Note that adsorbed water is different than absorbed water.

Yep.  Eye glazing.

I am reading it though.  And stopping to look up crap I don't already know.

Not much stuff to look good yet, but hopefully soon.

I think I will definitely speak to some of them.

My concern is that closed cell IS a water and vapor barrier.  So...if I have ashalt paper on the outside and closed cell directly on the inside of the wood sheathing, that's one hell of a water/vapor sandwich.

I'm not sure there is a good answer if a  second barrier (lame as asphalt paper is) is involved.

Every bit of the latest science I'm seeing suggests that vapor barriers are not needed in anything but the absolute hottest and absolute coldest climates in the US.  I don't fit either of those.

Yes.  And the sheets are an interesting option, perhaps layered with rockwool or glass.    How much R value did you get out of that 2" XPS in your application?  Did you tape the seams and all that?  How did you attach?  I remember you talking about this at some point in the past, but I don't remember the details.

Yes, it very well may. And that's more affordable than closed cell.

A thin layer (if they can do a thin layer. The way it expands I'm not sure they can.) with something else inside it, would also cut the cost downstairs in the living areas.  Under the roof decking, I admit that I'm still scared of foam because even the open cell, if it's thick, can really hide water leaks.    Mulling....

Oh yes, that's the photo I remember of the foam going down on concrete.  You suggested that for my building, and I may yet do that.

The unfaced bats are glass?

I'm going to definitely use Rockwool  between bathrooms and other rooms. I'm going to do some serious experimentation at sound deadening for the bathrooms, and see how good I can make it within a reasonable budget and 2 X 4 walls.  My HVAC guy may take issue with the door sweeps I put on the bathroom doors but he can just stand down.  (she says with false confidence)  I think, between the master bedroom and the living areas (since that room shares a long wall with the living room where the tv will be) will also get the Rockwool.  did you find it easy to work with as they say? And are you happy with the sound deadening results?

That's good to know, since your climate is likely not far off from mine.

At the back yard building, stuff finally started happening again.

This past spring and summer I stared helplessly at my foundation, with more important things on my hands than what *I* would have preferred to be doing.

Since it's been a year and I don't expect anybody to look back at the early parts of the thread, here is the ditch AFC (Awesome Foundation Contractor) dug for me from the building (where you're standing in the photo) to the septic tank across the yard.


Full disclosure--It's not nearly that neat now.  I spent two full days in October, taking out pigweed twice as tall as me, tossing it into enormous piles, and I've just now gotten most of it burned.  Nature did not stop even though I did, and it made a mess out of my building site.  

Anyway.....Even though I know I was almost on point with the gravity-fed slope for the 4" pipe I'd laid (no glue, I'd just pieced it together) to the tank, and I was set up with a freaking amazing 4" core bit to drill through the tank (loaned to me by @Handydave)  this whole thing was niggling at me with an aggravating kind of worry.  A little settling here, a slight human error there, and I'd end up with a continuing hassle, and eventually be digging this line back up.

I've learned to listen to those niggles, and I've learned that I'm stupid if I don't.  
Five hundred dollars or so would take away the worry.  Life is too short, and too full of stuff that's way more important and actually worth that worry (witness the past ten months). I'm on a tight budget with this building, especially since hurricanes have elevated building material costs by 1/3 or better in the past 18 months, but I don't believe in buying hassle, even if it's cheaper in the short run.

So I used the awesome core bit with my little Harbor Freight hammer to go through the foundation of my detached garage (c 1929) for future utilities, and for my backyard shed, I bought  this pump.



And since I had ZERO experience with forced systems, I got a cool retired plumber to advise me and help with the install. I pestered the sh*t out of him with questions and he put up with it. We dug out the gravity fed line from my house to the tank (me and Awesome Handyman and two shovels ) because a ton of research told me I was going to need to put in a baffle if I cut through the side of the tank, and Plumber Elf said it was no issue to feed into my existing line right in front of the tank.





Sorry there aren't better pics of the 2" line in place.  I was digging and shoveling gravel.

Pump going in.



Plumber Elf actually loved my pump choice.  He had never seen one like it (retired, remember?) and was used to having to build the pump setup from scratch.  This little self-contained unit was new for him.



