Heating A House

Leif has been heating with one of two Jotul F500 "Oslo" wood stoves, which heats 2,300 sq. ft. with 100% clean combustion. He is now installing new floor radiators & refurbishing his second stove. Cost: paint $40, glass & caskets $200. The cost new is about $5,000 delivered. 

Christian dug out a crawl space for his new air handler and storage which has poured cement walls, floor and a new fireplace foundation, for his wood burning stove.

Below is the finished recycled brick hearth and stove, still a main source of heat. Bill & Alex drove to Maine to pick up this twice used Jotul F400 (heats 1600 sq. ft.) for $1,000.

Both Christian & Leif supplement their heating systems with beautiful "Runtal" cast iron modern radiators...

On the wall in the solarium and below the kitchen window.

In Leif's kitchen.

PU Art Museum Opens Halloween!

Princeton University opened its grand new (twice the size) art museum doors last night for 24 hrs. to the public for free, and it was beyond spectacular! What a Halloween venue you could spend all night appreciating, while exploring the new buildings architectural magnificence in design and exhibits.                                                                  Bill's garden stones on display in the museum store showcase; first shelf.

We began visiting Toshiko Takaezu's first floor show and Bill's pieces in the store nearby in orange & black PU Reunions blazers.

Artwork is often presented with the artist's contemporaries and teachers, for total immersion in a building created for many visitors. A functional piece of art itself one must experience!

We are lucky to live close to the university where Bill received two science degrees and artistic mentoring.

Photo by Ricardo Barros, PAW Magazine 9/2019.

Picking White Paints

The interior of this MCM house will be shades of white; common rooms a warm "Alabaster White" by Sherwin Williams (mixed in Benjamin Moore Regal Select Matte), and kitchen, master bedroom & bathrooms are modern BM "Decorators White".

The South facing studio walls now "Alabaster", matching the kitchen beams. I have also painted the dining room, living room, foyer, two hallways and family room this color which makes the interior expansive.

The hallway is no longer gray walls and dark wood doors, but is now white with bleached floors. The entry and living room have white walls and furniture.

Kitchen with BM "Decorators White" walls - like the bathrooms and master bedroom.

Leif & Bill have prepped, made repairs and painted. Whew, two more rooms to go.

Wiring A Tesla Pedestal Charger

After wiring (see below).

We landscaped around the new Tesla pedestal charger here with gorgeous topsoil, grass seed and flagstones along the driveway. The tall rhododendrun behind it acts like an umbrella while blending it into it's new home.

We installed it on a 60 amp breaker on the house panel. The charger itself draws a maximum current of 48 amps. This charges the car much faster than the typical 15 amp circuit you can plug into on a regular outlet. It takes about 8 hours to charge the car from a low battery with this fast charger versus over 24 hours with a normal outlet!

The wire we used was a mix of 4 and 6 gauge THHN THWN wire that's rated for underground burial and wet conditions. The thicker 4 gauge wire carries the 2 hot wires (black and red) and the thinner 6 gauge (green) was used for the ground wire. We bought 80 feet of each color and used most of it, and had about 8 or so feet leftover of each.

Since the 42' route we wanted to run the line through was not totally straight, PVC ended up being the way to go. Schedule 60 PVC is what we went with - schedule 80 is thicker but not as easy to find or widely used nowadays.

It was an effort to run the cable bundle through 1.25" pipe and we routed it tightly to the circuit breaker through a number of conduit bodies. These are the 90 degree bend boxes you can use to pull cables through tight corners, most notably seen in the 90 degree bend into the breaker box for the terminal connection.

Leif Baumbach

Top Topsoil & Harvesting Hardwood

We have had 48 cu. yds. (8 truckloads) of the very best topsoil delivered and seeded here, which is turning the lawn enerald with rain this week. Lovely near the Swamp Cypress & Japanese Red Maple.

Seeded in front of the refurbished shed where I have moved 8 stepping stones as well.

Five of us split to burn four of the enormous dead trees Leif had taken down, one of which was oak we have shared for next winter. All split by the driveway entrance for easy access (my share 3 rows deep).

Painting A MCM House

Leif's house has been surrounded by trees growing near it for fifty years at least. We have cleared many to see the house more and are painting it to proudly join his lovely neighbors. We chose historic color cedar siding stain and a new blackish trim for this "Acorn Deck House" built in 1972.

The sun rises on this spot below the upper screened in porch and is a favorite place to sit outdoors & looking toward the creek. Two of Bill's beautiful garden tables sit here as well.

All cedar siding and exterior wood was sanded to original surfaces with some repairs made before two or three coats of solid BM Woodluxe stain was applied. Matching BM "Cordovan" MoorGlo paints were used spraying downspouts & painting poles.

Saving A Vintage Shed

This shed got some new T 1-11 siding, plywood & a metal roof besides 3 coats of  MoorGard  "Linen White" Low Lustre paint inside & "Cordovan" outside.

New T1 - 11, plywood on roof and painted inside.

Metal roof on...

Total cost was about $800. Painted exterior is house trim color...

We waited a week before installing floor carpets from Amazon and shed contents. So swell.