This summer was the culmination of ten years of work on the house. We had to push to finish the major LEED features of the remodel because we had an end of June deadline for evaluation under LEED 2009 version 3. But we switched to LEED version 4.1 anyway because it was a free upgrade and obviously easier for Energy Logic, the company that evaluated us. Their expertise had kept up with the times.
Our formal award of LEED Platinum happened at the end of June but our project is still underway. Looking back it was a summer of repairs. The spa controls burned out and when I replaced them a pipe junction broke and the blower leak never did stop despite various fixes. We got the new spa cover but never received the cover lifter. Of course the cover is not functioning with no water in the spa.
We took a few trips in the RV and had some issues. In March we ran into a concrete pole and scraped the side. We waited for the repair shop from shortly after we returned home until after our RV trip to Indiana. That was mid-August.
The RV air conditioner also stopped working and I have warranty insurance with a $500 deductible. It cost $600 to find out that it was a wiring issue in the thermostat and the shop replaced it with a lower quality version without bluetooth. We left for a three week trip to Indiana and I didnt realize at first that it was the wrong thermostat. I complained when we returned home but they couldn’t connect me to the account person I used. I called with messages but didn’t hear back. Apparently they never sent the paperwork to the insurance either but I realized $160 of the charge was for a ”courtesy inspection” which probably was not covered by the policy. So the work didn’t meet the deductible after all.
I finally realized it would be easier to just replace the thermostat with the upgrade myself. In the meantime I learned about the air conditioner capacitors and a slow start capacitor I may install in the future. It takes the drag off the air conditioner startup that requires more watts than the running motor so that the inverter could run the air while driving. But the inverter stopped working on our way home from Indiana. I removed it while we took the RV to the body shop and realized that the power cord lug was so loose it blew the fuse. I bought a new tool to fix that.
We visited our daughter and family in Germany and got to see their new home in Wurselen in late August.
I left the off set toilet in the master bath mostly installed after the seal broke and sewer gas was leaking into the house. I still need to apply the base caulk.
Most of September I spent working on small trim and paint jobs and I fixed the Old Hickory couch support in the house and re-covered some kitchen chairs getting ready for the solar home tour.
Now the summer is over and the tour is over and there are a few weeks of lovely weather ahead of another trip to Indiana for a wedding. So I have a list of things to get done!
- The edging of the patio blocks was left undone because every block has to be cut and fitted.
- The back door siding was never finished and the weather has stripped the area of its air barrier membrane. There is a small piece of siding left for it.
- The garage will remain cedar but it was only partially painted. I ordered Vermont Natural coatings paint but the wood has to be power washed first.
- The patio door trim is peeling and needs to be scraped, the wood filled and repainted.
- The reused baseboard needs to be washed and painted and installed.
- Some areas of the house still need wood and log trim.
- The workshop in the garage needs to be cleared to park a car for the winter.
- The spa piping needs to be fixed and piping for thermal solar installed at the same time.
- I’d like to set up the solar water heater collectors.
There are more projects left from the summer list but I’m relegating the indoor tasks to the winter list. These outdoor projects are the next steps. They should keep me busy for awhile.