That hole was about 36" deep, pounded out on the bottom to absolute level (yup, I'm still sore).  Then pea gravel to follow.

Installing the check valve and shutoff valve:



Then pea gravel up to the top of the unit:



A rising wind brought disaster.



A 3" sleeve buried below the 2" sewer line, so I can install water and/or power from the house since it will have to cross the sewer line.



Gravel supporting and covering the 2" line, and fill going back in.



For the first time in a year, there is no giant ditch across my back yard, and the septic tank is completely underground.

I've gotta build a little house, though, over this pump.  It needs to be covered, and I want a way to insulate it since the top of it sticks out.  Getting rid of the worry over the pipe fall created another worry--this thing sits at ground level, and we get below zero usually at least once each winter for a short few days.  I'm seeing sheet foam in my future, lining whatever little building I put over the pump.  Also not looking forward to this pit filling with water, and it will.

Meanwhile at the rehab, work continues:

Taking out the diagonal hardwood subfloor in the new master bath (used to be a closet-like space...yeah, that's another decision I made in that same "life's too short" timeframe.  There was just too much bounce/deflection in that floor for tile, and I could not make myself buy into "just tile it anyway."  Nope.  Only way to do it, and that's the right way.  It aggravates Awesome Handyman that I won't say "close enough" and look the other way.)



A sister for the joist going in on the left, cuz they'd cut a big notch out of it for HVAC years ago, and a view down to the basement.  Oh, and Kitties' boots.



New 3/4" plywood going down (with shims for leveling on the old joists)



Floor coming out of the former/existing bathroom:



The expected rot under the toilet. I'd seen it, but hadn't had enough light down there to get good photos...



And I hadn't scraped away the crumbly, wet stuff glommed onto the joist and pipe below the toilet.  That cast iron pipe, and and some green vinyl-like tiles are all that is holding up the toilet.



Plumber Elf will be at the rehab tomorrow.  We are roughing in the drains for the new bathrooms!

Finally, stuff going back INTO the house, instead of just coming out of the house.

For the three people following this thread, I apologize profusely for not updating.  

A LOT has happened, but pure lack of time has kept me from uploading photos, etc.

I wlll bump this one more time in hopes I can catch back up a little.



~Kitties

Mrs. Puck and I were just speculating about the state of the shed the other day

Ah, but you have an ulterior motive.

Lemme see if I can find a few photos that don't require much editing.

Had to look back to see what I posted last.

Hope I'm not duping anything.

So about the middle of November, this happened at the rehab house:



Plus two propane cylinders.  Getting this setup going is a whole nuther story, but anyway, it's the best money I've spent.  We can leave a door or two open and still it will warm up this 2K square foot house in about 30 minutes.  Working in the cold is miserable.  This makes it NOT miserable.

Can't hear yourself think when it's running, but warm trumps a lot of other stuff.  Just sayin.

Chief Minion (who doesn't know a crescent wrench from a croissant) learns to run the hammer.



Taking out the concrete threshold at the back door.  Because there was this crack:



I figured there was rot in the rim joists and the mudsill because of this crack.

Was I right?  Stay tuned to this channel to find out.

Taking out the old flooring over New Bathroom #2 (house is going from 4 bedroom, 1-bath,....to 4 bedroom, 3-bath.)



Then comes the leveling of the joists, since I will be tiling all the bathrooms.  Awesome Handyman is more of a Brute Force kind of guy.  If it won't fit, hammer it harder.
His ideal for old houses was "burn it down and build new" but he has risen to the occasion and has done really well slowing down a bit and using some finesse instead of brute force...at least, when I back him into a corner and say, "you can't force this.  Stop and slow down."

He has gotten really good at leveling out these joists, with a combination of planing the worst of the high spots and shimming the low spots.

After thevery steep learning curve in the first bathroom, now I can basically say, "please make that be level" and walk away, and he will do an awesome job.

Here he is putting down the adhesive for the new plywood subfloor.



