bunsen_h

Trying to trace a fault in the stove which causes the right-hand warning light to be lit even when neither burner is on, traipsing up and down the basement steps to toggle the circuit breaker off and on in between rounds of disconnecting and reconnecting wires from contacts. It is disconcerting to discover that one has missed a cycle of traipsing, and has been turning the power on, rather than off, before working on the device.

"Disconcerting" because I discovered it by eventually noticing that the breakers were matching the wrong set of neighbors -- the breakers for the former electric water heater, rather than the ones for the current clothes dryer -- at the wrong time. Could have been worse. I have felt 240VAC just once, and that was enough, thank you.

I called the fridge-repair guy recommended by

kattale . He and his assistant were here less than a day later, and fixed the problem quickly, and the price seemed quite reasonable. (

kattale , he asked me to say hello to you.)

On the other hand... While he was moving the fridge out from its niche, he said something about "it must be female." I said "sorry, what was that?" and he replied that it was being cantakerous and not moving. I was slightly appalled, glanced at his (female) assistant, and said, "I don't think I want to go there." He replied that he was just poking his assistant.

After he'd moved the fridge out, I decided that I might as well clean the floor and wall in the niche -- not that they were particularly dirty, but I figured I should take the opportunity. I mentioned that I'd messed up my back a few months ago, wasn't sure how. He replied "Was she good, at least?" Nonplussed, I replied, "I wish."

So, yeah, I can recommend the guy for his work. Not so much for his conversation.

Can anyone recommend a good refrigerator-repair company that serves Nepean? My fridge seems to be having problems.

The oafish minions who reshingled my roof last autumn replaced the flashing around the chimney. To do so, they pulled out the old flashing which was embedded in the mortar between the chimney bricks, and applied new flashing which is "surface-mounted", i.e. held in place with caulking. The new flashing covers a smaller area than the old. This left old and slightly-crumbly mortar, with cracks and gaps, exposed.

I could have hired someone to repoint the mortar. My previous experience with getting someone to do masonry repair was not positive (as with most of the repair work I've paid people to do around here). And considering my lack of employment, I decided that I could deal with it myself, save my money, and probably do as good a job. My previous work with concrete and mortar went pretty well, though that was at ground level rather than way up high. I have leftover concrete and mortar mix from that project.

I am not an acrophile. I'm not acrophobic, either, but I don't enjoy being up tall ladders, crawling around on roofs, etc. But I can do it when I have to. I started by climbing up carefully and tying a rope to the chimney, to provide support and safety for later when I'd be bringing up tools and materials.

Of note:

An electric drill with a masonry bit can be used to remove old mortar, in place of the traditional hammer and chisel. It's probably more appropriate for small jobs like what I was doing, but it's a one-handed tool which doesn't require whacking away at brickwork while one is on a surface with less-than-ideal footing.
A garden hose with a spray nozzle can be used in place of the traditional spray bottle to wash out bits of old mortar and to dampen brick surfaces, and doesn't need to be refilled. Hauling it up the roof is a bit tricky. Water running down the roof surface will make it more slippery, especially if the water is runoff from fresh mortar, which is alkaline.
Even when one has the proper tools (thanks, ragnhildr !) and even though fresh mortar is somewhat caustic, it's sometimes faster and easier to take a handful of mortar and slap/rub it into place, then rinse off the surface, than to carefully work the mortar into the gaps and cracks it needs to be in. Skin in contact with fresh mortar should be washed off with plenty of fresh water ASAP, of course, per the usual protocols for handling caustics. Brief soaking in vinegar can also be used to help neutralize the caustic, but lots of fresh water should do the job.
The oafish minions also didn't caulk the flashing properly; there are some gaps. I'll need to back up there in a few days, after the mortar has set, to finish the job. I left the rope tied to the chimney.

Really truly, don't hire companies whose names are misspelled. "Millennium" has two 'l's, two 'n's.

I'm home again from Conterpoint. I had a good time at the convention: fun music, time spent with friends who I don't get to see often enough. Not only did I manage to get a song done for the contest (theme: "True Love"), but it placed third. The song is set in the Girl Genius universe.

I've spent too much of my time since my return working on plumbing -- specifically my leaking toilets. God save me from blithering idiots who do home-handyman stuff without knowing what they're doing or having a decent level of "how-stuff-works" aptitude. If you raise the level of a bathroom floor by half an inch of tile, you need to either also raise the level of the toilet's flange plate (set in the floor) by half an inch, or extend the toilet's outlet horn downwards by the same amount with some kind of extender. Otherwise, you're not gonna get a reliable seal between them. Oh, and if you cut the bolts that attach the toilet to the flange plate, replace them; they're neither expensive nor hard to find. Don't try to re-use the old bolts by connecting the bits together again, each threaded half way into a nut. That isn't reliable either. <Sigh>

There's moderate damage to the basement ceiling under the main-floor toilet, but (luckily) there doesn't seem to be significant damage to the floor under the toilet. It's a good thing that the main-floor toilet isn't used often.

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Entries tagged with repairs

No boom today

Fridge repaired... hmm.

Refrigerator service?

Point, counterpoint, repoint

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