Masonry work for the new fence

 When the fence was replaced, we changed the design somewhat.  Zone 8, around the base of the General, had a retaining wall built and filled in.  That meant that the fence went from 6 feet tall down to about 4 feet where the retaining wall was, since the fence was put at the old ground level, not the filled in higher level.  The neighbor on the other side of the fence had asked if it could be 6 feet, at least, for all of it.  

That meant that the fence runs along the top of the retaining wall, at 6 feet, and then suddenly drops two feet when we hit the retaining wall between zone 8 and zone 7. to avoid the sudden drop, we switch to an 8 foot fence and then slowly decrease the height, so that it gets back to 6 feet when we reach the corner of the back yard.

However, the fence people kept the fence going level well after the drop-off from zone 8 to zone 7.  Since the ground level continued to drop, that meant that their 8 foot fence pickets did not reach the ground, and it left a gap under part of the fence.   Particularly when the stone work under the fence dropped again at the low end of the Blue Rock Pool.

As a temporary measure, we put two fence pickets horizontally at this point to cover the gap.  But this was meant as just a temporary fix.

In addition there was another uncomfortable gap in the low end of the Bamboo Grove, where the stone work apparently is not level.

And I had noticed when I was clearing the Bamboo Grove for the fence work, that the bamboo was trying to send roots over the stone work, to escape it's confinement to the Bamboo Grove.

So my solution was to raise the stone work to (a) meet the new bottom of the fence, and (b) prevent the bamboo from putting roots over the stone work.

Since the base stone work is there, this just requires applying another course of stones along the outer two sides of the Bamboo Grove.  It took two trips to Whittlsey to get the stones (320 pounds the first time and 260 pounds the second). We cleaned off the old stone work, and laid out the new stones.

Then we mixed up some mortar and mortared the new stones in place.

The new work is two additional courses of stone next to the Blue Rock Pool, 

 

reducing to one additional course from there to the corner.

In the corner itself, we used a small 6x6 block which happened to fit the remaining space.

At this point, we needed more mortar and more stones, so after a couple days, we were able to again clean off the existing stones, and lay out new ones.

and then mortar them in place.

As expected, we had to cut the last one to fit the space available.

A Restored Lattice on the New Fence

 The old fence had a wooden lattice for Linda's vines to grow on.

But when the fence was replaced, that was removed, so we needed a new one.

The first step is to attach a couple of 2x4 sections to the fence, to hold the lattice work out from the fence a bit.

Then we can attach the new lattice work to these supports.  We used 5 inch lag screws to attach the 2x4s and then 1.5 inch lag screws to attach the lattice to the 2x4s.  

The lattice itself -- 4 feet by 8 feet -- plus the new lag screws was $55.91 from Home Depot.

Cleaning the solar panels

The new solar system comes with a monitoring system that tells us how much power is being generated over time.  Now that we have had the system for 16 months, we have comparative generation for 4 months.

Notice that last year we generated more energy each month during the summer. 

Now we know that the weather varies, and it is possible this is simply because we had more sunshine last summer than this year, but that seems unlikely. 

We also know that solar panels decrease in efficiency over time, but a more than 10% drop in just a year seems extreme.

So we thought maybe the panels have gotten dirty and need cleaning.  Looking at the panels from down on the porch, that does seem a possibility.

We can't see the surface of the panels very well, but from this angle it certainly looks like they are covered with a yellowish dust -- maybe pollen from the oak and elm trees.

So we decided to wash them off.  We used an external faucet and hose, and Windex Outdoor Concentrated Cleaner, which we have previously used to wash the outside of our windows (and screens).  Searching on the web, it seems the main concern in cleaning solar panels is not to use an Ammonia based cleaner, and Windex Outdoor is Ammonia-Free.

We first sprayed the panels with just water, to wet them down and soften any dirt.  Then we sprayed them with the Windex Outdoor solution.  Checking with a clean rag, there was still a lot of grey dust on the panels, so we used a sheepskin applicator on the end of a long pole to gently wash the panels off.  Then we rinsed everything off with enough water that there was no more suds or dirt, just water rolling off the panels. This took about 200 gallons of water for the 14 panels.  And then just to be paranoid about the possible hard water deposits of tap water, we poured a gallon of distilled water on the top of the panels, letting it flow down and rinse everything off.

The result is panels that look much cleaner.

 We will have to wait until the end of October to see if we generate as much energy this year as we did in October last year.

