Oh Christmas tree....

Buddy says: 'i need to check and see if our Christmas tree gotted dead.... nope, it didn't!  Mommy, our Christmas Tree didn't getted dead!'

Oh good.  Cause if our fake tree died.... I'd be worried!

Espalier - Site Prep Part 1 - Wire

As I said a few days ago, our apple trees have arrived for planting in our espalier. Now that they have sat out for a few days, the pressure is on to get them into the ground.

Being a manly man, I figured that I could do this in a day. Then I slept in. Then I had to go buy hardware. Then I had to go to the Rogers store for a cell phone and spent half a day standing in line. etc. In any case, it took me 2days to get a wire frame up that I will eventually attach bamboo growing frames to. Here is how I built the wire frame.

Step 1: Block and Roll!!

The first part of the project was building blocks to attach to the fence. These blocks will act as a stand-off to hold the espalier off the fence and allow even growth and airflow. Using my trusty compound mitre saw, I cut 2 blocks for each wire on each fencepost. Since this espalier will span 50 feet, I needed a lot of blocks. Eventually, Chuck would come outside and cut some blocks for me, but to get started I cut a bunch myself. For the records, each block is 8" long and cut from pressure treated 2X4's.

Step 2: Screw It!

The blocks are attached to the fence with 2 5/8" X 6" lag bolts. I predrilled the blocks with a 1/4" drill while holding them in place. For this first block, I picked a fencepost at about the middle of the backyard, and judged about where I would want the wires to go to get a decent support up off the ground, but not too high. I marked the middle of the block as where I wanted a wire to go, and then measured up for the next wire at 16". Web sites I read on setting up an espalier suggested anything between 12" to 24" spacing on the wires, so I guessed that 16" would work for us. Only time will tell.

The vertical component is now in place. Three blocks on one post sets up the layout for the rest of the fence.

Step 3: Now you're stringing me a line!

Using my lowest block as a guide, I stretched a string for the length of the fence as long as I could, then set a screw in the fence and tied the string off on it. It is important to use a lightweight line here, and to pull it tight enough that there is no sag in the string. Then, using a long level (longer is better) check if the string is straight. In our yard, some fence posts had settled, and some had leaned in or out, so just measuring down from the top of a fence post would not have given a straight line. Similarly, the ground is uneven, so you would not get a level line measuring up from the ground. Take your time and really make sure that this line is straight. In my case, I was able to get the line straight, but I did not compensate for lean in the fence.

I can almost guarantee that the line will not be level on your first attempt, but you will have a good guess of how far off it is. If you have a helper, it will really speed this step up. Have them hold the level while you move the string up and down to get a closer estimate of where level is for your second attempt. then set the line and try again. It took three tries before I got the string level.

Step 4: New Blocks on the Block

Once the string is set, don't touch it! Eventually you will need to put a block exactly where the screw holding the string is, but for now, just do all the blocks between the string and your first block. As i said before, each block gets 2 lag screws. In addition, you will need to set an eyebolt between the screws. Predrill everything to avoid the wood splitting. The eyebolts will need to go exactly in line with the string line. In the photo above you can see that I have 2 string lines going, and have started setting blocks between them. Since the middle row was done when I took this pic, I have removed its string line.

Step 5: Pulling a wire

With all the blocks and eyebolts in place, its time to set the wires that will make the frame for the espalier's forms to be built on. While your daughter and au pair are watching a movie, bring them a spool of wire and about 2 dozen turnbuckles. Your daughter will be able to twist the wire on to the turnbuckles and the au pair can extend the turnbuckles to their maximum length.

Back outside, attach each wire to an eyebolt and tighten (shorten) the turnbuckles to tension the wires. You need the wires tight enough to give a good "thwongggggg" when you pluck them. If you over tighten the wires, they will break. About halfway through this stage, I ran out of wire and had to get more. The new stuff I got was coated in green plastic, and blends into the fence much more nicely than the steel wire you see here.  Eventually the trees will not need these wires, but your installation has to be good enough to last the first 5 years or so.

I don't have a pic, but I repeated these wires for each section of fence until I had 3 parallel wires running all the way across the backyard. With the wires in place, and the weekend done, it is now time to begin setting the bamboo forms in place. I'll save that for Site prep Part 2.

The Cuteness!

