Buckskin /
Apr2024
April 13, 2024, Saturday
- Painted the "tree" room. Using 1-1/2 gallons of Sherwin Williams Flat paint from Lowe's, Rebecca and I painted all walls, covering the painted tree, grasses, dragonflies, and the green-colored wall around the window. We first used a small brush to paint around the moldings and corners, then rolled the walls with a roller using techniques learned from YouTube.
- Drained the pool. Using a left-over garden hose, we started a siphon to empty the pool, which, as it turns out, is not covered. The pool cover is/was retracted!
April 12, 2024, Friday
- Levi King, chimney sweep, arrived and checked out the wood-burning fireplace and chimney. A good bill of health! The flue is clean and clear. Damper is closed. Learned that the decorative chimney cap has diagonal cross bracing which prevents the installation of a spark arrestor/chimney cap. If the braces are redone to open up the center area, then a cap can be installed.
April 11, 2024, Thursday
- Finished installation of the Master Bath sink drain hardware on both the His and Hers vanities.
- This was after several days of 'clean up' of the faucets, by soaking the encrusted spout in vinegar and scrubing with a toothbrush. Better now, but sadly the faucets have been damaged by previous owners trying to scrape away the hardwater deposits.
- The Hers sink's original drain had been screwed in very, very tightly, and even left a scar in the porcelain. The new "Premier" drains have a narrower flange and this scar showed. Using a combination of Dawn dishwashing liquid, baking soda, and vinegar, I was able to clean the stains from the scarred ring. Essentially un-noticeable now. The Hers sink has a very small ding near the front of the flange that needs to be painted later with porcelain paint.
April 9, 2024, Tuesday
- Mounted the miniblinds in the shop's three windows
- Mounted the miniblind in the garages large west window
April 8, 2024, Monday
- Derek from Culligan came to help me with the whole house filters.
- Together we were able to release the 'upstream' whole home filter canister, each pulling a wrench 180-degrees apart. The filter was a mess, of course, and was discarded.
- We cleaned the canister, and remounted both filter/canisters. 50 Micron filter in upstream unit, 5 Micron filter in downstream unit.
- Derek replaced the O-ring on each unit before reinstallation, and used some special O-ring lubricant in the channel, the O-ring itself, and the canister threads.
- Screw the canister tight by hand, then add about 1/8 of a turn further using the wrench.
April 7, 2024, Sunday
- Rebecca discovered a squirrel in the wood-burning fireplace. Thankfully, it could not get into the house because of the front screen. We hung sheets/drapes from the mantel to the closest window, creating a kind of tunnel leading from the fireplace to the window. Then we opened the screen. In a few minutes the squirrel nosed out an followed the tunnel to the window, up and out! I made sure to close the damper!