Replace the cabin Furnace

 In January we went to the cabin to do some cross country skiing and ice fishing. The day that we left we noticed that at some point the old furnace how had a bit of a blow back, and fried the wiring. 

So that was scary! I had been wanted to replace it for awhile, since it was 60% efficient. So I had been watching facebook, and even went to talk to the folks at Appliance Depot, I thought I could get a new 80% furnace for $7-800, but the quote came back at $1300 (plus the conversion kit), so I went back to facebook.

I was able to find a 2012 Rheem that should meet the need for $200. I found a LP conversion kit on eBay for $35 (vs $100 normally).

Last weekend we go the old one out and the new one into position.

I talked to a friend at work and AI, and figured out that I need a 4" chimney liner for the vent, so I ordered that and will work on that the next time we are up. I have the manometer from the garage furnace project, so I should be able to get the right gas pressure at the value. The electric was pretty easy, the existing conduit even worked.

It is a lot smaller, so we were able to move the wood burner over and put the new furnace in between 2 support posts in the basement, so we get some room back as well.

Treadmill Repair

 

The treadmill (NordicTrack C2255) rear roller was scrapping against the side of the frame.

In the bottom picture you can see the plastic insert was sliding out of the roller. The reason is that the same black plastic insert rim had worn off on the other side and had pushed into the roller. I didn't see a way to fix the plastic part, but a new roller was $90 at treadmill doctor.

So I ordered that and replaced it, it has been working well for Jen for a run or 2 so far. Also, the new one has a metal insert (which goes around the bearing) instead of the plastic one so that should be a problem again...

I last fixed the treadmill in 2012, which is pretty amazing.  I think we got it in 2006. Jen uses it pretty much every day in the winter.

Parking Pad

 Now that we have a 3rd vehicle to park, we thought it would be nice to have an out of the way spot to park it.  It was getting late in the year, but we were able to get it in before the snow flew.

I did it in 2 pours, the first one is further back and was a relearning of how to do the stamping, so it is good it is further back.  The front one turned out pretty well.

I had planned to re-pour the garage apron this year, but didn't get to it, but this is a start at least.  I want to build a lean to over the pad as well, so the pine tree doesn't drop sap on zippy.

Leaking P-trap

 The metal nut on the p-trap cracked when Mom leaned on the sink when she spent the night.  Or it might have been cracked before, because the cabinet seemed a bit warped.  I was able to find another but at HD, but it was a real pain to put back together and it really needed to be torqued.

Fix up the old 4 wheeler

We have had a 4 wheeler at the cabin since I started coming up, but we only really used it for pulling out the dock.  Maddie went to a friends cabin and rode around on her 4 wheelers and had fun, so we thought it would be fun to get a little more use out of ours.

But it isn't much fun to go by yourself, so we wanted to fix the older one that Joanne had in her garage at home.  It was in pretty bad shape, but the Nick cleaned it up, then tried to clean up the carb.  But it would only run with starter fluid, so we ordered a new carb and he put it in and it has been running pretty well since.

 

Chris the Chimney Sweep

 I am not sure the last time I swept the chimney so I did it this morning while watching some football.  Pretty glad I did since there was quite a bit of build up.  I didn't get a chance to take a picture while it was piled in the fireplace, but here is a (reused) gallon ziplock that I fill up.

Redo the Pontoon

The carpet and the sliding on the pontoon was looking pretty tired, so we decided to freshen it up.  We had to take off the rails and edge trim, put on the new carpet then put the rails back on.  You can see the old white and red fence (we called her the speckled queen).

We put new vinyl on the pedestal as well.  I have been working on the new blue fence over the summer, the girls aren't thrilled with the results, but I think it looks pretty good.  I was trying to use the old holes in the rails, so there are a couple wavy spots.

I was able to complete the simple fences over the summer, but the fence that curves up I need something to cut it with easier.