What did you do today?

[Coop]

I like a good game of poker amongst friends. But like BJ at the casinos. 

[pkinneb]

10 hours ago, Coop said:

I like a good game of poker amongst friends. But like BJ at the casinos. 

Not gonna lie Coop I had to read that twice 

[Immortan D]

11 hours ago, Coop said:

I like a good game of poker amongst friends. But like BJ at the casinos. 

[Chestnut]

Helped my grandmother with some gardening. She has a 1/3rd acre lot that is home to 150 varieties of hostas and probably another 25 variety of lilies with some other perennials mixed in. I should have taken picutres because most people would feint at the number of plants she takes care of. of her 1/3rd acre lot she has maybe 1,000 sq ft of grass.

I got sent home with the bed of my pickup full of plants for my wooded area.

I have no idea the value of what is in there. I got maybe 100 Martagon lilly bulbs, 30 hostas, a good 15 bleeding hearts and 10 really good sized goats beard. There are some other random things mixed in as well. Tomorrow it all has to go in the ground and get watered well...

[Coop]

Man, I wish we could grow hasta’s here. I love those plants. Those and peonies. 

[Gary Beasley]

Nurseries around here charge $6 to $20 per hosta depending on the size of the pot and the plant. You earned it!

[Gary Beasley]

9 hours ago, Coop said:

Man, I wish we could grow hasta’s here. I love those plants. Those and peonies. 

You just need well drained soil in a shady area. You lack that in your yard? I would think the climate there is not too bad for them. Maybe you should try one indoors.

[RichardA]

Hosta's require a freeze of a given length, I don't remember how long that is.

[Tpt life]

Hostas are widely varied. Most only like some shade and will not blossom without a few hours of sun each day. The more sun, the more water you have to provide. I have never seen any fail to thrive if they don’t freeze, so I assume that means seeds need the stratification process to germinate? For full sun areas, I plant on the north side of concrete steps or building corners. Tree shade also works well if the trees don’t suck all the moisture out of the ground. 

[Tom King]

Our Deer love Hostas.

[Tpt life]

And I love deer. 

[Tom King]

I know it's Sunday, but I worked from early until dark.  My 104 year old Mother is moving in with us on Wednesday.

Long story shortened some, she was in Assisted LIving, had stroke-hospital-nursing home-got better-assisted living got Covid cases while she was gone, and can't go back-she tested negative-gotta go from nursing home because she's all better-moving in here.

Pam and I have cleared out the addition I built for our Master BR suite.  I built it handicap accessible, but never put up all the handrails, or finished all the trim. We've moved ourselves back in the old part of the house, like we used to live here.

Anyway, as far as what I did today:  I put in my first Mini-split system.  That addition was so well insulated, that it got by on residual heat from the original part of the house, and we put in a window ac unit because I never believed the HVAC guys on how big of a system we needed.  I was right, but we never got past the window ac, which we hated, but tolerated, until today.

I was able to hide the lines behind a layer of our White Oak vertical siding, and put the outside unit where it won't be seen from the driveway.  Pictures coming.  They are fairly simple, but still a lot of steps in the process, and including a trip to Lowes, it took a long day.  I routed the lines under the house, and back out on another wall.

edited to add:  I still have one more thing to do on it, but it operates anyway.  I went under the house through the band behind the siding, but didn't want to bother to do that where it came out.  To get out through the stuccoed cinder block foundation, I knocked a hole through the blocks with a 6 lb.sledge hammer, and ran the lines through a section of PVC 3" DWV.  I foamed the pipe on the inside with pest proof foam, but need to come back, and mortar the pipe to block on the outside.

[RichardA]

Keeping Mom safe is worth all you have to do to make her comfortable.

[treeslayer]

Doing the right thing and doing what needs to be done often mean long days Tom and you did both today, well done sir 

[Coop]

Tom, I have something similar coming up. I am adding a 300 sq ft bath and closet to our house. The gc says that our ac is large enough to support the addition. We’ll see. If not, I’m faced with buying a bigger unit and never thought about a mini split. I guess you looked into the difference in the cost of a new unit and the mini split? Perhaps I should allow space and wire for one, just in case. I guess they have their own thermostat and kick on when needed. 

I hope all works out well with your mom. 

[Tom King]

It was more a matter of time.  We only had a week to get ready.  That 1,000 sq. ft. addition didn't really need a whole separate heat pump.  Here are some pictures.

The 12x16 room was originally going to be my weight room, but we outgrew it too fast, and it was used for other stuff.  We're fixing it up to be her bedroom.

I was able to hide the lines behind the siding.  The vertical White Oak boards are 1" thick, and it has 1" polystyrene foam over OSB sheathing.  With the thickness of the siding, and taking out a slot in the foam, there was plenty of room to hide the line set.  The condensate drain does similar, over a few boards.

Framing band is set back 1/2" from edge of foundation.  1" thick treated decking board overhangs foundation 1/2" to allow visibility of the termite shield sheet metal underneath.   That boards main function is to hold siding board vertical force without worrying about fasteners through the 1" foam to handle that weight.

 

[Chestnut]

I got everything planted. It got up to 94 with 50% relative humidity so it was hot and humid.

I got tired toward the end. I had a ton of Martagon lilies that I just wanted in the ground. I'll let them get established in this row over the next 2 years and then move them.

This coming weekend i have a few plants that I wanted to buy to place up there. A couple hydrangas and a couple small trees.

[legenddc]

Tom that might be the fanciest weight room I've ever seen! Glad your mom is doing well and you're able to take her in. Are you going to keep working by yourself or bring big Mike back?

[pkinneb]

11 hours ago, Coop said:

Tom, I have something similar coming up. I am adding a 300 sq ft bath and closet to our house. The gc says that our ac is large enough to support the addition. We’ll see. If not, I’m faced with buying a bigger unit and never thought about a mini split. I guess you looked into the difference in the cost of a new unit and the mini split? Perhaps I should allow space and wire for one, just in case. I guess they have their own thermostat and kick on when needed. 

I hope all works out well with your mom. 

Coop the are used all the time in theater rooms and are very cost effective vs swapping out your normal AC unit. Mr Cool sells DIY units that come fully charged and are pretty reasonable.

[pkinneb]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

I got everything planted. It got up to 94 with 50% relative humidity so it was hot and humid.

Well at least you were working in the shade 

[Tom King]

3 hours ago, legenddc said:

Tom that might be the fanciest weight room I've ever seen! Glad your mom is doing well and you're able to take her in. Are you going to keep working by yourself or bring big Mike back?

That was one of my no sheetrock rooms.  I bought the hear mirror glass for the circle top window for $15 at the flea market.  It was ordered as a replacement.  They sent the wrong size, and told him to keep this one.  The seller was just wanting to get rid of it.  I built the frame for it.  The header was also the finished surface of the jamb.  I laid up multiple layers of plywood, and parked a truck tire on it for clamping.  The building inspector said it was the strongest thing he'd ever seen in a house.

Probably not only going to put Mike back to work, but as many others as I can find too, pretty soon.  The Foundation that owns the 1798 house got word that their grant for rebuilding the stone basement was going through.  I don't know how long it will take them to finalize that, but as soon as I know we can get paid, we're going in the rock busting business.

I'll stay separated from everyone, and let Mike supervise what I want done.  There's a lot of rock moving, dirt digging, and general hard work to be done before we can pour concrete, and start laying stones.

[Tom King]

50% relative humidity doesn't sound too bad.  94% here today.  Dew point 77, at 79 degrees.  Going to 87.

[wtnhighlander]

@Chestnut, that one tree seems to be missing a big scab of bark. Around here, insects would kill it in short order, if it wasn't sealed over. Is that not a problem at your latitude?

[Chestnut]

9 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said:

@Chestnut, that one tree seems to be missing a big scab of bark. Around here, insects would kill it in short order, if it wasn't sealed over. Is that not a problem at your latitude?

That one tree is probably the dead tree that I'm cutting down this fall when i rent a bucket lift. It's been dead a few years now. I guess i'm not sure about bugs attaching it do you mean wood boring bugs like termites? We don't have termites.

[Coop]

I thought everyone had termites? Do you have June bugs and Love bugs and Fire ants?