Plumber elf worked on the two new bathrooms:



Plumbing going in under the new master bath:



Plumbing in the second new bathroom:



Plumber Elf teaching me stuff under the house



Mostly what I learned is that I cannot do this overhead:



Not a weak girl, but I cannot squeeze those copper rings with arm strength only.  I can use my body weight to do so.  I actually got the tool angled wrong and cracked a rib using this tool to crimp a copper ring.  (I did not tell Plumber Elf this. )

So the issue is...I wanted to do this with PEX in my shed, and was very discouraged.  If I can't crimp the rings overhead, there is no hope!

But WAIT!!!   There is a happy ending....stay tuned to this channel for more on the PEX crimping drama!...

But on to other stuff..

Hmmm......  what could I use these for?



Maybe...taking out a 4" cast iron stack?







The old stack is gone, as is the cast iron main drain in the basement.  All replaced with 4" plastic.  Which is not necessarily better, in my opinion, but is WAY more easy to work with.   Just sayin.  Iron is not particularly cooperative.

But in other news.....I made this hole in the stone wall, and figured I had to do something with it...

Here is early prep. (We built a temporary platform and covered it with a tarp so we could work in the rain cuz....it seems to never stop raining now.



This thing was STUPID HEAVY.



But we went from this:



To this:





That's most of November. (I'm WAY behind).

More to follow.

While that's true, it didn't factor into our particular curiosity on this occasion

One of the faithful three checking in. Great update.

Yep.  And if I'd had the budget, I'd have fent.  but that's a lot of cash to drop if you're not a plumber.

I found something that would work for me.  At least for half inch.  I haven't tried it with 3/4 yet.

Shows what I know.

It looks like a transit to me.   I know nothing of these things.

I am, however, about to drop some cash on laser level.

@Backnblack

Maybe instead of just telling me it's not what I called it, you could explain what it is, as opposed to a transit, and what the differences are?

I would like to know.

Because I'm not particularly worried about rot in the bathroom the way I do an installation. (Not meant to sound over-confident, just realistic for the given situation.)  The entire room will be coated with a liquid applied waterproof membrane, so that WAY more than a little water on the floor or a leak here and there would have to happen to hurt the subfloor.  If the leak happens UNDER the subfloor, the Advantech provides no advantage.

Beyond that, to get most advantage from the Advantech system, you have to install the WHOLE system.  That's not possible, or at least not realistically practical, in an old house rehab like this one.

But this found the grade for the ditch to my septic tank, and guided the excavator to dig  at that level, along with (at the same time) signaling a unit attached to a marker/measure stick (like the ones I see used by surveyors) for a double check of the grade/drop/slope of the ditch.

That seems like far more than a level-indicator.

He also used it to set the corners of my foundation to make sure it was square.   He never touched the unit to make it do all this.

Not arguing.  Just saying what I saw him do with it.

ETA:  You know what?  Let me back away to say....He had TWO devices.  One was Berger and the other was Baby Berger, (I think) in my descriptive text. It may have been Baby Berger that shot the corners of my foundation.  However, Berger (this one) did the grade stuff.  Or at least part of it.

I will try to do another here right quick.

Environmental Remediation, Zombie style....( FLASHBACK to last summer/fall at the rehab house)

Disclosure:  I figure I'm opening myself up to a lot of hate by posting this one.  The "You didn't do it right" section of the audience can be loud, SOOO....

1- I did everything legally.  Nothing against any codes in my state or county or municipality.
2- I did the best I could figure out for the neighborhood and the planet AND....
3-I did so without getting any federal agency involved cuz it wasn't required or necessary.

BACKSTORY:
There was this pipe sticking up in the front yard. I'd actually piled some rocks around it so I wouldn't hit it with the mower again .  It was about a foot tall, including the cap.

Me to everybody: "Whaddaya think that is?"

Everybody:

So....last September I realized procrastination was not my friend, and  I opened the hinged top on the pipe.  Stuck a three-foot dowel rod down in there.  Didn't hit the bottom. Ah, shit.    (Cuz I think I know what's down there, and I don't want it to be that, yaknow?)

Got a longer piece...maybe 4.5' long, and...about 1.5" square.  Tried that.  Nothing on it.

Got an even longer piece of the same scrap I'd ripped from a 2 X 4.. This time six feet long.  Poked it down in there and wiggled it around.  It slid beside the soft stuff and went deeper. Crap.  Pulled it out. Oil.  Home heating oil.
There was at least 3 or 4" of oil in the tank.  Sometimes I hate to be right.

