Drainage is working!

For the first time, we have had consistent, measurable rainfall at our new house.  We have received approximately 1 3/4 inches of rain in the past 7 days.  The drainage system Paul designed seems to be doing its job.

The water is following the drain tile and staying away from the house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7BT-An1l-M


It's getting all the way down the driveway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsDuum41M1M


And it's staying out of the basement!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=logliqeHYqo

We will call this a victory for now.  The next test will be a heavy storm, with multiple inches in one day.

A compost bin and new kitchen faucet

I finally made a compost bin for the back yard.  Now the trick is to remember to put my compost in it!

The dripping faucet in the kitchen finally started getting worse (and the persistent bloop bloop bloop was getting on my nerves).  Since the old one had 2 handles and I prefer 1 handle, the clear answer was to replace, not repair.  The faucet selection at Home Depot and Lowes is quite extensive.  The biggest problem was finding a faucet we liked with a handle that wouldn't be obstructed by the backsplash.

Old faucet.  Sorry about the lighting, the sun was shining directly into the window.

New faucet.

Now we need to keep ripping off the old paneling so we can tile the walls under above the counters. 

Yard Improvements

We have three more banana trees in the yard now.

It will be a while before we get bananas, but they should be delicious!

The avocado tree has plenty of fruit out of reach.  We're planning to get the 15 ft telescoping fruit picker from Home Depot soon.

I'm even trying my hand at a garden.  So far, I have basil, rosemary, and a pepper plant.

I pruned the pomegranate tree.  I still can't tell if the fruit is edible or strictly ornamental.  So far none of the pomegranates have been very good.

The middle bedroom

I wanted to call this "the only finished room," but then I remembered there are a few floor boards that need some love... and the window is in place, but not very nice.  Even with those issues its the nicest room in the house right now.

Here's the middle bedroom, the room with the most progress.

Its sort of small, so its hard to get a good photo.
 

The ceiling fan was one of our early projects.

Stay tuned for yard pictures.
M

Happy December

Here is the recent progress:

Matt made a permanent bunny door for Hank.  This was especially timely because Hank had learned how to move the cardboard bunny door himself.

Bunny door closed.

Bunny door open.

We also finished installing the railing/fence the insurance company wanted.  The blue is our future house trim color.

Fence was a salvaged item from ReUse Hawaii.

The yard is coming along with 2 papaya trees and 1 banana tree in the back and two plumeria trees closer to the upper cement slab.

 Papaya are by the pipe.  Can't quite see the little banana tree.  Plumeria are the sticks up front- look carefully!

Over the past weekend, we painted the hallway.

 

Yes, its lavender.

 The nicely painted hallway (which was formerly white with hole filler marks) makes the kitchen look really grimey. At least the kitchen is one spot closer to the top of the list now.

Classes end on Thursday for me, and I'm looking forward to home projects over winter break.

Stay tuned.

M

Pre-thanksgiving update

Lots of progress in just the first month:

New exterior doors on the entire house

Carport door

Side basement door

Back door

We removed the roof gardens and installed new gutters.

Roof garden in one of the former gutters

No more rusty, hazardous gutters on the front.

New side gutters

One of the back gutters.  We think this side of the roof was a major contributor to the water beside the house.  The gutter empties into a drain box to keep the water off the surface.

Outlet for the back gutter drain box (look for the circle above a cinder block)

More back gutters

 More back gutters

We routed the other back gutters to the side of the house.  Dick Stewart should be proud.

Paul directed our first efforts to keep water from going into the basement. Drain tile + rocks + waterproofer and poly on the wall + a top layer of poly + more drain tile + more rocks.

 This is one of the many large rocks we had to relocate during excavation.

 Drain box to collect water from behind and next to the house

Under the rock are the layers of poly, drain tile, and more drain tile.

We are experimenting with a piece of drain tile to keep water from collecting in this low spot.  It outlets to the drain box pictured above.

The drain tile runs out to the drive way

Along the driveway

And out to the road.

By mainland standards this is not appropriate, but this is how you do it in HI (notice the neighbors's pvc at the very end of the drive way).


Paul made stairs for the side yard using rocks from the drainage excavation.

 From the driveway to the yard

Beside the bird-of-paradise to the back yard

 It was a dirty job.

Our stove installation is waiting on electrical upgrades so we bought a new grill.

