Seems we’re having guests for the Arts Festival *NEXT* weekend and needed two operable guest rooms. “Operable” here means a place to sleep, a bit of privacy, and most important…air-conditioning so the guests can actually sleep, as opposed to simply bursting into flames.

Well, I’ve not installed the new AC system yet, and the sunroom is one of only three rooms with a working window unit.

So of course, we had torn it up as part of the remodel. Sigh.

Time to get cracking!

Y’all recall this picture…complete with pepto-bismal color trim?

We removed the door on the left…and needed to relocate the door on the right to the center of the space it comes from (our utility room)

So…wall in the way

Wall goes down

Wall goes back up:

Complete with beadboard…and a door with transom window…centered in the utility room (so we can have cabinetry on both sides of the utility)

LOTS of work to accomplish this over the weekend.

Let’s see….
a. Fixed air conditioner!
1. crawled around under house with 5 cast iron house jacks getting the area where the wall is going level.
2. Removed the old plumbing for the second kitchen (now the utility room) sink. Removed and capped hot, cold, and drain. That’s a feat in and of itself just because it’s old galvanized iron pipe and you never know whether it will unscrew or break at the joint (broke, thrice). Oh, and found some lead pipe too…just for entertainment’s sake! Yep, eventually it’s all going to be replaced, but we are using part of it for now.
3. Removed 1 gas jet. Relocated another.
4. Built and beadboarded wall.
5. Installed door frame.
6. Went in search of door to fit doorframe (yah, uh, maybe should have gone and done that BEFORE installing the door frame ). Sidenote: You know you’re an old house owner if: You have 17 extra doors, and none of them fit any of the doorframes that are missing doors in your house!
7. Found THE door! WooHoo! Installed door. Ordered glass.
8. Found transom window. WooHoo! Ordered more glass.
9. Cleand up 8000 nails, dust, staples, iron pipe leavings etc.

We didn’t get to the wiring or the paint…but they can wait till after this weekend.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

See, I’ve a project in mind…and I expect I’ll need a little help. I spent time yesterday getting some of the tools ready for the work…inspecting, lubing, and cleaning them.

Yep. Those are screw jacks…sometimes known as “railroad jacks” or “house jacks”. Folks that know what they are, or have used them, know that when they come out, that somewhere, sometime, there is a heap of work to be done.

The capacity is based on the screw size. The smallest is 1-1/4″, which is good for about 15 tons. The 2″ are good for 20 tons, and the big ones in the back are 2-1/2″ and good for over 30 tons. The jacks themselves weigh anywhere from 30 pounds for the smallest to 80 pounds or so for each of the two biggest ones. Altogether they weigh something near 400 pounds.

There’s enough jacks there to pick up close to 400,000 pounds…nearly half-a-million pounds.

“What the hell are you planning on jacking up?” says an incredulous neighbor.

I just grinned an evil grin and said, “Anything I want to.”

I’ll keep ya posted!

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer