Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[Too Tall]

That looks great Bill. I just finished something similar using the same culvert and lots of crush and run. My little project gets massive run off when there are storms. The finishing touch will be to harvest some large rocks to place on the uphill side of the culvert to slow down and disrupt the heavy water flows.

This is fun eh?

[j44ke]

I'd want more road bed over the culvert but maybe water velocity isn't high.

IMHO this is the gift everyone should be giving themselves for Memorial Day. Perfect combo for saw disassembly and neighbor's truck hot-wiring.

[bigbill]

That looks great Bill. I just finished something similar using the same culvert and lots of crush and run. My little project gets massive run off when there are storms. The finishing touch will be to harvest some large rocks to place on the uphill side of the culvert to slow down and disrupt the heavy water flows.

This is fun eh?

The water coming down the hill is seeping under the bentonite from the Bighorn Canal. When my neighbor floods his pasture, we'll get a small stream for a day or so but nothing major. Heavy rains don't make a difference. We did the project to prevent a low point mud bog. We're going to WyDOT next week to see if we can get a culvert on the road for a new entrance. To get into our property from the south requires close to a 180 degree turn to go in the gate. As a bonus the existing gate is near a blind hill. Materials were $800 and it took about five hours. We have ten yards of crusher fines on the upper pasture for a round pen. I'll get another thirty yards for our dressage arena when we build it in a few weeks. This spring/summer is kind of a throw away, cycling wise, until we get our projects done.

[j44ke]

Old house had frost-free faucets installed badly on cedar-sided exterior. Then one started leaking because the rubber washers inside fell apart, so I bought a better made 1/4 turn faucet and set about installing it. Cleaned up and primer/sealed the hole (dip smallest roller in primer to paint the inside of 1 1/8" hole) to protect the wood from any moisture. Then cut a 6x5 piece of siding and put a matching hole in it with the siding piece upside down. Primed and then caulked back and top edge and stuck the piece in place, drilled pilot holes and nailed it with wire flat head nails. Caulked side seams, and then painted gray house color. After a few adjustments, pushed the faucet through the hole and mounted with a slight downward tilt to the outside with the angled spacer (so water on outer side of valve runs outside and doesn't freeze inside faucet pipe.) Then in the crawl space, attached a strap across the joists to hold the "tail" of the faucet at the proper angle and re-attached the PEX line with a "wedding ring" (carpenter who gave me the upside down siding trick called it that) clamp and tested for leaks. Steel wool shim inserted around the hole from inside to keep the varmints outside. Only took me 3 days of periodic work with various drying times and puzzling things out at the hardware store alongside other tasks. I am in no way a plumber. But there is a good one at the local hardware store. And the carpenters who worked on the front of the house definitely had The Knowledge. Invaluable to have the trial and error collections of others available for reference.

[Too Tall]

Good work bub. Between Pex and Sharkbite my life got easier.

[72gmc]

When I’m on a project, it’s never just one trip to the hardware store. It’s a good thing I like the hardware store.

[rwsaunders]

Old plumbers never die…they just smell that way.

[bigbill]

When I’m on a project, it’s never just one trip to the hardware store. It’s a good thing I like the hardware store.

The building supply store is a block away, which presents a certain financial hazard. My BIL does contractor sales so I get a discount which saved me at least $2K on my house projects. I keep an account with my BIL so the guy doing metal soffit and fascia can just get what he needs, at my cost. All that is left is the garage trim, which should finish up this weekend. That should be it for a while. I offered $25k under asking for this house which was accepted. I'll end up spending around $14k to make the exterior the way I want it. Next is a privacy fence across the back so we don't have to look at the alley or our neighbor's privacy fences. We'll add more parking since we have four vehicles and I don't want to park on the street.