Oregon Coast?

We are starting to make some preliminary plans for the winter and are thinking of taking the Oregon Coast route down into California instead of the I-5 route we have always taken. This keeps us away from the mountain passes with their slight possibility of snow and keeps us on the coast with it's great food and slower highways. The weather is not going to be great but not that bad either. The long range forecast calls for temperatures in the mid to high 50's and rain about every second day.

We would take Highway 101 from Aberdeen, WA down through Washington, Oregon and part way into California. We would turn off 101 onto HWY 36 and join I-5 near Corning, CA. This route would take a few more days (and a few more gallons of gas) as we do not want to be in a rush but would allow us to enjoy the coast. We are in no rush!

Drainage Done!

The drainage guy finished up yesterday and gave us his bill of a very reasonable $880. Adding up all his time and the material he used, I thought I would be very lucky to get away with under $1000 so I was pleasantly surprised. He promises to drop by a couple of times over the winter to make sure it is working.

We went down this morning to buy insurance for the motorhome and dolly as it has to go into the shop tomorrow morning at 9:00. When I went to check the fridge on propane, it would not run and there is a slight smell of propane coming out from under the stairs where the propane distribution block is located. It splits the main propane line from the tank into separate lines to the furnace, hot water tank, stove and fridge.

The fridge runs well on electric, just not on gas so it probably needs to be blown out with compressed air. Spiders and bugs like to make nests in there and have to be cleaned out once in a while. The propane smell problem we have dealt with at least twice before. I don't know what the problem is but I wish someone would figure out how to fix it!

Here are the final drainage photos:

Stream #1. He placed drain pipe, a settling bucket and then covered everything up with gravel.

Here is the cleanout for this system. The large rock at the top holds the lid down on the bucket.

Here is stream #2 (the larger one). Everything goes into drain pipe under the gravel and right into the main pipe down to the ocean. There is very little silt in this stream so there is no need for a settling device.

Here is where the stream #2 goes into the pipe and where it will have to be cleaned out if it becomes plugged.

This is another problem we fixed while he was here. The downspout on the left used to drain into the pipe directly under it. During heavy rain it would overflow and an inspection yesterday showed it to be full of mud. Rather than worry about it (spend more money) we simply diverted the downspout into the pipe leading to the new drainage pipe to the ocean. Problem solved.

Drainage Part ?

Our drainage guy showed up yesterday with a truck full of gravel, pipe and tools. Finally! He worked for a few hours digging out the drain pipe which was not plugged but buried in mud and not accepting any more water. He is going to dig all the fine gravel out of the ditch and replace it with clean, larger gravel. He then dug a hole higher on the bank where he buried a five gallon pail to use as a catchment basin. He decided to use this instead of the expensive commercial product.

It is raining today but he is back to finish up that project and to tackle the other stream "stream #2" which it now threatening to overflow the pipe connecting it to the pipe leading to the ocean. This is going to cost a bit of money but we have used this guy before and he has always treated us fairly.

Stream #2:

Closeup of stream #2. Both streams run all year but this one has much less silt.

Exposed drain pipe:

 Catch basin (bucket) on stream #1

Tree Topping

We have many trees out back but just one that we worry about. It is healthy but it about twenty feet from the house and on a steep bank. We got the local tree cutting company over to have a look and he said he would trim some of the longer branches and cut 10 - 15 feet off the top for $200 to $250. This will make it safer when it comes to falling down in the wind.

While they were here we asked them to remove a huge, annoying bamboo bush outside the back door. They spent a couple of hours cutting and loading and hauled everything away. He charged us $250 to trim and top the tree and another $50 to take out the bamboo tree.

Here is what we got for our $300:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Tiny House

I have been dropping hints to my son, Brooks about building a tiny house on spec. He and LindaLee were up for the night on Tuesday and he told me he is going to build one! His friend and neighbor is a licensed electrician and is going to help him. One end of the tiny house will be double(ish) in height and will contain the kitchen and sleeping loft while the other end will contain the living area. It will be built in two parts in his workshop and as each end is completed it will be moved by truck to the back of his property which is on it's own street and placed on a pad, just like an RV. It will not be seen from their house. The two halves will be connected together, hooked up to utilities and rented out. It will serve as a "display home" for future customers who could choose to have one built on a trailer or delivered to their own pad anywhere on the Island. He already has a renter who will take reduced rent in return for allowing it to be shown with minimal notice. A win-win situation.

Like so many people starting to think about retirement, They do not have a pension plan so their rental properties will become their retirement income. If all works out the way they plan this income will be much greater than mine!

