Oct. 4-10, 2020

 

Weather | 10/4, 0.08" rain overnight, 37°, 57° | 10/5, 34°, 63° | 10/6, 47°, 76° | 10/7, 59°, 79° | 10/8, 48°, 77° | 10/9, 55°, 80° | 10/10, 58°, 81° |

• Sunday, 10/4: Happenings on a bright, sunny day:
  
  •  After studying how to correctly put metal flashing on chimneys, I couldn't see how it would work on our chimney. So, this morning, I stacked up poor quality bricks I wouldn't use anyway on a sheet of plywood tossed over the trailer behind the tractor, using pieces of lathes as stand-ins for mortar thickness, to mirror our chimney. I leaned a board on a bucket next to this fake chimney and got it at a 45° angle, representing the roof. Then I played around with additional bricks and a piece of aluminum flashing to determine what I needed to do, then wrote down the steps. It took all morning, but I now can visualize the steps of this project.
    
  • Mary dug up carrots. It's the last crop from the garden. It's supposed to frost tonight, so all that we needed to harvest is now removed. There are still some green tomatoes out there, but we have so many tomatoes ripening that we don't need any more.
  • Mary marked dead trees with fluorescent orange paint while walking SW and east of the house. It's easier determining dead trees now, when most leaves are still on trees, than later in the fall, when leaves are gone, and we're cutting firewood.
  • While wandering east looking for dead trees, Mary took photos of blooming New England asters (see photos below).
  • I finished putting tar paper on the roof where I took asphalt shingle off around the chimney. Then, I added new shingles up to the base of the chimney. Finally, I snipped and bent into shape the first of many pieces of flashing, the apron, and nailed it to the bottom front of the roof in front of the chimney. Prior to nailing it in place, I spray painted it with lacquer to prevent the aluminum from corroding when it comes in contact with mortar.

These New England asters are 1" in diameter.

Honey bee on a New England aster.

• Monday, 10/5: Activities:
  
  •  We woke to spotty frost. Some tomato and pepper plants were nipped, along with squash and pumpkin plants. It's okay. We've harvested all we need.
    
  • Our chicks are 12 weeks old, today.
  • I called up Sunbelt Rentals and rented the lift for another week.
    
  • Mary made 4 loaves of bread.
  • I made a batch of mortar and practiced laying bricks on a piece of plywood laying across the trailer, because Katie said I should practice. I had some mortar left, so I laid 3 bricks on the chimney and ran short when trying to lay the 4th brick, so I scooped the mortar off and threw it away. I made another batch to mortar and laid 2 more bricks, and then threw away a larger batch of mortar. I'll need to get better at estimating my mortar to brick count, so I don't waste so much mortar. The Type N mortar I'm making is 1 part Portland cement, 1 part lime, and 6 parts sand. I'm going to need more sand.
  • While reviewing online chimney flashing information, I realized I need to alter my plans of going 2" up the side of the chimney with step flashing and increase it to 4". Also, I'll need to go with taller counter flashing, the second flashing anchored by bricks, which sits on the outside of the step flashing and the chimney.
    


• Tuesday, 10/6: Events:
  
  • Mary did 3 loads of laundry. She also froze 3 more gallons of tomatoes. We now have 15 gallons in the freezer.
    
  • Pears are ripening...pear winemaking is around the corner.
  • I spent the morning studying my fake chimney and redid my chimney building plan based on what I discovered online last night. I then laid 5 bricks with 1 batch of mortar resulting in zero waste. Next, I made a half a batch, laid 2 more bricks, and again, no mortar waste.
  • I went to Quincy as the sun was setting and bought 3 more 55-pound bags of mortar sand, 12 pre-bent step flashings, a roll of 20" flashing for making higher counterflashing pieces, and a couple ingredients Mary needs to make piccalilli.
    


