Rule #1 of animal control:
Don't let literary types release non-native species into the wild just because "it'd be cool"
Around 1900, some Shakespeare enthusists thought it would be neat-o if they released every type of bird mentioned in his works in America. The problem is none of them were native and the wreaked havoc on the native population. By 1940, the Starling could be found all across America.
The starling is a black looking bird from afar. Up close you can see that they have a spotted head, and green and purple irridescent feathers. You'll often find them roosting in holes in trees and houses. My personal favorite spot is in between half opened windows.
It should be noted that these birds are incredibly stupid, cannot fly vertically, and have a propensity to get stuck and die.
I hate them.
Years ago I found myself outside of my house in the rain. I took a sip of water from a downspout and went inside. A few days later I heard a flutter inside, so I removed it and flipped it upside down. The bird flew out, and behind him came five more---dead---birds.
A couple months ago when I bought my house, I noticed some old down spouts in the garage. They have been re-purposed into what I'm calling the "Starling Eliminator". I tied it upside down to the current downspout, with the straight end flat on the ground. The birds fly in and fall. Not being able to fly vertically, they will eventually die in the hole. Its not the right time for them to be roosting, so I'm not expecting much, but meh, I'll try anyway!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
A pile of rocks.
So I found out that part of my foundation is essentially just a pile of rocks.
I knew it was a bad area, because one corner of the kitchen had sunk several inches. My attempts to jack it up were futile until I laid a pad of concrete in the crawlspace that I have to work in. (Note: part of the '33 basement is crawlspace).
I got it jacked up about 2", but after a few weeks I realized that the wall wasn't moving, just the floor. Logically, if I continue to lift the floor I would end up breaking the floor boards when the pressure became too great. To only good option at this point is to take the jack outside and attach it to the wall. Being spring I didn't want to tear open a hole in my wall to get to the structure until the chances of rain go down. So I decided to fix the foundation first.
Some of the cracks in the foundation are large enough to stick your hand through to the basement. So I started by clearing the debris. Then while widening a hairline crack in some newish mortar I came to a startling discovery. The last owner had just stuccoed the joints. He hadn't dug them out! I only ended up opening two more large holes, and had to use about 60lbs of mortar on the outside. Then I went inside.
Inside the vacuuming didn't go so well. I realized that shopvacs are built to move stuff...not to filter the air!
I ran out of my basement choking using my shirt to try to breath.
I decided to use the rest of the 20lbs on the cleanest/worst joints.
After I got done with that, I realized that the foundation is so far gone in some parts that I'm going to fill in with concrete next...then I'll mortar some more.I should clean it more, but I'm not particularly interested in choking to death.
I knew it was a bad area, because one corner of the kitchen had sunk several inches. My attempts to jack it up were futile until I laid a pad of concrete in the crawlspace that I have to work in. (Note: part of the '33 basement is crawlspace).
I got it jacked up about 2", but after a few weeks I realized that the wall wasn't moving, just the floor. Logically, if I continue to lift the floor I would end up breaking the floor boards when the pressure became too great. To only good option at this point is to take the jack outside and attach it to the wall. Being spring I didn't want to tear open a hole in my wall to get to the structure until the chances of rain go down. So I decided to fix the foundation first.
Some of the cracks in the foundation are large enough to stick your hand through to the basement. So I started by clearing the debris. Then while widening a hairline crack in some newish mortar I came to a startling discovery. The last owner had just stuccoed the joints. He hadn't dug them out! I only ended up opening two more large holes, and had to use about 60lbs of mortar on the outside. Then I went inside.
Inside the vacuuming didn't go so well. I realized that shopvacs are built to move stuff...not to filter the air!
I ran out of my basement choking using my shirt to try to breath.
I decided to use the rest of the 20lbs on the cleanest/worst joints.
After I got done with that, I realized that the foundation is so far gone in some parts that I'm going to fill in with concrete next...then I'll mortar some more.I should clean it more, but I'm not particularly interested in choking to death.
Watershed.
When you build, you have to consider water.
Water. Falling, flowing.
Once you consider that, you have to then consider water.
Have I mentioned water?
So the '33 addition was built without an adequate overhang. As such, the water runs right off the roof, down the wall, and onto the foundation.
The '98 roof is lower that the '33 roof in terms of watershed. In actual terms, the peak of the '98 roof goes over the '33 roof.
