Discussions in progress with the Amish to replace the roof.
Julia M did all the prep this Spring, and the finished product showed how much work she put into it. Kathleen Murtaugh's brother painted the room using a color that Laura M and Karen F selected. The color was matched from a Behr color (Feldspar) to a Benjamin Moore formula.
The Summerhouse living room, including the floor, was repainted in 2017. Colors used are shown below.
The underground water line that runs alongside Betty's driveway and across the road to supply the summer house and Becky's has broken several times in the last couple of years. No one is sure why that spot seems to be particularly vulnerable, but the ground does get squishy there at wet times of year. Some of us suspect the initial break was the result of a heavy truck turning into the driveway, and that the hole left after the pipe was repaired that first time was never adequately backfilled to prevent the same thing happening again. So when the pipe broke again this past winter, after considering some more complicated alternatives, we accepted Brad Weakley's suggestion that we try one more time but this time make a special effort to ensure the pipe was protected by good cover. That happened this past weekend. Among the extra precautions taken were placing pressure-treated boards under the new section of pipe before covering; and applying a good layer of sand before returning the soil and stone to the hole. Below are some pictures for the record. Keep your fingers crossed.
Avid toilet users may recall that the sewer line from the corner of the basement (between the coffee porch and the playroom door, under the "new" bathroom), has backed up a few times recently. With the aid of a sewer specialist, Tom determined last summer that the line was old Orangeburg pipe and had outlived its useful life. This past week, Brad Weakley came and replaced that pipe with PVC, which should give us many years of carefree toileting.
As always with summer house projects, there were surprises along the way. It turns out the waste line in question is not the only waste line leaving the house; somewhere around the clump of evergreens it joins up with a second, cast-iron line that runs from the back bathroom to the septic tank. Interestingly, this line seems to carry waste not only from the back bathroom but also from the upstairs bathroom (through a line which runs down the side of the house by the kitchen and then via a mysterious underground route to join the line under the back bathroom). Photos below for your reference and entertainment: |
Projects & repairsHere's where you'll find records and notes for various repairs & other projects. Archives
October 2019
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