Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

nygreg · February 2003

Anyone heard from our long lost friend? Hope she is doing well.

Greg

hondafriek · February 2003

Congrats on the new home, buying a home is like buying a used car, you need some money in reserve for needed repairs and upgrades.

Cheers Pat.

bsvoller · February 2003

Congrats Ken ! There are few things more exciting or more rewarding than a new home, IMHO.

On the other hand, I had a friend characterize home ownership as "the never ending battle to make water go where it's supposed to and not where it shouldn't...", lol. My personal experiences have only verified his take on it

Best of luck in your new digs,

-brianV

fibber2 · February 2003

"the never ending battle to make water go where it's supposed to and not where it shouldn't...",

Boy, isn't that the truth!!! We spent 19 years restoring an 1889 farm house. The roof with it's 'Yankee Gutters' was my constant undoing. The integral troughs and connecting downspouts would constantly clog, ice dams would form, and water would get into the walls.

Now at the new house I don't worry as much about the roof. But now we live along a ravine. Last week I was out digging in the snow to find and open the drainage grate so that the 3" of rain would get piped down the hill, instead of causing erosion, or even a land slide.

Speaking of dogs and homes - I got stuck late at work yesterday. Beth called me about 9:30pm to let me know that Madison got sprayed by a skunk. He got into the house before she realized it (contaminating the place....) and was now locked in the basement awaiting my return!!! What a fun night it was.....

Steve

ateixeira · February 2003

Get water away from the house any way you can. Better gutters, re-grading the lawn, you name it.

Otherwise it's only a matter of time.

-juice

bat1161 · February 2003

Congrats Ken on the new house!

I had a similar experience with my cats when we moved to our house. One of them was trapped behind the bathtub in our apt, so we left him there while we brought some stuff to the house. When we came back for the final check, he was wandering around the apt looking like what happened to evrything? They'll settle in to the new place pretty fast.

Mark

lark6 · February 2003

Yes, Ken, congrats on home ownership (or 'sleeping in the bank's house' as you put it).

It took our cat about 6 months to get acclimated to our house.

Steve: who or what is Madison? I knew someone who had a dog named Madison once.

Ed

fibber2 · February 2003

I know who he is, so doesn't everyone?? ;-)

105 lbs worth of German Shephard....

Steve

lark6 · February 2003

No that's okay, I missed something along the way. The Madison I know is a viszla.

Ed

c_hunter · February 2003

"the never ending battle to make water go where it's supposed to and not where it shouldn't...",

Yeah, that's definitely the truth! Even with a new house, I spent all last spring installing sprinklers to water the lawn, and installing gutters, drain lines, and french drains to carry rainwater away and keep the yard from flooding when it storms. Ironic that I pay money to pump water onto the grass, yet try to divert as much rainwater as possible.

I did feel pretty good when we got torrential rains over the weekend. The yard drains beautifully now, and we would've had a lake before.

Craig

toboggan · February 2003

Tomato juice does a job on removing skunk spray. Glad that cats have more sense. ;^)

MNSteve

originalbitman · February 2003

I always like to refer to myself as a homemoaner rather than homeowner.

bit

nygreg · February 2003

Sorry to hear about Madison's adventure. I too have heard that tomato juice works well.

I was so worried about ice dams and water problems from the 2' snow + heavy rain last week, that my brother-in-law came over and shoveled the snow off the roof for me (while I was away). I owe him!

Greg

ateixeira · February 2003

I need to get me one o' dem roof rakes for next time!

Looks like I could use it sooner than I thought, we're getting more snow over the next day or so. The old stuff hasn't even melted yet, there's still nowhere to park on our street (besides the private drives).

Date night tonight, so I get to drive a little extra in this snow. :-)

Any movie suggestions? Doesn't look like a lot of good stuff is out right now.

-juice

nygreg · February 2003

I have a roof rake. My wife said that it was worthless after the blizzard. Generally, it works well, but difficult to clear more than a foot or two of the roof on 1/2 my house do to the height of the roof. Keep heat out of the attic (good insulation) and good ventilation to prevent ice dams.

Greg

kens · February 2003

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments on 1st time home ownership. Now that the dust from moving in is settling, I have to admit, I do feel a bit proud. :-)

Speaking of keeping water away from the house and money flying out of my wallet, I just dropped $700 today in removing an 15 year old Dynasty solar water heater from the roof. The previous owner installed it back in the mid-80s. The unit was still working fine, but the anchoring to the roof was getting old and I spotted some tiny leaks after this current rainstorm.

We were planning on removing it when we re-roofed (the roof is relatively new) but decided to just bite the bullet now and rid of any potential future problems. Good thing I did -- the crew that came by to remove it noted that many of the bolts had rusted away. Imagine 500lbs loose on your roof in an earthquake!

I'm having a roof take a look tomorrow to patch the areas where the anchors go in to our roof.

