22AUG (day 42 of construction) – the poor guy who installed the laminate floors on the 18th of AUG was forced to come back & install expansion joints in certain locations. We pointed out to his crew that these expansion joints were clearly shown on the plan. When he did not put them in we called the seller of the flooring; apparently after three days of debate the installer “lost”.
30AUG, Tuesday (day 43) – the finish carpenter shows up to install interior doors; then the granite countertop guys show up to install the countertops; & then to add to the “confusion”, the painters arrived to paint the exterior.
31AUG (day 44) – plumber shows up to install all plumbing fixtures (including hot water tank). Finally toilets independent of the RV holding tank, & a hot bath with almost unlimited hot water (until we get shower curtains for showers)!!!
For our part we started out on Sunday, 21AUG, by taking a break & running into the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard for market day. Most towns in the USA have at least one market, if not more. In the last twenty years many of the neighborhoods of Seattle have started markets, usually for the summer/fall months only. Ballard’s is one of the oldest & one of the few that runs all year long.
We got there early which was a good thing, because this is a very popular market! Ballard was primarily a “Scandinavian” neighborhood for decades, but that has been slowly changing over the years. It was also the first incorporated city after Washington became a state. Ballard was bigger than Seattle, & might still be an independent city if Seattle hadn’t locked up all the surrounding water rights! Ballard realizing they couldn’t expand without drinkable water eventually voted in 1907 to be annexed by Seattle; this vote is still seen as a mistake by some a hundred years later.
On Wednesday, 24AUG, Dan BBQ’d some of his infamous pulled pork & we offered to share it with our neighbors across the road (Bob & Sara Johnson). The “catch” was that we would need to bring over to their house since our future yard is a dust bowl & our house isn’t ready for entertaining. It was a good time with good company.
Although things were pretty quiet on the contractor front, we did manage to accomplish the following during this time:
>>>begin staining molding
>>>begin installing molding
>>>installed “wells” around foundation ventilation openings
>>>installed arsenic filter at kitchen sink & refrigerator ice maker
>>>painted the mud room
>>>painted the master bedroom
>>>installed kitchen window blinds
>>>installed 2nd bedroom window blinds
>>>retrieved washer & dryer from cousin Paul’s
>>>took delivery of refrigerator & dishwasher
>>>installed refrigerator
During all this we also started on repairing our tractor. Like we said in our BLOG of 14AUG, it lost oil pressure & Dan then discovered “parts” in the oil pan. After consulting with a repair “guy”, Marty, it was decided that the parts were what is called a thrust washer & shims from the front end of the crankshaft. We then discovered finding these parts for a 58 year old Continental Motors engine is not easy. After internet searching & numerous phone calls we were directed to Montes Equipment in Chicago. Dan also learned that Continental made engines for many car manufactures (but not the big three) & others; & the old company slogan was - Powerful as the Nation.
We finally got the parts & the tractor is in the barn with the whole front end disassembled. (getting the tractor to the barn without a running engine was an experience) First thing Marty & Dan discovered was that the main bearing on the front of the crankshaft was for a different Continental engine. Their guess is some farmer in the past had to replace the bearing & used the closest thing he had. Since we don’t want to remove entire engine & crankshaft to replace this bearing, we are leaving it as is. Meanwhile we have discovered that the oil pump, water pump, & some other misc parts are bad. More to follow!
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