neglected TT,our home for awhile (w/blackwater problem)

[Padilen]

Unfortunately that can do attitude can get him fired. Been there done that. But glad you finally got helped. Did I tell you I have a sewage grinder in my basement bathroom? Well about 5 years ago it would come on then not shut off. I had a lot going on and didn't want to open the crock. So I just start plugging it in and unplugging it. After awhile it would work correctly, then back to not shutting off. It's been about a year and a half since it shut off on its own. Then it started working correctly, a month ago. My plumber before he died, thought my dog must have dropped something in it. But I keep lids closed so ??

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

[working on it]

• Today is the day before the scheduled house delivery; but the forecast call for windy, gusty conditions for the next few days...they might not deliver due to that, so maybe more living time in the trailer is on the horizon. We went to the factory lot yesterday, to inspect our finished home, completed last week, their inspection/touch-ups done the day prior. We could only find one little glitch, a single ceiling-to-wall seam was wavy, about one inch long, but my wife reported it (looked OK to me...it's in the room I'll be using as my day-room/computer station/storage depot). Otherwise, it was as promised.
• The concrete retaining wall was finished Thursday, set over the weekend, and the contractor and I did the form removal and site clean-up on Sunday (the pad grading guy was scheduled for Monday, so we had to be ready). The concrete forms were inconsistent in strength, and some flexed during the pour, and the wall was wider at some points, due to that, and used seven cubic yards of concrete in all. Me and my Hi-Lift jack saved one area from blowing outward, so the contractor came in on Sunday as sort of a pay-back for my help, though his crew wasn't available. He's a hard-working young guy, and we're starting to have a good working relationship, so I'm happy to pitch-in my help.
• The pad guy got delayed, so he showed up yesterday (Tuesday), and used a large Bobcat front-loader to fill the hole left by the demolition crew, and grade the pad to specs, using my 40 cubic yards of select fill, and another two dump trucks of more, to complete it. I had him level a berm on one side (built-up over many years, by water/sand/sandy loam flowing downhill past my previous retaining wall/concrete skirting...the new wall will direct that flow better, and the house skirting will be above that flow, now). I will construct a channel/gully there, later, to merge downslope with my neighbor's french drain system (he needs to enlarge its' capacity), so all my drainage doesn't overwhelm his yard (my lot sits 5+ feet higher than his). I also had the pad guy start another drainage channel on the uphill side (short side of the L-shaped retaining wall), so it will reduce the debris build-up on that side of my yard. Lots of yard work in my future, I see.
• Wall done, pad completed, now the delivery, septic hook-up/water lines/electric service (all new) to come...not to mention the weeks of moving our stuff back in, blinds/curtains/ceiling fans & lights installed (my wife has certain items bought in advance, for me to use)...I'll have no rest for months to come, so today is probably my final "easy" day until I get to flee to Beaver's Bend in April. Does "camping" in my driveway in the 20 footer count toward my "camper's total days spent camping" merit badge? I think not; it's been more of an ordeal than enjoyable experience.

[GPW]

“ Does "camping" in my driveway in the 20 footer count toward my "camper's total days spent camping" merit badge? “ Camping , no matter how miserable, always counts !!!
New House … Always Fun , always an adventure ... … Please …. after all , we are all “Builders" …

[working on it]

• Quick update: the two halves of our "multisection manufactured home"

  Manufactured Homes: These are homes built entirely in the factory under a federal building code administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (commonly known as the HUD Code) went into effect June 15, 1976. Manufactured homes may be single- or multi-section and are transported to the site and installed. The federal standards regulate manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The HUD Code also sets performance standards for the heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical systems. It is the only federally-regulated national building code. On-site additions, such as garages, decks and porches, often add to the attractiveness of manufactured homes and must be built to local, state or regional building codes.

  are now on-site, though not in place for the supports and footings, yet. Those materials, and the set-up crew, will come tomorrow. The new house is built to far better standards (I think, I hope) due to the Hud Code, referred to above, which came into effect after the 1973-4 build date of its' predecessor.
• I was surprised at the remote-controlled tractor, and the crawler-type lift machine they used...the operator seems to be able to maneuver the halves within mm's of walls and trees, with precision. Can't wait to see him lift the trailer halves up/over the edges of the retaining wall, just over enough to set the skirting (we're using LP Smart Siding for skirting, to match the exterior) down on top, along the rear and uphill side of the house. The downhill and front sides will have the same skirting, but I'll put treated 4x4's under their bottom edge, to eliminate ground contact, after the water/electric/septic work is done.
• One thing I've noticed, at every point in this project, so far, is that every contractor has problems with the work done by other contractors; perhaps using the previous work as an excuse for some of their work being less than promised. At least the guy doing the septic/water/electric/concrete has no problems with his own work!
• I'm compiling some photos (some were deleted accidentally at the AT&T store, when their rep was transferring my old phone's - Samsung Rugby Pro- sim card and SD card to my replacement phone- Samsung S7) of various aspects of the project, and my wife has more. I'll try to append some to this thread in the future, which is a warning to others that may have a similar project in their future.

[working on it]

...I'm compiling some photos (some were deleted accidentally at the AT&T store, when their rep was transferring my old phone's - Samsung Rugby Pro- sim card and SD card to my replacement phone- Samsung S7) of various aspects of the project, and my wife has more. I'll try to append some to this thread in the future, which is a warning to others that may have a similar project in their future.[/list]

• Here are three collages from photos I found/recovered from my old phone, + some newer ones.

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  trailer & dogpound.png (933.38 KiB) Viewed 1363 times

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  setting forms for retaining wall.png (875.92 KiB) Viewed 1363 times

• More to follow....

[aggie79]

Hang in there. Y'all are in the home stretch.

[working on it]

:thumbsup: Hang in there. Y'all are in the home stretch.

• Not quite yet. Looks like the new electrical arrangement might be delayed due to Oncor (the service provider for TXU, the utility) not wanting to put us on their service schedule. We were assured that they would come out to disconnect us, before the demolition, and they didn't show up, so we had our multi-skilled contractor come out at 10 p.m. the night before, and severed power to the old house (he capped-off the septic at the same time...the plumber that agreed to come, didn't). Twice since then, my wife talked to Oncor and they said we were scheduled for a visit, but when I called to confirm dates, we were not on their schedule. I hate dealing with minions over the phone...they'll promise results, but they never do as they say. I'll probably have to do as my neighbor did, to get them to come out...he severed his weatherhead connection and dropped the live wire to the ground (Oncor showed up in less than an hour, after he had waited over three weeks past their "scheduled" appointment).
• More photo collages:

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  retaining wall, greywater, drainage, power.png (918.12 KiB) Viewed 1314 times

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  two halves and how to move them.png (777.17 KiB) Viewed 1314 times

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  90 degree driveway, with present arrangement shown.png (895.09 KiB) Viewed 1314 times

[working on it]

• Moving closer to completion, though each step is taking longer than promised by the contractors. The trim-out/repair people were recalled from our house on Saturday, after an hour...no reason given, nor would their boss answer our calls. A new trim/repair guy (and wife) came by this morning, and nicely/thoroughly explained their job scope, and why the other crew wasn't properly trained to do it...they were the heavy labor guys, not finishers. The new guys left a worker with us to begin the job, and the main crew will be here tomorrow. I hope.
• Yesterday's delay was too much for my wife, who melted down, and became really desolated by another delay. She cried a bit, then went to bed early. It has just become too much for her to handle, as costs rise every day, for this and that, and we're having to pay another month's rental for storage pod #1 on Tuesday, if we haven't emptied it by then. Looks like we can't do so until Wednesday, at the earliest, so there goes another $150+.
• In frustration, and anger, she made a "fix this" list yesterday, after crew #1 left, and noted every flaw that she was previously willing to accept. She is an experienced catastrophe insurance adjuster, with a degree in architecture/interior design, and currently works for a company that does restoration work after fires/floods etc. So her trained eye catches every minor flaw. If she manages to get every item fixed before move-in, which I doubt, it'll take another week or two, in my estimation, rather than letting me do touch-ups after we move in. She reluctantly put away her Halloween decorations last week (having gotten them out of storage in her finally, neatly arranged shed/workshop), but now she can expect the same fate for Thanksgiving decor, as well, at this rate. Maybe Christmas?
• Our electrical, plumbing, septic are on hold, HVAC even more so, and the skirting under the house, for the end of December (allowing the house to settle, as the install people recommended). It'll be January before I can address repairing our totally destroyed landscaping, such as it was. Maybe, I can build a front porch before then, and a back door stoop. Until then, we'll be mainly using the patio/sliding door, since I'll use concrete blocks as steps...I can finish that in a day.
• More pictures:

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  height difference.png (964.01 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

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  damaged wall vs new.png (733.51 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

[working on it]

