- Published on
Silt Trap Cleaning, Fire Prevention and Clean Up, and More Water Leaks
Report from Peter W.
Update from last week's trip:
Peter
Update from last week's trip:
- Brought up 15 bags of pea gravel to broadcast under round table and into the open area towards pathway. Will bring more bags when able to finish open area in front of BBQ and supplement path.
- Opened silt trap below spring after noticing water dripping out of the top. Opened it to find clogged pipes, mostly due to moss. Brought down several sections of hose to blow out lines, including the drain line at the silt trap. The tank was really full of silt and moss. Scrubbed entire inside of tank with bleach, flushed many times down to the lower tank clean out and reconnected everything. I am not entirely sure what Allan's process is to clean the silt trap but a full, extensive cleaning is very necessary at least 1x per year. Note: The current silt trap was burned during the fire and a new - stainless steel silt trap and all connections are included in the new waterline proposal.
- Cut - with chainsaw - the burned remnants/stalks of scrub oaks (hard black sticks poking out of the ground lakeside) and cut as much of the scrub oaks as possible. There is a large pile at the lake that needs to be hauled to behind the lake area.
- My Dad brought up his small generator and mouse sander for Allan to start working on finishing work at pump house. He also started chipping all the excess mortar away from cinder blocks. It will take some time to get the pump house finished, between Allan and my Dad. I don't even mention Andrew Pepper's name as the two of them are so irritated at the really really bad workmanship. On another note, the pier work he did is pretty lame, but you get what you pay for, as they say.
- Weed-wacked some of the weeds coming up on the West side of the pump house.
- Hauled away the remaining wood, etc. from the shelving removed for the solar system equipment.
- Raked all piles from the downed apricot tree and grape vines, and a lot of leaves/grass from around the house. Put it all in the hole in the hillside by wood shed.
- My Dad took the Shang chainsaw home as it was missing a couple screws. He found this out when we had to cut up a tree that had fallen over the road. Brought the chainsaw back after taking it to Bar-Hein in Sacramento and getting new screws. It is back in the garage.
- My Dad measured area around support line for main gate which runs under a large branch of the Oak. He will be installing a new support that will run over the branch so as to not encumber or interfere with the tree branch. Better for gate, better for tree.
- Watered, watered, and watered. Everything that a hose could reach.
- My Dad is up at the Ranch now for solar installation project. They crew arrive early this morning and started to lay out equipment, dimensions, install housing, etc. My Dad reviewed all work, areas, plan, etc. with John (North Bay Solar).They have not received the solar water pump. I spoke to my Dad and the crew is only working one day (today) and will return next week on Wednesday. My Dad will talk with Allan to see if he can oversee next week as he needs a break from all the trips. If Allan is not available, he will plan to go up. He plans on sending photos of what has been brought up and/or delivered so far.
- When my Dad arrived, the water tank was MUCH lower than when we left it. He found, yet, another leak in the water line and water was leaking out since we pumped last weekend. There is a hypothesis that the fires have stressed the existing line, leaving it weak and vulnerable to leaks (large and small). Don't know, but it seems like a new leak each week and different areas in the main line. He fixed the leak in the line and watered around the house.
Peter
- Published on
Lots happening!
Peter W & C and Rosemary Sure Know How!
Peter's report:
My Dad, Rosemary and myself went up this past Friday-Saturday to take up some items and finish some projects.
- My Dad reinstalled the main door latch after he and Allan had to cut it out during the last visit in which the small lock/latch fell during Ingrid's last visit. Big project that took both of them to get the door open, including removing molding, etc. Latch was saw cut to get door open. My dad took the latch home and re-welded, painted, etc. He reinstalled the molding, Allan will paint (or has). Anyway, the door is back to normal again. The locking piece has been removed so this will never happen again.
- Rosemary donated a teak patio table with 4 side chairs and 2 arm chairs. My dad sanded and oiled all pieces and the set looks great. Some of the chairs need some tightening and that is on the list but is fine to use. I have ordered a cover to fit over it when not in use. (see photo). It is smaller than our house patio table and “race track” shape, which fits well on the paver patio.