• Wednesday, 10/7: We did:
  
  • Mary washed 2 loads of laundry.
  • She also made 9 pints of piccalilli. It contains green tomatoes, cabbage, sweet & hot peppers, onion, garlic, horseradish, mustard seed, celery seed, vinegar, and sugar (Mary replaces sugar with Splenda). It's an end-of-the-season garden relish.
  • I cut and bent 2 corner step flashings, lacquered them and all of the other step flashings, then installed the corner step flashings. I alternately nailed down asphalt shingles and installed pairs of step flashings until I reached the top of the chimney. It takes time to cut each shingle and weave it into existing shingles on the roof. 
  • The autumn Asian ladybug invasion started today, which made it especially fun on the roof. They always sound like a Hercules helicopter when they fly near your head. Brush them off and they stink to high heaven. And, contrary to what the experts say, they bite.
    


• Thursday, 10/8: It's a good thing I don't do chimney work for a living, or I'd be canned on the spot for taking too long. Of course, I'm not a professional chimney dude, so I'm learning as I go, which is why I'm doing this job in glacial speed.
  
  Today's events:
  
  • Mary washed rugs and cleaned our bedroom. She also froze 2 gallons of ripe tomatoes. We now have 17 gallons in the freezer, with more coming. Mary did all of the evening chores, since I had my nose in the machine shed doing my chimney thing.
  • I cut and bent aluminum sheeting all day. I made a front counterflashing piece that will go on the west side of the chimney, two first level counterflashing pieces for the north and south sides, and two second level counterflashing units, again for the north and south sides of the chimney. I was up and down on the lift several times to get measurements and to check that sections fit properly. I sprayed them all down with lacquer and secured tabs where needed with aluminum tape. The sun set, so I quit for the day. Below is a photo of some of them loosely attached to my fake chimney replica in the machine shed.
  • Mary says I have a weird sunburned crescent shape on the back of my head from wearing a hardhat that's open on the back while up on the roof. She says, "It looks like the back of your head is smiling."
  
  

  

  Some of the flashing pieces I made today displayed on my fake chimney
  (the hard board represents the roof). It'll look a lot better on the actual chimney.

• Friday, 10/9: Today was hot, with a strong SW wind. Being high in the air on a lift, I noticed gusts immensely. It's sort of like riding out high seas in rough water, you have to concentrate hard with the task at hand and try to ignore surrounding factors. Still, sudden gusts make you slow down and become extra cautious. I laughed at one gust, when to the north, a bunch of blue jays squawked as the wind blasted through.
  
  Happenings:
  
  • Mary washed towels. She also made quiche and coleslaw, since I bought too many cabbages the last time I went shopping.
    
  • I installed the 5 counterflashing pieces I made yesterday on the chimney, held them temporarily in place with carpet tape, then mortared them into place and added 5 bricks to the chimney. I cut and bent 2 top step flashing pieces, nailed them into place, then cut 2 asphalt shingles lengthwise and nailed them at the top of the roof. I sealed the joints of all counterflashing pieces installed today with aluminum tape. Below are 2 photos of my work so far.
  • Mary mowed the lane.

North & west sides of chimney.

South and west sides of chimney.

• Saturday, 10/10: Happenings:
  
  • Mary continued her house deep cleaning, this time hitting the bathroom.
  • I cut some asphalt shingles lengthwise and added these half-shingles to the east side of the roof, then cut, bent, and created what's called the head flashing, then coated it in lacquer and nailed it to the top, or east side of the chimney, right at the peak of the roof. Next, I made 2 versions of the third counterflashing for the north and south side of the chimney, taped and lacquered them, then used carpet tape to temporarily put them in place. I laid 4 bricks to mortar these counterflashings permanently. I have just one more flashing to make tomorrow and then it's all brickwork.
  • A SW morning wind died to calm and then the Asian ladybugs came out. 
  • Mary hiked to the NE, marking dead trees for potential firewood. She found several near Wood Duck Pond. She spooked up 2 deer and said at one point there was a bright red oak tree in front of several bright yellow hickory trees for an amazing contrast in fall color.