• from Monday: The trim-out team slowly trickled-in today, 2 at 10, one at 12, and the leader at 2. It seems that some work was done, but some wasn't able to be done because the original trim team, recalled before doing anything on Saturday, had left behind the wrong color paint, putty, and pieces. So, what had been done, has to be re-done, now that the team leader and I reviewed the work done so far. He left at three, ostensibly to fetch some "correct" supplies, but never returned. About 5 pm, the remaining workers lost their compressor, so they asked to use mine, a puny refurbished one I've had for twenty years. I couldn't get it to stay running; it sounded like it was trying, but failed each time. So, without an air supply for their pneumatic finish nailer and staple gun, and without the right materials to finish, they left at 6 pm.
• Today, Tuesday: they returned at 10, just the two primary guys. They tested their compressor at home, and it worked fine, so they brought it back and said that they figured the 100 ft extension cord from my garage (16 gauge0 just wasn't transferring enough power to keep their compressor running, so they asked if I could supply a better source. I did, with a shorter 14 gauge extension cord (I use it only for park power when camping, and had it locked in my nearly inaccessible tongue box). It worked...I don't know why I didn't realize the problem myself, but then, I've had a lot of things to think about lately, occupying my mind. So, maybe my compressor isn't really bad, after all, but I'm scrapping it anyway, after having to constantly tinker with it to use it. I'll get a bigger compressor, one that I can finally use air tools with.
• And, why am I having to supply all my contractors with power, some tools, and my labor (I did 1/3 of the concrete pour, and 1/2 of the form removal work, and 1/4 of the tree debris clean-up)? I'm too old and have bad knees...but, my money and my labor are the best I can do, to try to speed up this process...we've already spent a month in our trailer, we are getting tired of the situation, believe me.
• The trim guys finished early this afternoon, just as it began to rain. I had them fix the deadbolts that weren't correctly installed, a couple of closet doors that wouldn't close, and some broken exterior trim that the house movers damaged _(all of which they said was supposed to be done later, by the factory "fix-it" specialist, but I prevailed and coerced them to do it, while they were here). All in all, those two guys did the best work of any of the groups of workers here, so far...they cleaned up after themselves, were polite and helpful, and didn't damage anything.
• After weeks of trying to get electrical work started, but couldn't, due to house delivery date setbacks, then a prolonged trim-out procedure, we can have our guy make/install a meter pole (meter socket, panel, breakers, weatherhead on a tall stem)

  

  doublewide power pole requirements.JPG (90.32 KiB) Viewed 1208 times

  to be attached to the new house. We had our 100 amp service on a freestanding wooden pole, outside the house, but no more. It was really only a temporary service pole, meant for short-term use when the house was installed 44 years ago...its' base finally rotted thru about 4-5 months ago, and I made a tripod brace to hold it up, until I could find an electrician to change it out and up our service to 200 amps. But, the old house got replaced before that happened, so it's a good thing after all, to only have to do it once. We should get started next week on that, and the septic being hooked back up (with a better feed pipe, increasing the diameter from 2" to 3", and at a steeper angle, too...and adding a clean-out as well), and running all new waterlines from the meter...we never could find where they all ran, and the original owner had no plans drawn. All this to be done by a single contractor, so at least he won't be in his own way!
• After the electric is done, and the utility service company, Oncor, hooks it all up...it may be weeks of waiting, so all my neighbors have told me, then the HVAC unit can be installed. But first, I'll have to clean-up the damage done by the demo crew, and the trenching done to install the retaining wall forms, and level the ground back of the new house (the septic tanks are also exposed, and that has to be filled-in too. After I've leveled the backyard/patio area, then I have to build a patio extension (of thick concrete flagstones), to form a base for the steps out of the utility room (which will become our main rear door...we don't want to use the slider door for that, after the problems we had overusing our last one). I've built a similar patio extension, with rear steps, before...on my brother's house in '86. It took me two days, but probably will take me a week now, being older and weaker. But, I will do it. I'm thinking of a ramp for the sliding glass door, sitting on the concrete patio, for later use in furniture moving, or for possible easy entry for old folks, with or without wheelchairs. I'm 67 now, and her parents are 10-12 years older than me...none of us need to climb the steep front steps we'll have to build there (about 6 feet up from the ground). A two foot high ramped entry sounds better. Here's a starter plan for the back steps, and patio extension:

• 

  patio extension, steps, AirConditioner pad plan.png (936.95 KiB) Viewed 1214 times

[S. Heisley]

That's a nice bunch of pictures. Good to read (and see) that you're almost "there".
You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

[working on it]

That's a nice bunch of pictures. Good to read (and see) that you're almost "there".
You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

• Thanks, but it seems never-ending. This morning, while trying to post a reply, my 40-amp service to the garage kept giving me trouble, and my log-in/post efforts (dependent on the router, temporarily in the garage) failed again, letting another long post go away. My overcrowded trailer's AC, the garage door opener, the refrigerator running there, one heater in the shed (wife forgot to turn it off yesterday), two trickle chargers, and a compressor (I forgot to turn off after testing), drew too much power, and shut me down. My laptop had been unplugged (by a dog under the dinette) at some time yesterday, so I didn't have power enough in my battery to save the post. One thing after another.
• The wife ordered a 6 ft ramp kit, to use on the patio to load furniture into the house. I argued for a folding 4 ft model, but she prevailed. Now, I'll have to build it, then add another patio extension (of concrete pavers, or flagstones) to be able to approach the ramp at the right angle to push/haul a load up it (the patio is only 6' wide), so there won't be enough room to approach obliquely. But, there's a tree in the way, that she wouldn't let me remove earlier. Another thing to work-around.

