Visit With Longtime Friends

This weekend we needed to clear out our storage unit as we only had a few days left on the rental period.  Since Laurie had planned her garage sale for the following weekend, we moved all the items out of storage back into the house (yes, another move!).  All the garage sale items went into the den and the items we wanted to keep were stored in the guest bedroom.  No room to move in either area now, but at least it is not in the main living space. Once the garage sale is done, the den should be clear to store the boxes of items we are keeping (yes, more moving) so we can have visitors again.  Hopefully one day all the boxes will be gone.

Lots of boxes has been a theme since we sold our Gilbert house

This is the stuff to keep, which must be moved for visitors in November

We had so much stuff, some had to stay outside on the trailer

We have been married over 36 years and during that time we had made some good friends.  Sometimes we go a long time without seeing each other, but then, when we get together again, it is like no time has passed.  We have been trying to meet up with our longtime friends Mike and Claudette, but it never seemed to happen.  This weekend it finally did.  We met Mike right after we got married and Claudette when they got married later.  We have been camping together, through various family events and many dinners.  It was the two of them that got us started thinking about buying a retirement place.  They had just bought land northwest of Phoenix and were planning to build a house there.  After it was built, we looked around in the same area for something, but did not find anything we thought would work for us, plus it was quite a commute from our Gilbert house.  That started the plan to look closer to our home in the northeast area and boom, here we are in Payson.  So Mike and Claudette came to our new house for the first time since we bought it and we had the day to catch up and share a meal.  It was fun seeing them again (it had been a few years) and we made plans to not wait so long for the next visit.

Since about April, the cover on the quad shed has slowly, but completely, deteriorated. Of course it happened after its one-year warranty had expired and a new cover was almost as much as the original shed cost. So we decided to get a better shed to replace it, along with the original wood shed that was here when we bought the house.  Since we built our shed a few years ago, the Town of Payson codes have changed and we learned we can now put up a 10'x20' shed (previously the max size was 10'x14') without having to get a permit.  We have been seeing the Tuff Sheds at Home Depot and recently they had a Labor Day special we took advantage off.  So in preparation for the new shed, the old ones had to come down.  Mike wanted to move the quad shed and dismantle it later, but Laurie said it would be easier to take it apart now.  It did not take long to disassemble and we stacked all the pieces in hopes someone may want it (even without a cover).  The quads are under tarps for now and will eventually be stored in the existing workshop shed and all the tools will be moved to the new workshop (more room for Mike to use his equipment).

Mike is just tall enough to get the bolts off without a ladder

It definitely came apart much faster than it went up, about 17 months ago

Though she did not really help to put it up, Laurie did help with taking it apart

The last items were the ground anchors and they did not come out without a fight

Mike persevered and got all four out

Our quads in their temporary location

One shed gone and one more to go

Stats: 1 Home Depot trip; 3 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 9/15/15-9/28/15: $0
Remodeling expense to date: $51,664

Completion Of The Pellet Stove

Now that the vacation and Labor Day holiday is over, we are trying to get back to our normally scheduled Payson trips.  We have said that quite a bit over the last year or so, but then something comes up that that throws us off track.  We will see how long it lasts this time.

Laurie came down to the Valley in the middle of the week to pick up Mike's mom, Dar, for a visit in Payson.  She (Laurie) only planned to be down for the day, but ended up spending the night and going back the next morning. She was back in time to meet with the Town of Payson building inspector who gave us a thumbs-up (and more importantly a signature) on our pellet stove installation permit.

Mike arrived Friday night and on Saturday we met Laurie's sister and brother-in-law at the Gila County Fair in Payson.  It was only a buck per person to get in and we saw all the judged items on display.  This included various vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants, photos, crafts and more.  We also got to see horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs and rabbits with a final stop in the vendor section for lemonade and a corn dog (a fair must have!). We had a great time at the fair.  Everyone came back to our house for hamburgers and, after Laurie's sister and BIL left, it was nap time for all.