 New 4-burner with side burner grill from Sears

Matt got ambitious and made a picnic table from rough sawn, salvaged lumber.  The table top is 9 ft x 40 inches.  It's a regular banquet table.

The spare bedroom is painted with a ceiling fan and "new" window.  We installed a ceiling fan in the master bedroom too.  I'll post photos of the rooms later.  Stay tuned.

M

Halloween home reno update

Shame on me for not thinking to take photos dueling daylight hours. Here's a quick run down on the progress:

Sideburnz saw quiver includes a reciprocating saw (cordless) 2 circular saws (one corded and one cordless), a table saw, a compound miter saw, and a Husqy chain saw.  The cordless saws just arrived on Monday, so we haven't put them to good use yet.  The Husqy saw some action last Monday. The offending branch on our mango tree is history. Liberty mutual will be pleased.  The quiver of saws has motivated Sideburnz to build a picnic table.  His favorite retailer, ReUse Hawaii had two 18 ft rough sawn genuine 2x10s. We have enough wood for the top, just need more for supports.  We have genuine 2x4s in the carport that might make good benches.  The construction is slated for next Monday.

I have been on a major door campaign.  All entry doors (4 of them!) were hollow/weathered/termite chewed/all of the above. 3 new doors are installed.  The back door is last on the list because that one has to change from opening out to opening in.  We decided the exterior hinge pins were not a security asset.

I am also on a campaign to rid the house of the last stink: removing carpet from the middle bedroom. It would be as easy as just hauling it out, but why waste a perfectly cut drop cloth? Its actually more complicated than it seems.  Last weekend was phase 1: air conditioner removal, window and screen installation.  You should see the rust holes in the air conditioner. scary. The window installation was 90% perfect. I cut the jalousie hardware to fit the window. Chiseled out part of the window sill to make it fit really nice. Secured it. And then found out that my jalousie panes were 1/8 in too long!  I bought a glass cutter at city mill, even though the sales guy said I couldn't cut jalousie panes.  He was wrong.  I had one casualty (the pane, not me), and I am still short 3 panes, but the window is installed.

I think the crowning moment of the window experience was making the screen. City mill wanted $50 for a custom screen.  I knew I could do better. I made a custom screen frame from scrap wood (34 in x 48 in frame) and primed it.  While it was drying I dug through the sewing boxes. Lo and behold, a scrap of army surplus bug net that is just a little bigger than 34x48. Golden.  Once the primer was dry, I stapled the bug net to the frame and ta-da! a nearly free screen.  It even fit perfectly.  It looks a little weird because the bug net had seams in it, but it goes well with the 3rd class jalousie panes and salvaged jalousie hardware.  At least the bugs and most of the rain will stay out.

Things are progressing slowly, but the progress is satisfying.  I will try to remember to take photos in the daylight.  Then you'll really be able to see the progress.

The local anti-pressboard movement

The anti-pressboard movement is going strong at our house.  Almost every room had some sort of pressboard shelving or cabinetry when we moved in.  Old pressboard has an amazing ability to smell horrible, especially if it has become moist.

Today's triumph on the pressboard front was the removal of a horrible cabinet  in the dining area.  Matt kindly removed the plywood top that he wanted to save.  All that remained was the doors, drawers, and skeleton.  I had the saws-all at the ready, but since pressboard is structurally unsound, all I needed was a crow bar.  I separated the cabinet into two pieces really easily.  I scooted them out the back door, and then contemplated how I could get them down the stairs outside.  Each piece was a little to heavy and bulky for me to carry.  A dolly would have been great, but we don't have one.  So I used my only remaining option: walk, roll, and slide.  The moldy buggers were only going to the dump so it didn't really matter if they'd got wrecked.  After rolling the smaller of the two pieces down the stairs and narrowly missing the clothes pole, I opted to slide the larger piece down the stairs.  This was also a successful technique.

 Despite my tiredness and hunger, continued my campaign and took out the pressboard shelves in the front bedroom.  I had justified the abundance of pressboard because I expected it to be termite resistant.  That is false. The termite chews and poop on two of the shelves was unbelievable.  I have to do an inventory still, but I think the house might be pressboard free.

