George Shirley wrote:
....
What exactly are we foaming?

some hard to reach spots above
closets along the outer wall that should
have been sealed up and finished 20yrs
ago when the place was built. in two of
them i'd plugged them up by stuffing old
t-shirts in there to keep air flow down.
surprised by how well those old shirts
held up for that long. i thought they'd
have been chewed up by bugs or mice.
nope. so they got a third use today as
i used them to dust 20yrs of dust up and
finally threw them away.

a few winters ago i could feel drafts
through this room from various leaks in
the walls. since then i've gone around
the outside perimeter and caulked and
foamed shut all the gaps down low and in
the siding which. last winter i didn't
notice the drafts any more so that was
nice. still get plenty of air flow
though with forced air heat/AC.

these three spots were the last of
the sealing up i wanted to do this fall.
i still have some caulking to do and
the garden shed (which is the back wall
of the garage) needs work to seal it up.
the mice get in the walls too easily
there.

in my room here i had to duck tape
three foam can tubes together to get
them to reach to the back wall. it
would have been very hard to crawl up
in there to get to them, but luckily
the extended straw trick worked well
enough.

i figure a three to five year payback
on this project. mostly it was just to
keep bugs from crawling through and any
heat savings is a bonus.


It's fairly nice here at 1442 hours, light
breeze blowing, which is helpful. I started Tilly's fall brushing
yesterday, so far a plastic bag full of dog hair has come off her. Once
it is all off, that which doesn't blow across the garden with the wind,
will be buried around one of the fruit trees. A good source of nitrogen
with a little work. I think I saw fall peaking in on us last night but
I'm not 100% sure yet.

we've had about a dozen hard frosts
so far and some snow, but today was 67F.
not too bad yet. trees are losing
the leaves. been raining a fair bit so
i still have gardens to finish up and
also beets to pick and put up.


songbird

On 10/29/2016 9:29 PM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
...
What exactly are we foaming?

some hard to reach spots above
closets along the outer wall that should
have been sealed up and finished 20yrs
ago when the place was built. in two of
them i'd plugged them up by stuffing old
t-shirts in there to keep air flow down.
surprised by how well those old shirts
held up for that long. i thought they'd
have been chewed up by bugs or mice.
nope. so they got a third use today as
i used them to dust 20yrs of dust up and
finally threw them away.

a few winters ago i could feel drafts
through this room from various leaks in
the walls. since then i've gone around
the outside perimeter and caulked and
foamed shut all the gaps down low and in
the siding which. last winter i didn't
notice the drafts any more so that was
nice. still get plenty of air flow
though with forced air heat/AC.

these three spots were the last of
the sealing up i wanted to do this fall.
i still have some caulking to do and
the garden shed (which is the back wall
of the garage) needs work to seal it up.
the mice get in the walls too easily
there.

in my room here i had to duck tape
three foam can tubes together to get
them to reach to the back wall. it
would have been very hard to crawl up
in there to get to them, but luckily
the extended straw trick worked well
enough.

i figure a three to five year payback
on this project. mostly it was just to
keep bugs from crawling through and any
heat savings is a bonus.


It's fairly nice here at 1442 hours, light
breeze blowing, which is helpful. I started Tilly's fall brushing
yesterday, so far a plastic bag full of dog hair has come off her. Once
it is all off, that which doesn't blow across the garden with the wind,
will be buried around one of the fruit trees. A good source of nitrogen
with a little work. I think I saw fall peaking in on us last night but
I'm not 100% sure yet.

we've had about a dozen hard frosts
so far and some snow, but today was 67F.
not too bad yet. trees are losing
the leaves. been raining a fair bit so
i still have gardens to finish up and
also beets to pick and put up.


songbird

Down here in upper Hell, that's the heat part, we tend to really use a
lot of insulation. Our house is brick exterior with Hardy Plank for
trim. The next layer in is a 3/4 inch insulation board, then the
exterior walls are stuffed with insulation, then there is half inch
sheet rock on the interior. We seldom here cars going by on the street
in front, don't hear many of the aircraft that go by as we have two
airports nearby. Then there's the attic, 12-inch ceiling joists and the
attic has insulation that stands above the joists. The inside of the
roof has reflective plastic on that helps in keeping the outside heat
from penetrating into the attic. Unfortunately we all, by HOA rules,
have black roofs. Always before we had roofs that were white, to reflect
the heat.