The good news?  If it was holding oil, maybe it was still sound and hadn't leaked all over the universe.

We took a piece of rebar and drove it into the ground until we found what appeared to be the edges.  It was a 4.5 X 8' tank, with several inches of oil still in it.   In late September I did the math based on my estimated tank volume.  There could be as much as 150 gallons  of kerosene in this freakin tank.

Research and serious sticker shock later, I went to the Harbor Freight website and found this:



A diesel transfer pump for just over a hundred dollars. Lots of folks evidently use them to move fuel out of tanks.   Who knew?

SCORE! I bought  the pump and four 50-gallon drums.

We dug to the edges of the tank and cut a hole in the top.



The damn thing was DIAMOND PLATE STAINLESS FREAKING STEEL. Hardest stuff I have EVER tried to saw through.

Several blades later, we had an opening we could get through, and pumped the fuel out. (I took pics but I can't find them. Apologies.)
Fuel was full of black crap that kept clogging the pump.  Apparently over the past 60 years, kids have made a game of dropping sticks down the pipe just to see what would happen. The bark disintegrated into black sludge.

We got all the liquid we could get out of there, and took the barrels to a local company with a furnace that "burns anything" and they were happy to have it.

And...



I bought 23 bags of oil soak from the local oil supply company.   Cuz that's all they had.

We dumped them in until AH could stand on something solid.



Then we cut the top off the rest of the tank.



We dumped in oil soak, mixed it, shoveled it into the old bags, rinse and repeat for hours.  We triple bagged it, and put it on the trailer.  I threw my jeans and t-shirt away, cuz there was no way to get the kerosene stink out of them.

As fate would have it, that Saturday was hazardous waste day for our community.  They took all the bags.

Last of the oil soak....you can see the stain on the walls, but the tank was otherwise completely dry when we finished.



Here, AH is drilling 1" holes in the bottom of the dry tank.  About 40 holes.

The tank was completely intact, and I likely could have left it.  But if somebody found it later, under different environmental rules, it might have cost a LOT more to fix this.  For the homeowner's sake, we fixed it now rather than later.

A few tons of gravel went in, then after a lot of reading and pacing the floor, I put a three-foot strip of water-permeable landscape fabric in the 4.5' wide tank.  So there was an edge on the sides, but the middle would be (hopefully) much slower to allow soil to work its way into the rock and fill the spaces.  No resource I could find to say how this should be done, so I fent with my best guess.



Several tons of topsoil went in after that.



Tank?  What tank?



By Halloween it looked like the grave of a zombie cave troll (it was huge and it had sunk, and there were holes forming)

This past week we brought in more soil.  Now it looks like a fresh zombie cave troll grave--all mounded up again.

You know...we tried lighting some of the oil-soaked sticks, thinking, "those ought to make great fire starters" but no.  Took forever to get them to light, and although they did sit there and burn kind of slowly, they went out before they were anywhere close to consumed.  No idea what the science is and haven't spent much time to think through it.  Awesome Handyman did suggest just throwing a match in there.

I like your tank removal.

It's good to be handy.

It's also good to have a nice guy who will work for you when you call and need help.  A lot of stuff I could manage but "it's nice to have help."

That's not the case here.  I could not have done this alone.  That is some of the heaviest metal for its thickness, that I've ever seen.

Y'all are due for another update.

I'm really hoping I'm not duping stuff.  I find photos I've edited and gotten ready, but don't know if I've posted.

Some stuff from December.

Y'all saw that the main DWV stack came down in late November, and we also took out the main drain and replaced it with plastic.

Here's a photo of the outside.  I was sweating bullets, worried that the cast iron pipe was going to be rotten all the way to the city sewer at the road.  It's been raining since the first of November.  If I asked the minions to dig that out of the mud, they would mutiny for certain.

Good news?  It was rotten out to the bend around the (former) kerosene tank, then it appears to be rock solid and relatively clean once that turn was made. (Quick, knock on wood.)

Here is the old pipe coming out of the foundation.

Note the hole near the bottom of the photo.  It had a piece of rubber just draped over it, then dirt piled on.  Plumber elf told me that was their version of a "clean out" mid 20th century.