Oh, and yes -- the garage is being used to house the Forester. That was a given. :-)

Ken

c_hunter · February 2003

You know, you're not an official homeowner until you get up on the roof to grunt and do something stupid in front of your wife and/or neighbors. I was up there a few weeks ago to remove a rain diverter (made obsolete by the new gutters). I should have known it was going to be an adventure after I managed to split my pants in broad daylight. The rain diverter was being stubborn, so I finally had to give it a hard yank (after trying to do it the gentle way and tearing a shingle, of course). The diverter came free, went flying into the yard like a boomerang, and stuck into the ground at about a 45deg angle. At about the same time, my prybar and hammer went sliding down the roof, bounced off the gutter, and landed on the front walk.

My wife watched the whole episode and proceeded to tell me how much of a knucklehead I am, so of course, I mooned her! Nothing like plaid LL Bean boxers (to go with the LL Bean Outback of course) to send a message ....

Craig

kens · February 2003

Craig -- that's TOO funny! Glad you didn't hurt yourself (physically), though. ;-)

Ken

hondafriek · February 2003

Ottawa has been in a prolonged deep freeze for about two months now, temp rarely gets above20 below celsius.

This is creating havoc with burst water mains, they are bursting at an unprecedented rate.

Cheers Pat.

nygreg · February 2003

Very funny. Can you imagine falling from the roof with your pants down? What do you tell the parametics and doctors?? :-0

Greg

c_hunter · February 2003

Well, I would tell the truth of course! Any reasonable paramedic or doctor would surely understand my situation.

;-)

Craig

jfl · February 2003

Ken, I'm impressed! The Forester is already in the garage. Most people have boxes in the garage for a week or more. 8~)

Craig, glad you're safe. Roofs can be hazardous to your wellbeing!

Jim

Karen_S · February 2003

Congrats on the new home! All this talk of water and gutters reminds me I'd better get out and check mine.

Karen_S · February 2003

Forget the tomato juice, use cider vinegar. It's less messy. After giving Madison a thorough bath. Combine 1 quart hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of degreasing dishwashing soap. Pour into a spray bottle. Spray liberally over dry coat and allow to air dry. Avoid getting into the eyes. This spray works on inanimate objects too.

How do I know? I've used it...more times than I care to think about. We have a really stupid dog who just never learns.

And speaking of critters...it must be spring! Yesterday, there was a raccoon scrounging under the bird feeder in my backyard.

fibber2 · February 2003

I loved your post - I really did LOL! I think most homeowners have done at least one 'stupid pet trick' on their roofs (but I have yet to moon anyone after...). Have to remember that one for the future!

As to Madison - With a previous dog I wasted a perfectly good can of V8 juice, with no appreciable reduction in the stench. Now I realize that V8 is not all tomato, but I had expected better! One of the guys I was with the other night called his wife, who said wash him in dish detergent (Dawn, etc.) to cut the oil, and then pour on a bottle of Scope mouthwash. Sounds crazy, but he does smell 'minty fresh' now! The only problem area is his ears. The skunk oil must be all the way down into his brain....

Steve

hammersley · February 2003

Craig: As a reasonable paramedic (your definition

), I'd believe anything you told me about how you got where we found you. In 20+ years in this silly business, I've seen a lot of less-than-plausible scenarios come true.

Cheers!
Paul

c_hunter · February 2003

It should seem reasonable -- overconfident engineer husband on the roof with tools, wife standing down below yelling at him. In fact, that analogy could probably extend to numerous aspects of marriage (and perhaps caveman psychology).

Craig

kens · February 2003

Jim,

Actually, the credit goes to my wife. She knows my priority of getting the Forester parked in a garage and focused on getting those boxes out of there.

Ken

kate5000 · February 2003

Congrats on your move!

originalbitman · February 2003

So while preparing our last house for sale I got obsessed with a small white stone on the back of the roof. It just looked bad and needed to come down. It was the day before the open house and I dragged out the ladder to go after the stone. Upon fetching the stone I decided to toss it over the guest house on the back of the lot and into the alley... of course my throw was short and I ended up pitching the stone right the window in the guest house. Now I had to replace the glass, putty and paint.

bit

lilbluewgn02 · February 2003

Congratulations on your new money pit,er...I meant new house! Ah, the joys of home ownership...
I came home last night to find the the shelf on Susan's side of the closet had come out of the walls...clothes, shoe boxes, handbags, everywhere. I told Susan it was G-d's way of telling her to go easy on the shopping!
Took off from subbing today to repair it, after a trip to Home Depot of course. Did you ever notice that no matter what repairs are needed, you never have the right supplies in the house?

"Measure twice, cut once" as the god of power tools, Norm Abrams, used to say.

c_hunter · February 2003

Hey, that's a good one!

Craig

hypov · February 2003

Youngest of my brothers decided one day to satisfy his curiousity... what lies behind the paneling.
His curiousity yielded new walls, ceiling tiles, electricals, windows, and floor... which brother #4 and myself had to put up.

