Chapter 32...Kitchen Counter And Solar Rack

Off Grid...Chapter 32 Week of 10-13-08 Good morning everyone! I'll start out by saying Thank you all for your encouragement and loyalty. Mike really thanks everyone because if it wasn't for all of you and this story, I probably wouldn't have taken a single picture. Before this story I didn't even have a camera. Time to get started. We have a good story and lots of pictures today. Monday 10-13-08 We made "another" trip to Lowe's. We picked up the counter top for the kitchen, our bathroom faucet(the first one didn't fit), more ceiling tile, and the ceiling tile grids. We had quite a load going home. We got everything home and into the house. We are storing our excess materials in the second bedroom. This way we will have indoor projects to do when the weather isn't so nice out. This is what my counter top looks like. We decided to go with a pre-made formica top because of the ease. It was also in stock. I think it looks very neat and clean. Mike installed the faucet in the bathroom vanity and now we have a functional bathroom. http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk137/lisa_in_east_tn/10-14-08bathroomvanityandsinkareins.jpg (broken link) And. http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk137/lisa_in_east_tn/10-14-08Bathroomisfunctional.jpg (broken link) Tuesday 10-14 Today it's time to work on the kitchen counter tops, yeah!! We bought 2 ten foot angled formica tops. We have to cut the first one down to 9 feet. We have to be very careful because Formica can chip when you cut it. First we laid the top upside down across the saw horses. Then we placed a piece of straight wood on the counter to use as a guide for the circular saw. Mike is screwing the guide in place after we took the measurements. Next I hold the top in place While Mike makes the first cut using a fine tooth finish blade on his Skil Saw. It's a success "no chips". We put the first piece on top of the cabinets. Now it's time to cut the space out for the kitchen sink. Again, we have to be very careful not to chip the formica. Mike measures the opening and then tapes off what he is going to cut to protect the top. He uses a hole saw to cut out 4 holes in the corners where the sink will go. This is so he can get the blade from the saws all in to start cutting in the corners. After he makes the cut big enough he uses his circular saw to finish the cuts. Next we measure the other side of the counter top and cut it down to 5 feet. Now we have to connect the 2 counters together on an angle. Using the saw horses and some boxes stacked on the floor, we lay the counter on top the way it is supposed to be on top of the cabinets. Then we glued the seam and while I held that tight Mike went underneath and bolted the seam together. Once everything was glued and bolted we "very carefully" lifted the entire counter and put it in place on top of the cabinets. I cleaned the excess glue and now we just have to put a few screws in to hold it in place. That's one thing nice about formica, once it is in, you are done. Now we are able to install the kitchen sink and faucet. Mike is underneath the sink clipping it in. The sink is in and the counter top is done. I think it looks great and I can't wait to use my new kitchen. Woo Hoo! Today was a really good day but very time consuming. We had to be so careful when we made the cuts in the formica. One mistake and we would have had to buy another 10 foot section. Mike did a good job. Mike also ordered another water pump to replace the one that arrived broken. We also found out that our furniture will be delivered on Saturday, yeah! Wednesday 10-15 This morning we got another and hopefully our last propane delivery for the motorhome. If all goes well we will move into the house sometime next week. After the delivery truck left. Johnny from the gas company showed up to hook up our water heater. He couldn't do it the last time he was here because we didn't have the roof vent in. While he was here Mike asked him about the Bosch tankless water heaters. Johnny said we made the right choice by going with a standard water heater. He said there are a lot of problems with some of the tankless water heaters because they can't get the water hot enough. Anyway that's another opinion about tankless water heaters from our gas man. So if any of you decide to go with a tankless water heater do lots of research. Mike has figured out how we are going to mount our next 6 solar panels. We went to town to pick up the lumber to make our mount. We spent about $80.00 on 3 10ft 4x4's, 3 8ft 4x4's, and 2 2x8x14ft pressure treated boards. If we ordered a solar mount from any of the solar catalogs it would have cost us at least $700.00 plus the cost of the poles. We got home and started digging. Oh joy! We measured and dug the first 3 back poles about 3 1/2 feet into the ground. Mike is banging the poles in a little more. We also had to take out our original wind generator, you know after we cemented the pole in the ground. After the poles are in the ground we leveled the 14 foot cross board and screwed it in place. We will finish the rest tomorrow. Thursday 10-16 We started our day by digging the holes for the front 3 poles. We are trying not to make a mess so we put a tarp next our hole for the dirt and we cut out the curlex so we can dig a neat hole. Now we have all 6 poles in the ground and we decided to lower the back cross board so the panels aren't so high. We also installed the lower cross board. Then Mike cut the tops of the poles down using a chainsaw while I held the tops. We attached L brackets to the solar panels, lifted them up, and screwed them to our rack at a 15 degree angle. Our first panel is installed. Once we had a system it went very smoothly but we did work until dark.  