Dryer vent relocate

Our house came with the appliances included, and when we moved in, we didn't give them much thought. That was a good thing. Unfortunately the appliances also came with some issues. Not deal-breaker issues, but small things that needed fixing. The fridge (side-by-side with a under mount freezer) left a puddle on the kitchen floor overnight, which was cleared up with a $85 service call that involved dismantling the inside of the appliance to get at a clogged drain nipple.

The laundry room had a bit of a different issue. I am not clear on the how and why of it, but for some reason, the previous owners had decided that relocating the laundry vent from an exterior wall to the garage was a good idea. The end result of this was that the lint and moisture from the dryer was all over everything in the garage. Making things worse, it was impossible to line up the dryer venting on the outlet to the garage, resulting in the dryer venting to the laundry room instead of anything close to outside.

After some thought the reason for the change became clear. The dryer was a rear-vent unit. The hole in the wall was beside the dryer. Due to space constraints, the vent line for the dryer would not fit to the side wall unless you took the time to convert the dryer to a side vent unit. I assume that the previous owner either didn't know how to do that, or didn't know it was possible. Or he saw the price of a conversion kit for the dryer (I think its a Whirlpool) and had a heart attack.

These sorts of mechanical details drive me crazy, so I spent a weekend relocating the vent and converting the dryer from a rear-vent to a side vent machine. Here's the play-by play...

In the photo above, you get an idea of the "before scenario. The hole in the wall next to the screwdriver is where I need the dryer vent to end up. The hole next to the shopping bags goes out to the garage. Note the lint build-up in the corner. The plug is still in the wall here. All I have done in the pic is pulled out the dryer and removed the drywall patch over the "right hole" to make sure everything is intact in there... it isn't.

This is the back of the dryer. I have removed the access plate that lets you get a good look at what is inside. The vent pipe is held on by one screw (red Robertson) and comes out with a pull. There is a rubber gasket that seals the pipe to the inside of the dryer. It's like a big rubber band.

Appliance parts places wanted $90 for a rear vent to side vent conversion kit. That's a little pricey for me. Instead, I bought an elbow and piece of straight pipe at Home Hardware (my favourite hardware store) and then measured and cut everything to size to go from the existing dryer vent location to the side vent knockout on the side of the dryer. The tab where the red Robertson screw was holding the dryer vent in place before is now a stand-off to keep the vent from sagging to the floor of the dryer. I thought briefly about building up a block of aluminium foil to act as a second standoff past the elbow, but decided that would be redundant.

You can see in this photo that I am using tin foil tape to hold everything together. Duct tape is not only flammable, it also doesn't stick well in a high heat application. Foil tape is more expensive, but is also stronger, provides a better seal, and is safer for this. You will see everything smothered in foil tape by the time I am done here.

With the elbow in place, its time for a test-fit. You can see the rubber-band style gasket where the pipe meets the machine.

 

And here is the pipe exiting the dryer... so far so good! We have converted the dryer to side venting. So far our total investment is about $10. Not too bad, but things are about to get more difficult.

With the dryer set to go, its time to take a closer look at the hole in the wall. Inside the house, the previous owner had folded the vent in on itself (with a hammer) and filled the pipe with expanding foam before filling the whole thing with a clod of drywall mud. While this technique led to a minimal issue with drafts, it meant that reverting to a properly vented dryer would have to begin with removing the old pipe and replacing it with new.

Outside, there was a buildup of about 3/4 of an inch of caulk, and then the expanding foam plug. I had pulled off the vent cover earlier. Before doing anything I would need to clean up the brick face, remove the foam, and get the old vent pipe out. Using a drywall saw I cut the foam plug up like slices of pie. I had taken the first section out in the photo above. I have a really aggressive drywall saw from Stanley tools that really works well for this stuff, but it tears drywall paper rather than cutting it. Anyway, The plug came out, and the caulking peeled away from the wall with surprising ease.

Getting the pipe out was more difficult. the aluminium gripped the brick when I tried to pull it out, and creases in the pipe from previous bashing caught on the drywall if I tried to pull it in. Eventually, I got it out without damaging anything.

Looks like I'll need to do some drywall patching next time we decorate the laundry room.

With the pipe out, I set to work with an air chisel to clean off high spots on the face of the brick. This would make it easier to seat the new dryer vent without having to deal with the irregularities of the brick face. 10 minutes with the air chisel was the difference between 3/4 of an inch of caulking and a nice little bead of caulking.

