Briggs & Stratton Simplicity 1226L Snowblower

We have been talking of buying a snowblower ever since our third house that had a huge driveway.  Our fifth house was rural with a very, very long driveway so before our first winter hit there, we discussed it again.  However, one of our neighbours cleared all the driveways on our short street with his tractor so we never did buy one.  We've been in this house almost four years.  Each year gets rougher clearing the driveway so until now we have hired it out even though a couple of our neighbours have cleared it for us a few times.  We are getting older, noticing both the cold and work of winter.  Yesterday, we bit the bullet and bought a snowblower.

Mother Nature decided to grace us with an abundance of snow Superbowl Sunday.  My husband shoveled enough of a path to get to the road then walked to work.  He called to have our guy come out to clear it but his truck was broke down.  On to plan B, a snowblower.  The time to buy a snowblower is not when there is almost three feet of snow on the ground and folks are still trying to dig out!  He made a few phone calls. 

One of our friends had a snowblower for sale.  It had only been used three times so my husband bought it.  He went over with the truck and they both brought it back on a trailer.  The snowblower is a Briggs & Stratton Simplicity 1226L dual-stage, self-propelled  model.  It has an electric start with recoil back-up.  The clearing path is 26 - inches (66 cm) and 40 ft (12.19 m) maximum throwing distance. 

The guys gave me a brief tutorial, left the snowblower running then left as I set about clearing the drive.  The snowblower is heavy, much heavier and considerably bulkier than a lawn mower.  It took a bit of getting used to but once I got the hang of it, the clearing was fairly easy.  Then it ran out of gas so I texted my husband who had just left from dropping off the trailer when the brake lines blew in the truck so I had to go rescue him.  He dropped me off then went for gas.  We had gas tank but no gas since our lawnmower is battery operated.  Once back, it was time to finish the driveway.

The snow was quite deep.  I had cleared the sidewalk portion (bottom right) by hand.  The worst part to clear was at the road where the plow had gone buy pushing a lot of snow into the driveway.  I was rather pleased with the final results especially since we have interlocking brick that is not quite as smooth as an asphalt or cement surface. 

It started snowing again last night and by morning there was a fair amount of accumulation so my husband cleared out the driveway again with the snowblower.  Then he cleared our elderly neighbour's and a friend's driveways.  It took about 45 minutes to clear the three driveways.  Although the snow held off during the day, it was back to snowing in the evening.  At this rate, the snowblower is going to get a lot of use!

I found the snowblower easy enough to use in theory but harder to use in practice.  I'm petite so even though the snowblower is self-propelling, I sure felt the effects.  Much of the soreness was more than likely due to hand shoveling as I had done a fair amount, the sidewalk and almost half of the driveway.   I can't advise on what to look for when buying a snowblower other than buy quality.  A snowblower will need both maintenance and repairs but should last a number of years when cared for properly.  Size does matter as a friend of ours bought a small snowblower that can barely do his short driveway after heavy snowfall but is suitable for lighter snowfall.  A snowblower will lessen the need for manual snow removal although some hand shoveling will still be needed.  At any rate, a snowblower is definitely a worthwhile investment!

Our House is a Mess!

I would love to say our house is always neat, tidy and ready for unexpected company at any given moment.  The reality is, it isn't.  That's because I am a chronic multi-tasker with many, many projects on the go (knitting, crocheting, home decorating, home food preservation).  I'm a high volume canner which by definition creates a multitude of messes.  We are also working on the house so there are a lot of DIY projects that create a bit of chaos and mess. 

This past couple of weeks, my husband hung new drapes in two rooms and replaced the range hood, both of which I will go into further detail.  Then, I finally had enough of how our dining room table was looking so decided it was a good time to refinish it (more details to come).  While that project is moving along nicely, I'm getting little done in the way of housework and gearing towards my annual spring cleaning.  So today, I took action and got out my trusty timer to go back onto my 15 minute routine.  I'm focusing mainly on the morning hours (9 AM to noon) to do this, freeing up the afternoons for blogging, knitting/crocheting and cooking.  I'm up a lot earlier than that but unless under a crunch usually don't do much housework other than laundry before 9 AM.

The 15 minute routine is my modification of the 15 minute declutter from my Flylady days.  Her idea was to set the timer and do whatever you could in your zone in 15 minutes.  The month was divided into zones so for the first week of the month you only focused on zone 1 which I think was the entrance.  That never worked for me but mind you she was/is giving advice to individuals with severe clutter problems bordering on hoarder issues.  So while the zone thing never worked for me, the modified 15 minute routine did as did the 27 Fling Boogie.  For that, you grab a garbage bag then as fast as you can toss 27 pieces of trash into the bag, then toss the bag.  Once it is in the bag it can't come out.  I modified that a bit as well to meet my needs. 