We got all 6 solar panels mounted onto our new rack. Now Mike has to wire the panels into the house. This is the first part of our "off grid" modifications. We realized that our original 6 panels and smaller wind generator weren't producing enough electric to keep our battery bank fully charged. As we keep making modifications we will keep you updated on the changes and how they are working for us. This is a big learning experience. Friday 10-17 Thankfully we got all the panels up yesterday because we had a rainy day. We couldn't get any work done outside. I went to town and did some errands while Mike organized his building. While I was in town I ran into the UPS man so I picked up our water pump. I'm sure the driver was very happy he didn't have to go up our driveway. When I got home Mike went down to the house and installed and tested the new water pump. So far so good. We did a little more cleaning and organizing for the rest of the day. Saturday 10-18 Today is the "big day". Our furniture is supposed to be delivered this morning. Mike and I are really nervous because we don't know if the truck is going to make it up our driveway. We have a plan in case the truck doesn't make it (we always do). We will just have to unload everything into the barn, check it all, and Mike and I will have to bring the furniture up one piece at a time on the trailer. I really hope it doesn't come to that because I don't think Mike and I can lift some of the furniture. We did as much prep work as we can. Mike spent about 45 minutes grading every bump in the driveway. He really wants to make sure the truck makes it up our driveway. I look out the window and I see Mike parking the tractor. That means the delivery truck is here. Oh I am so nervous. Mike and I both stand at the top of the hill and watch the driver coming up to the top. The driver is going too slow ans sure enough he comes to a stop (oh no) and starts backing down the driveway. This is our nightmare and it is not looking good. Mike goes down with the tractor to see if he can do anything. Both men get out of the truck and go to the back. Mike blades the spot where they got stuck and comes back to the top. He told me "they shifted the furniture so most of the weight is over the rear wheels". Ok, they are starting up the driveway again. Oh god, I can't watch. C'mon C'mon. After an agonizing minute or so they make it. Woo Hoo. Oh happy day! It's happy dance time. Everything looks great. Soon Mike and I will be moving in. We helped the movers. While they brought the furniture down to the house we helped untaped everything and folded up the blankets. They were very careful with everything. After they left we started moving things into the house. Woo Hoo. Now we are on it! Mike also installed a couple of ceiling lights. This is a temporary set up because as you all know we didn't do the ceiling yet. Ah light. Now we can see. I know it seems like we do things out of order but there really is a method to our madness. We have to beat the cold weather and get out of the motorhome and into the house. We will do the ceiling, trim and most of the finish work when we are in the house. If we hadn't done it this way we would probably still be in the mh when the snow comes and that would be really bad. Sunday 10-19 Today was a crazy day. We woke up and there was frost on the ground. This is not good. We are running out of time. We have to get out of the motorhome and winterize it. Mike started off by filling the mh with 15 gallons of diesel so we can use the generator. Then he filled our water tank which he does every couple of days. Then he started working on the wiring for the solar panels. Each of the 6 panels has 2 wires, one positive and one negative. First he has to extend these wires, tie them neatly together, and then use a bracket to screw them to our mount. Then all the wires have to be connected to the outdoor combiner box. Here is the combiner box. All the wires. The first 3 are done. All 6 are done. Now Mike has to connect all of these to the combiner box but we don't have the connectors. This is what our new solar mount and panels look like. While Mike was working on that I did the usual cleaning and laundry. I also started packing, for the big move LOL. Then I started bringing stuff down to the house. Here are some pictures of our furniture. This is our bedroom set. We have to get a mattress this week. And our armories. Mike "loves" armories so I agreed that we could each get one instead of building a closet. This is our dining room table. Our media chairs. And the little table for my laptop. Now Mike and I can be next to each other when I'm online. What a pair we are. He'll have his headphones on watching TV and I'll be online or reading. After all these years he still wants to be close to me. We ordered 2 more chairs, 2 tables, and a matching sofa table for the living room but they aren't in yet. Mike and I will have to pick them up from the warehouse when they arrive. We also cleaned up the building and loaded a bunch of stuff onto the trailer to store in the barn. The last of the yard work for the year also got done today. We graded, raked, and shoveled rocky dirt into the bucket of the tractor from the "other" side of the house. Then I seeded that hill, rolled the curlex out on the hill next to the block, and stapled it in place. This should hold the hill until the grass grows in. Then we got the extension cord, hoses, and pressure washer out. Mike started pressure washing the side of the house.  I finished that side and the back of the house. Then Mike took over again and finished the side with all the solar stuff. We are preparing the house so I can get a final coat of paint on this week. I am going to paint and Mike has to finish all the wiring. We moved more stuff into the house and Mike finished caulking in the bathroom. We are really going to push hard this week so we can be moved into and living in the house by the end of the week. Then we need a couple of days off, yeah right. That was a recap of our week. I hope you all enjoyed the story. Lisa and Mike

