Rõika 15

Building the porch

During the cold season I had noticed some cooler spots in the floor heating. I figured it had to do with the proximity of the stone foundation, so to improve that one of the next steps would be to insulate the foundation.

Since I wanted to get the back porch ready before winter, it made sense to insulate the foundation under the porch before I would start building it. So I started digging until I found the bottom of the foundation -which sure wasn’t as deep as I had thought- and place the insulation against the stones. The insulation cut surprisingly good on the table saw, so I could put a slight taper on it for the water to easy flow off, though at some point a metal slate might be even better.

With the insulation in place, I was able to build the frame and finish off with the decking. The garden bench of my grandparents fit exactly on the wall side and the barbecue fit nicely on the other side.

Learning to weld the back gate

When we drove out the Volvo to drive it to the Netherlands, I noticed again the side gate is in need of some fixing up. Since it is mainly a welded construction it would need to be welded. As it is something I’d like to learn I checked out a bunch of videos and looked into the tools I would need.

I found out K-Rauta sold a -welding machine for 60 euro after a double discount. I contacted Jeff, as he had told he could teach me some basic welding skills and for this money and this project there was little that could go wrong. So we went shopping at K-Rauta and came home with a welding set.

After trying out some settings, Jeff welded the first beams together to show me how to do it. It is simple and tricky at the same time. After a weekend of trying and welding stuff together the gate opened and closes a lot better then before. But a bit later when it was windy, a few welds did break again. So time for more practice, and by the end of the day the gate stayed up, opened and closed and could be locked.
I learned how to ‘bake’. In a next project I will try to learn how to weld better.

Work at home and a long trip

The roof ladder and platform where ready to be picked up, so I put them in place. It seems very convenient to sweep the chimney now. So I did it while I was up there.
I had ordered a shelf for my 19″ rack in the meter closet and the NAS and ProxMox server fit nice on it. It really is one of those finishing touches.

Then we had a trip to Scotland and after that I found out my dad had a 50 year work anniversary. I wanted to go there, but tickets where very unfriendly priced. While talking to Jan I found out he had the same problem. So we made a plan to combine four trips in one. The Volvo of Toon that was still stored in my back yard, had been sold to the Netherlands and had to be transported there. I still had my RX-7 in the Netherlands, so we decided to drive there with the Volvo to drop it off, pick up the RX-7 and drive back.
It was a great surprise for my dad and I am glad I got there. Minor detail I had an RX-7 in Estonia a bit ahead of plan. Luckily Mo’s mother has a garage where it could be stored for the winter.

Roof and network upgrade

August started wet when one of the boys went to the toilet and while opening the faucet broke it. They went to look for the main valve, while I put in local valves with every faucet, which now payed of, as we could close them and keep using water in the rest of the house.
Next was putting a roof on the porch and next replace the roof of the bathroom part of the house and the veranda. Here was a new challenge, as I had gotten a Velux window for some extra air and light in my future office. This was a fun project, but it was very warm during the building, with the last part Mattias got the IR thermometer and measured temperatures over 70* C on the black roof.
The end result was amazing! Some time in the future a roof stairs and a chimney sweep platform need to be installed, but for now it already looked very finished!
I finished the wood around the veranda. Nice to see how the wood I put in a month before already yellowed a lot.
With the electricity done, I decided to upgrade my internet router as well. It should be able to be connected to the optical cable directly, but after trying that I found out the would need some adjustment on the side of Telia and the first support agent I called had no clue what I was talking about and did not want to put me through to someone who would understand. So for now, I run it over copper.
The meter closet looks very organized now with the router, the home assistant blue, a Pine64 and a Raspberry Pi.

Vacation and finishing things

The biggest part of July we were in Sweden for vacation. There we saw a lot of wooden houses and of course the majority of those houses are painted in Swedish red. But a handful are painted in a soft yellow. Combined with the white details as also seen with the Swedish red, it was a very nice combination. We made several pictures of houses painted that way and were starting to get convinced this would be the colour combination for our house.