New drain meets up with old drain via a cool (rather expensive) stainless-wrapped fitting.





In other work from December into January:

New attic flooring:



Put down with only a few screws, but we were constantly in danger of a misstep meaning a serious injury.  All of us were pretty much over it, so we fent with the plywood.  We will pull it up for insulation once the main floor drywall is installed. Then put it down for real.

Old back door closed up..



We were able to do that because of the new doors installed that reach across the back of the living room.

The old back door was in a weird spot...it was in this strange anteroom off the bedroom.  You had to go into this anteroom (which did have a closet) in order to get into the master bedroom.  And the anteroom might have been considered a walk in closet, except the back door to the house was there.  It was really strange.

Now less strange.

Old photo from summer, looking from living room at bedroom in the background, beyond the gutted wall.  To the right is the door to the funky anteroom (and the bedroom) and you can see the (open) back door to the house beyond the pile of stuff in the middle.



Looking from master bedroom into anteroom.  Door to living room is in front of Awesome Handyman.  Back door to house is on his left.  The back door opened and just missed the outdoor light fixture (just a bare bulb) by about an inch, since the light was fastened into the soffit.  Strangest setup I've ever seen in a house built after 1900.



Here is the wall now.  First with the outline of the old structure..



Here with the old anteroom/bedroom door closed off, and new bedroom door framed.  This wall actually carries some roof weight, transferred by some support members in the attic, so although it's going the wrong direction to technically be one of the main load carriers, I still try to respect the way the house has settled in, and maintain that load transfer all the way to the foundation.



Step through the new bedroom door and the new master closet is on the right.  Not huge, but a walk-in at least.  Looking through the new door framing, you see the OLD, now-closed-in, back door behind it.



The new master bath is to the left, and I apologize--I've been so busy I don't have any photos.  I'll try to remember to stop work and take some tomorrow.

Moving to the kitchen...I'd been hanging onto the kitchen sink so we'd have running water as long as possible. (the aforementioned coffee for purposes of public safety is not to be discounted.)

Time comes, you have to say byebye...

And behind it, some plumber had cut most of the load-bearing stud groups clean in two, so he could put in a vent pipe, which ran to the side and up the wall into the attic.   It's about a 12' span, front wall of the house, carrying half the roof over the middle of the house.  Wheeeee....

Thank God for 3/4" poplar sheathing, but still....not much wonder the windows were a little wonky.







Got some good news just this week:

I can't remember if I showed y'all this..

A slice of the exterior wall (this is where we installed the new patio doors)..



And a closeup view, so you can see why I was worried about putting in the code-required vapor barrier on the inside.



Went down to the City Offices to pull a permit for the back deck, and happened to catch one of the head code enforcement guyss there.  Super nice guy so I just laid it out for him. Told him I didn't want to put in a vapor barrier once I install the insulation because I thought I would rot the walls at worst, and cause mold at the least.  He agreed.  Said if it were him, he wouldn't put one in. Also said he thought the inspectors would not make me do it.

Might get a butthole inspector when the time comes, but at least I have this guy's advice in the hopper.  So far I've been pleasantly surprised every time I've had to deal with the codes people in this city.  I was not expecting that.  The county guys are great.  City? I'd heard horror stories.  Maybe the codes angel is watching out for me.

Speaking of other normally uncooperative personnel.....

MamaKatt approves of the new table saw.



I asked uxb whether I should post this photo...I thought it might be considered disrespectful, but he thought it was fine.  That coat belongs to the homeowner of the rehab house.  It was in a storage box in the basement and the entire back was molded and rotted out, so he said take the jewelry and patches off and toss it, as he could get another.   The braid and jewelry are in the plastic baggie with a package of dessicant.

PS:  I'm pretty sure he did not call it jewelry. Uxb is asleep, and I just don't remember the official name for the...well..military bling all over the coat.

That's what I call an update.

I feel bad that I don't get to post stuff more often, so I guess I overload it.

The trouble with Assuming....

especially anything about an old house~~

Mistakes happen to everyone, and believe me, I make my share plus some.

Made one in the winter that got uncovered just this week.  Thank God it did, before we closed up the walls.

