How to Get Rid of Stuff the Slow Way

Now that my relationship with the City has changed I want people to know that I am still treated just like every other citizen when it comes to rules and regulations. I was issued a warning notice because my yard standards were a little lacking this spring. I still had a small pile of wood in the front yard left over from the porch removal last fall and a moderate pile of concrete and other crap in the back yard after the removal of the fire escape as part of the roof restoration last September. I was also told to cut my grass and the wondrous collection of weeds that have accumulated after the heaviest seasonal rainfall this city has experienced in recorded history. The bad news was that I effectively had 5 days to comply and since my schedule had been put together months in advance with little time to spare, this meant that I had one day to make a difference. Now I could have called for a roll off dumpster to be delivered but those are not cheap, require a location for placement and are limited to being available for a certain number of days before they are hauled away. I used one of those last September, you can read about it HERE.

Now that someone has acquired the house across the alley I didn't think it would be very neighborly to plonk a dumpster across their parking space for several days. I also didn't have the time to fill it to the top in one day. So I tried something different. A friend had told me about a program that is run by Waste Management called "The Bagster" Since I saw a real potential of using this program within some of our inner city neighborhoods to reduce costs in City Hall, I was willing to try this out for myself.

When you analyze the cost it is actually cheaper to use the baggies than to rent the roll off dumpster from Waste Management. Last September we paid a grand total of $407 for a 4 ton dumpster and an additional $21.75 for an extra .75 tons. So in essence three of the bagsters would hold 4.5 tons of debris. The dumpster cost would have been $421.50 for 4.5 tons. I only used two of the bagsters this spring. The bags cost $30.00 each from Lowes or Home Depot. With tax the two bags were $64.00. Three bags would have cost me $96.00. The pick up cost in my zip code area was $89.00 for the first bag and $69.00 for additional bags. Once again, I only used two bags. Here is a picture of them!



Three bags would have cost a total of $323.00 making it almost $100.00 cheaper to use the baggies! Cutting costs and getting the job done is what I am all about. I will probably need to use two or three more of these bags to empty my basement of all the excess wood and make some room down there, not to mention that I still have much concrete to dispose of.
This program is not available in all areas and I don't make a dime promoting it. I just like to let people know that they have choices!

The Screen Door Saga

The wife wanted screen doors. Three in fact but let's start with two. She likes the idea of the wind blowing through the house creating a cross breeze through the kitchen. The screen doors were bought at a big box retailer. I believe it may have been Lowes. They cost $88.00 each which was reasonable. Well, now they need to be sealed and painted. We had one color that we could use. We have used it inside the house. It is a dark green. These doors needed some extra flare, so more colors were needed. That means two gallons of paint at $30.00 a gallon and then there is the screen door hardware. The front door was 3 inches too short and so I had to make a shim for the bottom of it. The back door isn't in place yet because I have to redesign the entire rear of the house just to accommodate it!

So, here is the front screen door.



Now let me tell you what I have to do as a result. Paint the windows and doors. Redo the entire porch and install a second doorbell because you can't ring the traditional one installed in the middle of the door if the screen door is locked! It is very fortunate that I anticipated that this day would come and I ran doorbell wire through the brick and into the basement several years ago.

The Thermo Gaseous Electro Daily Fragment Modulator.

aka the Steampunk Clock.

I went to Ikea one day and among many other things I got a wooden, cabinet style wall clock that was on sale for $21.00 or so. Then it sat on my floor for a month or two until I could figure out what I wanted to do with it. Eventually I came up with an idea and went out and spent some money on some copper plumbing fittings and some electrical parts. I also ordered an assortment of different light bulbs and sifted through a bag of odds and ends. So, an additional $50.00 later I now have a unique wall mounted clock that looks like this.



The two antique looking bulbs on each side are actually "Balafire" bulbs that have a moving carbon filament so that it looks as if a flame is burning inside the bulb.
When the thing is turned on it looks like this.



So, the big question becomes ..... "Where do I put it?" That was easy. It hangs in my office where I am slowly framing some weird and wonderful patents of inventions from Dayton, Ohio and placing them on a wall with an 1870 version of a birds-eye view of the city.



Eventually this wall should get covered in these patent pictures. I just need to find some time to go through all the patents. There are thousands of them. The step ladder was invented in Dayton, Ohio for all you home renovation enthusiasts out there. The clock and pictures are the perfect compliment for the radiograph machine, L.C. Smith typewriter and the Plasma lamp on my credenza!

Ask and you shall receive!