We don't really need insulation much against cold, it was 84F yesterday
and may be more today. We haven't had a real winter with cold in over
two years. We get temps running from mid-fifties to high eighties during
the day here in La La Land. The biggest noise around is traffic going
by. From about 0600 to 0930 there is a continuous stream of cars and
trucks going by, then we can get out and go somewhere if necessary. This
includes weekends too, traffic does slow down a bit on Sunday's but not
a lot. You get used to the traffic sounds so you sleep well after
indoctrination. Our home is two blocks from the main road but we still
hear the noise. Then there's six trains a day, tracks are five miles
away but the trains blow their whistles continuously as they go by due
to the crossings. Some of these trains are five or six miles long too.
I'm so old I can remember when this area was cattle and vegetable farms
and you seldom saw a car or heard a train. Most of the trains are
outgoing from the Port of Houston and are pulling automobile carriers,
two levels high. I think the port in Houston must deliver cars for most
of the south from what I've seen going by.

Still, at least the neighbors are quiet, most of them are off to work
before 0800 and the kids are off to school or to the nanny. Peace and
quiet to work in the garden, get the mowing done.*It appears that most
of our neighbors have mowing crews in every other week. Our lawns are
very small and we mow with an electric mower and it takes less than an
hour to mow and weed eat and that includes frequent rests due to our
ages. Wife likes to mow so I'm trying to talk her into getting paid by
the neighbors instead of using wet back labor from off the street. She
would rather play with the gardens. G

On 10/30/2016 12:31 PM, Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

nothing too serious, but the trend has
definitely been colder recently - the
heat has been running at night.
Snowed here in 1977; only occurrence within my lifetime, AFAIK. I
had heard rumors of snowfalls in years past but the 1977 stuff stuck
around long enough for photos. No heat needed here, yet. Warm days and
mild nights have delayed some planting enough that I'm beginning to feel
remiss now that it's end of October but planting records show that it's
not unusual. I just start getting antsy by mid-September because some
"late" (long season) cool weather stuff needs as early a start and as
much cool weather as it can get. I _am_ remiss in getting onions seeds
planted, if I'm to have decent transplants by NLT mid-January. In fact,
one of today's projects is to repurpose two wheelbarrow carcasses into
onions nursery containers for planting today or tomorrow; the dirt's
ready. Don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Yes I do....
Still getting okra, sparsely, and green beans as well as eggplants.
Peppers are ripening; cowpeas are producing but not ready for harvest;
green peas are covered with blossoms; tomato blossoms are sticking. Got
1" collards seedlings under some of the okra and have some turnips that
must be thinned _today_.
Have not seen snow since we moved back to Texas in 2012, 24 years in
Southern Louisiana didn't show any snow ever, been a long time since
we've even seen snow and that was fifty years ago on the East Coast.
We're still getting okra and eggplants, a few sweet peppers on the
really old gypsy plant. We did get a second, small crop of crowder peas
earlier on, probably due to pods falling on the ground unseen and sprouting.

a good
day for making onion soup and baking some
squash. have a few beans left to shell
out, almost done.

still have to pull the beets sometime
and put those up.
No beets he No one living here cares for the tops and I guess we
find the roots forgettable because I've never thought to grow beets,
ever, and have received no requests, so....
Wife loves beets and beet greens, she gets to plant some ever other
year, just for her. I have never cared for beets and turnips, my parents
grew up during the great depression and they would eat anything that at
least appeared edible.

got all the hoses brought in along
with the yard decorations and the bird-
baths are covered up.
I may need to remove hose-end fittings (timer, 4-way manifold,
etc.) a couple of times in January or February but not every year.
Discovering that raccoon-proof birdbaths seem to do little to distract
bluejays from pre-existing watering stations (their public baths) and
require constant attention here in the mosquito capital, I quit fooling
with them. I have a story about a friend's cat who spent a few days
under the inverted bowl of one of those classic concrete things. The
kitty emerged grateful and thirsty and, of course, any resulting
aberrant behavior was indistinguisable from cat normality.

