Hey, I'm baaack!

I missed everyone while I was "offline" due to house renovations. This phase is done now, so I have internet access, TV, and can actually get into my kitchen again! Life is good.

Here are some pictures of the work in progress

Previously, as in over the last 4 years, we have spent our time and $$ on really "essential" stuff like bringin the electrical up to code, repairing drywall, re-doing my batchroom, painting, and more painting. Nothing had been done to the place since 1972, with the exception of installation of some truly vile blue carpet EVERYWHERE except the kitchen. 1200 sf of it to be precise.

So first we tore out the carpet in the livingroom, diningroom, hallway

And then the carpet padding, which had decayed badly in the 20 YEARS since they put it down. I had to clorox the cement underneath after I scraped the carpet pad up with a flat shovel. Then we cleaned the whole surface of every bit of crud, nails, fragments of Who Knows What before our contractor could come in to lay tile.

Why tile? Aside from being very allergic to dust, I have now got a sensititvity to the glues and fixatives they use in laminate wood flooring (ruled out), I wasn't about to spend the $$ for solid planks of oak or something, so we continued with the same tile I had put in my bathroom last year.

Tile after being laid, prior to grout

Aforementioned bathroom, with tile continued into the hallyway. Plus lovely stained moldings

Livingroom with tile finished + molding. Fireplace surround cabinetry is still pending, as is the finish work in the entryway

yeah, there's still stuff to be done, but we can move some furniture back from storage, watch tv, cook a meal.... feels great!

Greenjay,
That looks GREAT!!! No wonder you are thrilled!

Remodeling while trying to live in it is definitely a strain, but now the joy begins...

mulchmania

I LOVE the tile! You've gotta have what you can live with and you chose something that will last forever. It's beautiful, GJ.

We've been house hunting (because of health stuff) and you would be surprised at how extensive the use of tile is, these days. That and granite are very popular.

What sort of vacuum do you use...with your health needs? (Can you use a vacuum?) We just bought a new one and searched for a long time before buying. Friends whose daughter had similar lung troubles to our oldest have been using a Rainbow. The refilling and dumping of that much water isn't something you will see being done in our house:(

You had a ton of energy before getting rid of the blue, dusty carpet. You are going to be a ball of fire, now! Congratulations on the new addition! ;)

Welcome back, GreenJay, and congratulations on your major work completion! I think I saw the beginnings of your project in the fall. Can't wait to see the rest in the spring -- when next we gather in Denver.
You found a way of dealing with the dark and cold of winter. I haven't been anywhere near as energetic as you have. I just gripe about been a shut in for 6 months of the year. I guess I need to get some sort of indoor hobby.

Greenjay, I commiserate knowing how frustrating a renovation can become. Your results are stunning! Spouse and son are renovating a bathroom here. As the house is mostly adobe, a renovation is considerable work since no walls are straight and electricity movement is difficult. They are in the plumbing phase so water is constantly off and on all day. At least they had the good sense to plan the work in the dead of winter so the garden (and gardener) would not suffer.

Thanks guys. Finally we will be able to have people inside for the spring meet-up. By then we may also have some pretty major stuff for us) done in terms of energy efficiency that I can show off. We are trying to use aspects of passive solar in an existing structure (hard enough) where the only thing we can change externally is the windows.

I think we have a real shot at getting it to work, because since the new super-insulated patio door went in we have hardly been running the heat. DH was so overheated in fact that he had 2 fans in the bedroom to sleep. Note: it is 15* out there...

Well, Greenjay, since it was 17 degrees below zero this morning, 15 degrees sounds like a heat wave to me. No wonder he needs fans! Ha!

Actually it sounds like you are doing some neat things that are starting to work for you. I will be interested to hear more about them as you keep working on it.

Now I think I will go run the blow dryer on the kitchen door lock that froze shut.

mulchmania

Your tile looks great!

Yes, the tile looks wonderful thanks the The Michelangelo of Tile and General Carpentry -- our contractor. We had to schedule him a year ahead of time, but he is very much worth it. Aside from being a nice person, and our dogs like him too.

