By John
The podcast currently has 30 episodes available.
In this episode I will get you more up to date with the goings on at OCC and there are changes at the web site.
On with the OCC update.
When last we talked I had basically shut OCC down by draining the water, putting RV antifreeze in sink and tub traps.
The toilets were drained of water but then filled with RV antifreeze and then flushed. This ensured no water was left in the mechanism and the bowel had only antifreeze in it. The toilet shut offs were the only taps I closed. If I left them open the antifreeze in the tank would siphon out. Any liquids that might freeze if the generator failed were collected and removed. I was running an experiment leaving the boiler on and only having the thermostats for the two bathrooms operating.
My first day trip of the year had me almost going off the driveway, gad.
I noticed when I entered OCC I could smell a sickly sweet, maybe, odour. It was the RV antifreeze in the toilet bowels that would evaporate over time and require adding some more to keep the trap full. I took a chance and floated some plastic wrap on the liquid in the bowel, not knowing if it would dissolve or leave a nasty mess. Time would tell.
Both bathrooms were at their set temperature of 9.5 C. So that was working, but the hours on the generator had not shown the reduction I was hoping for so I turned off the boiler till I got a chance to run the numbers.
The batteries got topped up and all data logs and system control logs along with the generator log was collected.
I have been using my phone as my camera on these short trips but have come to realize it doesn’t like the cold. The battery dies very quickly. This is a bit unnerving as it is my only source of communication with the outside world while I am at OCC. Once inside and on the charger the battery springs back to life going from the red, dead indicator, to close to 50% charged within minutes …
I cleared the driveway with the snow thrower and when I left, the sun was shining and the batteries were fully charged.
Ten days pass the batts were at 99% and the gen hadn’t run since before my last visit. That sickly sweet odour of RV antifreeze no longer hung in the air. The plastic wrap was doing its job with no signs of dissolving.
Both bathroom thermostats were calling for heat but the boiler was off. Understandable. I put them in standby mode.
The trail cam by OCC was dead again. Looks like the unit was starting to act up.
Took the system and gen logs. Noted that the tracks in the driveway, from last visit, still looked fresh. So no snow and very little wind.
It was a full month till my next visit to Our Country Cottage. It had been very cold but it was time to top up the batteries. They were very thirsty.
My phone died again while trying to take pics of the propane gauge.
I noticed that the generator had not run since the beginning of the year so I fired it up from inside OCC and it started right away. The batteries were now at 100% when I put the gen back into Auto and it shut itself off after the programmed cool down period.
Like I said it had been very cold. The battery room was down to +5C ( first time I had seen it below 10C) and the utility room was at +1C (and the first time I had seen it below 7C). I had heard a report that a local town measured frost down to 18 feet below ground. Water pipes were freezing all over the place.
I was starting to get concerned about the state of OCC. The pipe to the well, runs under the driveway and is, I think, at least 10 feet down. Also I had left the hot water tanks full in the utility room. As noted the temp down there was just +1 degree. Lots to think about.
That trail cam was dead again, recording only 1 file. Some of the trail cam batteries were below .1 of a volt. Maybe a short circuit in the camera. The tie wrap even snapped when I went to secure its door.
I ordered a new cam a couple of days later in the city.
Armed with a new trail cam I was back at OCC a couple of weeks later.
The driveway was blocked with a berm of snow that someone pushed into the entrance. I dug a path just wide enough for my vehicle to get through and had one of the sketchiest drives to OCC, but I made it. I had to plow and snow throw the driveway, it was deep.
The snow thrower decided to throw its chain while I was moving snow in front of the garage, luckily. It just took time to put it back and retention it.
Then onto something easy. Change the trail cam. Well not so fast. All my trail cams are secured with those cable locks. When I went to take this one off I found that several years of tree sap had been running into the key hole etc. I could get the key in but it would not turn. Yes, I had the right key.
So after about 45 minutes and a fair amount of WD40, I got it open, replacing the camera with the new one.
I was pretty fed up by this point and just wanted to go home. I texted my partner from the gate, as I normally do, to say I am on my way, glad to get going.
Well the gate is round a corner from the driveway exit to the road and as I rounded the corner I saw a horse trailer parked in the driveway blocking my exit. No truck, just the trailer. I honked my horn for a while with no response.
Did I tell you I was fed up already. With little option I started digging on the most promising side of the trailer to see if I could squeeze, and it would be a squeeze, by. Not sure it would have worked at all. But after about ten minutes of digging a pickup truck came out of my neighbours drive with three horses in tow.
My neighbour hadn’t been staying at his place this winter so I was surprised to see anyone. It wasn’t my neighbour but a friend who had been keeping some horses there.
