p.m. I drove down to the mailbox to see if the DSL package had come and it had. I just installed it and everything went smoothly. I am now typing over a DSL connection and I should be able to upload tons of pictures soon (just as soon as I take some interesting ones). It is a big relief to be off dial-up.

Tomorrow I plan to open up the floor where that final (I hope) leak is and see what I can do about it. I may be able to repair it with sections of pipe that I cut out from the bathroom. Or it may require a couple small parts, but probably not a big deal. I am a bit worried that the pipes could freeze again this Winter, but I’ll insulate what I can and deal with the rest later.

Then, for the rest of the week I plan to work on unpacking and getting things organized around here. If I have water, heat, and basic electricity, I can worry about the other repairs later. I’ll probably also do a bit of job searching, but I expect I will have an easier time of it after New Years.

So, I am still without water tonight (sigh) and it is still raining (making work outside unpleasant) but I am in good spirits tonight because I have lots of firewood and a much better internet connection. Beyond that, I am deeply grateful to all the family and friends that have helped get me here. I hope the holidays aren’t driving any of you crazy. Remember to count your blessings too!

And it seems like bad things do too. Bleh.

Well, the good news is that I finished all the plumbing repairs that we originally knew were needed. There is still a lot of electrical work to do, but I can take my time with that. This picture shows some of the new plumbing down in the utility closet. I still have to put insulation on most of the pipes, but I don’t expect freezing temperatures during the next few nights so it should be fine for now.

The bad news is that there were at least a couple breaks in the copper pipes that run through the walls. I was previously happy to find that the vandals had just snipped off the pipes at the walls inside and not bothered to tear off more drywall to get at the rest of it. Now I almost wish they had. When I turned on the water on Monday, water poured out of the floor under the house near the bathroom. It turns out that there was a break in both of the copper pipes at the corner of the bathroom.

Today I got a few more supplies to cut out the damaged section of copper pipe and replace it with the plastic PEX pipes I used under the house. More good news: it has been raining for two days and my car was able to make it up the muddy driveway! However, when I finished the new repairs and turned the water on, I again saw water pouring out of the bathroom floor but this time in a new spot — back in the corner where the toilet is.

I now think that the old copper pipes must have been damaged last Winter. There must have been some water left in the pipes and it seems like they burst in at least two spots.

This is gonna be a major pain to deal with too, because it probably means either removing the siding on the outside to get at the pipes, or removing the toilet and part of the drywall inside. But, the break could be behind the tub and it would be virtually impossible to get to that from the inside. So, it probably makes more sense to go through the outside. Like I said, this will be a major pain.

I have called the owner and left a message. I suggested that it might make the most sense to just replace all the old copper pipes, but I don’t know if she will want to do that. It would certainly be a bunch of work, but I don’t want to discover more leaks either. On the other hand, the toilet is at the “end of the line,” so to speak, so that may be the last leak to fix.

More good news: I got half of the firewood I ordered delivered today and got it stacked and covered with a tarp. So I am not gonna freeze anytime soon. The guy who delivered it also agreed to help me take down a dead tree on the right side of the cabin tomorrow when he delivers the rest of the wood. That should give me a bunch more firewood once I borrow the chainsaw from Mark (the tenant in the main house) to cut it up. That plus all the wood at the bottom of the ravine should see me through the Winter. Also, I should be getting DSL hooked up tomorrow (with a little luck) so I should have a much easier time updating this blog and be able to do things like search for jobs or even (gasp) play games occasionally. I do feel the need for a break from repairs and unpacking from time to time.

Keep your comments coming! I know it is expensive to call me up here (and I can’t afford big phone bills) so leaving comments here is a good way to keep in touch and helps encourage me to keep updating everyone. And wish me luck with the plumbing! I am getting really tired of sponge baths.

Well, you know the rest, but luckily I do have a few drops to drink. It has been raining today off and on, but the water to the cabin remains turned off. When the leaky valve gets repaired Monday, however, I should have a fully functional plumbing system in place!

Saturday was warmer and partly sunny. The temperature got up to about 45 degrees and I found I could work outside without any discomfort. I decided to use the opportunity of having the water turned off to make the rest of the repairs to the plumbing system.

This picture shows the work in progress. You can also see the new wires I strung last month leading up to the back corner of the kitchen. My camera batteries ran out before I finished the work, but I should have more pictures of the finished job in the next few days. It took me about 6 hours of continuous work, but I managed to get all the new plastic PEX pipes in place and all the fittings connected. I had to go get a few tiny final parts to finish it off today, but all that remains now is to connect the electricity to the new water heater and I should have both hot and cold running water to the kitchen and bathroom tomorrow!

Driving back from town today in a moderately heavy rain, I discovered that my car can, in fact, make it up Dutchy Way in the rain and down my driveway. Whether I can make it back up with the driveway muddy is another question. I am sure it will dry out again later this week. When it does, I have a new wheelbarrow to help me get gravel up to the muddiest patches of the driveway.

I also took a few more pictures of the area around the cabin, but I am not very good with the camera yet and the pictures are pretty blurry. I think the light was a bit too bright too, so I darkened the outdoor pictures on my computer so you can see more contrast. In reality it was much brighter.