The planned effect was to increase our overall insulation value on every horizontal surface + replacement windows. The tile was my choice for the "public" areas mostly because of my allergies, but also because with proper installation it is good for 20-30 yrs. Carpet has at best a 10 yr lifecycle, and costs more for the really good stuff. Per sf the tile cost about $4, the carpet in the bedrooms (berber) is $4.20 /sf installed by Empire.

What we learned AFTER the grout was in the tile is that the 3" layer of cement subfloor + 1/2" backerboard + 1/4 porcelain tile makes a fantastic heatsink. I know people use the same principle in greenhouses -- but our heat comes from the heating ducts of the downstairs neighbor. Remains to be seen if the same effect will work in the summer, but I bet the tile at least will make it seem cooler.

Nice Greenjay! Now with tile floors you can build compost piles in the house and cook them over winter. Nice.

Ahem. No compost in the livingroom

Dogs track it all over the house and I hate getting grit on my feet before I get into bed!

Yo, greenjay. Tell me about the small shredder/grinder you bought last year. I need one too and wondered how yours worked out. I can't start the large ones with a hand crank. As I recall, yours is electric. What brand is it? What will it grind/not grind. Should I buy one for my infinite supply of pine needles?

PJ pine needles hardly are chopped or shreded. That is why I bought a debris loader. It does. I have a 10 HP toro and it is almost impossible to get pine needles into the grinder area without shoving the needles in one by one. And you are right it is very hard to start because of the heavy weighted grinder wheel. I think that a lawn mower with a mulching blade is the best for pine needles. Other than a debris loader.

Alas, I have a lawn mower. It shoots its output up into a bag. I don't know if that is a mulching blade. It doesn't really do much to pine needles though. I had hoped whatever greenjay has bought would take care of them. Should I buy a different blade for my lawn mower?

Nothing does much to pine needles but break the outer shell. even chipper shredders don't know how to break them in smaller pieces. Mulching blades hit them many times breaking the surface to speed up the decay.

Can you put a mulching blade on a regular lawnmower?

PJ--Absolutely, YES! We've used one for decades. Sears sells the proper blades or if you have a lawnmower repair shop (often the shops that sell only garden tractors and such have them as part of the store)...they can retrofit your mower.

Once we started mulching, we added aeration to the yearly routine (esp. in the fall, to give the roots of the grass a chance to grow). Al's really proud of his lawn and Emma just loves to walk on it :)

I was not totally thrilled with the performance of the electric chopper. The safety cutoff is placed wring so that the material coming out often hits the "off" button. And it requires ABSOLUTELY uniform consistency in the stuff you are putting through it, or it gunks up the blades.

It did a terrific job of reducing pine needles to dust -- about 4 cups at a time. I have a mtn of pine needles 4' x 10', so you do the math.

On the other hand, the kids enjoyed it because they got to wear cool goggles and gloves and make really loud noises.

What brand was it?

As for the mulching lawnmower, I prefer to collect the clippings and put them in my compost. Maybe I need a second lawnmower with a mulching blade? I don't want to get into aerating the lawn. I am not a lawn person. My dogs do love my lawn, but they don't mind if it looks a little tacky!

Sounds like the kids know what's cool, GJ ;)

Two lawnmowers? I don't know that the mulching blade would be the answer to the pine needle problem. You have much more land than we do and the lawn is Al's joy. We don't have much pine needle shedding to deal with, either. Maybe someone else would know if the needles would be well-mulched by a mower?

Here's a winter project for next year, bring bags of pine needles into the garage before snow hits. Then, all winter, when longing for growing gardens, sit there and neatly snip the pine needles into the right size with scissors...

You can tell I don't have any pine needles to mulch!

Don't laugh mulch.... I am almost that crazy by now. I definitely need a winter hobby. I am not sure why this has hit so much harder than usual this year.

Wish I had more pine needles. The few I have I leave under the trees as they are planted in my windblock area. I do occasionally go up into hills and collect pine needles so that I have some to mulch my acid loving plants, blueberries etc. I also don't have much lawn, low on my priority list is lawn area. But the lawn is mowed with a mulching blade and I haven't fertilized my small lawn areas in 12 years, and it really looks pretty good and few weeds.

