Making it Look Easy

K came over yesterday from Boland Custom Home Improvement and fixed our boiler pipe, and one thing that really impressed was how confident he was and how easy he made it look. A sign of a true professional. I only say this because things like this, especially where plumbing is involved, scare me to the point of being paralyzed. It's not that I'm so afraid of it, it's I'm just terrified of screwing it up, because when you blow it with plumbing, it can really come back to haunt you. Something about water that you don't want to mess around with it. That and electricity.

Now I realize K has a lot of experience, but he did it as if it was his second time doing it. In other words, he knew what he needed, what to do and how to do it, and without hesitation pulled it off. I look at the pipes in our basement and it looks completely insane to me. It makes a little sense, but for the most part, you've got pipes coming off of other pipes, which all lead to everywhere and nowhere at the same time. In all fairness, I did figure out where the pipes leading to the mudroom were, and I did figure out how to shut off the baseboard heating zone, so I get some credit. Even still, to actually cut pipes and try to reconnect them is beyond me.

I did watch K do it, however, and have some sense of what he did, so maybe, just maybe, next time I might be able to pull it off myself. All I need is to get some tools.

Ironically, we had the pipes rerouted because we wanted to go away this weekend and worried about the pipes freezing and house being too cold for the cats, but in the end, it is so warm. The weather is hovering around the low 50's, and I think freezing pipes were not an issue, but how were we to know that?

Backtracking a little, our pipes in our mudroom burst because we don't use the heat. We dealt with it by simply shutting down the zone that connects the baseboard heat, since we don't use it. We need it, however, if we go away, because we have to keep the house warm enough when we're not in it, as every New Englander knows. Since the pipe leaked and we shut down the zone, we couldn't do that.

ANYWAY, we've now cut the mudroom out of the heating loop, and can run the heater if we need to, right as Spring has arrived and cold temps could be a thing of the past. We're just glad to have dealt with it.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Things Coming Back to Haunt Us

We had a problem a few months back with our baseboard heating. The mudroom is isolated from the rest of the house and gets really cold, even if it's toasty everywhere else. When we had the sub-zero temps, the pipes in the baseboard heating froze, and then they burst. Water was everywhere, and we resolved the situation by shutting down that zone completely since we don't use the boiler for heating, just hot water.

It was a fine and simple solution until we decided to go away for the weekend and realized we couldn't because we can't leave the heat on. In fact, we can't use the heat at all because the pipe is cracked, so we canceled our plans and realized we had to fix this problem.

Enter Boland Custom Home Improvement. KB came over and checked it out. I asked him if we could just bypass the room entirely, via the basement, and he said of course we could. KB can do anything, he's that kind of guy. He said he'd shoot for Thu or Fri, bring new pipes, reroute the heating system, and voila: we're back in business.

On another home improvement front, I finally started staining the bookshelf I made about five months ago. The problem is that it's pretty big, about eight feet tall, and looking at it makes my stomach hurt. It's also tough doing indoors, with the fumes and all, but I'm using this soy-based stain and finish that I got from the Ace Hardware store in Provincetown. They were the only place in New England that carried this stuff, and I personally like it. It's called Ecoprocote, and it's non-toxic, low in the toxic fumes department, and meets the Green Building requirements.

It's bio-based and sustainable, though I think when you're an experienced professional, you don't go in for new and gimicky things, you want the tried and proven materials. A lot of seasoned professionals will only work with oil based stains, but I'm neither seasoned or professional, and in the interest of keeping our home a reasonably safe place, chose this product.

I've done a few shelves, and they came out nicely, so I have no complaints, other than perhaps the cost, which is a little higher, but everything eco-friendly is.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.