I can't wait to see some design plans!

Well, That Was Easy!

The drainage guy showed up this morning with some flexible drain pipe and sand bags. He exposed the clean-out for the underground pipe to the ocean, dammed the stream with sandbags and used the pipe to divert the stream into the clean-out. The stream down the bank and into the gravel immediately ceased.

We are expecting a week of continuous rain, with the remains of the Japan typhoon hitting us by the weekend, It is going to be very wet! He will be back next week, probably during a lull in the storms to install the basin. That will be a dirty, wet job.

On the other front, our roof guy was here yesterday to look at the suspected roof vent. He could not see any way the rain could blow in but he did add some sealant around it. We will monitor the stain on the ceiling and hope for the best.

This is the hole Norma and I dug in the middle of the night last week. It is about six feet long and a foot and a half wide. It doesn't look like it but 90% of the water flowing into it is being handled and is making it's way into the drain pipe.

This is the sandbag dammed stream and the drain pipe that was installed this morning. Hopefully it will handle the heavy rain scheduled for the next week or so. The concrete slabs you see was my "sort of" successful attempt to add a soothing waterfall sound to the stream. Now I just want the water GONE!

Update

Things are under control. Not resolved but under control.

It rained hard once after the stain on the ceiling and no more water came down so it seems my diagnosis is correct, the northeast wind drove the rain into the new vent. I will get my retired roofer / lawn mower to look at it. There may be a solution other than removing it.

The drainage has been temporarily fixed. The drainage guy came over and shoveled a lot of gravel out of the trench, exposing clean gravel and drain pipe that is now easily handling the flow. He is coming back on "Tuesday, maybe even Monday but no later than Wednesday". He again reminded us that many other people in Campbell River have drainage problems as a result of that storm. I am OK wit a short wait now that the emergency is over.

We now have time to get back to more important things. We took a salmon out of the freezer and will stuff it for a Thanksgiving Dinner. We wanted to invite Brooks and LindaLee up but Brooks is working all weekend so that is great for him. He has another huge project going on his property where he is finishing up building a new, larger workshop on the corner of his property where there is more room for storing finished fence panels and lumber outside. He will then move everything over from the old workshop and begin turning the old shop into yet another rental suite for which he already has a renter. He is going through money right now and cannot turn down work. We will get to see him soon.

Roof Leak?

The morning after the rain storm two days ago we noticed a ten inch by a half inch wet stain on the living rood ceiling plus a bit of dampness where the ceiling meets the wall. After panicking I took a closer look and discovered it was underneath where we had a roof vent installed earlier in the summer. It has rained many time since then and has not leaked.

The difference was the last rainstorm was accompanied by a northeast wind instead of our normal southeasters. This wind from the northeast forced the rain into the roof vent. I thought at the time that it was a mistake to have one of the vents placed on the front of the house at all and I should have followed my instincts.

I will have the guy who installed them have a look and see what he thinks. We may cover the hole up with plywood and repair it with some spare shingles or we may just leave it, trusting Mother Nature to keep the wind coming from the southeast.

Midnight Drainage Digging

So at around midnight we were awakened by torrential rain. We looked out at the bank and sure enough everything was plugged up and the stream was flowing across the patio and down the driveway. So here we were, a couple of 70 some year olds, shoveling gravel in the middle of the night! We built a rim around the small pond formed by the bank and that let the water find some clean drain tile which started taking maybe 80% of the water, the other 20% continuing down the driveway. We left it at that, went to bed and started calling our drainage guy at 7:15 AM only to get his answering machine. At 10:00 AM, after a half dozen calls, he called back and said he will be here this afternoon.

It has quit raining but there is more called for tomorrow. I hope he is taking us seriously when we say it is an emergency! We have two neighbours, a good neighbour and a bad neighbour and the stream is affecting both of them. The good neighbour is away but if the bad neighbour catches on to what is going on there will be hell to pay.

Drainage Update

Norma found the guy who did the original drainage job! He came over for a look and said he would take care of it. He will dig out the ditch, expose the drain pipe, determine how big the blockage is and clear it out the best way he can. He will also install a catch basin part way up the bank to separate the water from the silt and pipe the catch basin outlet directly into the pipe heading to the ocean. We will have to empty the catch basin periodically, he has no idea how often, maybe a couple of times a year.

This will all be a big relief to get done and he has "penciled" us into his schedule, hopefully before the next big rain. Next is to get Brooks to build a set of stairs and a platform so we can get up there to maintain it.