The rubber stopper Joe made to keep the oil in the tank!  

Fuel oil tank. That's sand and a rubbermaid under there, just in case it starts leaking again 

This is the bottom of the fuel oil tank.  

Us, 1; Fuel Tank, 0

Do you smell that? Yeah, it's gas.

Well, I climbed under the fuel oil tank to see what was going on. You see, the cup I left under the tank was about half full by the time I got home (maybe 3-4oz.), so I knew there was enough of a leak to worry about. Since I couldn't see the leak, I touched around the tank to see where it was wet. As far as I could find, there weren't any leaks at the obvious places - seams and seals. Then, I felt a bubble on the tank (under the tank, on the bottom). When I touched it, it crumbled, and out came the fuel.

It was a rust bubble, and I popped it. Oops.

What could I do? I held my finger over it while Angie helped me try to find something to stick in it or on it to plug it up. Nothing worked, of course, so I held my finger on the hole (laying down under the tank, mind you) while she called around trying to figure something out. I know she had to have made at least half a dozen frantic phone calls, but she got us some help. My parents were coming over with a bucket brigade (to drain the tank if necessary), and one of the guys that works at the fuel oil company was extremely helpful in trying to patch or plug the hole. He mentioned plugging it with leather, wood, rubber; any number of good ideas (which we eventually tried throughout the night).

For starters, we figured out to stick a sharpened pencil in the hole, and that seemed to slow it to a drip. I then tossed that bucketful of sand (the one I mentioned yesterday) under the tank and over the spilled area to start soaking it up. By then mom got here, and we all started looking for a proper sized screw to thread into the hole (with a nice rubber washer, of course). If you know me, you know that I have more loose screws than the average hardware store, pun intended, so the search took plenty of time. Dad showed up in time to see me take another fuel bath, and for me to shove the pencil back in. The problem was that the hole too big for the screws I had, and every time we tried something else, the hole got a little bigger (it was rusted, remember). We tried different screws and dowel rods and plastic plugs and rubber bushings (each time giving me a nice shower of fuel). Dad ran to walmart (ack) to buy the proper sized screw and to see if he could find anything else that might work.

I took a quick rinse off shower to wash off the sand and fuel (a nice gritty skin removal tool, I promise) and Angie nuked the nice dinner she had prepared before I touched the rust bubble. Mom played with Cassie while Angie and I grabbed a bite, and we all waited on dad to get back with a miracle patch. When dad got back (finally, I think he was shopping for computer parts, hehe) we all headed back down to the basement to watch me try out the things he bought.

A couple fuel baths later, and we were back to the pencil. Well, we had upgraded to a little dowel rod, because it was softer wood and held better; but it was basically back to square one. I ended up carving a cone out of a rubber sanding block and jamming it in the hole (an idea we dismissed hours before).

So far, so good. There hasn't been so much as a drip since. As long as the rubber doesn't break down and turn to mush, I think we might have this one beat (for now, haha). Of course, the house stinks of fuel oil, and I know that I do, even two showers later. We've got the basement windows open to air it out, and the house's air supply is separate (cold air returns are from the main floor), so we're running the furnace. Last night was a little restless, but everything seems to be okay. Just hope that plug holds.

On the up side, we got to learn all about what chemically breaks down in kerosene, like any kind of tape, tire patches, and human skin. We didn't have to drain the tank last night, and we didn't lose but maybe four gallons of fuel (two and a half I caught in a bucket, maybe a gallon soaked into the sand, and half a gallon soaked into yours truly).

If it weren't for Angie, mom, and dad, things probably would have gotten bad. I might still be under that tank like the little dutch boy with his finger in the dam. Loads of thanks to all of you.


Tonight, I get to try to fix the dryer (again).

I LOVE OWNING A HOUSE!



UPDATE: Angie called to say that the plug has held so far (3:00PM EST).

The dryer's acting up again. Last time, I replaced the $90 timer. I'm not sure what's wrong with it right now, but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later.

Over the weekend, we opened the windows. It's been pretty nice and temperate despite the rain, so we're airing out old man winter. Saturday night, I noticed a fuel oil smell in the basement. They splashed it a bit outside the house when they filled it up, so I just assumed that it was wafting in from outside. The smell got stronger last night. I grabbed the flashlight this morning and peeked around the tank. Sure enough, there was a leak!

The part that confused me was that there was sand under the tank, just in the spot it was leaking. I didn't put it there, and the gas delivery guys don't come in the house. After thinking about it for a moment, I remembered carrying a bucket of sand out of the basement when we moved in... The owners before us must have used the sand to soak up the spillage. So, the leak isn't a new problem, it's just new to us. Great! I'll have to track down the exact spot and see what I can do.