I spent most of the day today being lazy. With the rain coming down it is very peaceful sitting by the new wood stove, reading or watching old movies. I don’t quite have my DVD player and stereo hooked up yet (haven’t found the speakers yet — still a bunch of boxes to unpack) but my VHS player just required one cable to connect it, so that was easy.

I have been getting little things done here and there inside, but mostly I have been taking a well-deserved (I think) day of rest. I will look forward to getting more of these boxes out of the way though, and I plan to devote a few days to that this week. Heck, I might even drive to town and do some laundry. It has been sort of fun roughing it, but I will definitely look forward to having fully functional plumbing and I doubt I will try to wash and dry clothes here anytime soon. It is just too cold and wet outside at this time of year to hang clothes out to dry.

I will probably go around taking more pictures next week too, since I will be able to upload them much easier once the DSL is installed. So look forward to many more pictures starting this week sometime!

Well, I went up the hill today to put some insulation and a cover over that valve where I buried the pipes yesterday and in full daylight I could see that there was a bad leak on the valve. Three small jets of water were spraying out from the valve. Luckily, the leak stopped when I closed the valve, but that leaves me without water down at the cabin until it is fixed.

I called Susan, who called a plumber (I bowed out of this repair), who called me and arranged to come up Monday. So, another weekend without running water and no shower for a few more days. On the plus side, it will be easier working on the plumbing under the house without any water pressure in the lines. So I hope to have all the plumbing repairs done by Monday when the water comes back on, and then I can fill up the new water heater and connect the power. Only one problem… the leak pretty much drained the big water holding tank up the hill, so I don’t know if there is enough to refill all the pipes down to the cabin and the new water heater. But maybe we can get that tank refilled over the weekend too.

Oh, I also finally went inside that hidden, underground room up by the construction trailer today. It is truly awesome. I think Michael underestimated the size. It is more like 20 x 30 feet total (including a small section that is walled into two small rooms on the East side). It has a concrete floor and concrete block walls and a mostly wooden ceiling but there are also some huge iron “I” beams supporting it, and very little evidence of leaks on the “roof” so it seems sound. There is a bunch of old junk left there related to growing, but it is clear that the vandals were in there too. Almost all the wires are gone. Anyway, quite interesting. I doubt I will ever have a use for the space but it is pretty neat nonetheless.

Wish me luck on the plumbing (again). Hehe

Finally I have internet access again! Dial-up sucks, but that’s Ok because I just found out that I can get DSL service here after all. That should be hooked up next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, here’s what’s been happening: Wednesday I finally got some new pipe sections braised onto the existing pipes in the walls under the bathroom sink. This was a crucial repair because I couldn’t hook up the rest of the plumbing without doing that first. It was my first time working with copper pipes, but it went surprisingly fast once I had everything ready. I might have finished the plumbing work that day, but everything seems to take five times longer that I estimate, even when the work is not interrupted by other stuff.

I was all set to hook up the rest of the connections (including the new water heater) when I took a break to call Lowe’s to see if they had the new wood stove in. Turns out they didn’t and weren’t going to get any more of them after all. I called Susan (the property owner), explained my difficulty researching where to find another (because of the dial-up internet) and asked her to look around for one. She called back mid-afternoon to tell me that Lowe’s in Roseburg had one. That’s a bit over an hour North of Grants Pass. I managed to get up there by 6 p.m. and got the stove (I got lost taking a “short-cut”), making it back to the cabin by 7:30. So, just one more night using the old stove, which had eaten up just about all of my firewood already. Thursday I placed an order for a cord of seasoned hardwood to be delivered Tuesday.

It’s true that my neighbor Mark cut a bunch of wood for me in early November at the bottom of the ravine below the cabin, but most of it has been rained on since then, making it even heavier. It was very hard work carrying it up before it got wet. I simply didn’t have time to carry more up on my previous trips, so now I am trying to carry up 1 or 2 logs per day to dry out under the house before I split them. But if it snows or rains hard, I could run out of wood fast, so I ordered some.

Yesterday I moved two old non-certified wood stoves off the front porch to a spot under the house. Then I moved the old, damaged “Brass Flame” woodstove onto the porch where they had been previously. Finally, I moved the new woodstove into place and struggled with the stove pipe. I had to lengthen it by a couple inches to get a tight fit at the top and bottom, but the expanding sections were jammed together pretty good. It took me quite a while to get it together.

Once that was done I had to do a few small burns to “cure” the paint on the new woodstove, with doors and windows open to let the paint fumes out. So yesterday it was cold inside and out, but I risked closing the windows at about 10 p.m. to get some heat going upstairs. The new woodstove looks and works great. I may have to get an expensive ‘blower” attachment to get the most out of it, but it is working better than the old stove already. Also, once I have more of the repairs done, I can work on sealing up leaks around the house, especially where I have cut holes in the drywall for repairs, and that should help a lot.

Finally, last night I also managed to go bury the water line near the main house where repairs were done sometime this last year. A section about 10 feet long, where the new valve was installed, had been left mostly uncovered. Temperatures have been getting down to about 32 degrees the last few nights, and I didn’t want to have this pipe burst on me, just as I am about to repair the rest of the plumbing at the cabin.

Today I will work on finishing up the plumbing. It’s a little after noon and a balmy 36 degrees outside. Wish me luck!