Many years ago I posted a link on the right side of this page that told readers what few items we were in the market for. The main two items were a door that is 101" X 36 " and a ceiling light fixture for the parlor. Well, we have had several referrals but no luck on the door. We got one email about a month or so ago regarding a light fixture though. I took up the offer to acquire the fixture and installed it the day that it arrived. The only issue was that it came without the six shades that it needed. I don't know if you have ever looked for shades but they can end up costing more than the light fixture if you are not careful. Kind of like getting a picture framed. I just spent $300 a piece getting two $20 posters framed. Some things just don't make sense!
Any way. The person who sold me the light fixture has been eager to see if I would make a post about this. I held off until the light shades arrived. I was able to get the best possible price for these shades at Lehmans which is here in Ohio. Believe me I searched extensively online at many options. These were the most cost effective. Of course I had to order 6 pieces which caused an automatic backorder situation which delayed delivery. Anyway, here is the light fixture in all it's glory.



Now I am going to have to paint the room!

Dayton Patented

Dayton, Ohio has the unique reputation as being the city with the most patents per capita than any other city in the United States. It had over 1200 patents issued before 1868. I have been researching some of them because I find some of the inventions interesting. Dayton is famous for the airplane, the automotive starter motor, the ice cube tray and the pop top can BUT did you know that Dayton has claim to the automatic gate, a wringer and of all things House paint? Anyone who owns a Victorian brick house may find this patent interesting. It is for house paint and is from 1837. We still have flakes of this or something similar on our place. Click on the image to read the ingredients.

Year End Update With Pictures!

I get asked this question often. "Did you finish your roof?" The answer is "No, but it is two fifths done."
The gutters are the time consuming part. They have to be riveted and soldered in place and each corner has to be custom made. There are eight corners due to us having a bay section with four 135 degree corners. The good news is that six of the eight corners are in place so in the spring I just have three straight sides and a dormer to remove and replace with a window similar to the others. I am not looking forward to that window construction.
So here is why it has taken so long. Besides the roof, I had to brick up this hole in the wall.



I still have one row to complete but it involves standing on a ladder. I don't stand on ladders unless it is at least 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Here is a news clip from New Years Eve where I get asked about the roof. This was aired live at 6:10 AM so I was up early for it.

Leitzell praises risk takers: wdtn.com

I had three downspouts to replace. This had to be done to stop the waterfall we encountered on Thanksgiving Day in our bedroom and parlor which was also the result of not completing a section of gutter before a torrential rain.

Then there was the eight tons of wood pellets that were delivered and moved to my basement. Before they could be stored, I had to remove a huge pile of wood and store it outside.

We had a furnace installed this year.



I actually paid for this to be done. If you live in the Dayton area, call Mr. Hartley who owns Dayton Air Conditioning and Heating, at 937-277-8864 and tell him the Mayor referred you. I did have a role to play in the installation.

My role was to seal up a window opening that we used to vent the furnace. I put in a second piece of 4" pipe for future use if needed. It is easier than knocking a hole in the wall!



While I was at it, I replaced the bulkhead doors which were destroyed by some kids trying to break into the house in 2009.



Then I installed this door in the basement in case you get through the bulkhead doors!



I have also made a bead board wall to replace the handrail to the third floor so that I can install a door and keep some heat in the house. I have also replaced the toilet in the Steampunk bathroom with one that actually works and doesn't require three flushes to clear! I also put a toilet in the 2nd half bathroom area (also the laundry room)so that I don't have to look at the hole in the floor any more!

Did I mention lining a chimney so that we could use the wood stove in the parlor? Well I did that too. I poured vermiculite around the liner and wondered why it was taking so much to fill the space. After entering my bedroom I saw the problem. My fireplace had filled up with vermiculite! This meant that there was a hole between my chimneys. After figuring where it was I proceeded to knock a hole in the chimney to repair the hole. After repairing the hole and pouring vermiculite again, I discovered another hole higher up. So I had to make an even bigger hole in my chimney to repair it. Here is a picture. I still have three bricks to install in order to finish the work.




After all this, homeschooling my daughter and doing Mayoral things there are still people out there that call me lazy!

Roof Progress (the continuing story)

This saga has been going on for quite some time but the reality is that I have actually only worked on the place for 14 days. Six of those days involved tear down of the front porch and fire escape and one day was spent forming copper gutters. After rebuilding the structural elements and filling the gaping big hole in the roof, it left about 4 days of actual work on the roof. Here is the progress.

Tar paper on one side of the chimney.



Tar paper on both sides of the chimney.



Faux slate on one side of the chimney.



Faux slate on both sides of the chimney.



A close up peak at the composite shingles.



This stuff is made by Tamko and is called Lamerite. It is a composite material that is warranted for 50 years and comes in assorted shapes and sizes. It is easy to cut and can be applied using a nail gun which makes attaching them so much easier than original slate.

They look good too and from the ground, they look like slate!

The bad news is that I suspect that I will run out of daylight and time before I run out of roof to replace. The good news is that I can apply this and the gutters in sections. The flashing around the windows and chimneys is a bear to do and there are two chimneys and 5 windows total. Currently I am one chimney and one window down. I forsee plenty of roof work in my future!