robot808

Where is SharkSkin? Where is SharkSkin? Here I am, Here I am...

Dwayne

Congrats, Dave on the new homestead - looks awesome!! Sounds like you got a great deal too - well done! I'm envious!!

Bill Ball

Glad to see you back, Dave. Big congrats on the house!

SharkSkin

Thanks everyone for the well-wishes!

86'928S MeteorGrey

Nice looking place, Dave. Congradulations!

gersar928

Dave,

Congrat's on the new Dig's, it looks beautiful, forrest, pool, serrenity....right up your alley! After you add your personal touches it will be awesome!

Gerry and Sara

Mako 928

Dave,

The new homestead looks great.

I have been referring to your tech page " Sharkskin's 928 Page" for my most recent torque tube rebuild. Excellent information and now I am once again referring to it for my clutch replacement.
The explanation of adjusting the intermediate plate really helped. Thank you

SharkSkin

Thanks Mike!

Thanks Gerry! Personal touches... So far the most visible changes are chopping away some of the overgrown branches, cutting down a "WTF were they thinking when they planted it here" tree, and ripping out the carpet in the dining room... Solid walnut flooring goes in tomorrow and painting starts this weekend. Oh, and there is a growing mountain of boxes in the great room...

Thanks Greg! I'm glad you found the info helpful. That video from Dan Perez is pure gold for gaining an initial understanding of how it all works together.

Bill51sdr

Dave, good to hear from you and congratulations on a beautiful new home. Your pictures are gorgeous, as usual.

Fire Marshall Amy (my dear, beautiful wife) upon seeing that picture of your fireplace, is probably going to tell you to get the chimney cleaned out as the soot stain above the opening says it needs it. You do not want a chimney fire...

SharkSkin

Thanks Bill! Yes, we are going to have all three chimneys inspected sometime after the move and before we use any of the fireplaces. The insert on this one has some sort of forced air setup that I haven't had time to figure out yet, though there are some plastic ***** on it that look a bit melted. I don't know if the soot is from a failed insert, burning with the doors open, or what. I do know that the previous tenants used this FP to burn the stems and roots of their pot plants before they left, it's possible that a good portion of the soot came from that little adventure.

SharkSkin

Well, the saga continues. Wife totaled her car on Highway 9 Tuesday, shark sprung a big oil leak at the cam tower today. At least we're moved in 100% now, slowly digging through boxes...

As my Chiropractor likes to say, "The bleeding ALWAYS stops eventually"...

Bill Ball

Arg! I sincerely hope it was no more than the car that was hurt.

And oil leaks are inevitable. Let me know if you can use a hand with it.

SharkSkin

Thanks Bill, that's a very generous offer but we are so disheveled with the move right now and our schedule so full of household priorities I can't DIY this one. I have a local guy who knows 928s well enough I trust him to do the work. These were replaced 60K miles ago with Porsche gaskets and they are already a problem -- trying to work with Doc Brown to get some better gaskets.

Robin is fine, it wasn't that big of an impact but due to the perceived value of the car the ins. co. isn't being very helpful(Kelly BB=$0)

SharkSkin

Well, it's been a longer hiatus than I expected. This looks like it's starting to become a pattern with me, something I'll have to work on.

We have mostly settled in up here on the mountain. though there is still a long list of things to be done.

Since my last post there have been so many things going on that much of it is a blur. Keep in mind that all of this fun was spare time activity while working 60-80 hour weeks.

The very first thing we did, with the very first load of tools and such, was cut down a tree that had been planted in the middle of the driveway and prevented getting a truck close to the house.



During the month of March 2012, we were ramping up to move on Mar. 24. Around Mar. 9 I was wrenching on my Ramcharger; I had been off-roading on some pretty steep logging roads on the property and reverse was starting to slip(320K miles, even Mopars don't last forever). So, I was adjusting the bands and installing a deep trans sump with extended pickup to help deal with the slopes and cambers up here. I had the pan removed and the first band adjusted, then I went to break loose the locknut for the reverse band with my trusty Craftsman 1/2" drive 18" breaker bar. When the locknut let go I slammed my right pinky between the breaker bar and a header flange bolt, breaking it. The pinky, not the bolt.