It still took a lot of caulking to get everything seated. I buttered the back of the faceplate for the vent, and then filled all the masonry joints before sliding the new vent into the wall. Then I ran a bead of caulking around the outside of the vent and smoothed it out. In the end I used more than a full tube of caulk for this, which was likely overkill. I am sure much of the caulk on the back of the vent never touched masonry. In the picture above, I have leaned "heavy stuff" on the new vent to keep the caulking seated while it hardens.

With the dryer converted, and the vent in place, it was time to

build the connector pipe. Normally, I like to use round, solid dryer vent as much as possible, and try not to use the plastic accordion vent. I don't much care for the steel expanding vent either. In this case though, I needed something to fit a tight space, and I needed to be able to make it have a custom length. The distance from the side of the dryer to the wall was only about 3" and the distance from the dryer outlet to where it would connect to the exterior vent was only 6". At your local Home Hardware (or big box) you can buy what is called a "Spacesaver Expanding Vent" or a "Periscope Vent" for your dryer. Around here the periscope vent sells for about $30.

These vents are designed to be a riser from your dryer vent to a wall outlet above the dryer. They work great in basements and tight spaces. Since they are made of thin aluminium, you can cut them down if they are too small, but they will also expand to a height of about 4 feet if you need to open them up. In the photo above, I have cut down one side of the vent. In my application, the vent will be very short, and will run horizontally. I will need to cut down both sides of the vent, and reassemble them to bring the pipe forward along the side of the dryer

Et voila! More foil tape, and it is not a work of art, but it will vent to where I need it to, and everything works fine. Below you can see a shot of the vent in place, snugged in between the dryer and the wall in the space where the PO couldn't get the dryer to vent to.



Now that we can do laundry, I need to turn my attention back to the gardens and get those apple trees started! Oh, and replace the laundry room door that warped from all the moisture in there.

The Beginning of the Espalier...

The trees are here! The trees are here!

So one of our summer projects was cleaning out the defunct strip garden between the pool and fence across the back of our yard. That garden is a mere 24" - 36" wide and presents a difficult puzzle as far as planting goes. Were I to plant any of my regular choices in there, it would either be overcrowded or short. I would spend the rest of my days looking at a shadow-box fence which lacks character and beauty. If I plant anything tall, it will quickly shrub out over the pool.

The previous owner had gone for tall and skinny with Rocket Junipers, but they require trimming maintenance - something I recall from my childhood days as being not much fun, and involving picking up prickles in burlap bags. I also recall my sister's severed finger when the hedge trimmer got away from her one time. The hospital people reattached it.

We cut the junipers off at the base and dug out the stumps this summer.

My design solution is to plant a row of espalier apple trees along the fence. Now I know, I just got finished saying I didn't want the maintenance headache that comes with trimming trees, but an espalier you only prune 3 times per summer, and it grows apples. That way beats trimming junipers twice a month and getting nothing back.

I ordered 13 apple tree starts back in the fall from a nearby grower of heritage Apple trees. Siloam Orchards ships trees all over the place and has some pretty cool trees. Being a local independant orchard, they are able to take custom orders small or large, and can offer real-live people to help over the phone.

This week they called to tell me the trees were ready for pickup, and on Wednesday, I went to get my trees. The folks at Siloam had wrapped the trees in a nice bundle so I wouldn't get the car dirty (I went in my new "monster truck") and the bundle is now sitting behind the house, ready for planting.

This weekend we need to finish some site prep, set up trellis lines on the fence, and plant the trees. I am facing a challenge with locating bamboo poles at this time of year.

We'll figure it out. Watch for updates soon.

Forward to Espalier Site Prep Part 1

Class Photo

Buddy brought home his first class photo yesterday.:

Daddy: "Oh Look!!  It's Your picture of your class!"
Buddy: "No No No Daddy... it isn't my class!"
Daddy: "It isn't?"
Buddy: "No."
Daddy: "Whose class is it then?"
Buddy: "It's just in the gym daddy, not in my class!"

Haloween 2012

My Monkey & my Skunk-ey!

Cuppa the Monkey

Buddy the skunk-ey!

"Plea un-oor Mommy, plea-un orr?"



The haul!



Ready to GO DAD!!



Pumpkins!