Sunday, July 21, 2013

Whirlpool Spa Installation Progress

Many Two of you are begging for progress photos of the spa replacement.
I'm pleased to tell you that it's installed and running; some deck repairs are waiting on a contractor to pour a concrete slab.

Click here to flash back to the UncleGeorge Blog posting from June 19 to see demolition.
Thanks to neighbors who let me fill their trash cans, all of the demolition debris was mostly gone by the end of June.



The delivery team of Juan and his father, Juan, brought our new two-seater from Cal Spas on July 5.



They used dollies, plywood, and ramps to maneuver it through our narrow side yard and across the deck.  Then it was lowered into position on the concrete pad 12 inches below the deck surface.



I completed wiring to the new 220-volt ground-fault-interrupter, built a low-level walking surface using composite deck planks, painted some safety stripes, and filled it up.  The spa works great, and is a perfect size.  I've been using it every night!
  



While doing all of this I discovered and replaced a few rotted/damaged redwood deck planks.  The deck is in surprisingly good condition for its age.  Composite decking materials like Trex did not exist in 1991, but that era's redwood still offered some resistance to bugs and the elements.  If I were starting over today I would likely use structural lightweight concrete.


The redwood that covered this area was fully rotted.  You can see a bucket that sits on a concrete retaining wall which formerly supported the 42" wide redwood walkway to the east of the spa.  The space between the retaining wall and planter is filled with dirt. 



This garden hose might give you a clue that the area is frequently wet.  No surprise that the redwood eventually failed!  I'm waiting for a contractor who will stucco the block wall and pour concrete over the dirt.  No more wood ... at least in this small area.
Meanwhile I've used composite decking to build a cap for the block wall.



Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Pretzel-thief Yosemite Squirrel is famous [sort-of].

Remember that chubby-cheeked pretzel-thieving squirrel from Yosemite?  The folks at Pretzel Crisps really liked his video. Monday it was featured on the Pretzel Crisps Facebook page.

Yesterday a FedEx truck made an unexpected stop at our house to deliver a big gift bag full of goodies.  Thanks to Heather Connolly and Stephanie Wright for the delightful surprise!

Surprise gift bag from Pretzel Crisps

If you visit San Diego anytime soon, there will be delicious lo-cal pretzel treats waiting on our bar.  Sorry, squirrels, you're not invited!

Squirrels are invited to buy their own Pretzel Crisps