I was about this far into installing the hardwood floor in the office when that happened:



I didn't even know it was broken, I just knew it hurt like hell. I finished up the floor about 5 days ahead of move date -- it was around this time that I realized my finger was broken and went to the hospital, where the teenage doctor put the wrong splint on My sister in law is a nurse though, some weeks later she steered me toward a longer splint and it finally healed.



Then the room had to be painted, since it would be the first room to be set up so we could go back to work after the move... we left the drop cloth down for move day:



You all know the drill:







We also put in new fridge and freezer, double convection oven and dishwasher, new kitchen floor, several new plumbing fixtures, light fixtures and a ton of mini-projects. This took a few weeks to complete. We replaced all of the light switches, outlets and cover plates as well, since we prefer decora switches and all of the outlets had various colors of paint on them. That took longer, kind of came together room-by room as the house did.



So, that was hell year. I installed my own mailbox out on the highway since there never had been one for this house and I didn't feel like driving 12 miles toward the coast to get mail from the "local" post office. This box is as close as the PO comes to my home, a couple of miles down the highway. I had to bring buckets of water so I could mix concrete on-site.



This was the garage-mahal for the first year:



Comcast took my info in their web signup but when I called they just laughed. Service ends many miles down the hill from me. Power and landline are the only hard infra, we get pretty decent broadband via a microwave link though. Well and septic are on me.

I spent a fair amount of time on the water system, rebuilding a long-dead Kinetico twin-tank softener(surprisingly high-end, though neglected) and adding an ozone filter to precipitate out the metals. I converted the brine tank to use potassium chloride, better for us and the landscape than sodium chloride. Lots of manganese and iron in the groundwater, plus a bit of sulfur. The well initially checked out as a strong producer, and I recently added a groundwater level monitor and it's still strong.

Here are some before/after of the first round of clearing the view that my wife and I did together:











In that last pic you can see some of the more than dozen transfer loads of rock and gravel that have been needed up here, around 220 tons. It's hard to see how off-camber it was, or how much better it is now. Coming down this part of the driveway in the wet, my truck(full-time 4x4 with LSD) required at least a half a turn right on the wheel and a goose of the gas pedal to keep from hitting the oak that is right behind the camera position. We also have 1/3 mile of dirt/gravel road between the highway and the house, which needed about 60 tons to build up one off-camber spot and misc spots that needed filling to get the surface graded so that water would drain properly. Below is a "transfer" for those who are unfamiliar)



Here is a better pic to show how treacherous the driveway was when wet - pic taken just as the grading contractor was moving his equipment in:



Some of that gravel was for the common lane but the bit of driveway shown above was about 75 tons(three truck+trailer loads).

In July of the first year we took out about a dozen trees around this size(yes, that's my wife and I):



In the process we rounded up and bagged 32 30-gallon garbage bags of poison ivy(clipped short and densely packed). Yes, I know, poison ivy is not native here but that's what it was. Long story... Anyway, found the core plant which had a 3" diameter stem, and killed it by driving some copper roofing nails around the perimeter of the stump. Same treatment for all of the other stumps thick enough to take the nails. It hasn't come back.



Here is more of the "weeding" that I did in the first year. Camera angles are deceptive, this was on about a 60° slope Early in the vid I am having second thoughts as to whether my 20" bar was long enough for this tree. It really wasn't. It took four cuts to get the undercut done, not counting a bit of extra saw work to get the wedge out. The backcut was three cuts, two wedge-shaped cuts either side of center followed by one cut to take out the strip remaining in the center(sort of a "tee" off of the hinge, if you know felling). Also, you may think I'm crazy for not clearing out when the tree first cracked. My primary escape route was to be toward the camera, up a very steep slope and into a dead end of thicket. I wanted to be sure which way the tree was falling before I committed.



