Tactful Confrontation

I have never been good initiating a conversation where I have to tell someone something unpleasant.  You never know how people will respond.  Sometimes they surprise you and laugh it off, or are understanding.  Or  things might not go so well.  Regardless of the outcome, I usually make it a million times worse in my head before the event actually takes place.  So you can understand why I have been putting off a conversation that I needed to have with my new neighbours.

My neighbours seem to be a lovely young couple.  They also have a lovely, youngish, male dog that has been frequenting my yard.  Today he and my large breed dog got into quite a fight inside my wireless fenced in yard.

After I put my dog in the house and calmed down, I decided that I needed to go over and talk.   I explained my concerns about the dogs fighting, one of them getting hurt, and the possibility of one of my children also being hurt by their dog.  It wasn't pleasant saying these things, but my neighbour was understanding and said they would try harder to keep him home.  I was hoping for a bit more to be honest, but hopefully they will be more diligent now that they know my concerns.

A year ago I would never have been able to have knocked on their door.  I would have sent my husband over to talk.  Today, I knew my concerns had to be addressed, and now I've got to rely on myself.  This summer of shovelling topsoil and gravel, digging up pavement and digging trenches has apparently not only made my body stronger, but my inner strength has gotten stronger as well.  Though I would never, ever, wish this year on anyone, there is something personally gratifying knowing that you are able to rely upon yourself.  That you are stronger than you thought you were.

A quote from Winnie the Pooh comes to mind tonight, “If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.” 
― A.A. Milne

How to Caulk Neatly

The front of my house was resided during the recent house renovation.  We went with a wood siding.  My verdict is still out on the siding as, although it looks nicer than the vinyl, there have been quite a few cracks.  I'll have to get them replaced before the warranty runs out.

The contractor began caulking the edges of the siding, where it met up with the windows, corner trim etc.  Unfortunately my husband felt that the caulking job was rather messy and ruining the look of the siding.

I had to ask them to stop.

I have been working section by section over the past few weeks to get the caulking completed before the cold sets in.  It was snowing here on Saturday, so I'm pushing it!

Here is an example of what I'm starting with.  A 1/4" or so gap between the window trim and the siding.

I think a beige caulking, if it matched the siding colour, may have been easier and produced a neater look.  Because a door and two windows were already done with the white caulking, I had to use the white.

I found that going over the edges made my bead a bump, and when I tried to smooth down the bead, it smeared onto the siding.  The siding is quite rough and it was hard to get the caulking off.  I came up with two ideas to hopefully make the end product neater.  The first was to use painter's tape.  Some brands stick better than others to the siding.   It can be a bit finicky and sometimes the caulking gets pushed underneath, but it allows you to do several strips at once.

The other solution I came up with involved my chip box from Halloween.  The cardboard was strong and lightweight, so I tore off a rectangular shape.   I was able to push the top edge up under one piece of siding and align the longer edge with the section that I needed to caulk.

I ran the bead of caulking down the gap and, using a wet finger, I ran my finger down the bead to fill in the space and flatten out the caulking.

I gently slid the cardboard out and wiped it off.  It was ready to go on to the next board.  I found that I could set up three or more boards at a time and work fairly quickly.  The edges came out nice and clean.  I think it came out neater than the painter's tape sections actually, though this method is a bit slower.

When you are using a caulking gun, it can get pretty messy.  After I ran each bead, I put my finger over the end and with the other hand, released the pressure foot thing.  Then I took a nail and stuck it into the end of the nozzle.  This prevented any more caulking from escaping.  Be sure to have lots of old rags on hand.

Here are the comparisons:


Contractor's job                                                                    My job

I won't tell you this was a fun job, but it will be rewarding to have it completed.  I  may try to remove the contractor's caulking, but that will have to wait until it warms up again.  That water I used for keeping my fingers wet was getting mighty cold!

My Lightbulbs Keep Burning Out on Me!

I have been working on a huge, time consuming project that I will hopefully be sharing with you in a day or two.  I'm dying to be finished with it.  In the mean time, I have been having what I thought was a weird, electrical problem.

For some reason, every time I replace a light bulb lately, the bulb snaps and burns out within 30 minutes.  It did this a couple of times with one lamp, and now the light in my office.  So I started to think it must be some kind of electrical problem.

After a quick google, guess what??  It is a very common problem, and a very easy fix!  You can go here Askthebuilder for a more detailed and professional explanation, but I'll give you a quick over view.

In the bottom of each light socket, there is a brass strip.  This strip should be slightly angled up to connect properly with the bottom of the light bulb.