Donna

I think about 33% of my compost is pine needle. So I am glad that I have a way of quickening the process of decomposition. Otherwise the compost would look like the porky-pine pile of Ponderosa needle. It does however provide great soil structure for a long time when I incorporate it into the soil. My soil here in the rockies is somewhat acidic but I prefer the 6.0 ph of Pacific NW soil.

I can have all the pine needles I want, from my own trees and those of my neighbors and friends. Tree leaves are a little harder to get. I use pine needles for mulch, but I would love to shred the ones I compost. I just haven't found the right method.
I do sometimes run the lawnmower over the ones that fall from the trees. They actually don't get all that shredded, but a little bit shredded. Next, when the snow clears, I will try running my lawnmower over some of the plastic bags of leaves that I get from friends and neighbors.
But if anyone comes up with a better way, I would like to hear it. Only thing is it has to have a small enough engine that I can start it. I can get my toro lawnmower started, but I just don't have the strength for engines that are much larger than a self-propelled home lawnmower.

PJ you need to look into a debris loader. You could get it used from a local landscaper. Quite the item and very powerful for shredding. I think that if you sucked the material (pine needles) twice through it it would be tiny. Mine I do just once and it is mostly tiny. Otherwise I know of no other machine.

A debris loader? I don't think I have ever heard of such a thing. I thought a debris loader was me! I will have to look that up on the internet.

It is a large vaccum that runs off a gas motor. It has an eight inch diameter hose and sucks up everything and shreds it blowing it into your mulch pile. I thought you saw it before on my trailer picture.

I probably did see it but didn't know what it was. What brand did you get? The ones I saw on the internet had 16 hp engines and up. It is all I can do to start my 6.5 hp Toro lawnmower with a pull rope. I don't think I am up to starting a 16 hp engine with a rope -- I could do it if it had an electric start, though. I have a snow blower which I never use because I can't start it.

This is it. I have my computer hooked up. It starts rather easy. But it is heavy. I have one that pulls behind a tractor. (lawn)

You start it with your computer? No, that can't be. Is it an electric start or a pull start? Any clue what brand? I can deal with heavy, but starting it with a rope is a bit much for me if it is more than 6.5 hp. Looks like you need a lawn tractor and a cart as well.

I guess you can't read my mind. LOL I hooked up my computer so I could put the picture on. Sorry. It is a 10hp Briggs and Stratton. You have to pull start but I know they have electric starts. It is a Billy Goat debris loader. They have all kinds. Go here for info. http://www.beavervalleysupply.com/sectionb/billygvbd.htm They have all of the accessories you want. I only paid 800 for mine cause I got it on ebay. This is one they have listed for less. http://cgi.ebay.com/BILLY-GOAT-QL-TRUCK-DEBRIS-LOADER-VACUUM_W0QQitemZ150209504690QQihZ005QQcategoryZ22655QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for the specifics. I see that some of them only 5hp motors. I could probably start one of those with a rope type puller -- since my lawnmower is 6.5 hp and I can start it. But an electric starter would be nice if they have one.
I had never seen these before. It sure would pulverize my leaves and pine needles and speed up the whole composting operation. For that matter, I bet some friends would like to borrow it and give me their leaves ! It would make their raking and cleaning easier.

Precisely. I now have all the leaves I need. I just pile up the grass all summer and then drive downtown where everyone has raked leaves in piles and in 2 trips with my trailer I have all that I need. (well have room for) You can adjust the vacuum levels and vacuum over rocky gravel to pick up needles in the drive, leaves off the mulch (leaving the mulch), and suck up perennial clean up by throwing the plant remains 'near' the hose to suck up while you chop. I use it for sucking up mushroom compost (sawdust and horse manure) so I don't have to shovel it out of the horse stall and then when I get to the bed that I want to distribute it on I just blow it out there. I am sure I will use it for many other things this next year.