The next day Mike completed the stove pipe install by securing the thimble pieces to the walls and then sealing the outside thimble.  He had to buy some special heat-resistance caulk at Home Depot to seal the small opening between the pipe and the thimble (mostly to keep the bugs out).  He decided to use the same sealant around the thimble.  Inside the house, the stove pipe from the stove to the wall was silver (the black pipe was a lot more expensive) and all the instructions we have found said the joints between the pipe sections should be sealed.  Instead of using RTV sealant (after reading it would be hard to take the pipes apart if necessary), we bought some high heat stretch and seal black tape.  It not only sealed the joints, but changed the pipe from silver to black (a twofer).  The tape was harder to use than Mike expected because it has a protective film on it that does not stretch so the film must be removed before the tape can be attached.  He eventually found that cutting it into smaller strips helped the process immensely and applied two coats of the tape over the whole indoor pipe section.  Now we are ready to give our stove a test.  Mike wants to schedule an appointment with the guy we bought the stove from to refresh our memory on all the instructions we were given when we bought the stove, but Laurie wants to try reading the manual and doing it on our own.  No decision has been made on this yet.  We also installed a carbon monoxide tester in the hallway near the bedrooms to be sure we will be warned if fumes are escaping once we start using the stove.

Special high-heat sealant (it is clear) around pipe and thimble, mostly for bugs and weather

Viola - magic, silver pipe now black and a bonus - a happy wife (did not like the silver)

It had been awhile since we rode the quads.  Last month, Mike decided to start them up to be sure they were still working and the batteries were good.  Laurie's quad did not start - dead battery.  Mike used the battery charger and after a couple of hours was able to get enough of a charge to turn it over so he left it on the charger overnight night and it was fully charged by morning.  The next weekend he was in Payson, he checked the quad again and again the battery was dead.  We were able to find a replacement battery online for much less than the local automotive store (be sure the battery comes with fluid, some do not).  Once we got the new battery, Mike replaced the old one and charged up the replacement.  This weekend was the test to see if the new battery would hold up and it did.  We talked to Dar about going out on the quads and she was very excited about it.  Then we told her she would be driving it herself.  She was a little hesitant, but up for the challenge.  Mike let her ride Laurie's smaller machine and off the two went for a test run around the block.  Dar had a blast.  Once back at the house, he asked if she wanted to go farther and she said yes.  They made a trip down airport road to the airport homes and back, about seven miles in all, and she did great and had fun.  We will need to take her out again on another visit, which will be soon since we have agreed to bring her up one week every month now that we are a little more settled into our house.

Mike giving instructions to his mom

Pause for a photo-op

And off down the road they go

Taking off on trip number two, we just love the look on her face as she takes off

Pulling into the drive - Yay!, she made it

She said "What a blast, I loved it!"

Mike took his mom back to the Valley with him on Monday night since it was time for him to return to work.

Stats: 1 Home Depot trip; 2 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 9/08/15-9/14/15: $40
Remodeling expense to date: $51,664

Lots Of Work And Time To Do It

Since we sold our Gilbert house in May, most of Laurie's time has been spent at the Payson house.  Our plans are for Mike to come up for three weekends of the month (two of his 3-day weekends and one other) and then Laurie will go down to Chandler for the other weekend.  She can expand the weekend by a few days to handle doctors appts, shopping and other things she cannot do in Payson.  Since our last post, Mike had a lot of work to do to prep for another trip to Hawaii and then was gone for two weeks.  During this time, Laurie sorted through garage sale items and finished organizing the house.

We had plans for our group of MRKLUD friends to come up for the Labor Day weekend.  In past years we scheduled this get-together on the 4th of July, but this year we decided to move it to Labor Day because (1) it is always a 3-day weekend, (2) it would be cooler than July, and (3) two of the couples had other possible family plans for the 4th of July in 2015 that could not be changed.  To be sure we would be ready for our guests, Mike decided to take the week off after returning from his work trip and before Labor Day to help get the house in shape.  Once he made plans to take this time off, Laurie started a list of items for him to take care of that week.  We came up on a Sunday night after a great lunch with friends and the work began.