I take the timer to any room and it doesn't matter which one, set it and do as much as I can in 15 minutes.  When the timer goes off, I have a 15 minute timed break which is much needed due to health.  Then I repeat the process.  So far today, I've hit the utility room, pantry, kitchen, master bedroom and living room.  I can't believe what a difference just 15 minutes can make in any room.  It is not a perfect system and the house will take two or three days to get back to normal but it is a system that is working well for me.  I'm looking forward to getting order restored in our house!

The Problem With Housework

Housework can be boring and repetitive but the real problem with housework is it never ends.  I'm not kidding.  You can have all the laundry done only to find more piling up in the hamper the very same day.  I know many set aside a day for certain chores and at one time I was rather rigid in my scheduling of the chores because I had to be in order to maintain sanity in our household.  I even religiously followed FlyLady for a few years.  A few years ago, I decided to forgo my planned career and stay at home as a result of an injury.  With that came a paradigm shift in my way of thinking about household activities.  The 'clean the bathrooms' every Monday, Wednesday and Friday routine clearly wasn't going to work.  I certainly did not want to spent 8 hours of my Saturdays cleaning either so I went onto plan B - clean as you go.

A good portion of housework involves dealing with clutter.  It's not that the house is dirty it is messy due to clutter.  The rules are: never leave a room empty handed and always leave a room better than you found it.  I kept the 27 Fling Boogie, 15 Minute Rescue, and shiny sink from FlyLady because quite frankly both work well for me.  We live in a bi-level house so we have an upper level, ground level (garage and entrance) and a lower level.  Why they call it a bi-level is beyond me because technically it is three levels but I don't think the ground level is considered living space.  I do a lot of activities that tend to create a bit of chaos especially home canning which involves moving equipment and ingredients from the lower level to the upper level then putting it all away along with whatever food was canned.  So, I am up and down those stairs several times in any given day.  Here's a few ways I keep our home neat and tidy without being a slave to housework:

• one in one out rule - Clutter can be a huge problem so we developed the one in one out rule. What this means if an item comes into the house then an item must leave.  For example, if I buy a towel it is to replace a towel that is worn out.  
• paper clutter - Honestly, I am the queen of paper clutter.  I'm not kidding!  I still have all my notes from university, hang on to grocery receipts and pretty much anything paper encouraged by the fact that one of my hobbies is genealogy so you  never know when you will need that piece of paper.  I have decided that enough is enough.  I went to digital for my day planner, to-do lists, and shopping lists so no more bits of paper floating around the house.  If I want to spurge on the rare magazine, I by an electronic version.  I am in the process of digitizing important papers but keeping only the ones we absolutely have to.  Essentially, what we have done is stopped the flow of paper clutter into our home which makes it a lot easier to maintain not having to deal with paper clutter.
• never leave a room empty handed - We have a large house which means I spend a fair amount of time each day moving from room to room.  We have developed the rule to never leave a room empty handed.  Surprisingly a lot of 'stuff' gets moved around and put away using this method.  For example, I get up in the morning and grab my bedside water bottle along with any dirty clothes.  The water bottle gets dropped off in the kitchen where I add any dirty t-towels to the dirty clothes then make my way to the laundry where I leave the dirty clothes and bring any air dried clothes back up to our bedroom and so it repeats.  This method is a sure fire way of ensuring nothing piles up anywhere.  
• 15 Minute Rescue - This method is ideal for quick kitchen and family room clean-ups like folding afghans and clearing coffee tables.  I can easily fold a hamper of clothes in 15 minutes or put a pot of homemade soup on.  The variations are endless but it is really surprising how much you can actually get done in only 15 minutes!
• the commercial break - At one time, I watched television during the day more for noise but occasionally to watch a program.  During the commercial breaks, I would toss a load of laundry in or fill the dishwasher or empty it.  You get the idea.  They were quick to do tasks that often get pushed to the back burner then all these quick tasks pile up resulting in hours of housework.  I still do this, taking a short break from whatever I'm doing just to tidy a bit.
• 27 Fling Boogie - The 27 Fling Boogie is a left-over from my FlyLady days but it works well for me.  I use the method at least once a week.  It's simple.  Grab a bag then go though you house and collect 27 things you don't need as quickly as possible.  Those items can be donated, put into the recycle bin or trashed but as long as they are out of your house you have met the goal.  
• the shiny sink - FlyLady stresses to always have a shiny sink.  It you do nothing else that day your kitchen sink should be scrubbed an polished.  The premise behind this task is it serves as a motivation to do another household task.  I took this idea a bit further because every room should have a 'shiny sink' in principle that serves as an incentive to keep things neat and tidy.  
• leave a room better than you found it - This goes hand in hand with never leaving a room empty handed but it is a bit different.  I do my morning routine followed by a quick wipe down of the bathroom sinks, faucets and mirror.  It takes only a couple of minutes but saves a ton of time later.  I keep spray bottles of rubbing alcohol and homemade cleaners in the bathrooms and kitchen so all I have to do is grab, spray and wipe.  In all of less than 5 minutes everything in that room is sparkly clean.  
• put things away as you go - We do a lot of cooking and home food preservation.  I am adamant about putting ingredients away as they are used so at the end of the cooking session there is no big clean-up.  This leaves very little in the way of kitchen clean-up so the kitchen is always ready to go for the next round of cooking the following day.
• cleaning baskets - I keep a basket of cleaning needs in both bathrooms, the kitchen and utility room.  That way if I notice something needs cleaning I do it right then before I forget about it.  This really helps to prevent having to do a larger cleaning session.

