May 31, 2019 – Today was a productive day. S&S Trash Service delivered a 15 yard dumpster for all the demolition debris. Melanie from S&S told me it would be onsite by noon and it was right on time! Just to make sure it works, I removed the old kitchen door and tossed it into the dumpster. Everything is good. Thankx S&S!
S&S driver delivering the dumpster.Dumpster off loaded.
We had a visitor at the renovation site today. He crawled in from the giant puddle in the neighbors yard and he spent the entire day napping under the big oak tree in the front yard. His name is T. S. Snappy. He likes to have his nose tickled while being hugged. Hide yo wife, hide yo kids and hide yo dogs! We have had other aquatic visitors to the renovation site.
T.S. Snappy onsite.T.S. Snappy the snapping turtle from the block.
After the dumpster was delivered I started installing the kitchen addition sub-flooring. I am using 3/4 inch treated plywood. It is not tongue and groove but we need good moisture and insect resistance.
In order to fit the sub-floor under the kitchen door I had to remove it completely. So I said goodbye to the old kitchen door and pitched it into the dumpster.
Kitchen door, frame & sill removed to allow for sub-floor installation.Two sheets of 3/4 inch treated sub-floor installed.
May25, 2019 – I know, I’ve written enough about this whole temporary electric situation but today we Re-Energized the cottage. This allowed me to turn on the water, the water heater and all our appliances. From this point forward we can continue with the kitchen roof demolition and the rest of the renovation.
After a trip out to Lowe’s for conduit and glue we set about extending the electric service back over to the cottage. This is what it looks like now.
Temporary electric extended back over to the cottage.LB and conduit at the temporary electric panel.
The electric service was disconnected to allow the the kitchen roof to be removed. To power the cottage back up we extended the service to a point that won’t be disturbed by the demolition.
The only goal for this weekend was to Re-Energize the Blistered Palm Cottage so the the renovation can continue. We accomplished this goal in two days. Much thankx to my family and everyone who helped out. It was a great weekend.
Next weekend we will resume demolition and framing on the kitchen addition. Stay tuned.
May 24, 2019 – It was a long winter with no work but the we are finally ready for our Spring renovation start up! Due to other commitments we are running about a month behind the usual cottage opening date. This weekend, Memorial Day weekend is our first opportunity to roll. Let the renovation begin.
I packed up my new truck and hit the road around 3:30 PM. When we arrived at the cottage we discovered the lane relocation has been completed. Caution to all our Blistered Palm visitors. The new lane is now open.
My new truck.
To our surprise Ross was waiting in the parking area for our arrival. He had already fielded some questions from the next cottage over and had everything under control. Ross has been officially promoted to “Pre-Season Caretaker” for the Spring renovation start up. Congratulations Ross!
Spring Renovation Start Up – Clearing the tent campsites.
The main focus of the work this weekend is the completion of the temporary electric. Once the electric is back on we can turn on the water and fire up the water heater. With that said, when I turned on the breaker in the temporary panel and tested the receptacle we had no power. Ughhhh!
Meter relocated from the cottage to the temporary service pole.
I placed a outage call to Penn Elec/Met Ed and explained the situation. They dispatched a line truck to troubleshoot the problem. When the repair person arrived the neighbors, from a couple cabins down, came out to see why the truck was blocking the lane. The repairman told us they were just being nosy.
When we opened the temporary panel we immediately identified the problem. The main breaker in this Eaton panel is off to the left side so the first to spaces to the right of the main are not usable. Once we relocated the the 20 amp breaker for the receptacle we had power. Hoo Raw! We are all set to re-energize the Blistered Palm.
By the time the Penn-Elec guy left it was to late in the evening to start on the water system. We will save this fun for tomorrow.
November 13, 2018 – If everything goes as planned, today we will get our electric service inspection sticker. I called the inspection service, Commonwealth Code Inspection Service, on Monday. The lady I spoke with was very nice. She took down the address information and the Penelec design request number. She told me that I could have it inspected as early as tomorrow. Great I replied, lets set it up.
Although she couldn’t give me a specific time she indicated that it would be early in the morning. The drive from Harrisburg to the cottage takes an hour and a half. I told her I would be there waiting by 7:30 AM.
I arrived a little late, around 8:00 AM and proceeded to wait and wait and wait. Throughout the day I called the CCIS office three times. Each time I was told that the inspector is still coming today and he should be there soon.
Finally after 7 hours and 15 minutes of waiting the inspector showed up. It was 3:15 PM. He basically bull shitted with me for half an hour, rattled the wires around a bit and started to get in his car. Whoa hold up a second I said, aren’t you going to put a sticker on the panel? He said, yeah if you want one I can put it on. You bet your ass.
