Category Archives: News

Finishing up the skirt

News

Having completed the skirt, staining it brown ( a poll showed a vast majority preferred brown over federal grey) I’m happy with the result.

The brown skirt makes the whole structure more balanced in color. The deck support is now federal grey. Having the gap under the extension closed also looks more neat, as you can’t see the scaffolding stored under there

One thing I notice when I look at the above pictures; that single horizontal cedar board stands out a lot as I did not have the right color stain. I will fix that later todayUpdate: this looks a little better. It’s hard to get the color exactly the same.

Insulation

News

After skirting the Pier and Beam foundation, I added spray foam insulation to the inside. This fill up any gaps in the skirt and should help keep the house cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

It’s a nasty job, as you have to suit up and wear eye protection and a face mask, as the solvents in the spray cans isn’t very healthy.

When I enter and shut the door, it’s pretty much pitch black in there, so it should keep those paper wasps and mud daubers out too.

Hot Tub Cover

News, outside, ,

The SaluSpa hot tub has been a great addition to Ozuye. But there were some issues with the cover, and the floating air cushion inside.

When I arrived this time, the air cushion was filled with water instead of air. That makes it close to impossible to take it out (due to the water weight) and totally defeats the purpose of the air cushion.

So after getting all the water out and re-inflating the cushion, I discovered a puncture in the inner section. So I patched that and now the cushion is fully functional again.

For future reference; the outer section is not to be inflated, nor unplugged, as the cushion is just the right size with only the inner two sections inflated.

To avoid the cover blowing away, the cord to tighten it is now going under the connections to the pump and heater. To uncover, release the cord and flip the grey cover over to the side next to the pump. Then remove the black cushion and store it so that the wind doesn’t blow it away.

The pictures below illustrate the proper way to place both the air cushion and cover.

A hose that can be connected to the air pump is in the bottom right kitchen drawer. With a little effort it just fits the black air cushion.

the outer section of the air cushion is deflated and plugged

the cover fits the tub nicely once the tightener has been released.

The tightening cord stays under the connections to the pump to avoid it getting blown away by the wind.

North East Skirt

News, outside

Today I finished the North East side.

I was able to use many of the left over pieces of cedar planks, so I might have enough planks to go all the way round. The remaining sides are less tall. I wonder which color stain would look best on the skirt; I’m thinking Federal blue like the deck.

Access door

News, outside,

At the North East side, the piers are the tallest, so I decided to make an access door there.

When closed you barely see it, but it’s big enough to put my bike and anything big for permanent storage.

I re-used the hinges and latches I had on the OSB, and made a frame from old 2×4’s

Caliper Replacement

News, Truck

Last year I replaced the brake pads on my truck although that went well, I did notice that the right rear caliper wasn’t exactly moving smoothly; it took me 30 minutes to compress it.

Last time I was over (early January) I noticed the metal scraping sound when softly breaking was back. So this time I ordered a new caliper, and replaced the old one.

As you can see, the moving part completely broke off when I compressed it this time, so clearly this was the culprit.

With the new caliper in place, after bleeding the brake line and re-topping the brake fluid, the truck once again breaks well without any metal scraping sounds.

New skirt

News, outside

A few months after my log home logs were in place and the framing was done, I received a letter from the Colonel (owner of the Stallion Springs subdivision land) stating that I needed to get the pier and beam foundation covered up, as that’s part of the rules in this subdivision. At the time, I needed a quick and cheap solution, which was OSB boards. That did its job until now, but the boards were coming loose and moisture had made them weak. In combination with the slightly exaggerated report that Ozuye was infested with wasps, this trip I’m replacing the OSB with much more aesthetically pleasing cedar planks, a process that is known as skirting.

Above you can see the first result, with the new cedar skirt on the right and the old white OSB on the left.