Laundry or Utility Sinks

This is the second permanent residence we have owned that does not have a laundry sink.  Our vacation home doesn't have one either but I don't have any plans for painting there.  Let me tell you, not having a laundry sink is a major pain when you are painting.  I used my laundry sinks for everything but laundry.  They were more in line of a utility sink.  The mess stayed there without messing up the kitchen or bathroom sinks. 

I can't abide a dirty sink which explains why I was up at 2 AM shining my kitchen sinks.  I've been working on painting the kitchen for the past 8 days.  Without a utility sink I had to resort to using my kitchen sinks.  Talk about a nuisance.  I have scrubbed and polished those sinks daily because painting really takes its toll on sinks.  I was doing the same in the main bathroom when I painted it a couple of weeks ago.  The worst part is with my plans to paint all the rooms in the house this winter, those sinks are going to get a lot of scrubbing!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2012

Household Dust Control

Any allergist will tell you it is vital to eliminate dust in your home but the reality is, it is virtually impossible to remove all the dust in your home.  You can reasonably reduce it and control it but you can't eliminate it.  However, the fact remains that effective dust control results in a healthier indoor environment that reduces the need for respiratory medication.  It is a pro-active approach in allergy and asthma management that can save you a considerable amount of money.  Most methods of household dust control are low or no cost, more of a time commitment than anything else.  Here are some of the things I am doing to control household dust:

• shoes off at the door policy - We have a policy of no outdoor shoes being worn inside the house.  This decreases allergens and dust from entering our home.  Of note, when we had asphalt driveways (two homes) we quickly discovered that oil from the asphalt tracked in on the bottom of shoes can cause light coloured sheet flooring to yellow
• no pets - At the current time we have no pets by choice and that is mainly due to allergies.  Pets shed hair and skin cells much the same as humans do.  They can greatly increase the dust level in a home.  In addition, pets that go outdoors are walking allergen traps bringing all those allergens back into your home.
• dusting - Regular dusting is critical for dust control.  The best methods are those that do not cause the dust to become airborne.  Use microfibre cloths (eco-friendly), disposable Swiffer cloths, damp dusting using a solution of Murphy's oil soap not spray dusters or your vacuum cleaner attachments. 
• filters - Filters are paramount especially if you have HVAC (forced air and heat).  Use a good quality allergen reducer (HEPA) filter on the furnace as well as filters on the floor/ceiling heating vents and air returns.  This essentially filters your air three times and can be quite effective at reducing household dust.  Be sure to change the filters as needed.  Use a vacuum cleaner with a filtering system preferably HEPA.  There are special filters available for windows as well so you can have your windows open for fresh air without letting dust and allergens in.
• reduce the clutter - It goes without saying but the less dust collectors you have the better.  Use closed glass cabinets for those items you want on display then keep all other items to a minimum. 
• reduce textiles - All textiles (eg. upholstered furniture, towels, carpeting and etc.) attract dust as well as produce dust as they wear down.  The less of these types of items you have the better when it comes to household dust control.  Use allergen reducing covers on all pillows and mattresses.  Air fluff throw pillows and comforters in the dryer to freshen and remove dust that has settled on them.  Stuffed animals can also be air fluffed to remove dust.  Replace fabric upholstered furniture with leather, naughihide, vinyl, wook or wicker.  Replace carpeting with hard flooring and keep the use of area rugs or mats to a minimum. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Wet and Dry Floor Mops

In many ways hard flooring is a bit more work than carpeting but only because dust and dirts becomes hidden in carpet whereas there is no place for it to hide on hard flooring.  Properly maintained hard flooring results in a healthier home.  There are dust mites and other allergens than there would be with carpeting and even fewer if you make a point to dust down the floors daily.