Repairing a towel rod in the Master Bathroom

 When we had the bathrooms remodeled, we wanted to install grab bars to help as we get older.  In addition, we choose sturdy metal towel rods, not as a grab bar, but realizing they may end up being used as one in an accident.

And sure enough, Linda tried to use the towel rod to keep her from following, but instead of helping, it gave way.  The towel rod is anchored at both ends, with a metal rod between them, but one of the ends gave way, allowing the metal rod to fall off.

The metal ends are attached to a post on the wall with a small set screw on the bottom.

Taking the ends off, we expose the two metal posts.

The posts are attached to the wall with two screws.  Of course this is a marble tile wall, so there are holes drilled into it and an insert plugged into the hole; the screw goes into the insert.

The end which failed seems to be missing the insert, which means one of the two screws was not secured into the wall.  (It's possible the insert was shoved back into the hole and dropped down behind the tile wall.  In fact it appears that the tile wall is a false wall attached to 1x2 wood strips on top of the previous wall.)

So we have a couple of possibilities.  We could replace the towel rod with a full-blown official grab bar, or we can re-install the existing towel rod.  Using an official grab bar would seem better, but since the wall is a false wall, with just the tile and it's cement backing, we would need to use the same sort of insert as the towel rod used (or was supposed to use).  So while it might be a slightly larger screw/bolt and insert, it would still be attached to the same wall, in the same way. (As opposed to attaching the bar by bolting it into a 2x4 or other solid structure inside/behind the wall.)

So we decided to just install an appropriate insert in the missing hole, and put the towel rod back up.

Repairing a Leak in Zone 7

 As part of replacing the fence, we tested the sprinkler system to make sure it all worked.  Two problems showed up.

One was a problem with Zone 6.  The lowest head, down by the fence, seemed to just dribble water constantly, whether zone 6 was on or not.  This suggested that the valve was failing to close completely.  So we found the valve for zone 6, buried in the lawn close to the rock retaining wall, dug it up, and cleaned it off.  Now it seems to be working, so we just left it alone, for now.

The other problem was a leak in Zone 7.  One of the heads was just gushing water out of the ground around it.  When we dug it up, we found that a root had grown right across the sprinkler line at the head and pushed the head to the side while breaking the irrigation line at both ends of the pipe that the head was screwed into.

We sawed off the root. and removed the broken pieces of pipe.

Without the root in the way, we can use the same design as before.  But since we need to cut back a little on both ends, we will need a short extension piece added to make up the distance.

Then we can attach the part that the head screws into.

and attach that to the original pipe.

Putting the sprinkler head back in place, we finish it off.

When we tested it, water still gushed all over.  Closer examination showed that the sprinkler head itself had been pushed to the side so that it cracked the body of the head.  We replaced the sprinkler head with a spare and everything worked.

Replace the Blinds in the Library

 A side-effect of having the walls painted was that the two aluminum mini-blinds were damaged.  I used the pieces from one to fix the other and put it in the Master Bedroom, leaving a very broken one in the Library.  So we needed to replace them.

We checked both Lowe's and Home Depot (and a place online).  I wanted to match the function of the other blinds in the house -- double cell, cordless.  The best price was from Home Depot: Bali 1/2" Double Cell Light Filtering with French Latte on the inside and White on the outside. $340.50.  It was shipped direct from the manufacture in Mexico to our house.

To install the new shades, we first removed the old mini-blinds, patched the holes from them and painted over any patched or missed spots.  Then there were 3 new brackets to install, and the new shades snapped into place.

 Put the curtains back up and we have the new shades installed.

Replacing the Backyard Fence

 The fence for the backyard was installed in two stages.  In Oct 1987, the bulk of the fence was put in.  Then in June 1999, the two gates were put in, to seal off the back yard, to keep the dog in.  So most of the fence is 37 years old, and it shows.

So it seems time to get a new fence.  Coincidentally, the fence between us and 10600 was just replaced by the neighbor.

We wanted to use the metal posts that one neighbor used, and the 3-rail design of the other.  Plus in speaking to the neighbor behind us, he reminded us that we have raised the ground level around the big tree in the back (the General) which then steps down to zone 7 and the Blue Rock Pool.  We estimated the materials alone would run about $6,000.

One problem was the Bamboo Grove.  It sits right in the back corner of the backyard and goes right up to the fence. 

To be able to even see the fence, much less do any work, we need some space next to the fence.  So we used saws and trimmers to clear our a two foot section next to the fence. 

At the other corner of the backyard we had a similar problem,

And a similar solution.