He told me he put his trailer there because he never saw anyone use it. I pointed out that it was my driveway access to my property. I also pointed out that I had just cleared the snow and that should have been a clue…
Oh well I asked him not to do it again and all was OK. Funny thing is, that if I hadn’t had snow thrower problems and problems with the trail cam I would have been gone a couple of hours ago and never would have seen him or his horse trailer.
It was a two beer night at the bar, that night.
Just over two weeks pass and I am trying not to slide off our kilometre of fun, again. Had to do one of those stop and back up slowly things.
With the well weighing heavily on my mind I fired up the well pump to see if all was ok. And it was. There is a valve where I can turn the water off to the house but fill the pressure tank. I let the tank fill to the operating pressure then turned the pump off and drained it into the sump. I know that if the pump draws about 2K watts, as shown on the solar control panel, it was working normally.
Collected the usual logs and the SD card from the new trail cam. All looked good. Ran the gen for ten mins or so and put it back to auto. Except for the exercise I have been giving the generator, it hadn’t run at all.
Much less stress this trip.
Nine days pass and I am back with three containers of distilled water. Took awhile to clear the snow off of the battery room hatch, just to get in.
Topped up the batteries…
Cleared snow in front of garage and turned on the heat tape, under the grate, to help any water drain. There were large pools of standing water here and there.
The driveway was cleared of heavy wet snow.
In the utility room I noticed that the water in the sump was a couple of inches over the top of the weeping tile outlet. Hadn’t seen it that high before. I tested the sump pump and it ran perfectly giving me a bit of assurance that all would be OK.
Did the usual data log collections. Some data loggers needed new batteries, so they got changed. I always try to keep spares on hand. Special batteries that I order online.
Turned off the heat tape and left somewhat later than I usually do. I have now developed anxiety when I turn that corner after the gate. Pheww, no horse trailer.
Forty days and forty nights later I return to OCC. Enough time had past that most of the snow on the driveway had gone. What was an iffy drive along with time spent clearing snow had turned into nothing. As it does every spring.
Our turning circle was clear and for the first time I was able to take a stroll around it, finding two deer grazing just to the south. They didn’t stay long once they saw me, even though I waved.
The batteries were almost fully charged but very thirsty. Didn’t even have to clear any snow off of the hatch, just went right in and topped em up.
Swapped the SD card on the new trail cam but found it dead. Hmm it had new batteries last time. The only other thing it had in common was the SD card and the tree it was mounted to. I ruled out the tree. Could the SD card be the problem all along. Something else to think about. I put a question mark on the card.
This trip I brought our smaller vehicle to change the tires from winter to summer. And that got done, and left at about 2.
Two weeks go by and I return for my first overnight stay of the year. The snow was all gone with the grass greening up nicely. On my way up I picked up a couple of water test kits. Something that I had been putting off far too long. In fact I then put them in a bag wrote the year on it and put it under the counter, removing a bag with a couple of water test kits which was marked two years ago. This year for sure.
Got to get water back into OCC. I turned the well pump on and let the pressure tank fill to pressure ( the pump shuts off) I then empty the tank into the sump till the pump turns on again. I do this four times, should be enough.
Then I partially open the valve to the rest of OCC. As water fills the pipes and pushes the air out I start at the lowest tap (the outside tap) and watch it till the water runs clear then turn it off. Next downstairs bathroom, sink, shower.
I take the plastic wrap out of the toilet. It was in good shape, not a sign of it failing. So that seemed to work OK. No nasty RV antifreeze smell and the level was kept well above the trap without having to top it up. Good stuff.
Turned the shutoff valve to the toilet on, let it fill and flush. All looked good. Onto the kitchen sink then the upstairs bathroom. Same deal with the plastic wrap there too. All was looking good and OCC was back. Water wise anyway.
It was still a bit cool so I built a fire. I lit the kindling, then quickly opened the chimney flu then opened the fresh air inlet. Well I tried to open the fresh air inlet. It was solid, not letting me turn the control at all. The fire was lit but without fresh air, it smoked and went out.
Now the fresh air flap is below the grate at the back of the fire box. To get to it I had to remove all the wood, some charred, all the kindling, some burnt some charred, and remove the grate. Great!
I almost had to crawl inside the firebox to see down to the fresh air inlet. I was not obvious what was holding it closed so I started poking at it with a fire poker while trying to turn the control handle.
Now a point of interest. The fresh air inlet control is a rod that comes out of the hearth in the middle of the bricks with a right angle bend in it, making the control lever. The rod goes way to the back of the fire box to the flap. It was installed during construction. If it ever broke or the flap came off I have no clue how it would get fixed. My efforts to free it kept all this in mind.