I had a plain Swiffer wand that I used for many years for both damp and dry dusting.  I had more than seen better days so I replaced it with a Vileda FibroContact wet or dry mop (right).  This mop uses a unique cotton and microfibre blend for cleaning walls, ceilings and all hard flooring.  The removable pad is machine washable so that will greatly eliminate the need for buying the Swiffer cloths.  Extra pads are available.

I also had a Swiffer WetJet at one time but did not care for it as both batteries and special propriety cleaning solutions were required.  I replaced the WetJet with a Bissell steam mop.  The steam mop does a wonderful job cleaning and while I can use in on ceramic tile, marble and laminate flooring, I decided to buy a Rubbermaid Reveal microfibre spray mop (left) for lighter cleaning.  The microfibre pad is machine washable and extra pads are available.  I can use a simple water and vinegar solution on all of my floors except the marble tile in the kitchen.

Both of these mops are eco-friendly tools to help me keep my floors looking gorgeous and clean without using strong chemicals, disposable cloths, batteries or electricity.  Running the dry dust mop over the floors at least once daily keeps them about as dust free I can get.  Honestly, within 10 minutes of dusting the floors, I can see a bit of fresh dust.  It is a never ending battle that would be quite costly if running the vacuum cleaner every day!  From one end of the house and back including the entrance and lower level of a large bi-level home, it takes me about 10 minutes to dust the floors.  

Having the House Power Washed

Our vacation house in Florida is vinyl sided and our new house is mainly vinyl sided with brick on parts of the front.  Vinyl siding gets dirty through the normal weather as well as dust and debris in the air.  Some locations are dirtier than others.  For example our property backs onto a field that creates a fair amount of dust when it is harvested.  Houses on busier streets will get dirtier faster as will those near or in the air currents of factories.  Some locations are prone to mildew, molding and moss issues due to high humidity levels and/or high shade levels.  The end result is even a fairly new house with vinyl siding can look dull and dingy with dirty streaks.  The easiest way to deal with this problem is to have the house power washed. 

We have a small power washer suitable for keeping some house areas, outdoor furniture and lower windows clean and tidy but it is not strong enough to reach up into the eaves and soffits since the house is fairly high.  We are having the house professionally power washed today by a good friend who has his own power washing business.  They are about half-way finished so I'm looking forward to seeing the difference.  The house is almost fourteen years old and it looks like it has never been power washed!  Our vacation home is only four years old but vinyl siding really needed washing.  We've had it power washed twice now. 

It's amazing what a difference simply power washing the siding makes.  It is not expensive either.  We pay $60 per wash in Florida.  We feel that the house needs it twice a year due to the mold and mildew issues.  The HOA there is rather particular too so we would rather not get on their bad side.   Besides the house looks so much nicer with the siding clean!  We don't have a HOA where our new house is but it is a nice subdivision where people keep their properties neat, tidy and well maintained.  We have a tendency to do the same with our properties anyway as that keeps the value of the property higher.  It will cost us about $250 for power washing the new house.  It is a considerably larger house than our vacation home.  We anticipate having the house power washed once a year after the field has been harvested.  It really won't be necessary to have it power washed more than that.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

No Carpets!

Aside of location, one of the main selling features for our new house was the fact that there was no carpeting anywhere in the house.  I was advised years ago by my allergist to get rid of all carpeting in the home.  Each house since then we worked towards that goal but with this house it has already been done for us.  Most of the house is wood laminate.  The two bathrooms are ceramic tile; the entrance and part of the lower family room are terrazzo tile; and the kitchen is marble tile.  The utility room has sheet flooring that we will be replacing likely with sheet flooring but possibly ceramic tile.  I have two things to master with all hard flooring:

• cleaning - Each surface has it's own care and maintenance recommendation.  I am adamant about not using toxic cleaners in our home.  It's important to stay on top of keeping these floors clean and dust free so cleaning once a week is not going to work.  Some specialized equipment is necessary but the good news is most of it is rather inexpensive.
• sound deadening - A house with no carpeting is naturally louder than one that has sound deadening carpeting.  All sounds in a house with only hard flooring are amplified.

