Maine's Own Off-Topic Thread -- Pt.2 (tax, cost, windows)

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Zymer

Good morning! Missed you all, I have no innernet at the new house and Time Warner wants an outrageous amount of money to run a line from the street. Hope everyone has been well. I'm not even going to *try* to catch up on everything from the last couple of weeks.

Good morning to you Zymer and nice to see you! Welcome back, you've been missed!

[Elcarim]

Hey Z! Yep, you're one of those people around here who is noticeably absent sometimes! How are things going with the house?

[Zymer]

Thanks Mermaid and El!

Originally Posted by Elcarim

Hey Z! Yep, you're one of those people around here who is noticeably absent sometimes! How are things going with the house?

LOL, the house had some problems that weren't immediately evident. Whoever did the plumbing was NOT a plumber, and wouldn't even be able to play one on TV.

So, I've been busy learning how to do some plumbing work and correcting some problems which have apparently existed for years but which the previous owners were either blindly ignorant of, or couldn't or wouldn't fix.

I've also been replacing some of the electrical stuff, but it's slow going since whoever put it in didn't bother to make any indications on the main electric panel of what went where, and also did some circuits in an "unusual" manner. So, I'm having LOTS of fun.

I wasn't there for a while and the furnace crapped out while I was absent, and I returned just in time to get the situation corrected before the plumbing froze solid. You can imagine my surprise and consternation at walking in the door at 6AM on a Sunday morning to find a layer of black soot *everywhere* and a quarter-inch thick layer of ice in the commodes.

The furnace guy did his thing, and while he was down there he moved around some pieces of lumber so he didn't have to get too much muck on his shoes. Unfortunately, in doing so he managed to block the channels that allowed the water to drain away from the water heater and the well bladder-tank. When I went down to try to find the circuit that shuts off the well pump, and drain down the pipes so I could cut and repair one of the water supply lines that had been leaking, I found that the water had risen above the level of the bladder drain...and frozen...as well as threatening to fully engulf the water heater burner.

So I spent a day digging new channels in the clay to drain off the water, only to find that the output line on the sump pump had frozen as well, and spent another day digging *that* up and getting a clear line, so the water that was now running where it was supposed to go could get pumped out.

...and I *still* haven't found the circuit that shuts off the well pump.

[mollysmiles]

Zymer it's great to see you! I'm sorry though that it's been one thing after another at the house The good news is though that most of this stuff you'll only have to do once, and hopefully by the spring you'll be more able to kick back and relax when you're home. I know our house here has more quirky things going on with it than the 200 year old house in Eastport! The man who built ours was/is a Master Plumber dangerously teetering on having an electrian's license. He does have an Master Oil Burner's as well. That being said, we later discovered from a friend of ours that our boiler was illegally installed, so was the oil tank, numerous plumbing issues, and there isn't enough room here to talk about the electric. What a mess!! Sometimes just having the knowledge of *how* to do it right isn't enough to prevent ridiculous shortcuts I guess. It goes back to character Take care and hope to see you on here more often.

[Elcarim]

Has anyone told Corner Guy lately how much we appreciate him?

[msina]

YES, but it's always nice to remind him.

[elston]

Originally Posted by msina

YES, but it's always nice to remind him.

I just sent him some rep points and a thnk you when I read his note about how our posts can effect others. I thnk that was so appropriate and sensitive.

[Zymer]

With the plans I have, I'll be doing things for quite some time...oh, yeah, my burner isn't exactly up to code either. It exhausts into the same flue as the wood stove, which *used* to be OK but now isn't. According to the burner repair guy, that happens to be the reason why it crapped out- during that below zero cold snap he says that wood ash that had been adhered to the inside of the flue became un-stuck due to the temperature drop and plugged the vent for the furnace. Since it wasn't exausting correctly it started burning dirtier and dirtier until it couldn't run at all. (I had gone down and hit the reset and started it up, and it blew black smoke everywhere.)

[Elcarim]

Originally Posted by elston

I just sent him some rep points and a thnk you when I read his note about how our posts can effect others. I thnk that was so appropriate and sensitive.

I thought the same thing. That's why HE has this task and not me! That was a very well stated note from our CG!

And I have to spread it around more.......

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

Has anyone told Corner Guy lately how much we appreciate him?

Told him this morning, we had a nice conversation.