Tuesday, November 10, 2009

A Bit of Catching Up

What have we been up to? The blogging's been sparse and it's hard to think back on what's been getting done. (For surely, we've been getting something done!)

One thing Troy's been working on a little every day is filling in the hole around the chimney in our bedroom:
(Can you see the whiter white of the fill in?)

My co-workers still talk about the time when I could lay in bed and see the stars through the roof. Troy pretty quickly patched up the roof, but the ceiling's had a big hole ever since. I've resented all the heat that we've lost and all the dust that comes floating down. (The bedroom is by far the dustiest room in the house and that's saying a lot!)

Anyway, the gap is closing in and will soon be finished off with some sheet metal. Can I get a "woo hoo"?
WOO HOO!
Thank you.

Troy and I together finished off the Tyvec on the upper portions of the east and west walls.
The east wall was done on a Wednesday evening.

And the west wall was done on a fine Sunday afternoon.

We're very close to ready for the siding Troy's ordered.

Troy's also done more tractor and shovel work to spread dirt between the shop and the house.
It'll still need some more to fill in a trough that's still there, but step by step it's getting there.

And then I came home to this:
Now, Class, can any one tell me what's wrong with this stove?
Anyone?
Yes, you in the back trying to hide behind the person in front of you...care to hazard a guess?
It doesn't have a pipe?
Why, yes, that's right. There's no stovepipe.

I was sitting at work at 3:30 this afternoon already telling my co-workers, "In five hours, I'll be sitting at home in front of a nice warm fire." I was looking forward to it all afternoon. (You may dream at work about Hawaii or Caribbean cruises or even Colorado ski slopes, but I just need my small square footage in front of the woodstove.)

But no, I walk into the living room and see a stove with missing appendages. (Nothing to do then but to make some popcorn and crawl into bed which is where I'm writing this right now!)

Troy eventually got home and explained that he was cleaning the pipe and took this portion out to clean off the rust (from when the top blew off and we had a lot of rain and snow falling into the pipe) and repaint it. This is very good in the big picture, and frankly it's not really cold this week, but the small child in me just wants to lay on the floor in a tantrum and yell, "Make me warm!"

2 comments:

troy and christina said...

I should add that Troy had the pipe back on that very evening (he works fast) and lit me a roasting fire! -c

troy and christina said...

I would also point out that everyone who heats with wood needs to inspect and or clean their chimney out at least once every season. Some wood heating experts recommend checking once a month or more.

For our setup, that would be excessive. Since it is a "modern" and efficient EPA rated woodstove, it doesn't make a lot of creosote that trashes the chimney.

So I didn't just clean the stove pipe, I cleaned the whole chimney. Two swipes with the wire chimney brush. Plus, the view from the top of the roof is fantastic.

Those who do not inspect/clean the chimney regularly run the risk of chimney fires, which can burn your house down. That would be a bummer.

Finest regards,

troy

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