I have a few methods for dealing with both the cleaning and sound deadening issues.  I will discuss those over the next couple of posts.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Snow Removal

Southern Ontario was hit with a rather large snowstorm last night.  We ended up with an additional 30 cm of of snow on top of what we already had with the prediction of an additional 10 cm today.  Our driveway could almost classify as a laneway as it is quite a bit longer than you would find in an urban setting since we are rural.  Knowing the snowstorm was going to hit my husband called a guy who has a plow to plow our driveway during and after the storm.  This morning I looked out to see our new neighbour and another neighbour shoveling their very long driveways.  Now this is no easy task at the best of times given their lengths.  My husband usually takes the easy approach of clearing in front of the garage then using the car to form ruts to the end of the driveway which allows us to easily get in and out without shoveling.  However, we usually end up having our driveway plowed at least once a season just to get things cleaned out nicely.

Snow removal is a concern anywhere there is accumulation of more than a dusting.  One of the main reasons for this is a slip and fall on your sidewalk can result in liability issues.  In urban areas many municipalities even go as far as to say the homeowner is responsible for snow removal on the sidewalk in front of their house even though it is not technically on their property but rather municipal owned.  Other municipalities have sidewalk snow removal as part of the property taxes.  Any sidewalk on private property should removed along with any ice to prevent slip and fall accidents.  It urban areas with door-to-door mail delivery, mail carriers can refuse to deliver the mail if the sidewalks haven't been cleared.  Driveways become another issue.  Unless the snow is deep driving in and out will form a good snow base that will melt away on warm days but this may cause ice spots.  I know of no bylaws that say homeowners must clear their driveways.  This is usually done for the homeowners convenience of parking and getting in/out of the garage.  Under the Highway Traffic Act is is unlawful and a finable offense to shovel or blow snow from your property onto any highway or street in Ontario.  Unfortunately municipal snow plows can and do shovel snow up across driveways as they go by so that needs to be cleaned out.  At any rate snow removal is something many of us have to face in the winter months.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Furnace Problem

When we moved here we discovered we had a Clare Megasave II furnace installed about 1983.  We were told the furnace is a good one but if a part goes, many replacement parts are no longer available.  We were advised to continue using the furnace rather than replace it as it is on the higher efficiency side and it is in very good condition.  We had a problem back in 2009 with the fan belt that ended up being a fairly easy DIY repair.  Other than that the furnace has been working quite nicely.  This past Friday morning the furnace decided not to work.

Every furnace has its own set of sounds that as a homeowner you become aware of that helps you to determine the furnace is working properly without necessarily checking it.  Our furnace has a pre-cycle with a low powered fan.  If you are close to the furnace you can hear the electronic ignition then then burner fire up.  Once the burner fires up the secondary but higher powered fan kicks on.  Well Friday morning I noticed the low powered fan was running a lot longer than it should.  Upon investigation I found the  burner was on but watching it I heard the electronic ignition followed by the burner firing up then immediately going out.

I called my husband who called a heating and cooling firm to have them come out as this did not sound like a DIY repair.  By 2 PM the firm had still not called back so he called them again only to be told it was too far to come out!  Well that was nice as finding someone else on a Friday afternoon to fix the furnace that late in the day would be a challenge.  Complicating the problem was we had dinner plans as well.  He called another local firm that really is an owner operated business.  The owner/repairman showed up about 4:30 PM.   The problem ended up being a blocked drain and gunked up contacts for the secondary fan.  He had the furnace up and running in no time!  The bill came to $75 and we were on our way out the door to get to our dinner on time.  You can bet he will be getting an excellent recommendation from us!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Refrigerator Water and Ice Dispenser

We bought our Whirlpool refrigerator model ED2FHEXSQ2 in early 2006.  It was bought specifically to fit the only spot available in the kitchen of our last house where there were both tight height and width restrictions. There are still a few models available that are shorter but many of them lack the features we wanted.  When I finally found a model that fit the space we had with the features I called the appliance place we deal with and had them order it in. It ended up being a wise purchase as it just fits in this kitchen.  New home builders have gone to a shorter cabinet over the refrigerator so the appliance manufacturers have responded by making refrigerators higher, wider and deeper.  While the new design size of the refrigerators fit well with new homes, fitting them into older homes can mean a major kitchen makeover to get them to fit but in some cases the space is too restricted that even a makeover won''t help get the newer fridges into the space.  This was the position we found ourselves in. 

I really like the refrigerator.  It has a lot of great features like extra lighting and glass cantilever shelving.  My husband's request as a refrigerator feature was an indoor water and ice dispenser.  There is a filter in the bottom of the refrigerator  that filters water to the fridge.  We had no problems at the old house that had a larger Culligan water filtration system under the sink.  We don't have the additional water filtration system here.