Tonight's discussion at dinner will be whether or not to bring the pressboard bookshelf into the house.  This was a goodwill purchase from when we first moved to hawaii.  I suspect it may be going back to the goodwill

Oct 16 update

Progress has been pretty good so far.  On friday we received a new washer and refrigerator. Everything is out of storage. We installed a new front door, fixed the living room windows, and ripped out the stairway carpet over the weekend. Today, Matt tackled the back basement bedroom. Removing the rotted pressboard shelf and moldy carpet completely eradicated the funk from that room.

I made another movie to show you some of the progress.
Here's the quick link
Or you can go to the movie directly here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoML3Eva7kI

On another amusing note, Hank has embraced his new living quarters. The dogs next door don't seem to bother him, but he sure hates it when the neighbors speak hawaiian pidgin.

For a review of pidgin, check this out: moke action

Stay tuned for more great home reno stories.

New House

Here is a rough video tour of the upstairs: Quick link
Or if the quick link doesn't work, Copy and Paste into your web browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiCNpxWCn8s

Here is a rough video tour of the downstairs: Quick Link
 Or if the quick link doesn't work, Copy and Paste into your web browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5npf60XU7g

The house is ~ 1300 sq ft upstairs and ~600 sq ft downstairs. The downstairs has some water issues, but we think they are resolvable. The upstairs mostly needs some TLC- paint, new light fixtures, replace some floor boards, new flooring in the back bedroom, new flooring in the kitchen and a bathroom overhaul. We have a new fridge and washing machine on its way today. Tuesday we'll know if a gas stove is feasible.

Stay tuned!

Night #6 Camp Mokuleia

Things were busy this spring, and unfortunately, camping trips were nonexistant. Finally got a chance to camp on May 27 as part of the Hawaii Craftsmen's annual Raku Ho'olaulea. Photos of raku are here. Here's camp (sorry about the blurriness- iPhone photo):

And here's the morning's sunrise:

Two things of note about this night camping: 1) The wind was producing gale force winds all day long. It was unpleasant to sit on the beach because the sand pelleted you so hard. I had sand stuck in my ear for several days as a result. Once the sun went down, the wind disappeared and the evening was very pleasant. 2) I slept like a rock. This meant sleeping a full night, uninterrupted on a thermarest, and never waking up when Sideburnz repeatedly unzipped and rezipped the tent as he was putting his pottery away and climbing into bed. Six nights down, twenty four more to go!

Night #5 Kualoa Ranch

Sunday was Tim's Love Ride (4 hr mountain bike race) at the Ranch, and some of us had a chance camp on Saturday night. Totally different than Night #4, just the previous night. Saturday's camping adventure was a full on party.

As I set up camp, the sunset was extraordinary.


I made a shelter out of one of Sideburnz's handmade tarps and two poles we recently bought at Soul Trex. It frequently rains at the Ranch, so I thought it would be prudent to have a cooking shelter. We only had a few drops of rain, so I didn't get to really test it out.



Here's another view of camp.



Sideburnz made a surprise appearance on Sunday morning for the race. He was supposed to be firing the kiln at the potters guild, but there was some sort of miscommunication. Team Salty had a good showing (Me, Sideburnz and Ed): 3rd place in the Expert category.



The deal with this race was that everyone on your team had to finish for the lap to count. Sideburnz and I were on our SS bikes, so we were a bit behind Ed. On lap 7 of 7, Sideburnz and I kicked it into high gear to secure our 3rd place. Now we're paying dearly- Sideburnz is still passed out napping.

Camping and bikes, doesn't get much better! 5 down, 25 more nights to go!

Night #4 Kuliouou Ridge

After a crazy week of work, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go camping. However, on Friday morning, the only thing I wanted to do was sit in the woods, even though I still had to go to work. That made my decision easy- I would go camping. I hadn't camped at Kuliouou ridge yet, and that was a nice, close-to-town camping spot. I knew I could find easy camping places in the dark, as I had biked and ran the trail several times. Friday's trip was a bike-hike adventure. I left the house at 6:30pm on my Cross Check. I'm not sure why I chose that bike instead of the Xtracycle. In retrospect, the Xtracycle would have been more comfortable. I suppose, I wanted to get the Cross Check out for a camping trip for olde tymes sake. We logged lots of great miles in Finland and Sweden. I opted to bring the tent this trip because the wind was strong enough to blow our front door shut, even with the Dr. Stewart rock.