Due to all the hours Mike had been putting in at work and the long trip, we did not push our days very hard.  We spent quite a bit of time relaxing and enjoying being together, but managed to get a project or two done each day.  Mike started with some simple tasks of making new shelves for the kitchen armoire and adding two new racks to hold ziploc boxes.  The new armoire we put in over a year ago did not have enough shelving to hold all our dishes and Mike was worried that putting too much weight on a shelf could become a problem.  Laurie tried to optimize the space by using wire shelving, but the weight was still an issue and the wire racks were too wobbly.  So we found shelves at Home Depot which were similar in both color and depth, they just needed to be cut to size.  Mike used his table saw to shorten the three extra shelves and, using extra pegs we bought, installed them.  Laurie re-arranged the items and it works much better now. Then it was just a few screws to install two wire racks, one inside a lower cabinet and another on the side of the microwave hutch. These will hold about 6-7 boxes leaving extra space on shelves.

First project of the week, more shelves

When our plumbing work was done in 2010, a new line was run to the outside hose bib out of the crawlspace, under the deck and through the deck joist.  After the deck was rebuilt, we never reattached this line and it has just been hanging underneath the deck.  Instead of compromising the integrity of the new deck structure by drilling holes in the joists, Mike decided to mount the plumbing to the underside of the joists.  Now that the deck was wider, he had to get a sharkbite coupler and add some plex pipe to reach the deck edge.  He used some of the leftover deck material and built a holder for the bib which connected to the outside deck joist.  He still needs to add insulation to this external, unprotected pipe so it won't crack when it gets colder.

Extended hose bib connection and attached to deck joists

Did not have a bracket to attach hose bib to deck, so made one from decking material

Another item that was affected by the deck rebuild was the gutter across the back of the kitchen roof.  The downspout on this gutter had been installed at the edge of the original deck and that edge was now in a different place.  We either needed to cut a hole through the deck to allow the downspout to stay in its place or redo the whole gutter and place the downspout at the other end.  Neither were great choices.  Laurie came up with the idea of running the existing downspout into a rain barrel, which would be placed out of the way on the concrete deck, and we started researching that option.  However, we learned that asphalt roof runoff is not a good source of garden water and that, along with the high cost, convinced us that it would not be a good solution.  Luckily, Mike found we could run a couple of elbows and have the gutter go right along the step up where the concrete connects to the deck.  This would be out of the way (no higher then the deck) and not cause any traffic issues in that transition.  It worked out great, though Mike wants to bend the elbows a little more to get a better seal.  That is for another time.

Added a few elbows and the gutter drain went right along the deck step

And right down the side, away from the patio

While he was outside working, Laurie asked Mike to hang the clothesline we brought from Gilbert.  It is a single line unit that is retractable and, in our other house, it was in the garage.  The only option we have here is outside and we felt it should be hidden.  We decided on the smaller side yard by the A/C unit.  Mike was able to attach the line to the side of the house and the hook was put on the fence.  This put it below the top of the fence and, since we have a wood fence on that side of the house, the line cannot be seen by our neighbors.

It was hard to see the line, so Laurie added some clothes for the picture

Other small tasks that Laurie had on Mike's list were hanging her Big Lots special outdoor chair and replacing her adjustable mirror in the master bath.  She found a smokin' deal on an egg-shaped hanging chair at Big Lots that just needed a tree branch and some chain to make it the perfect reading spot for her.  Laurie has always liked having an adjustable mirror on the wall to help do her hair and makeup and we found one at a garage sale for the Payson house a few years ago.  With the sale of the Gilbert house, we had brought up the nicer mirror she had there and Mike swapped the mirrors.  The garage sale mirror will find its way back to another garage sale.