We have been looking at fences and comments on NextDoor about replacing fences, and came up with a list of some 9 possible fence replacement.  We picked 4 of those and got 3 quotes out of them. One was at $12,289, while the other two were around $10,000.  So we went with Ram Fencing at $10,400.

The materials for the new fence were deliverd on Wednesday.

 And on Thursday morning, a crew showed up and started taking out the old fence.  The 8-foot sections of fence between the 4x4 supports where knocked down and carried off as one piece.

This left the old 4x4 posts.

The posts were removed leaving a wide-open space.

A new hole was dug -- a post hole digger and a jack hammer as necessary

A new metal pole was inserted, and concrete poured around it to hold it in place.

 

 Once the old fence was gone, it was obvious that the work to put 4x4 limestone blocks under the old fence, and provide a base for the new fence, was incomplete.  There was a section where the rock wall met the old fence.  I vaguely remember having done that part but there was some issue with one of the utility companies wanting to run new wires or pipe to the neighbor, so it was taken out.  And there was another section behind the green electrical box that was just inaccessible with the old fence in place.  With the old fence gone, I had one night to fix these problems.  Luckily, I had purchased 4x4 stone blocks from Whittlesey Landscaping (a bit over 8 feet of blocks), and had some cement and mortar left over from other projects, so I was able to dig a trench and pour the concrete where I needed the stones.  My leftover mortar was just enough to do the section by the rock wall.

And early the next morning I went to Home Depot to get another 60 pound bag of mortar ($7.56) and used it to set the stones behind the green electrical box.

 

I don't think the workmen even noticed the work that was done.

When they arrived, having let the concrete set overnight, brackets were attached to the pole.

Rails were then attached to the brackets.

And then the pickets were attached to the rails.

That went pretty much like expected on the back fence.  The side fence was a bit more complex.  The old fence was installed before we did any work in the back.  part of the work we did was to try to level the ground around the General.  To do that we built a rock retaining wall between Zone 7 (the lower part) and Zone 8 (the upper part around the General) and then brought in truckloads of dirt to raise the ground level in Zone 8.  To contain it, the rock retaining wall was separated Zone 7 from Zone 8.  But we also needed to contain the new dirt along the fence line between us and our neighbors.  So we built a different retaining wall of 4x4 limestone blocks) on our side of the fence that started at nothing (at the upper corner and grew to about two feet where the fence meet the large rock retaining wall.  By raising the ground level around the General, the fence effectively went from 6 feet above ground level (at the corner) to only 4 feet above ground level with two feet of the fence being below ground level, on the outside of the small 4x4 stone wall.

When we removed the old fence, this 4x4 limestone block retaining wall became visible.

For the new fence, the design was to put the new pickets on top of  the 4x4 stone wall.  This required extra tall metal poles.

And as soon as we passed the rock wall, there would be a two-foot drop to the ground level in Zone 7 and then into the Bamboo Grove. So the pickets suddenly were not 6 foot but 8 foot.  But we need to be back to 6 foot when we get to the corner of the fence, so there is a short section where the height decreases from 8 foot back to 6 foot.

There is one small section when the 4s4 stone wall steps down from the Blue Rock Pool to the Bamboo Grove.  Unfortunately, the crew did not start decreasing the height from the 8 foot section early enough and when the wall drops from the Blue Rock Pool to the Bamboo Grove, they needed an 8 foot, 9 inch slat, so they were 9 inches too short.  The eventual solution is to raise the stone wall, but temporarily,  we just put two horizontal boards, to seal the gap.

In general, there is a design tension between having the fence be straight across at the top and following the ground at the bottom.  This becomes more of an issue when the ground level drops (or raises).  For example, for reasons I don't know, the stone border wall for the Bamboo Grove is a bit lower than for the backyard generally.

The long term solution is to make the Bamboo Grove wall the same height as the rest of the backyard, but in the short term, we have a noticeable gap under the fence in the corner of the Bamboo Grove.

And of course we have the two gates.  On the West side of the house

We changed this gate so that it opens into the back yard, instead of out to the front.  Since the ground slopes down from the front to the back, we had problems with being able to open the previous gate; this one opens easily.

And similarly, on the other side of the house, by the garage, we have the gate over the sidewalk

This gate has always opened into the backyard.

As a practical matter, all the digging, nailing, posts, rails, and pickets with people and material being moved to and fro, everything within a couple of feet of the fence has been trampled into the ground.  Save some special plants that were carefully worked around. Compare the following before and after images.