I will catalog this mistake here cuz...I figure the Kitties Screws Up: Film at Eleven  entertainment value is high.

I say it that way because in hindsight, I'm not sure what I could have done differently other than some invasive looking around which would have involved exploratory surgery using power tools, then resulting wound closure on the house framing, but now I know I should have done that.

Y'all remember that big beam we put in the attic to support the kitchen ceiling when we took out that load bearing wall?

Yeah, that beam is heavy, and it's carrying a lot of weight.

When I decided to do it that way, I checked the basement, foundation, etc.  The walls that would carry the ends of the beam were sitting on solid rock. One end on a foundation wall, the other on part of the rock base for the big chimney.  It's built like a freaking tank.

Here's a bad shot of the front of the fireplace.



Basically the weight went all the way to the ground.  BUT....on the chimney end (behind this fireplace on the kitchen side), it was impossible to actually see the resting point of that framing because of rock on one side (chimney) and rim joists/floor framing on the other (kitchen floor)

Best we could tell, it was resting on that solid rock chimney base.  So we moved forward.  Beefed up that wall under the beam ends, installed the beam, and took out the load-bearing wall (which was actually resting on nothing but the open floor anyhow, cuz that's how the original builder rolled I guess.)

Yeah, that "best we could tell" involved some assumptions--that the original builder had done what it LOOKED like he had done.

Some of y'all know what's coming, don't you?

Friday we started tearing out the diagonal poplar subfloor in the kitchen, so we could level the joists and put down plywood.  Planning to tile that room.

See that wall on the left of Awesome Handyman (AH)?  Those extra studs were sistered into the already wide group, giving extra help for the beam's weight transfer to the foundation.



I'm on the computer, trying to find the local codes for deck railing, when AH hollers from the Kitchen.

AH: "Kitties, come here and look at this."

Me:  *walks into kitchen*  "Wuts up?"

AH: *pulls a floorboard from in front of the chimney, exposing the rim joist from above.*  "Ain't nuthin' under this wall."

Me: *Ah, sh*t*  "NOTHING?"

AH:  "Nuthin' I can see."



Me:  *CRAP!*  "I'll get a jack out of the basement.  You get the stepladder and a wrench."

So we set up a jack under that end of the beam, transferring it to the beam and jack in the basement.



And we proceeded to support the joists from underneath, cut them away from the rim joist, and pull it out of there, exposing.....NOTHING holding up that wall.  And a pronounced sag, once the floorboards were removed so we could see the bottom plate clearly.  Sag where?  Yep. Right under my hoity toity beam.

I've gotta say, with jacks below holding the joist, jacks above holding the beam, and cutting the nails that have been holding those joists to the rim for 80 years, the pucker factor was STUPID.  Yes, one basement jack did fall out from under the temporary beam we put in place, and yes, I did yell "F*CK!" even though AH hates that word.  Fortunately there were redundant jacks, because old houses move in ways you cannot anticipate sometimes. I wished for some gear I did not have at that point, so I could put the opposing force on the framing from both directions to hold the jacks in place, but I did not break the house.

There was some sag present before in that wall (as there is in most of the walls) but my screwup certainly would have been the worst of it.   What looked like rock WAS rock...on the ends, but not in the middle.  I'm giving the builder benefit of the doubt, guessing he never meant for that wall to bear weight (though it did carry a knee wall in the attic, which is a head scratcher) and *I* dumped half of the ceiling load onto it.  Dumb ASSumption.

Rim joist out.  Looky there at all that nuthin.



Part of the chimney supported the wall on the left, but it went only about 18."   Then this vast chasm of trouble about to happen.  10" from bottom of wall plate to top of the rock that I thought was supporting it.



We ripped some 2 X 12s down to 1/16" wider than the space, fit the longest ones we could into the space and pulled out the pry bars and persuaders.  It went easier than I thought it would.  We added 2 X 12s to fill the void, screwing them into the first ones as we went, so there is now solid support under that wall.



Rim joist back in place, getting ready to put everything back the way it was and take the support out from under the joists.



Took my first nice deep breath at that point.