So this is what we get after waiting all day. It’s the electric service inspection sticker and we passed! Now Penelec can cut relocate the electric from the cottage and we can take the roof off. Hooray!
Waiting…..
At the Lookout waiting on the inspector…
Waiting on the inspector in the front yard.
Checking out the downed wire in the woods waiting on the inspector…
Waiting on the inspector on Horningford Road…
Dangerous Dan, Superman and Budgie watching the trains go by waiting on the inspector…
Spying a black cat sneaking up, waiting on the inspector…
November 10, 2018 – Today’s goal is to complete the work required to get the temporary electric service inspection. This includes installing an exterior panel and a waterproof ground fault outlet.
After visiting two different Lowe’s stores and Dauphin Electric Supply, I finally have all the parts I need. I didn’t get to the cottage until late afternoon so I hoped that it wouldn’t take to long to complete. The days are much shorter after daylight savings time ends.
The exterior panel install went very smoothly. The ground fault outlet put the finishing touches on the job. I was done just before the sun went down. We are ready for the temporary electric service inspection.
I’ll call the inspector tomorrow morning to schedule the inspection and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that we will pass the first time and get our inspection sticker.
Outdoor electric panel with connecting conduit ready to be install on the pole.Outdoor panel install on pole and connected to the meter base.Close up of meter base with the service entrance cable connections and the conduit to the outdoor panel.Outdoor load center opened up for wiring.Meter base close up with wiring connections to the outdoor load center and service entrance cable.Meter base and 100 amp load center wiring connections.Close up of 100 amp outdoor load center with service entrance connections and a 20 amp receptacle circuit.Installation of a waterproof GFCI receptacle.Close up of temporary waterproof GFCI receptacle.Close up of meter base, outdoor load center and GFCI receptacle. Ready for inspection.End of the day. Temporary electric pole ready for inspection.
November 4, 2018 – I worked on establishing the temporary electric service pole all day today. It was slow going but I was able to get the pole set in the ground and braces on.
In accordance with the Penelec specifications the temporary electric service pole is supposed to be 18′ overall with 3′-6″ buried in the ground. The digging sucked. With the copious amount of rain we have had the minute I stuck the shovel in the ground the hole filled with water. I dug out three and a half feet of evil smelling muck!
Thankfully we still have a pile of limestone in the driveway. I was able to use the stone to backfill instead of the mud I dug out.
At the end of the day everything but the main breaker panel and one temporary outlet were installed. As soon as I can get those installed I will call for the inspection of the temporary electric service pole and we will get the service transferred.
The post hole for the temporary electric pole. 3′-6″ deep and filled with water.Bolting together the temporary electric pole. Penelec requires a 4″×6″×18′ pole.Installation of the weather head.Installation of the service entrance cable.Close up of the weatherhead with the service entrance cable. Penelec requires 3′ exposed for their connection.Getting ready to set the pole in the post hole.Temporary bracing to hold the pole upright.Temporary pole installed with final bracing and meter base.Close up of the meter base.Penelec requires two 8′ ground rods spaced 6′ apart and connected with #8 bare copper wire.Temporary electric pole in relationship to the cottage.Electric connection to the cottage. This will be relocate to the temporary pole.
October 27, 2018 – Arrived at the cottage this morning at 9:30. It rained all the way from Harrisburg. The sole purpose of this weekend’s visit is for cottage winterization.
Our cottage winterization consists of turning off and draining the hot water heater, draining and blowing out the water lines and placing antifreeze in all the drain traps. This usually takes a couple of hours. It was miserable in the rain but its done.
While waiting for the hot water heater to drain I did some more demolition in the living room. The wood sheathing in the exterior wall to the right of the window is rotting. There is white mold growing in the wall over the window. This window and the rotting wood are going to be removed to make way for a new sliding glass patio door. The sooner the better.
Hopefully it will not rain next weekend. I hope to install a temporary electric pole so the electric can be disconnected from the cottage. This will allow us to take the roof off the old kitchen. Stay tuned.
While the hot water tank drained I did some more demo on the living room wall.
Rotting wood and white mold near the living room window.
Front wall demolition over to and above the living room door.
October 14, 2018 – After discovering water damage in the exterior living room wall I decided to temporarily dry it in. Hopefully the temporary dry in will stop the water infiltration and let it dry out a bit while we put on the new roof.