Both of these issues, are bad.
Starting with the '98 roof, it shouldn't go over the '33, not without completely redoing the '33 so that it is seamless with the '98. Instead they just flattened the ridges and laid the new roof on top...flashing it of course. To be fair it seems to work, but we'll fix it when we redo it in a few years.
Except for along the wall where they didn't flash, and without an overhang the water just flows down the wall. It also soaks the foundation...
Water. Falling, flowing.
Once you consider that, you have to then consider water.
Have I mentioned water?
So the '33 addition was built without an adequate overhang. As such, the water runs right off the roof, down the wall, and onto the foundation.
The '98 roof is lower that the '33 roof in terms of watershed. In actual terms, the peak of the '98 roof goes over the '33 roof.
Both of these issues, are bad.
Starting with the '98 roof, it shouldn't go over the '33, not without completely redoing the '33 so that it is seamless with the '98. Instead they just flattened the ridges and laid the new roof on top...flashing it of course. To be fair it seems to work, but we'll fix it when we redo it in a few years.
Except for along the wall where they didn't flash, and without an overhang the water just flows down the wall. It also soaks the foundation...
Roofers gone wild!
So after the Niagra let loose on my crawlspace I knew I had to fix the problem rather than just treat the symptoms. That meant climbing on the roof. I stalled for as long as I could, then reluctantly went up after I noticed two rather large water stains in the kitchen...also right next to the addition.
So I went up and found that there was no flashing on the kitchen side, and improperly installed flashing on the laundry side. Suffice it to say, I was aggravated--flashing is roofing 101 stuff!
I also found exposed wood, and just general bad workmanship. The joint between the '33 and '98 looked like it had been caulked every 2-3 years since it was built. Most people should realize that something was wrong, but no, they patched the problem for 15 years.
I patched it again.
But my patch is a little better. Instead of simply caulking everything, I flashed and caulked. The flashing job isn't near complete, but it ends at places which are somewhat logical. It also doesn't go underneath the siding, instead going under the drip edge of the kitchen roof. My intent is for the patch to last about 5 year. The addition's roof is about 15 years into a 20 year lifespan, the kitchen roof is tin, and from the 30's. Since both are showing signs of wear, in a few years we'll replace both of them at the same time.
So I went up and found that there was no flashing on the kitchen side, and improperly installed flashing on the laundry side. Suffice it to say, I was aggravated--flashing is roofing 101 stuff!
I also found exposed wood, and just general bad workmanship. The joint between the '33 and '98 looked like it had been caulked every 2-3 years since it was built. Most people should realize that something was wrong, but no, they patched the problem for 15 years.
I patched it again.
But my patch is a little better. Instead of simply caulking everything, I flashed and caulked. The flashing job isn't near complete, but it ends at places which are somewhat logical. It also doesn't go underneath the siding, instead going under the drip edge of the kitchen roof. My intent is for the patch to last about 5 year. The addition's roof is about 15 years into a 20 year lifespan, the kitchen roof is tin, and from the 30's. Since both are showing signs of wear, in a few years we'll replace both of them at the same time.
The Storm!
We had a nasty storm a few weeks ago, one so bad we had to go down to the basement. This rarely happens because we live on the top of the bluff next to the river, but it happened. Once the sirens blew, we went down the hatch.
Before I continue with the story, let me describe our basement. The entrance to the basement is in the '98 addition, you go from the addition straight into the '33 addition. From there you go into the old kitchen in the basement (complete with plaster, a freezer, a trapdoor from the upstairs, and a dirt floor). Turning a corner in the front you find the coal room, then the furnace. Further back you go underneath the kitchen, and even further back you get to the entrance to the crawl space under the addition. Just imagine a giant U.
So we went down and waited out the storm. It took about an hour, but it passed without causing too much damage in the city. The worst thing that happened was a number of basements flooded. Fortunately for us, our basement stayed dry.
Our crawlspace, however, did not.
While coming up out of the basement I heard a great deal of rain. Noting that the old porch and crawlspace doesn't have any windows, I needed to investigate. Grabbing a light, I found a cascade of water pouring down the wall. Not a drip...a cascade.
Obviously something was seriously wrong, obviously I couldn't do anything about. it at the time.
