Expensive weekend

Had a plumber in to replace the hot water heater. It was about sixteen years old, and rumbling. Had me a bit nervous. Glad I had a pro do it. It got ugly. The previous owner skimped on shut offs. No shut off valve for the water heater. If water heater went, you had to shut the main off. Had to turn the main valve off coming into house. Water was still trickling. It wouldn't shut all the way off. He tried turning it back on. Nope, it was broke. I am a huge fan of the new shut off valves that are quarter turn on, quarter turn off. Hate gate valves. They always fail, always. I usually know where the main shut offs are for everything. I hadn't found the water meter and shut off yet. Grabbed a shovel and started tracing the area from street to line input of house. Found it. Under a couple feet of leaves, that were under the two massive thorn bushes in the front of house. Whacked the bushes back and raked up the leaves. In the interim, he had the water heater out, installed a shutoff valve for the input of water heater, and teed off of the gas line for my stove. I had him add to his work list adding a shut off valves for both the outdoor faucets. Had him install a modern new faucet on the rear of house. That one I use a lot. Would have had him do the front faucet as well, but, power company planted the gas meter smack dab in front of it. Not enough room to pull old and replace. It drips. I now have an inside shut off valve for it, so I can shut the water off completely in there when not in use. It is old enough, I may be able to replace a rubber washer in it to get rid of drip. I had him install a shut off in line for the ice maker on refrigerator too. I had it temped in so I could use it before. I don't like saddle clamps. I wanted it done right. The plumbing took all day, but I now have a new water heater, shut off valves where I need them, Ice maker hooked up right and a working gas range. It was an expensive day, but well worth it. Marked a lot of things off my to do list. I am also relieved to know where the water main is for any future emergencies. Next up is countertops. I am seriously thinking of doing the counter tops in butcher block. It would look nice and is rather economical. Found the faucet and sink combo I want as well.
Did manage to get out for a little, very little, yard work today. Trimming brush and removing dead wood. April starts spring yard waste pick up. They will pick up debris for four weeks. I am starting to get my pile ready. Lots to do. Try and stay on track and do a bit every day after work. A week from tomorrow is our first of two heavy trash pick up days. I am going to try and cut up the rotting 8x9 yard barn in back and stack it up for them to haul away. Hope to get the yard in shape this spring. It has been neglected, for years from the look of it. Going to try and get ahold of the garage builder again if the work part of the week goes well.

Making headway

I have a plumber scheduled to replace the water heater and run gas line for the stove. I will get the counter top ordered during the week. I believe I figured out which top I want. It is way too hard to pick from such a wide assortment. Trying to get  a builder out to get solid quotes on garage. Hard to get them to answer email requests. I am going to call the original builder I talked to last year. They do stick and steel garages. I will quote both. It is going in back yard, so I can do either. I can probably go bigger with the steel, and they carry a forty year warranty on the steel. It should outlast me by a few decades.


Miserable weekend. I missed work Friday. Used a personal day. When I got home Thursday, Spike was in pain. He had his leg up and shaking. He has back issues that act up now and then and I tried calming him down the best I could. Usually they work themselves out. He was howling when he moved most of the night, so I took off work and took him into the vet when they opened in the morning. I was extremely thankful they didn't have to put him down. They gave him pain pills and muscle relaxers, and took x-rays. He is doing much better. Not near himself yet, but it will take time to heal. I've been there before as I have torn my back up several times over the years. Hard to keep him from jumping on furniture or running when he hears the neighbor dog. Made for a horrible weekend. Spent most of it keeping him calm and resting. Meds help take the pep out of him. I need to look into setting up a ramp of sorts so he doesn't have to jump on and off couch. He must have landed wrong while I was at work. He sometimes likes doing laps around the hallway as well. Amazing how fast the little dog goes when he is outright running. Hardwood floors make the turns a bit hard for him. I look forward to having him back up to normal soon. Just wish there was a more permanent fix, but it is just a genetic flaw in the breed.


Not ready to go back to work yet, but I have to. Really want to get the garage on the schedule. You would think builders would call you back when you want to hire them to build a garage, but it doesn't seem to matter to the ones I have contacted thus far. I don't want to hire someone that doesn't call back promptly as I don't want to run into same issue when they are hired and not moving forward on job.