• 

  patio , ramp, flagstone coverage.png (616.84 KiB) Viewed 1165 times

• Contacted our concrete/water/septic/electric contractor yesterday, and he'll resume work now that the house is in place. Electric first, so we can get the HVAC installed pronto, and have light, heat (or A/C if needed), refrigeration, and cooking (with a real range; there are two birdcages on top of the trailers' stove). We can still bathe or use the restroom in the trailer, if needed, until the water line is finished, and the septic is re-connected. Progress, but not nearly as fast as we need it to be.
• On a sad side note, we had eight dogs two months ago, then seven after we had our suffering Sadie put to sleep. After moving into the trailer with seven dogs, the oldest female became alternately confused or vicious toward the other dogs, and we put her in a shed, to keep her separated. After almost two weeks of separation, she developed other signs of dementia, not recognizing even my wife or me, except when feeding time came. The wife took her to our vet, who recommended euthanasia after the poor dog became alternately vicious or scared/whimpering, behavior not her usual self. So, after 17 years and 11 months with us (6 weeks old before we adopted), Emma now joined Sadie, again. But, yesterday morning, our miniature long-haired Dachshund , Bo-Bo died abruptly, after vomiting and weird behavior the day before (not too unusual for him...he ate anything, vomiting often, and was always a bit erratic). We had been away from here, at Ikea, a 130 mile round-trip, returning late, and went to bed early, Sunday night. We didn't realize that the sickness that had come over him on Monday was from eating a box of chocolate, that he had uncovered under the bed (we stored anything, everywhere, due to lack of space). He ate it, unseen, while we slept, and vomited it out later in the goat/dog yard, unseen 'til Tuesday. We found the chewed chocolate wrappers as evidence under his dog mat, Tuesday morning, when my wife couldn't get him to go outside, and found him dead. We buried him, alongside a dozen other pets, in our rearmost yard. Poor little guy, but always in trouble, now he'll never get scolded again. I figured he had consumed over a pound of chocolates...fatal for a dog twice his size. I made sure that my wife never again hides her chocolate where a dog can reach it, just as I control the storage of poisons and anti-freeze, away from our pets.
• I blame this occurrence on the situation, where we had to make things work, despite everything going wrong...Murphy's Law, again. I wonder what (or who) will be the victim of the next disaster to occur? I just want to get back to some semblance of normal routine.

[S. Heisley]

You have a lot of patience in a hair-losing situation. (Are you bald from tearing your hair out yet?)

Sorry for your losses.

[working on it]

You have a lot of patience in a hair-losing situation. (Are you bald from tearing your hair out yet?)

Sorry for your losses.

Not yet bald, but I've started wearing a ball cap daily, which I had hardly ever done before, even to restaurants. I've become a reflection hazard to persons behind me! The only real change has been that all of my dogs and myself have grown thinner; the dogs don't have access to their Pedigree dry dog food, previously left out 24/7, or me to a fully stocked kitchen (we haven't cooked anything for 5 weeks). I've lost three inches off my waistline, and the big dogs have had to have their harnesses tightened by two inches. My wife gets lunch coming home from work, and sometimes she brings me some, too. Otherwise, I get to eat out three times a week, usually, but subsist mainly on sandwiches or my stand-by, Spam. I also eat bean dip and Fritos, but that can and will have to cease, because of certain associated problems in a cramped trailer.

[working on it]

Latest update: my super contractor (concrete/water/septic/electric) just finished the latter three items. I had to advise him on some electrical peculiarities that our local service company, Oncor, has listed in their "complete guide", that other companies do differently: some exceeding NEC code, some just meeting code. I had been reading it for days, and showed him where he deviated from it, so it is pretty close to perfect now. He left a clamp off the service mast, that I will fix, and he put the mast too close to tree branches, which I'll remove, but pretty good for a guy trying to do too much by himself. The water is on (entirely new pipes run), and the septic (new improved pipes, as well) is better angled, with a larger infeed pipe diameter, and has a clean-out, too. He has to return to finish the resurfacing of the patio, and concrete on a couple of steps below the slider, but now I can start levelling the battleground that used to be my front and back yards, and construct patio extensions, and a set or two of steps w/landings. Then, next weekend, we can start moving some items inside, while waiting for my ramp kit to arrive, so we can move in the heavy items (the lowest door is 24" above the patio).

[low277]

The diagram of the electrical requirements looks different from what I've seen in the NEC code. Is it a local power utility requirement?