All repairs complete

[philoÂÂ]

This summer I had a huge list of necessary home repairs. As of yesterday I finally got completely caught up. I now have two full days to relax until "next years" list comes out.

Some of my chores were:

Bringing wiring up to code & installing new lighting in my wife's studio. Replacing the furnace flue. Insulating around the chimney in the attic. Truing doors. New toilet. Exterior woodwork repairs. Fixing uneven sidewalk. Creating a dozen "found object" sculptures to "beautify" the yard. Clearing out a lot of computers from my collection. Replacing ancient water pipes in basement. Putting in railings.

and my favorite one:

Replacing the cracked pantry window that I've been putting off since 1979.

[dadiOH]

You screwed up. You should have left "Replacing the cracked pantry window that I've been putting off since 1979" until after the first so you could make it your New Year's resolution :)

[bob haller]

Most chimneys need dead air space around them to help prevent fires....

A BIG issue with a wood burning fireplace, not so much for a hot water tank flue.>

details please? When I saw this I remembered a news report of someone who s aid they had insulated around the chimney. with the backdrop of the video o f the fire. The home was destroyed:(

[philoÂÂ]

Well, the window also needed paint, so I put one very bad "first coat" on. Will try to get the 2nd coat put on sometime within the next 30 years.

Also: Even though I managed to get a lot of things fixed this year, there is not enough room on all of Usenet for me to add the list of things I /broke/ .

[philoÂÂ]

Thanks for the warning. I do not have a wood burner.

The chimney is used for venting the hot water heater and my "medium efficiency" furnace.

The amount of heat exhausted is quite small. If I put my hand on the flue as it goes into the chimney (in the basement) it's very warm but not so hot that I burn my hand.

By the time the exhaust gets past the 2nd floor of my house and into the attic, there is not much heat ...

however when the temperature gets down to -10 or - 20F the attic gets extremely cold and condensation forms on the chimney in the attic and it leaks down into the bathroom ceiling below.

If I still get condensation this winter, I'm going to get a high-efficiency furnace, an electric water heater and do away with the chimney completely.

[Stormin Mormon]

In 2007, I was asked to serve as one of the repair guys at church. I got the list caught up, and thought my calling was over. Since that time, I've never had a totally caught up moment. I suspect your home is much the same. You can wrap up the task list, but there will always be some thing to repair.

- . Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

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[Sasquatch Jones]

Good work, Philo! I just hope the lovely wife here doesn't see that list.

One day a few years ago we had lunch at a fast food place and starting making a list on a napkin of things that needed to be done around the house. Four napkins later the list was still going strong, so we decided to use them to wipe up the table instead.

[philoÂÂ]

Good one.

As to things such as napkins and paper towels...that's a big joke between me and everyone I know.

Due to my frugality, when there's a mess to clean up... the starting point is /half/ a paper towel.

No one will ever let me forget the time I spilled paint on the carpeting (fortunately latex) which required buckets of water and many many rags, towels and mops.

My /first/ reaction was to grab /half/ a paper towel and start cleaning up!

[Stormin Mormon]

I'd have reached for the Rinse N Vac style carpet extractor.

- . Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.