It took 30 to 45 minutes to get it free. First a little bit then a bit more and a bit more till it was operating like nothing had happened. The fire wood was all replaced with some fresh kindling and the fire was started without any other problems.
Meanwhile, back with the water recommission, I noticed it was not holding pressure. There was a leak somewhere. Gad.
A mad run around to the obvious places revealed the downstairs shower was running. Hmm, the tap was in the off position but it was still running. I took the handle off and a couple of plastic pieces and I could rotate the control 360 degrees and sometimes the water would stop, but not always in the same place. Very strange. I played with it for a while, confirming its inconsistent behaviour and took several pictures.
I was planning to go to a local town for supper anyway and they had a couple of very good hardware stores. So maybe I could find some answers there.
After explaining my problem to the gentleman behind the counter and showing him the pics he presented me with a new cartridge. I asked how much and he told me that the brand I have is guaranteed for life and there is no charge. Best news I had all day.
Returning to OCC, after a less than spectacular supper, I installed the new cartridge, like I knew what I was doing. It worked right away, well after installing the handle in the wrong position and having to redo it that is.
With all these fun and games during the day I hadn’t got round to cleaning up the bedroom and changing the linens. I slept on the couch, well love seat, in front of the fireplace. It was only a couple of feet too short. Not a good sleep.
I think I will leave it there with two nights left for this visit. Tune in next time to find out, is the water situation fixed, why did I cut two big holes in the wall, do bear bangers scare off bears, and will I get the sheets changed on the bed.
As promised last time (not that that means much in some cases) the web site has changed, the layout, sort of, and new pix. Year two of construction pix are now ready for viewing.
So check it out at
https://www.ourcountrycottageanarrative.com
If you have any comments, questions or if you would like to be added to the “Friends of OCCaN” Our Country Cottage a Narrative, mailing list, you can email me at [email protected].
Members on the mailing list will get website and podcast updates as soon as I do :).
If you are on the “Friends of OCCaN” mailing list and had enough, just send me an email at [email protected] and you will be released.
The Our Country Cottage a Narrative podcast is on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play so you can subscribe there and get the podcast downloaded automatically when they get released.
Till next time….
In this episode I will get you more up to date with the goings on at OCC and an OCC Year In Review, remembering some of what happened last year.
So on with Episode 28 OCC update.
As usual I left the last episode with some unanswered questions. Once again our trusty generator was not so trusty, refusing to start.
Three days before my next visit we had a major snow dump in the city. I think I shoveled the walk 3 maybe 4 times that day. It just kept coming. The next day, taking my life into my own hands, and on summer tires, I ventured out onto snow clogged streets in an attempt to get a new battery for the generator. Two positive things were in play, 1- the generator supplier had just got a new shipment of batteries and 2- they had moved closer to where I lived in the city. Even though they were closer it was a sketchy trip but a new battery was acquired.
My main country vehicle was now in the shop, undergoing major surgery for the foreseeable future, so I was going to use our other vehicle which was good but not as solid as my main one and it was running summer tires. I keep its snow tires at OCC and figured all I had to do was get in to OCC and put on the snowies and the return trip would be no problem
Giving a couple of days for them to get the roads cleared, up by OCC, I loaded up our vehicle with all the snow emergency stuff I had, traction mats, shovels, tow ropes, come-along, kitty litter, snow shoes and on and on.. and off I went. Oh yeah, I had the new generator battery too.
As I got closer to Our Country Cottage it became clear there wasn’t anywhere near the amount of snow we had got in the city. I didn’t need any of the emergency stuff I had packed at all. Sort of like when you carry an umbrella it doesn’t rain. But better to have it and not need it than, need it and not have it.
Arriving at OCC I didn’t even need to clear the drive, just drove straight in. On my last visit I had turned the boiler off so the batteries would not be drained. With the days getting shorter, not much sun, and that pesky gen not starting I though it was the prudent thing to do. I hadn’t accounted for the sudden season change we just had.
Now, with winter coming early in the city and temps dropping all over I was genuinely concerned that OCC might have frozen. A quick check inside OCC revealed the batteries fully charged and no frozen toilets. The living room was at 12 C just on the power of the sun. I turned the boiler on.
Outside I checked to see if the gen would start. Nope, it had not magically fixed itself while I was away. A quick battery swap and she fired to life with little effort.
The solar control panel showed the gen charging at 5.2 KW but with no load at all and the inverter light was off. I guess with the OCC batteries fully charged the gen was just supplying power to the boiler, etc. Hadn’t seen that mode before.