During this first year we also cleared about an acre of densely packed redwood saplings ranging from 4' to 10' high that had sprung up on and around the leach field. Below are two stitched panoramas, the first appears earlier in this thread and was taken while I was having all of the inspections done, the second was taken today -- the second covers a wider angle but the difference is still pretty obvious. This represents several weekends of limbing trees and clearing snags. The left-hand carport is the garage-mahal for now.





We also had to replace all of the ridge caps on the roof, not a huge project but still a PITA. I also installed Gutter Glove screens which seem to be the only thing to keep redwood and doug fir needles out. They are all holding up great so far.

Seven of the double-glazed windows had failed and were full of moisture, so we had the glass replaced in those.

As the weather turned wet we moved to indoor projects(or so we thought) and as I was trimming the moisture barrier around the edges to prep for baseboard installation I noticed water in the gap between the hardwood and the wall. So there I was, early November with the rains starting, and I had to tear one corner off of the house.



Once I had the siding off I was able to push through the sheathing with light finger pressure. The sill under this window crumbled and fell out.



This repair was needed because the owner/builder who put the house together screwed up. He framed in the porch and put the fascia in place without sealing in the area above this window. There was an area that should have been covered by siding but since there was not enough room to install that because of the fascia around the porch, he left it. So, every time it rained water would wash down the wall and onto the exposed house wrap above the window, then run down behind the siding and trim.

Here is where there should have been siding but the fascia was in the way; I have it marked to cut away enough to make the repair:



Here is the cutout; if you click the image the caption in the gallery will detail where the water got in.



Here it is nearly done.



And, done. At this stage I was always finishing things up then jumping right into something else so I just took this pic today:



Bill51sdr ought to be happy to hear that the fireplaces all checked out. Turns out the one shown earlier in the thread is the only one we use. The one in the master is too close to the bed and there is no place to store wood, kindling, implements, and so on. The one in the front room is now sealed up and living behind our entertainment center. The one we use turned out to be a fairly high-end wood stove from Travis Industries. I replaced the cracked ceramic glass and seals, also put in a new combustor -- kind of like a catalytic converter, it re-burns the wood smoke to extract more heat. When initially lit the unit draws inside air for combustion but once it reaches a certain temp a fan up under the eaves kicks in and provides outside air not only for combustion but also as forced-air heat that blows out of the arched grate just above the doors. When burning madrone with the combustor engaged I have measured the air temp just inside the grate with a thermocouple and found the air temp to be about 350°F Also, the iron log support grate melted while burning madrone(quite a bit hotter burning than oak). It didn't melt into a puddle, it just softened up and collapsed under the weight of the wood. We solved that by getting a stainless steel grate made from 3/4" bar which has been fine, even though it does get red-hot sometimes. Here it is in use...



The pic above the fireplace appears earlier in this thread, and I had that published on a magazine cover last year.



Working some madrone to feed the fire:



This was this madrone that had fallen and hung on the phone line -- I had a pro tree guy handle this widowmaker!



My wife did most of the interior painting, with a few hours' help from her friend and her sister. The green color EVERYWHERE on the walls was really terrible. When replacing switches and outlets we found worse though... purple and pink. Still, it was an awful green. I did a lot of yard work while she was painting, here are some pics to give you an idea. The main invader was scotch broom, up to 8 feet tall in places. How many of you ever found yourself pulling weeds as big around as your wrist? The smooth bark from about the middle of the pic to the right is the root. In the third pic there is another 25 or so yards that is hidden behind the clump on the right.







In one of those pics above you can see a redwood that was planted about 18" from the deck support. Another was planted about the same distance from the center of the office window. Both were only around 6" diameter but I have to wonder what goes through someone's head when they plant a giant tree close to foundations like that?