Chapter 31...Toilet Install And Wind Generators

Off Grid...Chapter 31 It's another chapter in the Mike and Lisa world. Monday 10-6 Mike and I are beat. Last week was pretty busy so we are a little run down. Mike did some clean up outside while I gave Niki a bath. After breakfast we took a ride. First we stopped at David's to get some plumbing parts. Then we drove over to one of Jimmy's properties to see how he was doing. He is developing his land to sell. He's doing a really nice job. After we left Jimmy's we stopped at a new neighbor's house "across the holler" from us. Hi Shogun- sorry we missed you. He and his wife weren't home but we got to see how our property looks from across the way. I wish I had my camera. We finally got back home and Mike said "we have to do something on the house". OK, let's go. So we went down and installed the toilet. Exciting stuff . The first thing Mike did was install the water line and valve for the toilet. Then he put the toilet flange over the 4" sewer pipe and marked the holes to be drilled. Next he drilled the holes into the concrete floor. After the holes were drilled, Mike put the flange on top and screwed 6 screws into the concrete floor. This will hold the toilet in place. Then Mike put the wax seal over the flange. Then he centered the toilet over the flange, wiggled it into place, and bolted the toilet to the ground. Next, Mike put the gasket on the back of the bowl. And then he installed the tank. This is Mike hooking the water lines to the toilet. And that's how Mike installed our toilet. Tuesday 10-7 Today is our anniversary but we will have to put off celebrating until the house is livable. We have our priorities. We did a ton of work outside today. We started by cleaning the entire front yard. We had to rake up all the rock, seed the lawn, and put straw on top. I raked all the rock and Mike and I both shoveled it into the tractor bucket. We filled the tractor bucket about 6 times. Mike unloaded all the rock and debris onto our pond wall. Mike also picked up the curlex that was destroyed by the cows on our big hill. At least all the grass grew in before the curlex was torn up. Mike put all the curlex in a big pile so that we could burn it next time we get some rain. As he was doing this Mike had an audience of cows. They really are like children. As soon as Mike left the pile, the Bull went over and started throwing the curlex around with his head. He ended up with it all over his neck and face. What did I tell you? Children! Really big children. This is the front yard. Howard stopped by to try and get the calves used to going into the pen. He will take them all to auction in a couple of weeks. I'm really going to miss 98. I hope he grows up to be a big healthy bull with his own harem instead of steak. Mike worked on the hill next to the house. After the block was installed we had to clean all the dirt off of it and wrap curlex around the hill. Mike also brought up more gravel from our pile, we are almost out, and spread it in our parking area. We also made a decision on our furniture today. Mike liked a theater seating set that we found last week at the store where we got our other furniture. The problem was it was on clearance and there was only one. So, today we decided to get that and buy 2 chairs and 2 end tables for the living room. The only thing we need now is a daybed, for the grandkids, and a desk for the office. That should be really easy. Wednesday 10-8 Today we woke up to gray and drizzly day. Jimmy called us and told us 2 gravel trucks were on their way. We got more gravel for the road, we only have about 20 more loads to go LOL. But now we have a really good road from the top down to our culvert. We also got a load of small gravel for our walkway down to the house. The rest of the day was a forced day off because of the weather so we organized the coach and did some paperwork, you know bills. Thursday 10-9 This morning we went to David's to pick up more stuff. David and his wife just got back from a short trip to the Amish area in Ohio. They had a good time. When we got home we got everything ready for a burn pile. We loaded up the trailer and went down to the curlex pile. The cows dragged it all over so we had to re stack it and we finally got to burn the debris. Now our yard area is nice and clean. Mike is eying my clothesline. He doesn't like it where it can be seen. He wants to fence it in or something. I told him "we could always move the building again and put the clothesline behind that". Oh yeah, that will be fun. Mike also graded the gravel on the driveway. And we threw more rock into the ditch line. The leaves are starting to change. It should be really beautiful in another week or so. I called Lowe's about my tile. I special ordered 12x12 porcelain tile for my kitchen counter top. We brought them home and laid it out on the counter. It turns out the tile was only 11 1/2x11 1/2 and the grout lines would have been really big. I was very disappointed. I asked the manager if all tile was not the true 12x12. He went and measured some in the store and told me the ones in the store are 12x12 just like they are supposed to be. He told me to bring them back. I am very happy about that. Friday 10-8 This morning Mike and planned on going to Lowe's to return my tile, find another counter, and pick up more stuff. So we got up, showered, got dressed and looked nice and neat. You know, no work clothes. Well nothing ever really goes