After about ten minutes or so, I put the gen into Auto at the generator and it stopped right away. Then, at the solar control panel, I pressed manual start and the gen started right up, so I put it in Auto and the solar control unit shut it down with the usual cool down routine. And with no internal fan fail errors, all seemed to be working normally.
Snow tires were put on the vehicle ready for the next big snow dump here, or in the city.
Before I left I checked that the boiler was heating where it was supposed to be heating and, again, all looked normal.
I took the opportunity to drop the defective battery off at the generator supply shop on the way home. It might still be under warranty. Rrright.
Two weeks pass and I am back to check on things. What little snow there was, was just about gone. Good thing I had the snow tires on. Looks like the generator had run a couple of times since my last visit. A good sign. The propane was just under a half.
It was over a month till my next visit, this time with my main country vehicle and its newly rebuilt heart. It now ran smooth and quiet. The main reason for the rebuild was a tick/ knock that had developed over the years, sometimes being so loud you could not hold a conversation by it while it was running. It was to the point that I was expecting something to come flying through the hood whilst on route to or from OCC. It was all good now.
After having received an invoice for propane, earlier in the week, I checked the tank gauge to make sure it was my tank they had filled and sure enough it was up to 80%. 80% is the max you are allowed to put in these propane tanks. It allows for expansion etc as the outside temperature changes.
I had brought with me some driveway markers that I found on sale and I devised a tool from a cast-iron pipe, a cap and a piece of felt, to drive them into the ground. I was going to place them around the turning circle and at the edge of the drive where I slipped off with the vehicle or tractor before. Yeah, well just a bit late. The ground was frozen. I tried one and it stands as a crooked testament, on the far side of the turning circle, that time and frozen ground wait for no man. Next season.
The OCC batteries got topped up and data logs and solar control logs were taken. A trail cam SD card was also swapped out. Mental note. Need more distilled water.
When I left the batteries were fully charged.
Over the next week I was contemplating the pending shorter days and colder weather conditions. I had not improved our generators living conditions, IE I had not built it any sort of enclosure to help ward off the cold. I kept thinking of last years gen failures to start due to extreme cold.
I think I have mentioned once or twice, how fast this summer seemed to pass. One minute I am mowing grass and putting tasty weed killing salt and vinegar on the vegetation and the next minute up to my boots in snow, not being able to drive a thin road marker into the frozen ground.
A decision was made and seven days from my last visit I am at Our Country Cottage to basically shut her down for the season. I will still have to go up every so often to top up batteries, check data logs etc, but the terror of the frozen toilets and drained OCC batteries with its, “Power Has Been Lost”, emails will be abated.
The biggest part to shutting Our Country Cottage down for the season is draining the water out of the place. First let me explain that I had picked up a couple containers of RV antifreeze, when they came on sale, a month or so ago and have been waiting, in the utility room, to be pressed into service since then.
I started by draining the pressure tank then worked from the highest elevation down. So with the well pump off and the pressure tank draining into the sump, I started with the upstairs bathroom by opening all taps. You can hear the water getting sucked out of the pipe by gravity. I then turned off the water feed to the toilet and flushed it I then filled the tank with antifreeze and flushed again. This replaces all the water in the toilet workings with antifreeze. I pour a bit of antifreeze in the sink, tub and shower drain to replace the water in the traps.
Downstairs, I do the same in the downstairs bathroom. I also turn the tap on in the kitchen sink and put some antifreeze down that drain too. Our washer dryer machine has a small lint trap that also has to be drained. And lastly the outside tap gets opened.
A bit of an experiment this time. I didn’t drain the domestic hot water tank or the pre-heater tank, heated by the solar collectors on the roof. I figured that they were below ground, in the utility room and therefore should not freeze. I am also leaving the solar collectors running to heat that little radiator in the back hall. I had inadvertently turned them off last year when I shut the boiler and the thermostat, not realizing they were on the same breaker. Live and learn.
Again as an experiment I decided to leave the boiler on and turn the thermostat off for the living room. The thermostats for the bathrooms were left on. I hope to see a big reduction in energy usage.
Last year I was trying to keep the temp above freezing in the cottage for the winter but the gen failed and I shut the boiler off. This year I am trying to limit the heat in OCC so that the generator would run less while keeping it online. Give it a shot, anyways.
I collected all liquids and took them back to the city.
My next visit was three weeks later. The batteries were at 90% and the living room was at 10C. Just a bit above where it would have been if I had the heat on. The bathrooms were at the thermostat setting temperature. Good stuff.