No problem here in SE Texas, aka Houston area, haven't seen a freeze in
a few years and there are no forecasts that there might be some. I am
happy with that, spent a few years hunting Russian subs along the
Atlantic ice pack, don't ever want to go back to that. I would like to
see a bit of rain but that is rare right now and sometimes sporadic,
rain like hell for five minutes, go back to no rain. Weird weather for us.

George Shirley wrote:
....
Down here in upper Hell, that's the heat part, we tend to really use a
lot of insulation. Our house is brick exterior with Hardy Plank for
trim. The next layer in is a 3/4 inch insulation board, then the
exterior walls are stuffed with insulation, then there is half inch
sheet rock on the interior. We seldom here cars going by on the street
in front, don't hear many of the aircraft that go by as we have two
airports nearby. Then there's the attic, 12-inch ceiling joists and the
attic has insulation that stands above the joists. The inside of the
roof has reflective plastic on that helps in keeping the outside heat
from penetrating into the attic. Unfortunately we all, by HOA rules,
have black roofs. Always before we had roofs that were white, to reflect
the heat.

that is crazy. black roof in a hot climate...

even in a hot climate having more insulation is
good to keep the AC from having to work too hard.
up here we have six inch walls and two inch foam
board, but the gaps were never properly sealed up
and duck tape is not meant to be exposed to any
weathering at all and soon crumbles. so until i
got it sealed up better it was leaking more heat
and cool air than it should. when the wind blew
you could feel it.


We don't really need insulation much against cold, it was 84F yesterday
and may be more today. We haven't had a real winter with cold in over
two years. We get temps running from mid-fifties to high eighties during
the day here in La La Land. The biggest noise around is traffic going
by. From about 0600 to 0930 there is a continuous stream of cars and
trucks going by, then we can get out and go somewhere if necessary. This
includes weekends too, traffic does slow down a bit on Sunday's but not
a lot. You get used to the traffic sounds so you sleep well after
indoctrination. Our home is two blocks from the main road but we still
hear the noise. Then there's six trains a day, tracks are five miles
away but the trains blow their whistles continuously as they go by due
to the crossings. Some of these trains are five or six miles long too.
I'm so old I can remember when this area was cattle and vegetable farms
and you seldom saw a car or heard a train. Most of the trains are
outgoing from the Port of Houston and are pulling automobile carriers,
two levels high. I think the port in Houston must deliver cars for most
of the south from what I've seen going by.

i used to live along I275 near Plymouth, MI
there was a sound wall which reflected the worst
of the noise, but it still sounded like the surf
in the background. as the road itself degraded
and potholes developed the large trucks going by
would shake the house and there were cracks in
the foundation. wasn't built well, luckily not
my place. as you say you got used to the sound
but i would never call it good.

i've always liked trains and grew up near a
rail line which included some spurs for the large
clay pits nearby. we'd go climb in the railcars
and get hunks of clay to play with and walked
those tracks for many miles in all directions.


Still, at least the neighbors are quiet, most of them are off to work
before 0800 and the kids are off to school or to the nanny. Peace and
quiet to work in the garden, get the mowing done.*It appears that most
of our neighbors have mowing crews in every other week. Our lawns are
very small and we mow with an electric mower and it takes less than an
hour to mow and weed eat and that includes frequent rests due to our
ages. Wife likes to mow so I'm trying to talk her into getting paid by
the neighbors instead of using wet back labor from off the street. She
would rather play with the gardens. G

Ma does the mowing here, i told her when i
moved in that i would do anything else but that
and since i've only had to mow once when she
hurt her foot and couldn't do it for a few
weeks. when the time comes i'll get rid of the
mower gladly and the rest of the grass will
get turned into something more useful. if i
stay on.

looks like a beautiful day out there so it is
time to get a going...