Laurie's Big Lots chair, ready for some serious reading time

The mirror from our previous house looked better on the wall

One of the last tasks of the pellet stove install was to run the stove pipe through the wall to the outside.  Because our flooring in the great room will probably be replaced (with something other than carpet) in the not too distant future, we were not quite sure what to do about the carpet under the hearth as we didn't want the height of the hearth to change after we put the venting through the wall.  If we left the hearth on the carpet, our new flooring might not be as thick as the carpet and pad, so you would see the old carpet peeking out from under the hearth.  Why can't anything be easy!  So we finally decided to set the hearth directly on the subfloor.  This meant moving the stove and then the hearth (two awfully heavy items - great task for furniture sliders!) and then removing a section of carpet.  Mike had set down some tape along the outline before we moved everything and then cut near those lines.  He pulled up the old tack strips along the wall and placed them under the new carpet edge.  He did the best he could without tools to stretch the carpet onto the newly placed tack strips and we moved the hearth into place. It was a perfect fit.  The stove was moved back on top, ready to have its stovepipe installed.

This looks similar to other pictures, but now the hearth is on the sub-floor, not carpet

It has been over a year since we last cleaned the carpet and, though that may not seem long - especially since we were only part-time residents , having a dog like Zena means having to clean it often.  Not only does she shed a lot, but she drools and drips when she drinks water and the few times she has thrown up this past year, it was never on the tile.  So it needed another cleaning.  Laurie scheduled a guy to come over mid-week and we moved everything but the TV armoire, couch and hearth out of the room.  It took a couple of hours for him to do the carpet, hallway and the couch and then another half day while it all dried.  It was great having the opening between the deck and the concrete patio as we could easily get to the bedroom and master bath during the time we had to keep off the carpet.  It wasn't until after dark before we felt comfortable enough to walk around, and then only in stocking feet.

The last task Mike did before the guests arrived was to install a mirrored jewelry cabinet Laurie brought from the Gilbert house.  It fit great at the end of the short hallway leading to the guest bedroom.  In that space, the mirror works for Laurie to checking her attire or she can even do her hair/makeup if Mike is in the master bath.  It took just a couple of wall anchors (mollies) and screws to install. Now it just needs to be filled with jewelry.

A jewelry cabinet with mirror from our other house

After that there was some cleaning, furniture re-arranging, room setup and shopping to do.  It was now time for our visitors to arrive.  The 1st couple made it to the house by mid-afternoon on Friday and the 2nd couple arrived about an hour later.  Everyone got their luggage and food put away and we spent time talking and relaxing.  For dinner, each person made their own pizza which Mike cooked on the grill and we all sat outside on the new deck, the first time we had used it since it had been built.  We called it an early night and the next morning we had a wonderful breakfast casserole which was easy to pop into our small convection oven when the coffee got started. A little later we had sandwiches for lunch and then our peep shooting contest got underway (just for reference, this is using pellet guns to shoot marshmallow peeps for points).  In past years we shot right off the deck, but since the deck was now bigger, it was a shorter distance to the fence - not much of a challenge.  We moved the activity to the concrete patio with a straight line to the concrete slab next to the workshop.  We had a great time and the guys won the contest again this year.  The 1st game was a landslide, but only a few points separated the groups in the 2nd.  Dinner was hamburgers and sides, with a wonderful pineapple cake for dessert.  We taught the group a new card game (Nickels) before retiring for the night.  The next day we all piled into our truck and went up to Pine/Strawberry for the Labor Day craft fair.  We arrived before it got too crowded and hot.  Everyone found something of interest and we walked away with a few bags of goodies.  When we returned, both couples packed up for the trip back to the Valley and after a quick lunch out, we were on our own again.