The generator had run just over fifty hours since my last visit. Now normally that would be a good sign. From previous years anything under 100 hours a month, this time of year would be great. But this year the weather had been particularly mild, so I am not sure whether I am winning or loosing.
The only thing I can say is that I am glad I have collected all the data I have over the years. Stuff like generator hours run, data loggers, gen logs etc along with the notes I make for each trip. It might seem useless at the get go but it gives me lots of info to go over to see if OCC is on track or not. Well at least it does most of the time. When you have a year that is warmer, in this case, than the norm it kinda makes you think a bit more.
I changed the oil and filter in the generator, back bladed about a third of the drive, more for me than the drive, and collected the solar control log and the generator log.
When I left the batteries were fully charged. I had been driving for about fifteen minutes when I got the feeling that I hadn’t put the generator back into auto after changing the oil etc. And, no, I hadn’t taken a picture. It was too risky to leave it in manual as the gen would not be able to start if it needed to and the batteries would drain and I would get a terrifying “Power Has Been Lost” email.
I turned around and went back. Sure enough it was in Auto. So it would have been fine. I took a pic.
As it turned out that was the last visit of the year and a good place to conclude this episodes OCC update.
And now for the first time ever
The Our Country Cottage Year In Review
A lot of things can happen in a year. Good and bad. A lot can also get forgotten. So this is my attempt at collecting all of the highlights and lowlights in this episodes OCC YIR. Info collected from over 60 pages of notes, hundreds of pictures and revisiting previous OCC podcasts, distilled into YIR.
The year actually started with OCC sending my power lost emails. Very cold temperature had caused the gen to fail then the heating system started acting funny. Heating areas that shouldn’t be heated and not heating areas that should.
So that’s how it started.
This is how last year breaks down, hmmm, poor choice of words…
seventeen- 1 day drop ins one- 7 day, 6 night visit one- 4 day, 3 night visit five- 3 day, 2 night visits
The first solo overnight stay (2 nights) by my partner And 4 overnight (3- 2 night and 1- 1 night) stay while I wasn’t there.
And one unexpected, furry, overnight guest in the garage.
I went off the drive, getting stuck, half a dozen times, about 50/50 between my vehicle and the tractor, one time both on the same day. I almost went off the road several times. That included, heading toward the ditch and the wheels just catching at the last moment, and heading to the ditch and managing to stop just in time and backing away slowly.
I had to snow shoe in once, almost walking off the road because the lighting was so flat I couldn’t see where the edge of the drive was. And I fell a few times but my standing up procedure, in snow shoes, improved greatly.
The batteries were topped with distilled water 8 times. Trail cams collected 17 times. Solar control records collected 17 times Temperature data loggers collected 6 times Generator logs collected 6 times The generator oil and filter and the house water filter were both changed 3 times.
Weed killer strategy was changed after finding out how bad the commercial weed killer was. The homemade stuff turned out to be not as effective as I had hoped. Something to work on.
The solar equipment had its fan problem, but was easy to fix once it failed for good. I still get corrupt files from the controller from time to time. Not a big concern.
A section of the loft deck railing, failed and was fixed. This gave us the incentive to check the rest of the railings, which exposed several other places that were missing a screw or two.
The tractor mower grass chute duck tape repaired for less than a tenth of the cost of a new one.
The generator gave me some problems, not starting when it should and starting when it shouldn’t.
The heating system had issues as noted above along with the hot water not being so hot.
A new BBQ assembled and working but not without issues. The old BBQ recycled.
Some good meals were BBQ’ed after all.
The Quonset got its skirt flap covered with gravel after being held down with only snow for several months.
I had some very relaxing moments, too. Waiting for the six o’clock fox to show up, Casually looking out the window and seeing deer elk and moose, etc. Just being able to take wildlife pics from the living room couch is so cool. Listen to some good music with some good adult beverage while watching the trees in the valley. Gazing at the stars slowly revealing themselves in the sky as the sun set. Then there was the time I captured a solar eclipse with my camera, indirectly, from a quickly improvised pinhole projector.
Well those are most of the highs and lows of last year. Nothing major. Our Country Cottage present a completely different set of challenges than I encounter in the city. As they say, a change is as good as a rest.
For more details check out episodes # 23 – 27.
Gad, I averaged less than 1 podcast a month. When I started I thought I would be able to do at least 2 a month.
Heading the list of things to do this year are
1-An enclosure or something for the generator
And
2-Pull the shoulder of the driveway back up.
These two things, alone, would help with two big issues, the generator reliability and sliding off the driveway, getting stuck.
At the moment I am not sure how to do either but I will give it a good try this summer.