He's now in Italy. ;-)

-Dave

bsvoller · February 2003

geez, what'd you're brother use to satisfy his curiosity, a stick of dynamite ?

ateixeira · February 2003

Good story Craig, you had me ROTFL, mostly because it was familiar.

I was climbing up about 10' and the bottom of the ladder was on wet leaves. As you might guess, it slipped back and I fell flat on my bum. Slammed my chins on a step because my feet were caught between two steps. Those bruises weren't nearly as bad as the bruise to my ego.

I was lucky noone saw it!

DOH!

-juice

originalbitman · February 2003

"Measure twice, cut once"

Yeah well I even gave up on that one. Now I'm back to "Measure once and add 1/2"... then keep cutting till it fits".

bit

originalbitman · February 2003

Not sure if I am supposed to post links here but Taunton Press has a great message board for home building and all.. called Breaktime. Mostly pros but homeowners too. Good place to get professional answers to home maint. questions.

http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/

bit

c_hunter · February 2003

Yeah, what is it about ladders? We were having a conversation at work the other day about ladder accidents. One guy dropped a can of paint from 2 stories up (it went everywhere), another had a pair of vise grips fall off a step ladder and land on his HEAD, and the best (I thought) was the guy whose ladder fell apart while he was on it. Like, totally apart. He said it was like a domino effect going down.

Craig

kens · February 2003

bit,

Thanks for the link -- I needed something like that. I've already created a folder in my Favorites for home-related stuff.

Ken

rsholland · February 2003

Two years ago my next door neighbor fell off his ladder and broke his shoulder. His golf game has never been the same...

Bob

hypov · February 2003

bsvoller Feb 27, 2003 3:23pm

Brian-
Nah

He left a hole, a BIG hole that could not be repaired. So we ended up demolishing everything, and since we were going to replace the paneling with sheet rock, might as well put on new ceiling tiles and update electricals and window

-Dave

ateixeira · February 2003

That's the thing. A touch-up becomes a major renovation. You gotta know where to draw the line, especially before the creative wife gets another wonderful home improvement idea.

A contractor came to look at that soffit, he had my wife talking enclosed garage, full new roof, new siding, kitchen enlargement (ours is 2 years new), etc.

-juice

originalbitman · February 2003

I emailed you some additional home related links in an HTML doc. You might find some useful... I hope.

bit

fibber2 · February 2003

To change the outlet, you must first change the wiring. Gut that wall and ceiling (or wherever that branch circuit takes you) and completely redo it. And about that breaker box? Got to go... And the mast head? No good... And the service connection to the pole? Call the utility company to change it....

Everything on an older home follows that general path.

Steve

rsholland · February 2003

The first house we bought, was an old row house in Baltimore. It was built in 1858, and had horse-hair plaster, and tin ceilings. It was in a historic district, and we re-habed the house. When we bought it, it had 30 amps of electrical service to the whole house! Needless to say, upgrading the electric was numero uno on the to-do list.

After years of work, our living room was once actually used for a TV spot for Dan Rather & the Evening News about 17 years ago. True story.

Bob

oregonboy · February 2003

I've cut this board three times... and it's STILL too short (but only on one end).

-james

jfl · February 2003

james,

Good one! ROTFL! 8~O

Jim

ateixeira · February 2003

More snow! Shoveled another 6" this morning. Roads were run. :-)

Hope the roof holds up this time. It's still not fixed from the last storm!

-juice

kens · February 2003

Electrical wiring was one concern that we had with our house. The house was built in the early 50s so it uses knob and tube wiring (two prong) for most of the house. The previous owner had the service panel upgraded and pulled in new circuits for the kitchen. I had two electricians take a look at the existing wiring and they both pointed out that older wiring is not necessarily bad as long as the previous owners had not overloaded the circuits and compromised the wire insulation. In fact, electrical work from that era tends to be of higher workmanship since it was more difficult to qualify as an electrican.

Anyway, I had an old fuse panel in the house replaced with a new breaker panel from which new circuits were dropped to the washer/dryer, garage, office (for a grounded outlet) and to the bathroom (for my wife's 1875W hair dryer). I also had GFCI receptacles installed in the kitchen and bath.

Snow again? Man, I'm jealous!

Ken

hammersley · February 2003

Ken: Sounds like you're doing the electrical right the first time - safer & cheaper in the long run. You can never have enough power in the house. I'm faced with the eventuality of upgrading too, but only to redistribute capacity to allow more outdoor outlets for block heaters, motorhome shoreline, etc.

My ladder story: My first ever summer job, age 16, working in an office furniture warehouse. Today's assignment: Paint the front entry window trim. Tools: ladder, makeshift scaffolding (on steps), oil-based paint, kid who really doesn't know what he's doing.
Tomorrow's tools: Kerosene, wire brush, elbow grease. Assignment: Scrub the now-dry oil-based paint off the concrete steps, after the ladder & its rider tipped over yesterday. No other harm done. But if you look real close, you can still see traces of paint on the steps of that building, 31 years later!

Cheers!
Paul

Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

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