Wildlife…Mosquito control

Here is a welcome sight on Cottage Lane…The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District truck parked right out front and one of their workers wading around in the pond across the street taking samples. Our many trips to North Dakota have taught us how frightening a summer evening without these good around folks can be!

The Water Wars…9.5”/60 Days

Monday night brought nearly an inch of rain to Minnetonka. In the last 60 days we have seen 9.65” of rain (2.5” in May, 6.25” in June, and nearly 1” already this month). The rain days have been spread across the calendar fairly evenly keeping the site of the “L” Shaped House wet and muddy pretty much all summer. Combined with the “lost October” last fall these rains have cost us a lot of time…especially on the driveway building project.

Near the end of this entry in Paul Huttner’s Updraft Blog he talks about the tropical conditions we are enduring this summer and possibility of some relief around the corner…Oh! I hope he is right

 The sweaty air mass will linger through Wednesday, before a drier Canadian air mass eases in Thursday and Friday, bringing relief to sweaty Minnesotans.

The Water Wars…Round 3

I’ve reported on the weather in these pages before (see a posting here…) as our home building project has progressed. Another posting chronicling our misfortune related to the weather seems especially appropriate this morning. After 1.75” of rain in the first 10 days of June mother nature has decided to unleash yet another big storm today. The Nation Weather Service is predicting an additional 2” to 3” of rain today and tomorrow. Our already water logged building site is about to become a giant mess once again!

Crap…

Read about this storm and the weather in and around Minneapolis in Paul Huttner’s updraft blog.

Thanksgiving Week…In review

Thanksgiving week brought a lot of changes at the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows the warm glow of  lights coming from inside the house just after sunset. The moon rose early and the clear skies provided an opportunity for this nice twilight scene. This photo of the “L” Shaped House is the first I’ve posted that “feels” like we are on a path to achieve our original mission (expressed here)!

The next photo shows the preparations underway to protect the standing seam roof over the porch as the siding and trim is installed on the front of the house. The Tappe guys plan to get started on the front first thing Monday morning.

 

The next two photos show the back wall of the house with the siding and trim installed. In the right hand photo the siding, trim, soffit, eave, and roof details all come together at the valley above the stairwell window. An oversized gutter and downspout will be installed here that will direct rain water down the back wall and into the PVC drain that carries water to the back side of the yard.

The last photo shows the area at the top of the stairs from the inside corner of the book nook. The sheet rock installed upstairs this week is starting to make the place feel like a house!

October…The lost month

Top 10 wettest Octobers for area locations:

Your spongy lawn tells the local weather story this month. October precipitation has been in the top 10 for The Twin Cities, St. Cloud and Eau Claire. In the Twin Cities we've recorded 5.39" this month. That's over 3" above average and ranks as the 9th wettest October on record.

Here's the data, courtesy of the good folks at Twin Cities NWS.

Wettest Octobers on Record
Minneapolis
Rank Value Date
1. 6.42 1911
2. 5.68 1971
3. 5.64 1934
4. 5.62 1968
5. 5.52 1941
6. 5.51 1898
7. 5.48 1984
8. 5.45 2005
9. 5.39 2009
10. 4.97 1970
Period of Record: 1871-Present

Courtesy of Paul Huttner’s Updraft blog.

Now it’s Snowing…

A photo of The “L” Shaped House covered in a light dusting of snow taken at about noon today. Hopefully the weather forecast that calls for temperatures in the 60’s later in the week is right!

The Water Wars…Round 2

We have had non-stop rain from since about 2:30 yesterday afternoon. The National Weather Service reports .24” yesterday and .91” today (so far). When added to the 1.8” last week it makes for a soggy mess in and around the “L” Shaped House. After another tough night manning the pumps at the basement walk-out door Paul called in the JLM landscape guys who braved the slippery mess in a tracked skid steer to dig a proper trench outside the door. The first photo shows the new trench from the driveway.

The next photo shows the new trench from an upstairs window. In it you can see the improved sump basket (a galvanized garbage can) sitting further from the back wall and the dirt (mud?) moved up the slope.

The last photo shows the view out the basement walk-out door. The new water reservoir and sump are now 12’ from the doorway and the grade has been lowered about 2’ below the basement floor. It looks to me like this will finally put an end to the water wars!

The National Weather Service radar at 3:41 pm this afternoon. This storm has been “parked” over Minneapolis/St.Paul for more than 24 hours. The conditions outside have stopped everything (roofing, windows, siding, etc.). Fortunately the roof is “dryed-in” making it possible for the heating/air-conditioning guys and the plumber to work.

Oh…how I hope the rain ends soon!

Winning the Water Wars…

Paul’s battle against the rain water has finally turned in our favor. The rains finally let up around noon and the JLM landscape guys showed up to lend a helping hand. Paul and the crew drained the big pond, dug a set of water channels, set a plywood dam, and got a bucket sump working. The first photo shows the battlefield with the bucket sump and plywood dam protecting the open doorway.

The next photo shows a close up of the water channels and the sump bucket outside the walk-out door. The third photo is a shot showing the newly installed drain tile sump after Paul pumped about 10” of water from the basket. It’s nice to see that the system works although I was hoping not to have to use it this early in the home building project.

The last photo shows the view from inside the basement walk-out door. Paul and the guys spent a fair amount of effort cleaning up the basement floor after building the defensive perimeter. It certainly feels good to have a couple of lines of defense in place in case we get another onslaught of rain!

Rain Day…Yuck!

It rained all day yesterday. By the time the framing in the basement was completed it was really coming down. It then rained most of the night and has been raining on and off all day today. The weather service reports 1.55” yesterday and it looks like at least another .25'” today. The “drying-in” of the roof is holding up fine but all the window openings are all pretty wet (especially on the North side). The biggest problem is at the basement walk-out doorway. Paul has been waging an ongoing battle with the water just outside the door through last night and all day today. He’s kept things mostly under control and now has a pump set up just outside the doorway and a plan to monitor things over the weekend.