Then there is that weed thing, that trap door thing, that other thing etc etc etc.
So that’s Our Country Cottage, Year In Review done and dusted.
For those of you that check out our website, there are some changes coming. The foundation that it was built on has changed, so, the site will change as well.
I will attempt to do this in the next week or so. Dare I say that this might include new pictures, no I better not.
Tune in next time for episode #29 and another OCC update. How is the new year treating OCC so far well at least the days are getting longer.
For pictures, and more info, you can visit our website at www.ourcountrycottageanarrative.com
If you have any comments, questions or if you would like to be added to the “Friends of OCCaN” Our Country Cottage a Narrative, mailing list, you can email me at [email protected].
Members on the mailing list will get website and podcast updates as soon as I do :).
If you are on the “Friends of OCCaN” mailing list and had enough, just send me an email at [email protected] and you will be released.
The Our Country Cottage a Narrative podcast is on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play so you can subscribe there and get the podcast downloaded automatically when they get released.
Till next time….
In this episode I will bring you up to date with the goings on at OCC and, as promised, the ITB wrap up.
Finally I can close the book on ITB, In The Beginning. No more confusion with episode numbers and ITB progress month numbers. Hey, it was getting confusing for me.
*******On With In The Beginning Wrap Up******
It was at the end of month 27, (no, lets not go there again) two years and three months, that there was a logical point to finish with contractors, etc. and take sole claim of Our Country Cottage.
Not everything was finished but enough was enough and we decided to cut the cord. As reported last episode, keys were returned and good byes said. Now the only thing left was to pay the final bill, but how much would that be? Changes had been made, there was that bill that was only partially paid by the first site supervisor, incorrect items delivered costing more to install and on and on.
I don’t mind telling you I lost a lot of sleep trying to figure all this stuff out. I had kept notes, records and receipts so I could have gone through it item by item… It would have taken a long time and forced me to relive all the problems we had had over the past two years, plus. I really didn’t want to go there. Everything was still very raw and I just wanted to see the end of that phase of the project, construction etc, and start the next phase, the phase where we start enjoying OCC.
So instead of turning up to the final meeting with the project organizer with a pad of paper listing every item of contention, I came up with an alternate concept. With some of the bigger items in mind I arrived at a figure that I would be comfortable with. It was more of a gut thing. I know people who would have gone through every item, every receipt and done a full accounting so as not do pay one more penny than absolutely necessary and probably end up still unhappy, thinking someone had fooled them to pay more.
I remember back a few years there was this one person who was looking to buy a house and came to me to ask if I thought it was a good deal and did I think they could pay less somehow. Not being a house appraiser or even seeing the property, I asked if the property was worth it to them and left it at that.
Well that’s how my mind works anyways….
I am going to take this opportunity to tell you how the Our Country Cottage project was organized, financially speaking.
There was a contract drawn up with expectations of cost. In all fairness the hard costs for the building package were accurate but things got added and changed which was partly reflected in the construction plans.
Once we had settled on a floor plan and made the modifications to make it our own and once the plans had gone back and forth several times, (I just checked, and we were up to version 5)the final version had to be sent to the manufacturer with a deposit. Shortly after, there was a production deposit. Then the project company, who was going to assemble OCC and organize all the trades, etc, needed a deposit. These deposits were required by the various companies to add OCC to their schedule boards.
The balance of the cottage package was due on the delivery of the kit to the site, there abouts. It was the delivery of said kit that started the “In The Beginning” instalments, by the way.
Soo around the kit delivery month, the well was drilled and paid for and the solar power system required a deposit. A couple of other items requiring money were the septic system and getting setup with a propane tank. A bit later the folding doors between the sunroom and living room and the masonry heater required a financial injection. These were some of the extras I was handling myself.
Back to the nice neat payment schedule that was laid out by the project co-ordinator\ company. These consisted of five payments that would be made on the completion of certain stages,
1- When the foundation was complete 2- When the framing was complete 3- When OCC could be locked up and the exterior was complete 4- When drywall was complete 5- The possession and occupancy stage
For all these there was a 10% hold back on each stage that was payable 45 days after possession in one lump sum, all being agreeable.
Just to add to the confusion, the project company adds a percentage to anything that went through them or that they arrange. Towards the end of the project, and with full knowledge of the project company, I started dealing with the contractors myself, which helped with the costs. Actually the project co-ordinator suggested it, as we were getting into areas, for want of better terms, that were not on the plans.
This resulted in another series of invoices that had to be paid separately from the original contract. Custom work by the contactor and eves troughs (as reported in the last ITB) would be some examples.