The 10 mile ride to the trail head was a little slow because of the headwind. I locked my bike to a sign at the start of the foot trail and reloaded my gear. My Jandd day pack was surprisingly comfortable with the tent strapped to the bottom. The ~ 1.5 mile hike to the picnic shelter took about 40 minutes. I had to switch my brain into tent mode instead of hammock mode as I looked for good place to set up camp. By 8:30 my camp was set up, I was in dry clothes and it was time to enjoy nature. The mauka clouds were moving fast, so the view of the stars was actually pretty good. By 9:15, I was tucked in bed. I unfortunately dressed for hammock camping(wool long underwear), and I woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat.

I slept late (almost 7!) so I didn't have a lot of time to hike around. I figured the hike to the top was at least 30 minutes, and it looked pretty Gargamel today (dark and gloomy). I decided to enjoy my coffee at the picnic shelter and save the hike to the top for another day. I brought the Esbit stove for try number 2. Refer to Night #2 for a recount of my futile attempt to make coffee with this stove. I brought matches and the MSR whisperlite to make sure I had coffee this morning. The esbit stove lit with the second match, and heated 12 oz of water to almost boiling (perfect for french press coffee). I wouldn't count on that stove to do anything more. However, due to its small size and easy of use with matches (not a striker), I will likely take it on my 14 hr camping trips more often.

I took my camera out to document my successful coffee making only to find my batteries were finally dead. I charged some rechargable batteries about 2 weeks ago, and found that those too were dead. No photos of the coffee, campsite or scenery today. Darn. I packed up my tent and scampered down the hill. I passed about 20 people walking up the trail. Some of them looked very confused, as they should be... why would someone be walking down at 8:00am?

The ride home was fast with the tail wind. I even used the big ring for a while. I returned home at 9am, 14.5 hours after I left. When I got home, I used the big camera to document my rig (tent and thermarest strapped to the rack, pannier for shoes, lock, and flatkit, backpack with everything else):



Another fun Friday night in the woods! 4 down, 26 more nights to go!

Night #3 Kahana State Park

This morning's sunrise.

Night #3 brought me to Kahana State Park on the Windward side. Matt and Nick from the bike shop came with me. Matt and I decided to hammock camp, even though flat ground was availble. On the ridges like Wiliwilinui, flat ground is a rare commodity, and guava are abundant, so hammocking is ideal. Kahana State Park's campground is on a sliver of sand and ironwoods between Kam Hwy and the beach. Not exactly pristine, but its nice enough.

We successfully roasted brats and marshmallows on our little Smokey Joe grill. This is the first time in close to 2 years that we got the grill to stay lit. It must be the Manoa dampness that makes it go out when we're at home. I was surprised how many stars we could see, even with the highway street lights just 100 meters away. I guess the light pollution from town can't reach that far.

Just after we went to bed, the winds picked up, which meant some hammock/tarp readjustments. I finally found a configuration that would keep me dry and was quiet enough to sleep (no tarp flapping in the breeze). Tarp inside of my bugnet. Yup, I made myself a little Maria burrito with my sleeping bag, thermarest and hammock inside, wrapped up in my tarp, all secured with my bugnet.

Regretfully, I don't have a close-up photo of this curiosity. It kept me dry, toasty, and I managed to sleep most of the night. I'm thinking this might be a usual windy-night set up. I slept well enough that a medium sized branch fell from the tree above, hit the foot-end of my hammock, and I never noticed. A little scary if you ask me.

Matt's night was less successful. It went something like this:
1. Attempt to sleep with regular setup- hammock under tarp (too noisy).
2. Ditch tarp and hammock, sleep on beach. Successful for a little while
3. Realize the tide is coming in, and relocate to stay dry. Back to hammock, no tarp. Also successful for a while.
4. Rain starts. Must rehang tarp. Tarp still flaps in the wind. No more sleep.
Matt estimated he got 3 hours of sleep. Based on his brain functioning and demeanor, I think he was right.

I "slept-in" until 5:50am, and then proceeded to roam around, make coffee, and take photos. Here are some photos:

Morning coffee- learning how to make my "automatic" camera more manual by increasing the exposure time.


Camp: Matt's last sleeping attempt on the left, the Maria burrito in the middle, and Nick's 1-man tent on the right. Although our bikes are here, we drove the jeep. After camping, we continued up the windward side for a bike race near Laie.


Camp from another view, facing the bay.


Lush green mountains.



Time to pack up.

3 nights down, 27 more to go.