I'm Not Gay, But I Do Love Rainbows

I'll have to get pictures of it now that it's decorated. AnnaMarie recruited me to cut down one of the many feral western red cedars on our property and lug it to her cottage for her Christmas tree. Somehow the act of bringing it indoors made it double in size, and I had to bring it back out to take the bottom 18" off it so the angel wouldn't concuss on the ceiling. That's when this sunset rainbow appeared...Actually I had a much more vibrant picture but didn't save it properly...Same with the unicorns that appeared.

Just Need Paint and an Outtage

Got the generator box all finished. It really is quiet and runs cool. It's about as loud as the fridge inside the cottage. Plumbed to propane so the gas won't ever go bad. The roof is hinged in case the electric start fails and you have to pull start the thing. The exhaust is a water heater flue pipe wrapped in glass wool insulation then wrapped in aluminum high temp tape. I re-did the exhaust, it's double walled pipe going through the wall and extending out 12"---I was worried about exhaust heat so close to the fascia.

Sound In, Heat Out

The challenge is keeping the sound in and the heat out. I made an adapter coming off the muffler so I could channel the exhaust out of the box. I suppose I could get a better pic of how the adapter attaches; I wrapped the elbow with high temp aluminum tape for insulation and to keep the elbow from sliding around. The interior is all lined with foam board. The walls that face the house, have the studs turned sideways--that way there's room for insulation and sound transferring lumber doesn't go all the way through the wall.

Then, outside the foam board, there's a layer of fiberglass insulation. Even before putting all the vents in and roof on, it runs much quieter with a little sound barrier between the generator and the house. I walked AnnaMarie through the start-up procedure for the first time---she's able to manage it fine

A three inch duct will take the exhaust out. My adapter isn't a tight fit, I didn't want to create a backpressure issue (but I think 3" pipe for a short run won't be a problem)

Power Foundation

So the base is done. I like the effect of the concrete that was poured against the bubblewrap. Some of the cells filled with concrete, but if I ever did this somewhere that shows, I think I could be gentle enough so that wouldn't happen. I got the texture I wanted to absorb sound at least. I ran the generator. The transfer switch seems to work well, and I was able to power everything in the cottage. There's a slight flicker in the lights when you start up something with a motor, like the range hood or garbage disposal.

Generator Base

Just before I left for a week in Catalina with patrick's 8th grade class I got the base poured. I had to resist the temptation to strip the forms before I left--the concrete was still pretty green. You can see the sewer pipe elbows that will draw cool air in below the unit. I wrapped the inside of the forms with bubblewrap---the idea is walls with more surface area will absorb more sound than flat walls. We will see.

Talkin' 'Bout My Generator

Here's the trench.  I want everything nice and hidden.  There's this dark olive green pipe dope I've had great success with for the joints; I'll admit that getting threads started on 10' pipe isn't easy.

It seemed like I was going way too small with the wires from the generator, especially after wrestling with 6 AWG.  THe tables assure me 10 AWG is plenty for the short run and voltage I'm feeding.  Good thing, too---pulling that wire was hard.

Here's the form so far.  It still needs to be leveled and the rebar/anchor bolts pre-set.  I've got 1800 pounds of concrete mix in the back of my truck all ready to mix but I had to quit to get to Patrick's soccer game.  If it doesn't rain in the next 6 days while I'm working a 144 hour shift, it'll be fine.  Then I have to build the actual housing which should be simple

Projected Projects Project

Well, nature bats last.  We had some flashfloods last week---over a foot of rain.  It channeled down the trench for the power, and filled the future laundry room with some very rich soil.  It's not too bad really and my tenants are going to dig it out and use the soil elsewhere.

   It's a reminder that winter is coming.  This project will get backburnered a bit while I take care of some pre-winter projects----gathering firewood is one.  The other is the generator project.

 AnnaMarie's cottage was built to accept a small generator as backup power.  We get power outtages all the time--hot weather, windy weather, snow.  I finally found the generator I wanted---5,000 watts continuous, CARB compliant, electric start, dual fuel, 240v.  I'm plumbing it to the house propane cylinder which, if full, will provide about three weeks worth of fuel.  That should get us through anything.  I want it easy enough that if I'm gone AnnaMarie can just turn a key and flip a switch.  It was more complicated than I thought---geting the correct inlet pressure through the correct size pipes and all.

Another Slip Up

     Ready to start pouring the first slip form.  All the forms are ready; first step is getting materials in place.  I really prefer to make my own concrete but on a slope it's hard to get the sand, gravel and cement in place so I'm using readymix stuff and just adding a little extra cement.  It's 112 steps from my old truck to the pallet there.  For some reason the first sacks are full of styrofoam beads and the last ones, though exactly the same dimensions, are full of lead shot.

    Here's the slip form.  The rebar is in place and the forms are lined with plastic for a smooth finish.  This is the threshold, and the rough opening for the steel door is 34" wide so I have a 34" board holding things in place.  The continuous pour extends well past the doorway to prevent water leakage.  You can see the stub end of a carriage bolt stuck through the form----those will be set in concrete and give me something to secure the doorframe with later.  Here's a better picture from the other side---

 

 So now you're looking inside the form just pre-pour.  That bolt will be well embedded in the concrete.  I'll put one every 24".

 

Here's a yard of concrete, mixed in my mixer, wheelbarrowed over, and dumped in the form one shovel at a time--along with much tamping and vibrating the form in the hopes of having no voids or honeycombing.  The plastic lining really helps the concrete slide into place.  It'll also make stripping the form easier.

 

 The first pour is the easiest.  The next one I'll have to lift the shovel up higher---doesn't sound like a big deal, but it makes a difference.  Then the next pour gets more complex with the forming because I will be past the outer soil form and have to build an outer wooden one and support it; but, I'll be able to pour from above which will make things easier.

More Floor Pour

   Ready to pour the floor.  A vapor barrier is down but it has a gap over the french drain---vapor barriers work both directions, and I want water to be able to drain down.  This IS a laundry room after all.

AnnaMarie came to keep me company for awhile, and was productive being creative with acorn caps.

Here's the floor all poured.  Next will be building the slip forms.

Slip Form

It's been awhile since I've updated things---I've been stuck at work a lot so progress has been slow....The hand digging is mostly done so got the rough plumbing and french drain in.

Next is a bunch of gravel.  Since this is all below grade I want a really easy path for water to naturally drain away.  The white pipe is a perforated pipe with this long sock thing over it to keep it from silting up over time.

Then build the forms and set in all the rebar to get ready for concrete

  After that it's time for some concrete.  WHen I get back up there I'll strip the forms, add the rebar to the middle part and pour the floor.

If Wyeth Painted Pictures Of FireFighters