Trees And Other Things

Supposedly roofers are putting on a new roof at the farm today. I should have been out there watching, at daylight this morning, right?

They may not even be there, and it would mean a very long day. Will head out this afternoon. They are putting on good shingles. What else could go wrong?

Roofer called. They are working today.

 

Seven men on the job. .It looks good. .They took more time than the people who did the roof in town. .Is it a good job? ..If I got up on the roof with them and watched everything, I likely still wouldn't know.

They used architectural style shingles, which have an unusual pattern, and are way .thicker than the shingles that came on the mobile home, so I don't think the wind will blow them up.

Underneath the old shingles on the mobile home was just some thin brown paper. They put an ice and water shield down on the back porch because the pitch is so low, and tar paper felt elsewhere. The garage and the porches were done by others and used better materials.

 

The first iris blossom this spring. I found her near the old home site out in the country in the early 80's and moved her in town. I've moved her many times since, because she gets in the way, and part of me wishes she would die, but I admire her because she is not fussy where she lives.

This year the flower is pure white. Earlier years it was a variegated pale lavender. I wonder how old she was when I found her.

 

February 15, 2020 (Saturday)

An item on the to do list for this winter was to chop down all the hedge in town to a "respectable" height. Progress on the west side yesterday. What I cut off was at least twice as tall as what remains.



Got half the truck loaded and darkness got in the way. The piles were lined up at the truck and the plan was to finish loading as much as I could this morning, and haul it off this afternoon, but it's raining (again). Will do it tomorrow.



There is only about 40 more feet of hedge to go after this. I need to find a new place to dump this stuff. The pile in the woods is getting out of hand.

 

It is raining today and again tomorrow. This is getting to be a little much. All the things I want to do are outdoors.

The reason I posted the mower video above...

My main mower is self-propelled but does not do tall grass AT ALL. My backup mower is a Craftsman 5.5 hp. Very hard to push, but nothing stops it except a clogged outlet. For the last 2 or 3 years it would not start, but all you had to do was pour a little gas in the carburetor. Since I use it rarely I've put off trying to get it fixed.

YouTube videos all recommended you try replacing a gasket and a rubber diaphragm right under the carburetor. So I did that, and put in a new primer bulb and air filter. All the guys in the videos said DON'T SCREW DOWN ON THE GASKET TOO TIGHT (which reminded me of my father), so I didn't.

It leaked gas around the gasket, started surging, then stopped. So I tightened the screws down A LOT. Same thing. One video, which I can't find now, said use two gaskets instead of one, so I tried that, and tightened the hello on them . It started, ran, no leaks.

It seemed like it was running too fast, so I tore it down once again. A little plastic butterfly looking thing got moved in the wrong place. How in the world that happened I don't know, because I could barely get it back where it was supposed to be without breaking it.



Now it starts, sometimes on the first pull, and runs like a top.

It still needs something to cover the grass outlet, because as I mentioned, it throws grass in your face without it, but clogs even more with it. Maybe I will design a new cover...out of cloth?

 

After I replaced that broken gear on the garage door opener, another thing went wrong. Whenever it got all the way down, the door would immediately reverse and open again. If you kept hitting the button it finally surrendered and stayed shut. No amount of adjustments helped.

Last week I found sensors for a Chamberlain Lift Master in stock at Lowes and installed them. I was afraid it was something more serious, but that solved the problem. This made me so happy I had to make a VIDEO of it.

I've also been doing some creative trash removal---two large carpets and a very old latex mattress. I cut them into small pieces and put the pieces in with the weekly trash. I never have enough to fill up the container every week anyway, and it all goes to the same place. Looking for more stuff to disassemble and trash now.

 

Well, I am exhausted just getting up to date with all you have been doing. In times past I have used the old cut up the old carpet tick to dispose of it rather than pay a high dumping fee. I even put pieces of busted up concrete in the large garbage can. I started watching the weight as I got fined one week for overweight. I guess they must have scales on the lift arm. Big spring clean upcoming soon and I am trying to remain calm about it.

 

My son-n-law had an old Toyota that was worth nada so he cut it up into small pieces bagged it and took it to the town dump.

 

Hi Faye. Good to hear from you.

I have a sinkhole in my back yard from decaying roots of an old tree that I use for disposing rocks and concrete chunks. You just have to give it a little time and more space seems to always open up.

 

That must have been a huge task, Al. It gives me more ideas.

 

The man who did the roof last week is a general contractor. He coordinates jobs. The cost of the roof was reasonable. They seem to have done a good job, but who knows for sure. The last roof job on the house in town seemed like a good job too, until shingles started falling off with leaks around the chimney and bathroom vent.

I've got two more estimates from him. They are both reasonable I think, and both jobs need to be done.
1. new roof on the house in town
2. house painting

I sent him an email accepting the 2nd roof job, and he claimed he didn't get it. So I resent it and he confirmed, but hasn't replied one way or the other.

He's usually right back at you with any email, text, or phone call, within minutes, like he is sitting on his phone. Instead he has been bugging me to submit an online review of his work---I got 3 emails from him about it. I told him I would NOT forget, and asked what's the rush ?

Do they all do this now?

I get the impression he is waiting to see what kind of review I give him before he accepts another job. I'm inclined toward a stand off, at least for a few days, and see what he does.

I guess I'm making a big deal out of this, but it just seems strange to me. Am I missing something?

 

Maybe he has another job lined up and needs a recent recommendation for it. Contractors really value recommendations and reviews from customers. If you think it's too soon just let him know but be prepared to find another contractor to do the job. Sometimes you just have to trust you gut instinct.

 

If he needs a recent recommendation then he should ask if I mind if someone comes by to look at his work. I've had others do that before. I think he needs to learn that a customer who doesn't complain, doesn't haggle on the price, and pays promptly, is worth more than a review. I could keep him busy with jobs for 6 months if I trusted him.

I always discount Amazon reviews when they write something as soon as they pull a product out of the box. Would rather read one that says something like... "I've had this product for X amount of time and still like it."

Of course with a roof, the problems show up only much later. I just hate to give a good review that might mislead other customers, until I figure out what's motivating him. The fact I accepted another offer ought to tell him I wouldn't give a bad review.

Could be he'll get back to me tomorrow, and I'm thinking too much. lol

 

Here's an idea write down the pros and cons of the work he and his crew performed if the pros outnumber the cons you have a good review to write about. Some negatives usually have a good explanation behind them because unexpected events happen. Something to think about.