The last couple of weeks we started several small projects and finished a few, and found a little gem in the process.

Electrical upgrade

The current power setup has been around since the late sixties for sure. Given that it is 60 years old, it is a bit shaky. The power comes the transformer out on the road to the main pole with a yard light. From there it is distributed to the buildings. The “dog house” that protects the main breaker is a little weathered.

• 

• 

We recently lost power several times with what we believe is just the wind blowing. There is now enough sag in the wires that go from the pole to the barn that a moderate breeze (not difficult to come by on the top of a hill) makes the wires cross and trips the breaker. So, we decided it was time to do something.

Electrical wiring is an amateur passion of Brad’s. I kid you not. He points out in movies that they used the wrong switch, outlet, breaker panel, etc. The electrical code book is something he enjoys looking through (it would cure insomnia for me in a matter of minutes). And to top it off, he is good at it. So he set out to design a new service entrance and distribution panel. Once he had his designs finalized we contacted the power company, who approved them and approved out request.

We then had work to do. A tree needed serious trimming, and we needed to build the free standing back board for the service entrance. A friend who does some landscape work traded skilled labor with Brad. He came and bored the holes for the concrete pillars in exchange for Brad helping him with some wiring.

We borrowed my dad’s old cement mixer from my brother and set the posts waiting for the next phase of that project as the concrete cures.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Good-bye balcony

We knew even before buying the house that the balcony was in no condition to step on. With nice weather and before we got into anything big we decided that it was best to take it down.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Hidden Gems

We realized last fall that the deck on the South side of the house needed some TLC. Some boards were loose and the steps were questionable. This last week we finally got around to doing something about it. We decided that it was just easier to take it off and start over than to try to piecemeal new wood and nails or screws into old construction.

So we went to work systematically pulling the deck off. Since most of the wood seems good we thought that we could salvage it for assorted projects.

• 

• 

• 

We discovered there was good reason the deck felt shaky.

We had had a hint of what was underneath, but once the deck was removed we discovered how good the hidden gem was.

• 

• 

Its the original steps off the side of the kitchen that match the stone of the house! How cool is that?