The part that bothers me is that this is the first time it's leaked. There was no reason for it to start suddenly after so long. It's been hot, it's been cold, rain, snow, ice, sun, everything. The only season we haven't had there is spring, and I can't think of anything that would cause it to leak. Maybe the sellers plugged up the problem temporarily, and it held only this long. I don't know. It's not leaking much, but I'll get it sorted out soon.


On a positive note, spring projects are getting closer!

RAIN, RAIN, AND MORE RAIN!

I think we've mentioned before that our neighbor across the street, mows his lawn every other day or so. Even in the winter! Seriously, I think it's an addiction for him. He's even went as far to mow the first 2 or 3 strips of our yard by the road. He has also blown his and our leaves with his leaf blower over to our yard! It's actually been pretty funny to watch; it'll be 20 degrees outside, but no rain and he'll be out on his riding mower!

The funniest part for us is that when it rains (even the slightest little bit), he get a descent size pond in his front yard. AW, and after all the time and effort he puts in to make it look so nice! You just know that has to piss him off! :)

So, since we didn't learn his name until last weekend, for the longest time we've called him "Lawnmower Man"! After noticing how bad his hard gets and the time he puts in it only to have it destroyed by Mother Nature, we just had to come up with a name for the puddle:

Thus, LAKE LAWNMOWER was named!

Here are some pics for comparison. ENJOY!

LAKE LAWNMOWER, This is the yard at the house across the street.  

In comparison, our yard only has a couple small puddles. 

The Basement

Okay, so this is an incomplete tour of the basement. I realized while posting that I missed an entire corner - the washer/dryer area! Really, though, you're not out much. It looks like laundry.

Enjoy!

Here's your tour of the dark scary basement. Watch your head, the ceiling's only seven feet. 

This is the blocked off section of the basement that we call the cellar. It has a pink door (which you might notice in a later pic). I'd go in, but the door's weighted to close, and the window's boarded up. Ooo, scary. The green on the door and the funny spot are paint. The pipe running along the wall serves absolutely no purpose.

This was an old coal bin. The yellow is from the sulfur, black from the coal. The boarded up thing is the coal chute (which still works). It's actually not so bad, it's just dirty. 

Here's what it would look like drunk. We took down the top half of the wall, but the block section will eventually become a bar. See the pink door?

This is the main fuse box. Top dead center is the big line coming in, top left runs the other box, and top right runs the range. 

Here's fuse box #2. That sexy looking yellow line is the dishwasher. 

Ugly thing, isn't it? The tank in the back left is the oil, the junk in front is mine. The white pipe comes off the AC's condenser. Ugly cabinets on the right you might recognize from the kitchen. The funny pipe that just ends in mid air is a barometer. Blurry pic, sorry. 

So, the basement floor has odd painted areas on it, with a big red area. I think they dropped a bunch of stuff, then just painted around them. 

Looks creepy, doesn't it? 

Welcome to March.

I got to thinking today about the house today, and realized that we've done some things that you've not seen. Maybe it's the medicine talking. Who knows. I realized that we don't have any pictures of the basement. Or the garage.

Hmm.. I figure it's because peoples' garages and basements aren't usually too neat or pretty - nothing they want the world to see. Why aren't there more pictures of the ugly places we go? Do we not want to remember them? I don't know. I don't have pictures of the insides of the closets, either. Or the cool places I imagine our kids getting into (that I had to get into myself, of course); like the garage attic; the garage basement (okay, crawlspace); either of the porch attics. If you can even call them that (attics). Under the front porch. The cellar. The cistern. Behind the knee walls. Heck, there's bunches of places I could show you that are neat (not pretty). Tell you what. If I remember, I'll get some pics of these places when I'm able, dirty or not. You might want to see the game room taking shape. We've got the foosball table and dart board going, but the light's still a bit tricksy. No, I haven't done the wiring yet. pfft.

I could describe them to you, if you don't want to wait. Some of it Angie hasn't even seen yet - and unless I take pictures, she probably never will. She's not terribly interested in the support structure of the garage, only that it holds up the car when it needs to. It's okay. That's my job.


Since it's March, we've started thinking about the yard and other outside projects again. We'd like to plant some different plants, hopefully low-maintenance ones. You'll definitely get plenty of pictures of flower beds, trees, rock walls, and the garden this time around - especially since they don't exist yet! (hey look, grass.. poof! garden!) We're thinking the usual ring-around-the-tree flowerbeds, add some color here and there. Paint the house, blah blah blah. I'd like to put in some yard stuff that makes my job easier. Let's be honest, mowing sucks; and the more stuff to mow around, the worse it gets. I'm working on some mower-free zones and stuff like that. Maybe I'll let the lower end of the yard become a wildlife habitat. Guess we'll see.


Well, that's enough for now. Sorry if this is total crap, this medicine's messing with me. I'll write again soon.