My plan, as simple as it sounds, was to tarp over the wall section where the old porch connected. First I nailed some 2 × 4 fascia boards to the cottage rafter tails. With that completed, I install some cut pieces of plywood on top of the remains of the old porch rafters. Once the plywood pieces were installed I covered the roof with tarps.
Because some of the people in this family have/had (Grammy, Fanny, et. el.) a slight hoarder complex there are 3000 tarps in the “New” shed. From this stockpile I tried to pick the best ones. The tarps are held in place by 2 × 4 runners nailed down with double headed nails. My hope is that this stops the water leaking while we complete the new roof.
We are away next weekend so stay tuned. In two weeks I should have an update about temporarily relocating the Penelec electric service. This will allow us to start taking the roof off! It’s also getting close to cottage weatherization time.
2 × 4 Fascia boards nailed to the cottage rafter tails.Plywood decking nailed to the remains of the old porch rafters.Getting ready to install temporary tarps.Temporary dry in with tarps installed.Temporary dry in with tarps installed.
October 13, 2018 – The interior demolition in the kitchen and living room continued today. I removed the wing wall separating the two rooms. A section of living room ceiling in addition to a portion of drywall at the front wall have been demo’d.
During the demolition of the wing wall I discovered some carpenter ant / termite damage. The rotted, half eaten wood was removed and the area prepped for wood hardener and high performance wood filler. The hardener and wood filler will be applied on the next trip. Unfortunately, this damaged area is directly under the wall studs that must support one end of a new beam for the kitchen roof.
In the front wall of the living room, where the old porch connected, the batt insulation was soaking wet. As we had figured this area has been leaking for years. Some of the wood siding is rotten to the point that I can push my finger clean through it. As a result, we will have to remove additional drywall to determine the extent of the water damage. Tomorrow I will have to figure out a way to protect this area from continued water damage.
After the removal of some living room ceiling I began the structural demolition of the wood framing members connecting the old kitchen to the living room / main structure. This will make way for a new 20 foot long beam. The beam will tie the two sidewalls together as well as support the roof during the kitchen demo.
Even though it doesn’t look like much all in all it was a good day!
Photos From The Day
Demolition of the wing wall between the kitchen and the living room.Wing wall removal in progress.Carpenter Ant / Termite damage under wing wall.The rotted, termite damaged wood is clean out.Ceiling demolition in the living room.Ceiling demolition in the living room prior to drywall removal.Rotted wood in the exterior wall of the living room.
October 7, 2018 – Today I completed the kitchen ceiling removal and started the electrical demolition. There was work on both the inside and outside of the cottage.
Inside Demolition
I removed the batt insulation and ceiling fiber board. The insulation was very dirty and covered with nut shells and mouse turds. I am really hoping that the mice are long gone because, as we know, mice are a real pain in the ass!
With the ceiling removal complete I started on some electrical demolition and re-wiring.
I removed the old school fluorescent light. This light fixture only worked about half the time! To take the place of the fluorescent light I rigged up some temporary construction lights.
One wall in the kitchen and one wall in the living room will be removed for the kitchen expansion. Therefore, on these two walls, the outlets and wiring were removed for demolition safety. With the living room exterior outlet removed we will use the new exterior GFCI outlets.
Preparation for the removal of the kitchen ceiling.Removal of the kitchen ceiling. Plastic to contain the dust.Just prior to the removal of the old florescent light fixture.
In the process of removing outlets I opened several junction boxes in the ceiling. It is surprising to see the connections inside are soldered and wrapped in old style fabric electrical tape. I don’t know if this was common practice in the 1950’s or not but I’m sure it takes a lot more time to install!
Kitchen junction box with soldered connection, old fabric electrical tape and burned wire.
The outer jacket on the old wiring is brittle and comes right off. On some of the wire there appears to be burn marks on the insulation. I don’t know if this is from soldering or overheating but it confirms our suspicions that the old wiring needs replaced.
Close up – Kitchen junction box with soldered connection, old fabric electrical tape and burned wire.
Outside Demolition
I removed the old motion-activated flood lamp from the corner of the cabin. As it turns out, this light was not installed correctly. The installer did not use a weatherproof junction box. For this reason, the internal wiring and connections can exposed to rain and snow. This could have caused a short circuit and possibly a fire. We have another light just like this at the other end of the cabin. You can bet I’ll be removing it on the next trip.
Old motion-activated flood light removed from cottage exterior.Improper installation with the interior circuits exposed to the elements.Old flood light removed from this corner of the cottage.
Next weekend I hope to remove the remaining wing wall and open up more of the living room ceiling.