Later I looked, it was obvious that this had been a problem for quite some time, and had been partially fixed, but the bean had completely rotted away, and was left unsupported. This will probably be the most aggravating jobs I have to do. I'll explain...
I've already described the basement, the entrance to the basement is on one side of the U, the entrance to the crawlspace is on the other. In the crawlspace is and old concrete stoop that was about 2/3rds the width of the house. So I'll have to crawl around that to get to a spot which is right next to the entrance...now you should understand my aggravation.
Anyway, it turns out this was the least of my problems...
Before I continue with the story, let me describe our basement. The entrance to the basement is in the '98 addition, you go from the addition straight into the '33 addition. From there you go into the old kitchen in the basement (complete with plaster, a freezer, a trapdoor from the upstairs, and a dirt floor). Turning a corner in the front you find the coal room, then the furnace. Further back you go underneath the kitchen, and even further back you get to the entrance to the crawl space under the addition. Just imagine a giant U.
So we went down and waited out the storm. It took about an hour, but it passed without causing too much damage in the city. The worst thing that happened was a number of basements flooded. Fortunately for us, our basement stayed dry.
Our crawlspace, however, did not.
While coming up out of the basement I heard a great deal of rain. Noting that the old porch and crawlspace doesn't have any windows, I needed to investigate. Grabbing a light, I found a cascade of water pouring down the wall. Not a drip...a cascade.
Obviously something was seriously wrong, obviously I couldn't do anything about. it at the time.
Later I looked, it was obvious that this had been a problem for quite some time, and had been partially fixed, but the bean had completely rotted away, and was left unsupported. This will probably be the most aggravating jobs I have to do. I'll explain...
I've already described the basement, the entrance to the basement is on one side of the U, the entrance to the crawlspace is on the other. In the crawlspace is and old concrete stoop that was about 2/3rds the width of the house. So I'll have to crawl around that to get to a spot which is right next to the entrance...now you should understand my aggravation.
Anyway, it turns out this was the least of my problems...
A fixer-upper
I've been wanting to buy a house for years, and I've always wanted a fixer-upper. This house fit the bill of exactly what I wanted--a house that I could fix-up, but one that wasn't so far gone to be a waste of time.
Before we bought the house, there didn't seem to be anything to egregiously wrong with it---the only thing that was wrong was my assumption. Of course, to be fair, when you're looking at a house you only get so much time. Of course, on the other hand we walked around the place so many times the owner (not knowing who we were) put up "no trespassing" signs!
But I digress, we found out that there were plenty of things wrong with the house. Enough to keep us busy for a few...decades....
Before we bought the house, there didn't seem to be anything to egregiously wrong with it---the only thing that was wrong was my assumption. Of course, to be fair, when you're looking at a house you only get so much time. Of course, on the other hand we walked around the place so many times the owner (not knowing who we were) put up "no trespassing" signs!
But I digress, we found out that there were plenty of things wrong with the house. Enough to keep us busy for a few...decades....
So after years of moving from place to place, and renting here and there, we decided to buy a house.
Our first step was to figure out how big a loan we could get. If we could even get one at all--we have a lot of student debt.
We set an appointment with our bank, and were approved for about 65k. This was good, because liveable houses start at about 60k in this town. Anything less and you'll end up spending the difference to make it liveable!
The search began, and long story short, we bought a house in our price range. Its a double barrel duplex that was converted to a single family. The main part was built ca. 1887, the kitchen/bath/laundry was added in '33, and the "addition" was added in '98. It was converted to a SFH in the early 60's. The left side has the living room, dining, kitchen and addition. The right has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a laundry room. Upstairs are two additional rooms, one which is nearly finished, the other which is...not.
Our first step was to figure out how big a loan we could get. If we could even get one at all--we have a lot of student debt.
We set an appointment with our bank, and were approved for about 65k. This was good, because liveable houses start at about 60k in this town. Anything less and you'll end up spending the difference to make it liveable!
The search began, and long story short, we bought a house in our price range. Its a double barrel duplex that was converted to a single family. The main part was built ca. 1887, the kitchen/bath/laundry was added in '33, and the "addition" was added in '98. It was converted to a SFH in the early 60's. The left side has the living room, dining, kitchen and addition. The right has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a laundry room. Upstairs are two additional rooms, one which is nearly finished, the other which is...not.
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