I was nervous going into that final meeting, not knowing how my proposal would be received. I guess he was as anxious to finish the project as I was and after a bit of explanation and going back and forth a bit we arrived at a number, the check was written, hands were shook, and that was that.
It was actually an odd feeling knowing that I wouldn’t have to go back to that office again and that OCC was bought and paid for. I slept a lot easier that night. There have only been a couple of times where I started second guessing my financial decisions but they were quickly alleviated remembering the rational that got me there.
Yes, parts of the Our Country Cottage project cost way more than expected but there was value added. The first amount set aside for contingency was blown through at an amazing rate and at least two more contingency allotments fell but at a slower rate.
One thing for sure, don’t go into your dream cottage in the woods project with just the bare costs covered. Have a healthy percentage set aside for the unexpected and try to anticipate where costs could be cut back if required.
Also, try to get as much completed by your contractors as you can. It is easy to say, Oh I can finish that myself. But in reality it will take you way more time and effort than you expect and in most cases become a lingering item on that list of things to do that will keep you away from enjoying your new retreat.
For example I decided to paint the loft over the garage myself. For me it was a major undertaking. Filling and sanding the ceiling and walls. Wiping them down, ready for paint. Balancing on the very top rung of a ladder trying to reach the peak of the ceiling and limit the amount of paint getting on a clear coated beam. Then on my knees doing all the same sort of stuff for the baseboards. Trying to neatly cut in all the window and door trim.
Save money, maybe. Reduce stress and enjoy OCC nope. I still have items to be done….
Well that wraps up the ITB wrap up, now on to the
****** Our Country Cottage Update ******
I will start this update by answering some of the questions I posed at the end of the last episode.
The fan error, ahh the fan error, was it just a software glitch. No. The fan was causing more and more errors but it would still work, up to the point where it didn’t. More on that later.
The deck railing did get fixed and some other weak points were strengthened.
The duct tape repair on the mower grass shoot worked out pretty good. I think little repairs from time to time will be required.
The summer seemed to flash by with the second half starting with a three day visit. Grass was mowed and weeds were wacked.
During the second day, I was in OCC when I heard a familiar sound. Poking my head out the back door I found the generator had decided to start itself. Hmmm, this was just before noon with the sun shining brightly and the batteries were fully charged. No reason for it to run at all. I tried to shut it down from the solar control panel inside OCC but it would not turn off. There were no errors or any type of event logged.
I ended up going out to the generator and turning it off at its control panel. It co-operated and shut down. Once shut down I put it back in to AUTO and all seemed normal.
Now, the generator itself produces a log, so later, I looked at that and found it ran as an exercise event. Most of the time this type of generator sits in an urban backyard waiting for the power to fail so it hardly ever runs. Under these circumstances you would want to run, exercise, the gen every so often to make sure all is ready to go.
My application is different. My gen gets a real good work out. It doesn’t need exercise. The only way I could figure out not to have exercise time is to program exercise in, lets say, a couple of years in the future. Well looks like it had been a couple of years since I set that up and I just happened to be at OCC when the event came due. Wow you can’t write this stuff, um, I just did, but you get what I mean. Wonder if I will be on site in a couple of years for the next exercise.
Oh, and the exercise stuff is all generator stuff so the solar control panel would not have been aware of it.
I sprayed another couple of batches of home made weed killer. Remember I was making this stuff with vinegar, salt and a bit of dish detergent. I am really loosing faith in its ability to kill weeds in the long term and I am beginning to think the salt might be drawing in the wild life as I have been seeing deer graze closer and closer to the areas where I spray. Hmmm vinegar and salt, wild life salad dressing anyone.
During this visit I did some of the usual chores. Topped up the batteries, collected the temperature data logs, solar control logs, and a trail cam SD card. The batteries had died in that cam so new ones were installed. Always keep spare batteries on hand.
The next visit was a first time ever solo visit by my partner for a couple of nights. Must say very brave and very successful.
During the visit the Solar control panel generated an error again with the internal fan. I was starting to get a feeling about that fan.
The first solo visit ended well with no other problems.
A couple of weeks go by and my partner and I go up for a one day drop in.
When we arrived I figured I would run the hot water to alleviate the lack of hot water issue we had before. To that end I turned both showers on and let them run. There was plenty of hot water.
I then got an internal fan failure followed by an over temp error on the solar control panel. Then the AC went out. I turned the boiler off and it didn’t take long for the Over Temp to clear and I was able to restore the AC.