I know as trouble goes it is small beans, but I hate making stupid mistakes, and this could have gotten really ugly (and expensive) if the walls had been closed and surfaces already in place.   I was on the fence about taking out this floor because I'm still not sure I can make it stiff enough for tile.  So glad my gut said "do it."  This put me further behind and cost me most of a day of a sub's labor.   That's cheap and I'm grateful.

Glad you caught that. Great update.

Thanks, and I gotta say...sometimes I wake up at night, worried that I've missed something on this old house.  with a new structure, you're seeing everything.  Every inch. Every piece.  On an old building, you're working with a lot that's hidden, or at least partially hidden.  I know not to assume, but also hate to go drilling and ripping stuff up that doesn't need it.  Clearly, it's a  lesson learned.  One I hope to never make again.

I'm sorry I've been absent.

Starting a little bootstrap business on the side.

My trailer thread went to archive, and it was relevant to this business.  Sad day.

But it's getting warmer here, which will make EVERYTHING better.

Stand by for more actual updates. since this is lame filler.

Lots of changes in the Kitties/uxb household over the past couple of years.

Coming up on a year since a major life changing event, and it's funny how those can set you in new directions.

Also, I lost a major client to retirement at the end of December, and I needed to replace that income.  Decided I was not getting any healthier, mentally, physically or any other way, spending so many hours either in front of the computer or stressing about old houses, and this farm girl needed to get outside more or turn into a withered-up, air-conditioned mummy.  So...I did a thing.



It's not the big Lazer Z, which I thought was overkill (and, you know...ten-freaking THOUSAND dollars ) for a part-time lawn care biz, so I spent less on the mower, BUT...

That is one SERIOUS seat upgrade, it has some kind of air shock suspension or some other magic mojo, and it cost a lot of money and I'm not even a little bit sorry.

Here it is on the trailer so many of you helped me choose.  And I will repeat for about the 50th time, THANK YOU ALL for talking me into the wider, longer trailer.  Somebody said, in that thread, "you might get a bigger mower."  Well it's not a WIDER deck than my old tractor mower, but it's definitely bigger and heavier overall.  Y'all were right.  


And since my tow vehicle, a 1991 Isuzu Trooper named Casper, was wobbling down the road (literally wobbling...needs two new CV axles.  I was going down the road at 45 mph praying every time I had to pull the trailer) I dropped $3000  CASH BABY on a high mileage beater F150. Don't ask how many miles, it's too embarrassing and it was 3K dollars, so seriously, you know it's a lot.

This probably belongs in the trailer thread, but that's gone to archives, so...

Kitties' new rig:


Yes, I have to park it in my yard.  I don't have a gravel pad for it yet, and I'm STILL learning to back the thing into tight turns without jackknifing (is that a word?)

Have a few customers.  Enough to make the mower payment but not enough.  Not yet.  And they're spread all over hell's half acre, so route density is teh suck.  That will improve with time, I hope.   I can make my mistakes and learn with less pressure.

It'll take a while.

I want those nice Equipment Defender racks for my trimmers and gas cans, but I decided I needed to replace some of the outgoing cash before I did that.  I'll have lots of questions for y'all about a work truck setup later.  I know some stuff I want. (onboard air compressor much?) Hmmm..maybe I should make a thread.

For now, my small equipment is in the back of the truck under the locking cover.

Learning moments....
For a long time I've known that all the fancy degrees in the world do not teach you the simplest thing...how to run a business.  But it's surprising what I don't know.  I said to a friend who mows for money and is helping me get started, "How can I know the technical difference between Xylem and Phloem,  and not know what the place should look like when I drive away after a freaking lawn care job???"

He just laughed at me.

Thank you to another friend... @cuttingedge for talking me through the mower purchase, and answering my dumb questions.

For anybody interested in what I'm using for small power tools...

I am one with Echo.

I'll post photos of that stuff later.

Side note:
I got that little battery saw and a battery hedge trimmer in a set, to carry in the truck just in case (will not replace the gas powered trimmer/saw units) since I was already wedded to the DeWalt Flexvolt system.  I figure I should do a review of the saw since battery saw questions have come up here in Homestead.  Should I do that here in this thread? Or a separate thread?

ALSO... The house remodel and shed will return once I get through the insane spring landscaping season. It's not gone, just going a little slower for a bit.