I started noticing that the drip tray (ridged portion) looked like it had adhesive residue on it.  Despite cleaning it got worse.  Then the guides developed brownish streaks (red arrows) that I thought was normal dirt but they wouldn't come off even with a Mr. Clean Magic eraser.  The streaks felt hard and crusty yet wouldn't flake off.  The other day I was doing a bit of blog hopping and came across a post about water deposits.  Well this was not new to me but for some reason it had not dawned on me that the problem with the water and ice dispenser was water deposits! 

I removed the drip tray then set it in the sink and filled it with 5% acetic acid white vinegar.  I let it sit for 15 minutes then washed it.  All of the brownish markings were gone.  So I rigged up a coffee cup filled with vinegar propped up by two canning lid boxes to soak each of the guides as pictured.  I let each guide sit in the full strength vinegar for 15 minutes.  It was a rather low tech solution but it worked.  The guides were residue free with only the wipe of a dishcloth.  Now that I know what is causing the problem I can take the necessary steps to prevent and correct any future problems.  The left over vinegar did not go to waste either as I used it in the dishwasher to clean out any deposits. 

Pictured is the refrigerator water and ice dispenser after using the vinegar treatment.  I'm quite pleased with the way it cleaned up.  I routinely clean with a 1:1 vinegar to water solution so it will be as simple as spraying the dispenser when I do the counters. 

It might be time to consider installing an under sink or whole house water filtration system here as well.  I thought our area had soft water so water deposits have not been a huge issue but looking at the one shower head that needs replacing which we will do when we renovate the bathroom, water deposits may be a bit of a problem than I thought. 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

In Just 15 Minutes...

I think since the dawn of my television years I have always hated commercial breaks so used that time to multi-task.  It is actually how much housework or homemaking tasks can be accomplished just during commercial breaks!  Then I came across an idea of seeing how much you could accomplish in a 15 minute period under the rule that when the 15 minutes was up you stopped whether the task was completed or not.  Well that fit right in with my idea of homemaking!  I quickly reasoned that a few 15 minute homemaking sessions a day and I could keep the house looking neat and tidy without spending a long cleaning session each day.  Somehow breaking the work into smaller, manageable sessions made the work go a lot faster and it was more enjoyable.  At the same time this method kept me moving throughout the day.   

Here are a few things I do in just 15 minutes:

• bathroom tidy-up
• kitchen tidy-up
• cooking/baking prep
• fridge clean-out 
• weed my garden beds 
• fold and put away clothes
  

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Solving Small Problems

Despite the fact that we are constantly on the outlook for any air leaks year round I tend to go into serious overdrive just after the busiest canning season. This will be our third winter here. I honestly do think it takes a full three years to seal up a house after just moving in. That is because you are still discovering problems that were overlooked or incorrectly repaired by the former owners. Quite often the larger more demanding repairs take precedence over the smaller, minor ones as well.

When we moved in we immediately started replace the electrical outlets. There were a few issues with the older plugs and we really like the look of the European style outlets. Our main level bathroom while smaller but most used is slated for a complete renovation that will include ripping everything out and making it bigger. In order to do this we have to replace the furnace and hot water tank to free up room for the expansion. That means we did a quick paint job to make the bathroom presentable and changed out the outlets.

We installed a timed switch for the bathroom fan. It was one of the dial styles. Last winter it suddenly stopped working. It would turn on but the timer function simply stopped working (the problem). The other day we were doing a bit of home improvement shopping expecting to pick up the tankless hot water tank for the kitchen but apparently Home Depot® don't keep those eco-friendly devices in stock! However they were offering green coupons for other eco-friendly products. We found a great push button style, hard wire timer replacement for $24.95 with $6 off so it ended up costing us $18.95. Installing the timer was as simple as turning of the breaker, checking for no live electricity then removing the old timer and wiring in the new one. Problem solved.

One of our outdoor outlets was missing part the weatherproofing cover. Now this outlet is controlled by an indoor switch that is always off unless the outlet is being used. Still this was a problem in terms of safety when the outlet was switched on. Not only that it just didn't look nice. The box itself was still fine so we picked up a replacement cover for $3.58. It took a bit of chiseling to remove some of the surrounding mortar but it really was a fairly easy repair.