The solar control panel actually told me what inverter had overheated and by how much. This is how I found out I had a left and a right inverter in the one inverter case. Live and learn. Each side had its own fan. Looked like the left one was now down for the count. I confirmed this by turning the system off and then back on again. Normal start up routine has the left fan run and stop, then the right fan run and stop, then both run and stop. I was perched on top of a step ladder with an eagle eye on the fans when it did the test. Yup, the left fan didn’t even twitch. She’s dead Jim.
I would later send a report to my solar guy and he passed it on to the manufacturer. It was covered under warranty and a replacement fan would be sent.
We had brought with us 3 LED floor lamps, purchased from that flat pack store, to replace my home made cast iron pipe floor lamps. The home made ones worked OK if you didn’t touch them or didn’t mind glaring bright light in your face. The new ones were more elegant and less obtrusive. The home made jobbies got delegated to the garage loft.
It was during this trip that the railings were fixed. My partner held the ladder while I added reinforcement screws to the outside of the lower deck railing on the loft deck.
Shortly after that visit one of my adult children and a friend stayed for a night. No hot water as the boiler had to be turned off till the fan was replaced, but they muddled through.
It took the better part of a month before the fan showed up. During this time I had figured out and confirmed that I could do the fan replacement myself. Not a big deal at all. The fan was held in by four bolts and connected with an easy to get at connector. The hardest part would be removing the two dozen or so screws holding the main cover. Also, I had to turn off some breakers and try not to touch anything you don’t have to.
The next visit was another three day event. One of the first things I did on arrival was to change the fan. During the swap I had to have the power off so I used one of those LED lights that strap to your head. If you are responsible for your own power you need to get one. You get light where you are looking and two free hands to work with. Very handy.
The replacement presented no problems at all. Well, the back of my hand brushed against something and I became aware of some residual power on one of the circuit boards. Just a little tingle.
Anyhow, on start up the left fan ran and stopped, then the right fan, then both. I was a happy camper. Breakers were reset and power restored. The solar control unit even indicated the “Internal Fan OK”.
I topped up the batteries and feeling rather good went to make sure the generator was ready for the cold season ahead. Propane was good, oil level was good. I hit the start button and it gave me about a quarter crank and stopped. The control panel reset itself as though it had lost power. I went through this routine several more times with no improvement. And this was the same generator that decided it wanted to run all by itself for no reason just a few weeks ago.
The battery was measuring 14.1 volts not bad for a 12 volt battery, but there was no power. I cleaned the battery clamps, no diff. As a last ditch effort I dragged an old battery booster box out of OCC. The box showed only 30% charge but I tried it anyway. Clamped it on the gen battery and hit the start button. The generator cranked a bit and then fired up. The starter battery had gone defective. Gad.
OK next, I went into Our Country Cottage to turn on the boiler. I was looking for it to start heating the in floor radiant heating, as I had the domestic hot water turned down at the tank. It seemed like it was heating the domestic hot water anyway. Hmmm, I removed the cover to make sure the tank was turned down and it was. Out of frustration I tapped the relay with the handle of the screw driver and I heard a click and it turned off. Hmmmm.
I built the first fire of the season that afternoon and another just after supper.
The next day started with me building another fire and after breakfast I did the tractor conversion from grass mower, to snow thrower, with a rear blade.
With the conversion behind me I changed the sediment filter on The OCC water system.
Later that afternoon I got some nice pix of a doe and a stag on the south clearing. The stag was a bit of a challenge as he was looking right at me as I tried to position the camera, etc. The first few were out of focus because I couldn’t look through the viewfinder. I didn’t want to spook him.
The last morning of the visit rewarded me with a doe and two fawns on the south clearing lit by the rising sun, magic hour. The sky was clear, so clear in fact that the panels started charging only a half hour after sunrise.
I had also not built a fire since the morning of the previous day. Plenty of residual heat in the masonry fireplace which was helped by the clear sky and ever intensifying sun.
I think I will leave it there as the weather changes drastically before my next visit and my main vehicle goes into the shop for some major work.
Tune in next time for episode #28 and another OCC update. Will a new battery fix the problems with the generator, is the internal fan problem finally fixed, will the snow thrower get used and did the toilets freeze again. I tell you the weather took a real nasty turn.
Also, what will I replace the ITB, In The Beginning, segment with?
In the normal episode ending I refer you to the website for pictures and new ones coming soon…
OK, hands up all those believing the “new pix coming soon” bit.
Yeah, I thought so. I have been trying to find a better way to display a gallery of pix and have even spent money on a promising plug in, but to no avail. There always seems to be a gotcha somewhere.
So until I find a better way or give up and carry on with the old way I am just going to leave that part out.
Sooo
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Till next time….
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