The deck finally got setup for use, first time since it was installed

The new location for the peep targets

And the new location for the peep shooters

Shooters scoping out their peep prey

On Monday, Mike wanted to complete the pellet stove pipe installation so Laurie could have the town inspector review it during the week and get it signed off.  Now that the pellet stove and hearth were on their final resting place, Mike measured where the pipe would go through the wall and checked for studs and wiring.  We had previously reviewed the pictures taken prior to the drywall going up to see where the wiring was located and thought we would miss it.  To be sure, Mike bought a new stud finder that also does electrical scans, which helped us feel better that we were going to miss the wires. After all the markings, he started with a small hole just to feel inside and be sure there were no wires or stud.  Then he enlarged the hole for the thimble sleeve and cleaned out the insulation.  He found that the right side of the hole was right up against the stud, perfect placement!  Next he had to mark the center of the hole against the outside wall and drill a pilot hole.  On the outside, he used a string and pencil to draw a 7 inch diameter circle around the pilot hole and then cut out the hole.  It took a couple of attempts and some trimming to make the hole the right size for the thimble, but we finally got the thimble pieces (inside and out) installed.  We pushed the pipe through the thimble hole and attached the stove pipe to the side of the house.  We did not seal the finished product as we wanted to be sure the inspector would pass it, so Mike put tape around the outside thimble to keep any rain out.

Always scary cutting holes in the wall, but this one worked out

The thimble in wall, not the same as a thimble on your finger

The stove pipe connected through the thimble

The stove pipe on the outside of the house

Temporary seal with infamous duck tape

That brought an end to our wonderful relaxing and productive week.  Not everything on Mike's list was completed, but he made a good dent in it.

Stats: 7 Home Depot trips; 8 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 8/04/15-9/07/15: $131
Remodeling expense to date: $51,624

A New Shed And The Desk Is Out

After about a month of looking at the large monstrosity of a desk in the den, Laurie finally decided it was too big for the room.  So we disassembled the desk (for the second time in three months).  We are not sure it will be a sellable item in Payson due to its size, and Mike was hoping just to take it to be donated, but Laurie likes a challenge and so into the garage sale storage unit it went.  After we removed the desk, we both thought the Ikea bookshelf should be relocated to the wall where the desk had been.  So we moved it to the new location and the room looks much better now.  The one issue is that, due to the length of the unit, the fan and light switches now have to be accessed through one of the cubbies.

The room still has some clutter, but the shelving works good in this space

If you have never used them, we strongly recommend getting a set (or more) of furniture sliders.  They are round plastic disks, with padding on the top side, that you place under furniture or other heavy items to make it possible to slide them around the floor.  They work great on both tile and carpet and even bare wood.  We have used them in every stage of our renovation on every flooring we've had.  We put about eight of those sliders under this bookshelf (due to its length) and easily moved it across the room. We have used them on the washer, dryer, sofa and even our pellet stove (which is a REALLY heavy item).  The only drawback to using these sliders is they sometimes get stuck going over transitions or door frames, but they have proven to be indispensable and have saved our having to ask friends/neighbors for help on more than one occasion.

These little devices have saved our backs more than once in the last few years

After moving all our Gilbert items to Payson, we now have an abundance of yard equipment.  We did not want to store these items in the workshop since it is, well, a workshop, not a storage unit, and the small wood shed is in its last days, so we decided to get a new garden shed to house the lawn mower, weedeater, rakes, shovels and other outside tools.  As usual, we spent many, many hours looking at different sheds online at Home Depot (our favorite source) and, after reading many reviews, found one we thought would work.  To our dismay, the Payson store did not have one in stock.  But we found a Home Depot in Chandler which had the unit on display.  Some of the negative reviews that we thought would not be an issue, turned out to be a problem when we saw it all put together.  Scratch that one off the list - back to square one.  The other sheds were either too small or too big (mostly in height as we did not want it to show over the fence).  We decided to call it a night at that point, but, as we left Home Depot, we remembered there was a Lowes right next door.  They had a Rubbermaid shed that Home Depot did not carry and it was perfect in size and cost (kept us from getting two smaller sheds).  The box fit in the back of the truck and up to Payson it went.  We bought some pavers to set a foundation for the shed in the side yard next to the block fence.  We spent a lot of time getting the foundation level, then just a couple of hours matching slot A to slot B and connecting all the parts and the shed was up.  We picked up some extra hanger hardware at Home Depot, filled it with stuff, and now the shed is complete.

This was the perfect spot for our new shed and it fit so well

All our lawn and outside tools in one spot

Stats: 3 Home Depot trips; 2 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 7/21/15-8/03/15: $0
Remodeling expense to date: $51,493