- Rosemary did a lot of weed eating all around the lakeside area. I did mowing. We brought down the mower - big job - but necessary. We need a replacement mower for the one lost. We also removed old burned wood in ground. We had several hoses strung together from the tanks and were able to water down the area, spray wash too. Important to have water on hand when we used the equipment for fire safety. Both umbrellas work well but one of the canopies is too large. Works OK though.
- When my dad arrived, he found the grape vine and apricot branch collapsed on the bridge. Had to cut it up and clean-up. (see photo below).
- He also reported cleaning up 5-6 large raccoon poops all around the house. They were gorging themselves on grapes and pooped on patio, steps, porch, etc. I envision a scene with many raccoons lounging at Shang and making a mess.
- The Fuyu was looking like it was on its last legs. SO dry. All leaves curled hard and yellow. My dad put hose on it immediately and let is slow soak for a couple hours. By the next morning, it was green again and leaves were opening up. There is no fruit on the Fuyu. Perhaps it is not producing fruit as it is in survival mode. Maybe deer ate them all. Who knows.
- We did a lot of watering while we were there. Everything was very, VERY dry. Nobody has been up!
- My dad cleaned the house patio.
- Pumped for 3 hours total. Left full tank of gas at pump house.
- There are several LARGE bear poops inside the compound.
- My dad delivered several pieces of material needed to finish the pump house after the "Pepper experiment". Allan and my dad have divided up the various items that need finishing, repaired, etc. on the pump house. Everyone should take a trip to the pump house area to inspect and pick up any and all debris, trash, etc. in the area. Many of us have picked up trash and hauled away but there seems to always be more.
- My dad fixed another leak in the old line above the pool.
- Large tree near Gaither’s fell across the road Friday night. My dad cut it up and we removed pieces from road.
- Between the three of us, we hauled away several items of junk/trash.
- Green jeep is still up at Allan’s. He has received some of the parts but the Jeep repair/parts place in Santa Rosa, which is Allan’s go-to for old jeep parts, has been having trouble finding a steering box for a ’41 Willys. My understanding is that if a part cannot be found, one can be made but Allan will keep us posted.
- All chipping piles made by Sophia, Ingrid, and Victor have been chipped and broadcast under the trees behind the areas where the piles were made. There are now new piles that need to be moved away from the house from various collapsed apricot and grape vines.
Refrigerator: The refrigerator is no longer keeping anything cool in the main compartment. We had to throw many things out. FYI, the refrigerator is set to MAX. The freezer is still cool but not really freezer cold. There were a couple of pints of ice cream left in the freezer and they were liquid. If you come up, be prepared to have a cooler with ice to keep things cold.
Solar System: North Bay Solar Electric is scheduled to start the installation of the new solar system on Wed, August 18th. My dad will be onsite the entire time to oversee. They hope to have everything 100% installed by Sat, August 21st. Of course, that depends on many things, but that is the plan. During our last trip up, we removed the shelving at the equipment site in the garage, cleaned the entire work area, and hauled away debris. Most items were relocated to the front of the garage (as green jeep is at Allan’s). All hand tools were moved to wood shed until project is complete.
Front porch panels. Given that the front porch is screened, is there any reason to keep the acrylic panels installed during the summer months? The thermometer on the front porch was reading 102 degrees in the afternoon. This is a lot of trapped heat right against the house/windows.
Air Quality/Fire: We had very hot but off and on cloudy weather (monsoon-like) and the wind kicked up later on Friday. "OK" air quality most of Friday but the wind blew in clean air from the West. Later in the evening we started to smell smoke as the Coyote Fire started that day above Hidden Valley Lake. Smoke was gone for us in a couple hours thanks to wind. Last I heard, Coyote Fire was 50% contianed and far from Shang. NOTE: Jake has specifically told several of us that we can drive around all his new roads that he had made on the top of his property, some of which connect to our roads. I suspect he has provided this invitation as he regularly drives around our roads with his son on ATVs. Regardless, whether or not driving around is your thing, it is worth doing as a primary purpose of his new roads was to connect to access roads that go to Aetna Springs Valley area as an alternative route off our property in the event fire approaches from our entrance road.
That is all for now.
