Eric Hanson

Ok, so I didn’t have the surgery—yet.  But neither did I get my garden beds started.  In fact, the field grass grew right up and I could barely see where I planned to put my garden in the first place.  So yesterday I got my tractor out, put the bush hog on and bush hogged the approximate borders of the planned garden area.  

I found two of my three beds that had been prepared with cardboard and branches, but the third blew away in a storm. I will see about re-establishing that bed soon.

But I have enough of a start now that the grass shouldn’t be able to swallow the garden again.  I will attach picture in a little bit.



Eric

Update:  As I expected, the water basically came straight down the vent pipe.


It looks like the boot that should seal the pipe to the roof was splitting on both of the suspected vent pipes.  But there is hail damage that I had not noticed previously.  It basically means a roof replacement is in the works.  The good news is that it might be covered by insurance.  I am going to have to see about this.



Eric

Got it!

Nice, simple, elegant solution



Eric

Bridget,

I have not lived in Mi, but I grew up in Central Illinois and spent plenty of time at my grandparents farm in MN.  The farm certainly gave me experience is real cold, and even Central Illinois could have cold winters with heavy snowfalls.

You say that you come from the Great North, but could you pin that down a little bit?  

My experience is that one of the best ways to survive in cold and snow is simply to learn to drive in snow.  You probably already know this, but it’s worth repeating—My opinion is that 4WD and even AWD is overrated.  They won’t help in the slightest if you don’t know how to drive in snow.  I live in Southern Illinois, but winters here are vastly different than winter in Central Illinois.  My students are obsessed with 4WD to survive snow driving, yet get into accidents all the time.  

I had one student in particular who came in one morning declaring how “impossible” the roads were because she got into an accident in her “Tank.”  I had to look at her and directly tell her that her tank was of no use without the skill to use it.  She was obsessed with 4WD, but I reminded her that every car has four wheel stop.  And she still got into an accident because she slammed on the breaks (her words) and thus caused a skid.  Further, her “tank” was heavy, massive and thus harder to stop because it had so much kinetic energy.  Finally, I explained to her that 4WD was likely going to get her further off the road before she got well and truly stuck.  

4WD just isn’t going to save anyone without the skills to use it.  My best snow vehicle:  1990 Ford Escort!



Again, you probably already know this, but for anyone else reading this, it might be worth considering.




Eric

Jeff, I like your design.  It has a simple, functional elegance.

I have to ask if you are planning on waterproofing or covering the OSB roof.  OSB just doesn’t stand up well to water—any water.  But some simple waterproofing (or maybe a covering layer) will fix that just fine.


Nice job!



Eric

Regarding the roof peak:  yes, that is the ridge vent.  It allows hot air to escape from the highest point in the attic.  In the United States this has been standard building practice for the past 30ish years.  Prior to the ridge vent, there would be a vent cut into the side of the wall of the attic or one of those spinning spheres if there was no wall section.

Today I am going to make some phone calls and get up into the attic.  But the water spots are all located directly under the toilet vents (there are two stains, each under a vent pipe).

Thanks for the input.  I will post updates and by all means, feel free to continue to offer your thoughts,



Eric

Well, I found the problem and it was plain as day.  The vents for the toilets never got fully enclosed by shingles.  When I got the roof replaced in 2009, I found out in the breach that the actual contractors were a fly-by-night operation.  As they were finishing, they had a big, blue tarp on the edges of the roof to collect nails.  But then instead of actually carefully picking them up and dumping in the dumpster just feet, they dumped them in the grass directly under the roof edge!  I wanted to yell at them, but that would have been useless, they spoke no English.  Their truck was registered in Tennessee and the trailer in Minnesota.  They were long gone the day after dumping nails (I told the main contractor, a reputable person, but those roofers were gone).  And since it was a mass-damage event, it was a sort of take anyone you can.

Obviously I am going to have to see about getting that shingling replaced and maybe check underneath,  Honestly, it’s amazing it has taken this long for a problem.  But I imagine that 17 years of wind, Sun, snow , ice have finally beaten up any sealing that was done (haphazardly) back in 2009.



Eric

John,

House is 21 years old—contractor went bankrupt long ago.  Figures.  I have thought about contacting my insurance.

So the location of the stain actually kinda localizes where it could come from but I will try to get a look tomorrow.  

It seems like the water came from where one roof section drains onto another.  The two sections are perpendicular to each other.  My guess is that the water drained just as wind was blowing hard which pushed it backwards, up into the ridge cap.

But I will see what it looks like tomorrow.



Eric

Hello everyone,

The last two days we have had a lot of wind and rain.  This morning my wife spotted a new water stain on the ceiling of a mudroom adjacent to the garage.  I was able to reach up and it was indeed damp. Obviously we are concerned about roof problems.

The mud room is near the center of the house along the shortest axis, but fairly central along the longest axis.  

I thought for a while and it occurred to me that perhaps the wind blew the rain up and under the ridge vent and that it how the water made its way in.

I would love to hear others thoughts.  And before anyone asks, the roof was replaced in 2009 with a 25 year shingle.



Thanks in advance,


Eric

Hello everyone,

I am writing this as a thought forward about protecting my recent investments in tractor equipment.  At the moment I have three 3-point implements for my tractor, with a fourth in the near future.  I also have two loader attachments, a bucket and a grapple.  Obviously I can only have one 3-point and one loader attachment on at a time which then requires that I store the others.  Presently I store the two extra 3-point attachments outside, tucked under the canopy of some trees where I can get access easily enough, but the are not a visual nuisance.  Since I just got the grapple, I made a rolling storage platform out of the pallet that the grapple was shipped on.  I added four swiveling casters wheels and now I can simply drop either the bucket or the grapple (whichever is not in use) on the rolling pallet and roll it to some part of the garage.  It works for now.

But the outdoor attachments are simply resting on ground.  My neighbor has mentioned how equipment resting on ground tends to rust easily as moisture works up and gets trapped.  Moreover, getting the attachments out of rain and weather is a good idea by itself.  

I am not in a position to build a whole new shed, but I was thinking about maybe building a sort of carport (attachment port?) that would have a roof but open ends for ventilation.  I might go so far as to pour a concrete base.  The idea would be to keep the attachments where they are but with a little roof built over them.

Obviously I am trying to save pennies.  But I also want the attachments that I have purchased to be the last time I purchase one of each type—I want them lasting longer than I do.

Does this sound practical?  I would be interested in hearing feedback.




Eric