The place came with a Generac 10K generator already installed in an outbuilding with industrial-grade transfer switch and controls; it's powered by an industrial version of a '79 Mazda GLC 1.3 liter inline four that runs on propane. It was initially wired to power the well and booster pumps, some plugs in the front room and the igniters on the stove plus a couple of kitchen outlets. I re-wired some things so it now powers the above plus the office, the refrigerators, the furnace, the whole house fan and of course the jets on the tub. I also had to adapt a $80 Mazda voltage regulator(engine side of genset) to work since the $275 Generac part was too pricey given that the only difference was the connector. I also went through all of the belts, hoses, t-stat, etc. to freshen it up and removed all of the rodent detritus from inside the windings.







Somewhere along our second year up here the shark decided to puke coolant out the head gasket on the passenger side, so I went back to my trusted mechanic and had them changed out. It was a bit more expensive than JB weld but I think it will last longer. The Greg Brown cam tower gaskets had been holding up great, and the second set are still holding up great. At the same time, I had a full valve job done, valves re-ground, new seats guides and seals, and about 0.005" cleanup on the surfaces of the heads.

Around this time I also installed an on-demand water heater which cut our propane use dramatically, and made it possible to fill up the jet tub in one shot. The old tank-style heater would run out with the tub about half-filled, so we had to fill it with the hottest water we could then let it sit until the heater recovered -- but not too long or the water in the tub would cool and we'd end up with lukewarm. A major PITA IOW. As it turned out, the outlet that I used for this was already on a circuit backed by the generator. Win!

Additionally I installed a 4700 CFM whole-house exhaust fan, since we are at a high enough altitude and exposed enough that it can get really hot during the summer, and we don't always get enough of a breeze or cool enough air in the evenings to cool it down by just opening windows. This fan works great, and is very quiet. Later on we will install a geothermal system to get inexpensive air conditioning. We have enough space that we don't have to drill for the heat exchangers, we can just put coolant coils in trenches near the house.

I also designed and built a shed, originally just for storage but now it also holds a small milling machine, drill press and bench and is also supported by the generator. I installed Gutter Glove screens here too.





Also along the way, we replaced two pair of french doors and a 12' slider on the south side of the house. The french doors were shot, here is the worst one, followed by a pic of the split jambs and amateur-hour hinge repairs. When the wind blew on this side of the house the curtains over the doors would billow into the room from all of the air leaks:





The replacements are Marvin clad wood-core doors; here is a look at the construction which shows the cladding and seals on the slider where the active and inactive panels meet in the center, which is shown below just prior to staining and finishing.





I also installed a Davis Instruments weather station. This was a bit of a project since I wanted to install it on a telescoping fiberglass mast that penetrates the roof. Clicking any of these pics, like the rest in this post, will take you to a gallery with more photos:

I didn't like the anemometer mounting bracket since it was meant for a larger diameter mast, so I made my own:



Here is what it looks like installed -- though I had not set it plumb yet at the time this photo was taken:



This is the mast mounting system that connects to the inside trusses. Like a machinist friend of mine likes to say, why just kill it when you can overkill it? I used steel instead of wood since I didn't want anything working loose or splitting; winds can hit 60mph+ on the ridgetops here. The whole-house fan that I mentioned earlier is visible just behind the mast.



I also set up a weather cam, on interesting days I take the frames that are captured every 15 seconds and convert them to a 30FPS video:




Early this spring we took down 15 or so snags; here are some of the piles of rounds waiting to be split and branches waiting to be chipped:





So, these are just a few of the highlights. It has been a whirlwind, but things are finally settling down a bit. We have a new dining table on the way, once that's set up I'll take some pics of the house as it sits. There is still one room that's not really set up, it's my wife's craft room on one side and my photo gear/macro table on the other. Something we keep meaning to get to, but it's down the priority list.

At the moment I have too much free time, my company decided they don't need my services after 9-1/2 years so I'm looking for another Software QA Engineer gig, if anyone knows of something. I have enough severance that I'm not sweating it, just putting feelers out every morning then wrapping up projects in the afternoons.

I don't know how much time I'm going to have to spend here once I get working again, so no promises -- but I am going to make a real effort to not be such a stranger.

checkmate1996

Sharskin! It's good to see the old guard is still around! House looks great...why the big move?