On the bottom of the light bulb, there is a small silver blob made from solder.  If the brass strip is not touching the bottom of the light bulb in the proper manner, the solder melts and the light bulb no longer makes the proper connection.  The light goes out.

The fix?  Simple.  You turn off the power to the light.  You should likely turn off the breaker to the light for extra safety.  I used my fingernail to reach into the socket and gently pull up the brass strip.  Insert a new bulb and voila!  The sockets are all now working again.

How do you prevent this problem?  Screw your bulbs in with the power on.  When the light comes on, turn the bulb only until the bulb feels secure.  Over screwing the bulb into the socket is what pushes the brass strip down and creates the problem.

Thank you Ask the Builder's Tim Carver for saving me from calling my ex husband, the cost of an electrician and the expense of buying endless boxes of light bulbs.  I love a quick fix that I can do myself!

The plumbing is finished!

The plumber arrived at 7 this morning!  The pipes were set into the trenches and I filled in around them with crusher dust.  I think it took me about 8 wheelbarrow loads.  Building biceps, building biceps.  That's my mantra these days.

My kids were terribly excited to have the new wash room up and running.  Is that just a boy thing or do young girls have the same fascination?  It leaves me bewildered and often frustrated on a daily bases.  Potty talk is hilarious in this house at the moment.

So now I am filling in the rest of the crusher dust over top of the pipe and then laying in some of the soil that I dug out to make the trench.  Finally, I will begin carting in more gravel to lay over the top of it all.  Some day, the deck will extend over this area.  Hopefully the next trench I dig unveils a chest of buried treasure to pay for that.

Digging the trench out by hand instead of hiring a machine saved me a lot of money.  I can't say it was enjoyable, but it feels good to have it done and know that I did that part myself.

Digging in the Earth

I am definitely an "earthy" type girl.  But my most recent project has left me a little less dirt loving than usual.

With the home renovation, a new bathroom and laundry tub was added to the house.  Unfortunately, as life unfolded, this part of the remodel was never finished.  It has been several months now, and in order to get it done before the cold weather arrives, I decided it was time to get started.

I can't afford to rent a proper machine right now, so it was me, my pick-axe and a shovel.  First I had to locate the septic tank.  A tip for anyone looking to find their tank - look for the spot where snow begins to melt first (obviously requires a cold climate).   I found mine after a few test holes, and began digging.  I found the concrete tank and after locating the corner, I was able to dig along the edge until I uncovered the existing pipe.

Now I had to dig trenches from the two pipes coming out of my house to the septic tank.  It took me two full days of digging.  My soil is a combination of hard packed clay and huge rocks, so it was pretty slow going.  The pick axe definitely made things easier.  The fact that there was a railroad tie embedded in the soil defining the edge of the old driveway, definitely slowed me down, but after an hour or so I had it removed.

The plumber is coming tomorrow, and I can't wait to have things up and running.  It will definitely make me feel like my house is getting closer to being finished.

Shake it baby, Shake it!

Now that I'm on my own it is time to tackle a few outstanding projects around my home.  Although I am always up for a challenge, I won't lie and tell you that I have much carpentry experience.  I do have determination and a logical brain, so I think I'm up for the challenge.

I've had an eyesore in my yard for some time now.  We built a woodshed and attached cedar shakes to the sides.  Most of the sides I should say.  My husband must have been distracted and left a few choice areas unfinished.  Specifically the two end gables, around one side of the door, and the front upper portion.  

After looking the project over, I began by measuring 6" from the bottom edge of the last row of shakes.  I then used a chalk line to draw a straight line across the top of the existing row of shakes.  Next, I selected individual shakes and began nailing them on using the chalk line as a guide.  I placed my nails 6 1/2" from the bottom edge of the shake in order for them to be hidden by the next row of shingles.

Persuading someone to help you make the afternoon a lot more fun.  It is always good for kids to watch you  figure things out and learn something new.  

When you get to the last shake, you will need to measure the space required and use a sharp blade to score and cut the shake to the proper size.

Once I got into the gable, things got a little more tricky.  This is likely why the former shake installer left the project :)  I measured from the bottom edge to edge of the roof on first one corner and then the other.  Then I joined those two marks to give me the angle needed for the shake.  I scored and cut that line.  That worked really well on most occasions.

Overall, not a hard project.  The gables were time consuming with all of the cutting, but definitely not difficult - which is great because I still have the other gable and two sides of the chicken coop to finish!

 Project difficulty : 4 out of 10
Sense of accomplishment : HUGE!