It's amazing how doing one or two low cost minor repairs each weekend can make such a difference in your home. These two repairs cost under $25 and took less than a half hour total to complete for both of them. This approach really helps to keep small repairs from becoming major ones. At the same time spending a half hour or so on your house each week just feels good. This is what home maintenance is all about.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

New Natural Gas Meter

Union Gas informed us last week that they would like to change out our natural gas meter. My only thought was it was about time! They changed it out yesterday and I even managed to pick the brains of the installers. I'm always on the look-out for making our home a little more energy efficient. Natural gas appliances in our home include hot water tank, furnace, gas fireplace and gas dryer. We also have an outdoor natural gas grill.

Natural gas leaks can be very dangerous to the point of causing homes to blow-up. For that reason natural gas which is odourless and colourless is scented with mercaptans to serve as a warning of a gas leak. If you smell a natural gas leak, cut off the main gas and electricity to the house, get out of the house and call the emergency gas leak line for your natural gas provider. If the gas leak is bad enough something as simple as flicking on a light switch is enough of a spark to cause a problem so be safe and cut the electricity as well. Gas meters should be kept clear of vegetation and snow as well. Not only does this prevent errors reading the meter it also helps prevent potential leaks.

Old Meter

We bought this house almost two years ago and from the get go I was not pleased with the gas meter pictured. First, the meter itself looked quite old and there were signs of rust. I also suspected there might be a small gas leak but despite several checks never smelled enough natural gas to call them. I called them asking to have the meter checked which they did as well as a bit of basic maintenance on the meter. Union Gas paints the meters, checks for leaks and replaces if necessary or as part of their maintence schedule. I was very pleased to hear they were going to finally replace the meter!

There were two large shrubs on both sides of the meter virutally hiding most of it, obstructing not only reading the meter but also trouble shooting. We cut the shrubs down last summer leaving about a 1' high trunk on each side, planning to dig them out when we were sure they were dead. The service technicians said we maid a good choice to remove the shrubs. Apparently roots from both trees and shrubs can cause the gas pipe underground to shift that can ultimately cause leakage problems. They also recommended not digging out the roots of those shrubs but rather cut them off just below the ground level and let them rot so as to not risk hitting or shifting the gas line.


New Meter

Pictured is the new gas meter. Two things are quite apparent aside of aesthetics even though I only indicated one major change (red arrow). There is also a little round upside down (I think) vent that wasn't on the old meter. The meter now shows our gas used in cubic meters making it a lot easier to track. All utility meters should be tracked to catch any problems before they become major problems. For example if you track your natural gas usage at the same time every day and you find you are averaging 10 m3 daily, a reading that indicates you used 15 m3 would be abnormal so start trouble shooting right then before it costs you a lot more.

Our gas was off for about 40 minutes during the installation process. Once the meter was installed the service technicians came inside to make sure each of our gas appliances lit properly and were working. Both our furnace and dryer have electronic ignition so there is no pilot light burning all the time. The gas fireplace and gas grill have manual electronic ignition. However, the technicians said we should light the gas fireplace and leave the pilot light on for the entire heating season. They said this will save wear on the thermocoupler and even though this part is about $10 to replace they said it is better to leave the pilot light on. To me that doesn't make sense to have a pilot light running for an appliance we use a couple of times a month. We don't leave a pilot light on the gas grill either just light it when we need it. So I do think this is a bit of bad advice for out particular gas fireplace. We are planning on updating to a newer model that may possibly need to have the pilot light left on but hopefully not. A gas pilot light is using fantum energy and even though it is not a lot there is no point using that energy unless the appliance is in use.

Ok, so the really great news is they thought our furnace looked very, very good. The one technician has the same model at home and said he was amazed there was no rust on ours! His recommendation was very consistently with those of everyone we have talked to about our furnace. Leave it alone until it goes! This is great new to some degree even though we were hoping to go to a smaller sized (physically not BTU) furnace that along with going to a tankless hotwater heater would free up a considerable amount of room to extend the lower bathroom. It would appear we will be focusing on other improvements this year and that won't be such a bad thing.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Starting Kitchen Remodel - Sealing Ceramic Tile Floor Grout

At one time ceramic tile was viewed as being expensive finishing for flooring and counters. It's popularity and durability continues today and while not as expensive as some materials it is still perceived as being expensive. Ceramic tile has a lot of benefits over other flooring materials. It is low maintenance and carefree. We installed ceramic tile flooring in the kitchen of our third house. We were told to use only vinegar and water to wash the floor with. Sure enough the ceramic tile kept its beautiful shine.