songbird

On 11/7/2016 10:01 AM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
...
Down here in upper Hell, that's the heat part, we tend to really use a
lot of insulation. Our house is brick exterior with Hardy Plank for
trim. The next layer in is a 3/4 inch insulation board, then the
exterior walls are stuffed with insulation, then there is half inch
sheet rock on the interior. We seldom here cars going by on the street
in front, don't hear many of the aircraft that go by as we have two
airports nearby. Then there's the attic, 12-inch ceiling joists and the
attic has insulation that stands above the joists. The inside of the
roof has reflective plastic on that helps in keeping the outside heat
from penetrating into the attic. Unfortunately we all, by HOA rules,
have black roofs. Always before we had roofs that were white, to reflect
the heat.

that is crazy. black roof in a hot climate...
Actually it's a sort of brownish and then it turns black with time. I
approached the HOA folk and asked about white roofs, really wanted a
white steel roof. Oh No, Horrors, all houses much look alike. Pfsst!
What's the old hippie song, Little Houses, ticky tacky house, all in a
row. These people are terrified that their property value might go down
and they couldn't get a fortune for their house. We intend to live in
this one until we go to the graveyard, our kids can fight over the value
then. You actually have to put in a form to do anything to the exterior
of your house, they outlaw certain colors of paint for the exterior too.
Our old house was red brick with lipstick red painted wood. We won home
of the year four times with that one.

even in a hot climate having more insulation is
good to keep the AC from having to work too hard.
up here we have six inch walls and two inch foam
board, but the gaps were never properly sealed up
and duck tape is not meant to be exposed to any
weathering at all and soon crumbles. so until i
got it sealed up better it was leaking more heat
and cool air than it should. when the wind blew
you could feel it.


We don't really need insulation much against cold, it was 84F yesterday
and may be more today. We haven't had a real winter with cold in over
two years. We get temps running from mid-fifties to high eighties during
the day here in La La Land. The biggest noise around is traffic going
by. From about 0600 to 0930 there is a continuous stream of cars and
trucks going by, then we can get out and go somewhere if necessary. This
includes weekends too, traffic does slow down a bit on Sunday's but not
a lot. You get used to the traffic sounds so you sleep well after
indoctrination. Our home is two blocks from the main road but we still
hear the noise. Then there's six trains a day, tracks are five miles
away but the trains blow their whistles continuously as they go by due
to the crossings. Some of these trains are five or six miles long too.
I'm so old I can remember when this area was cattle and vegetable farms
and you seldom saw a car or heard a train. Most of the trains are
outgoing from the Port of Houston and are pulling automobile carriers,
two levels high. I think the port in Houston must deliver cars for most
of the south from what I've seen going by.

i used to live along I275 near Plymouth, MI
there was a sound wall which reflected the worst
of the noise, but it still sounded like the surf
in the background. as the road itself degraded
and potholes developed the large trucks going by
would shake the house and there were cracks in
the foundation. wasn't built well, luckily not
my place. as you say you got used to the sound
but i would never call it good.

i've always liked trains and grew up near a
rail line which included some spurs for the large
clay pits nearby. we'd go climb in the railcars
and get hunks of clay to play with and walked
those tracks for many miles in all directions.


Still, at least the neighbors are quiet, most of them are off to work
before 0800 and the kids are off to school or to the nanny. Peace and
quiet to work in the garden, get the mowing done.*It appears that most
of our neighbors have mowing crews in every other week. Our lawns are
very small and we mow with an electric mower and it takes less than an
hour to mow and weed eat and that includes frequent rests due to our
ages. Wife likes to mow so I'm trying to talk her into getting paid by
the neighbors instead of using wet back labor from off the street. She
would rather play with the gardens. G

Ma does the mowing here, i told her when i
moved in that i would do anything else but that
and since i've only had to mow once when she
hurt her foot and couldn't do it for a few
weeks. when the time comes i'll get rid of the
mower gladly and the rest of the grass will
get turned into something more useful. if i
stay on.

looks like a beautiful day out there so it is
time to get a going...


songbird

It was hot again here and we picked a few sweet peppers, some eggplant
and some green the boss lady likes but I don't. Looks like she's chewing
her cud with the stuff in her mouth. G

George