as planned because while I was getting ready, Howard showed up with our culvert. Howard stopped by yesterday and he was concerned because he couldn't get his truck across our ditch line to feed the cows hay. He has to start feeding them now because there is not enough grass for them to eat anymore. Mike and I already paid David for a 20ft culvert for this purpose but we haven't been able to pick it up. So Howard got it for us. Then as Howard was leaving one of Jimmy's guys shows up with a backhoe to help us with the wind generator. I went out to help Mike and Randy with the wind generator. First we had to stand it up, tie a chain around the pole, and hook it to the backhoe. Here they are lifting the wind generator. Standing it up. Getting it connected. Trying to get the chain off. Mike in the bucket so he can reach the chain. The wind generator is now up and now Mike has to connect it to the battery bank. Mike and Randy went down to work on the culvert. I brought the 4-wheeler down to help. While Randy dug out more of the ditch line Mike and I moved the culvert. Then we rolled the culvert into the ditch and covered it with dirt. Now we can drive across. Finally Mike and I connected the trailer to the Jeep and went to town. First we stopped at wally world. Mike went his way and I went mine. I found a really nice comforter for the bed so I grabbed it. I believe in the saying "you snooze, you lose". Anyway when Mike and I caught up he said he picked out the exact same comforter. Great minds think alike. Then we went to Lowe's to return my tile. Unfortunately it was raining so we couldn't get everything we wanted. We did find another counter that we will pick up when it is nice out. We also found a bathroom sink for our vanity. Remember we bought one from HD but it was damaged so we needed to get another one. All in all it was a good day. Saturday 10-11 We worked on the bathroom today. First we had to cut the holes in the vanity for the drain pipe in the bottom of the cabinet and also the hot and cold water lines through the back of the cabinet. It's always fun cutting different holes without any mistakes. There are no second chances. We got that all done and put the sink on top of the vanity to check it out. The sink looks great. Then we go to install the faucet with no luck. They now make different sized faucets for bathroom sinks and the faucet we have fits the damaged sink top. Life was so much easier when we didn't have so many choices. Sometimes I wish companies would just leave things alone. "If it ain't broke don't fix it". So now we need to get another faucet and more plumbing. We then installed the mirror medicine cabinet above the sink. That went well. Now we have tons of storage above the sink. Sunday 10-12 We had a really good and busy day. Mike started working on the roof first thing this morning. We have to connect the vent to the water heater and bring it through the roof to release any gases. We went inside and measured where the pipe has to go through the roof. Now, on top of the roof, Mike cuts a 4" hole to insert our pipe. This is the pipe going through the ceiling from inside the house. Mike installing the collar.  Our vent pipe and cap are done. While we were on the roof we also checked all the screws and found one hole, oops. Mike also cleaned the gutters and added more sealant. Back into the house. Here is Mike working on the gas water heater. The water heater is now done except for the gas hook up. Next we started working on the electric for my washer and dryer. Mike is running a separate line and outlet for this. Then Mike started doing the plumbing for my washer. We never installed sheet rock behind the washer because we wanted it to sit "in" the wall. Mike has everything hooked for my washer. I can't wait to start using it. I got the most energy efficient one I could find but it is still huge compared to the one in the motorhome. This washer only uses 142 KWH per year and that number is based on doing 8 loads of laundry per week and using an electric hot water heater. So for Mike and I this washer should hardly use any power. Both of our wind generators are going. Check it out. Two things I don't get about the wind generators. One- it is recommended that you put them very high for more wind and two-the smaller one should be easier to turn. Well we have 2 opposites. The larger wind generator was moving more than the smaller one and the larger wind generator isn't as high as the smaller one. I guess the books are wrong about that. And they are only about 15 feet apart. Here is a picture I took from the roof of the house. We started to fill our big tank with water for the first time and everything we did works. Mike went down to the house to hook up the water pump, prime it, and test the water lines in the house. This is always really scary because now you see of there are any leaks. We have also never used pex for plumbing before so we are a little nervous. Well he got the water running through the lines and we found one small leak in the water heater connection. Thankfully that was an easy fix. The toilet and shower both work, Woo Hoo. There is only one other problem. The water pump is going on too often which means there is another leak somewhere. Mike thinks it is the water pump itself. When he hooked it up he noticed a part was broken. So we may have to exchange that water pump and install one that isn't broken. It was getting too dark to do more so we called it a day. The house is almost livable. The furniture should be coming this week or next. We still have to hook up the sinks and also install the 6 new solar panels. Lots to do but we are getting there. I hope you all enjoyed This past week in the life of Mike and Lisa. Have a great week and I will write again next Monday. Lisa