Onto our current house, our fifth and likely final house. The kitchen had been remodeled including the floor that is shiny ceramic tile. From our previous house we quickly realized a shiny tile surface is not the best for a kitchen as it becomes slippery when wet. The kitchen here opens onto a brick patio leading to the waterfront. The kitchen has to be high functioning because of the amount of cooking and canning I do so safety is always a concern.

Kitchen Floor

The first photo is looking into the kitchen from the family room while the second picture shows the breakfast bar on the family room side. We discovered a few problems with the kitchen floor as gorgeous as it looks. The real problem is the floor is shiny so therefore slippery when wet. There are three broken tiles (2) but only one is noticeable. The previous owner left five tiles and we have not been able to find any matching tiles. We suspected the grout had not been sealed either. The final problem is the floor is cold as it is below grade. We are considering replacing this floor during the upcoming remodel with a heated ceramic tile floor. However, we are waiting to see about the cabinets.

The kitchen cabinets are quite nice with the exception of signs of wear (1, 3) on some of the doors while others look brand new. The upper cabinets were installed from what we can see over the wood ceiling then trimmed around the tops of the cabinets for a very finished built in look, replacing would be a royal pain. That would likely mean refinishing the kitchen ceiling but because it opens into the family room that also has a wood ceiling with beams it would end up being a huge project. We thought the doors were solid wood doors given their weight but upon closer inspection they are very thick particle core with thick vaneer in a recessed centre panel style. From what I can see our only two options are to either refinish or replace the doors. It seems like an unnecessary expense to replace when less than half of the doors are in excellent condition. However, I found a product called Restore-A-Finish that hopefully will work. I will report back on how well this product works.

At the same time we finally decided on the ceramic tile for the countertop so will be installing that within the next couple of weeks. Finally the green swirl laminate will be history. The countertop and walls are going to be my DIYproject so I'll be reporting on that as things progress. In the meantime, I had to make a decision to protect the existing floor in case we decide not to replace it right now. The primary concern was the possibility that the grout was not sealed. Grout is porous so will allow liquid to get to the sub floor as well as letting liquids stain it. The remedy for this it to apply a penetrating grout sealer.

Materials

You will need:
1:1 vinegar/water solution
wash cloths/rags (a lot)
scrub brush
grout sealer brush bottle
TILELab SurfaceGard Penetrating sealer

TILELab SurfaceGard Penetrating sealer offers maximum protection with a 20 year guarantee so that's my kind of product! I use a 1:1 water to vinegar solution for cleaning my ceramic tile flooring. A spray bottle makes for easy application. A Swiffer wand loaded with white wash cloths makes quick work of washing the floor. Once a month I use a steam mop (not shown) to get the floor squeaky clean. For this purpose the Swiffer wand is sufficient. Sweep or vacuum the floor to remove any large particles. Attach a cloth to the Swiffer wand. Spray the floor then clean in sections changing the cloth as needed. Allow to dry. You are now ready to move onto cleaning the grout.

Cleaning Grout

This is a sitting or kneeling job. Sorry but I couldn't figure out a better way to get the grout clean. I found it easier to work from the far corner to the family room side. If the grout was previously sealed, the grout should clean up nicely. If it was not previously sealed you may see small bits, more of a discolouration in solution when cleaning the grout. The important thing is you want to get the grout clean without damaging it. Spray the vinegar solution along the grout line. Turn the brush on an angle so the the bristles go into the grout line. Scrub with light pressure along the grout line. Wipe the grout line with a dry cloth . Continue in this manner for all grout lines. Allow the floor to dry for about 2 hours before applying the sealer.

Application

There are two styles of grout sealer applicators. I used a 4 oz bottle with brush. After filling the bottle and opening the nozzle it was as simple as following along the grout line with the sealer. The sealer does darker the grout until dried which makes it easier to see when you have applied it. Any excess sealer that gets onto the tiles or pools in grout lines should be wiped up after 5 to 10 minutes. I found the application quite easy with the only real problem being excess sealer coming out when I tilted the bottle down to start a new section. The sealer takes 2 to 3 hours to fully dry but the floor is still walkable if avoiding grout lines. A second coat is required if the first coat is absorbed as per bottle instructions. The salesman said to wait 3 days then apply a second coat.

Our remodeling plans call for: ceramic tile counter tops (kitchen); ceramic tile floor, walls, shower stall (sm. bath); ceramic tile floor (entrance) and ceramic tile floor (lg. bath) as well as the possible replacement of the kitchen floor. So protecting our investment is important. Sealing the grout is the primary maintenance for ceramic tile aside of regular cleaning. As preventative maintenance goes, sealing grout has to be one of the easiest DIY jobs there is.

Garden Gnome
© 2007