Back in Tallinn the issues with the electrical system were fixed and I also cleaned up the last few wires in a cable duct after which the system was approved.

Next was finishing the construction for the roof over the back porch.

Electrical audit and start of porch

In the beginning of June we visited Ikea, I wanted to check out some curtains and especially the electric ones, as they could be added to the home automation. We found the price of the electric curtains was not worth it, but we did find the very nice Hoppvall cellular pocket curtains that would fit exactly between the windows in the studio. Because of the air pockets, it has an insulating effect, both against heat and against cold. We also found a nice rainbow coloured mat to replace a pretty worn mat at the backdoor.

Then finally the electrical system and solar panels were tested, so we can finally get some money back for the solar energy produced. It seemed they did not like it that an amateur had done the system, so they were really looking for issues. They only thing they could find was:

the switch cabinet was not grounded
the main switch and main fuse (which are in the same spot in every house) were not marked as such (I checked several houses afterwards but I have not found any markings).
I had made a 5 wire system (3 x phase, Neutral and (own) Earth) while in Estonia they use the 4 wire system, where there is a combined Neutral and Earth. Just a bridge between the two solved that issue.
The main switch for the solar system had to be next to the inverter, not in the meter closet, so now I can disconnect the system in two spots.

All in all, if those were the things they could find, I am pretty proud of myself

To be able to finish the roof over the lower part of the house and the covered veranda/shed, I had to build the veranda outside of the backdoor and replace the window from the covered veranda and put a wall there.

A very nice improvement of the covered veranda, as now finally the ugly stones got covered as well.

Raised beds and a compost bin

As the garden beds in the back of the garden have not been very successful so far, Mo asked if I could build some raised beds. I decided to use new wood for this, so after a visit to Puumarket, I could quickly build 2 raised beds lined with root cloth. They were mostly filled with the compost from the old compost pile with a top layer of peat dirt. Mo planted the first seeds in it and a week later she stained the wood with a yellow lacquer. Meanwhile I replace one of the legs of the picnic table. Now it could finally stand stable without a rock under the rotten leg.

Upon reading the final regulations regarding organic waste, we found out an open compost pile was only allowed for garden waste. Kitchen waste needed to be collected in a bought compost bin. After some online research, we got a simple one that would meet the regulations, it was delivered within a day and easy to assemble. I put it in front of the old shed next to the three stage composter and sent a picture to prove we have a compost bin and do not need a green container with a subscription for having it emptied.

Garden works

After the snow melted the garden was asking for attention. This season I finally trimmed the apple tree near the well. We decided to give it another chance. The tree looked a bit naked after the trimming, but it sure was in a better shape than before.

The garden furniture screamed for attention as well, so I sanded down the french bistro set and applied a fresh coat of teak oil. The set looked like new. Next was the bench of my grandparents, amazing how well that wood looked after some sanding and a layer of oil. Absolutely like new.

We decided to move the compost from the corner of the garden, where it was next to the place the neighbours are sitting to behind the chicken coop. This is partly done because Tallinn had decided to introduce green containers to separate organic waste. An exception would be made for houses who would compost their organic waste. After some research, the plan was to create a three stage system, again built with old pallets. Since it was getting close to the old shed in the back of the garden, I also improved that a bit. It is far from perfect, but then again, once all the wood that is stored there has been burned, this shed will be removed anyway. The total result of this build again improved the view.

Start on the stairs

I finally made a start with sanding the stairs, which was much more work then anticipated. Mostly because the lacker that had been used had been waxed, so the sanding paper clogged up very quickly, so I had to clean it, then scrape and and then sand it. I am pretty sure that once it is done, it will be very beautiful, but for now there is still little progress.

Office floor and helping friends

February is always a short month with 2 weekends already occupied. So basically I just finished the floor in the future office. Besides I helped Glenn and Anton with their kitchen which now is finished. A great metamorphosis with lots more useful space.