Winter is Coming

So, I went out to put down the Heat Trac mats, in preparation for the winter and found that my extension cord had ruined the outlet! Yikes!

 Ben, the wonder son, stopped over and relaced it in no time at all. I purchased a new extension cord with heavier wire (10) off of Amazon and we're good to go again. 

There! All plugged in and good to go!

Ringo thinks it looks pretty good. I had stored the mats rolled up in the boxes they came in, but they seem to be laying pretty flat now that they are warmed up. I guess I better go blow some leaves away pretty soon, it never ends, does it!

Something New

 So I made a large purchase with Hubs.  This is what the snowy ramp looked like before the purchase....

And here's what it looks like AFTER the purchase!

I bought the Heat Trak mats that melt the snow and ice, so I never have to shovel the ramp. 

It was about $750 bucks to get the mats, but so far they are working out really well. Here's a link to heat Trak LINK

My Genius Idea

So, remember when I talked about this idea?

We have this 35' long ramp to enter our house. In the winter time it's like a ski slope. It's impossible to remove snow because there's a little edge all around it, plus, the texture of the aluminum is a nightmare! So I thought I would try something. I ordered a 60' heat tape-the kind that keeps your water line from freezing in the winter if you have above ground water service. 

The package recommended that you test it to make sure it works, so I put the turn on sensor in a bowl of ice to see if it would turn on...yay! it did!! SO the idea is to stick the heat tape to the underside of the ramp so any snow, sleet or ice will melt. I called the manufacturer and asked about using the heat tape in this way-of course they said, "no ma'am, we don't support that application". Pooh. 

I got one of those scooter creeper carts so I could roll under there a little more easily-it works pretty good until you roll on your pony tail-then you stop right away!!!

Here's what I'm using to stick it to the underside. It's that foam tape with aluminum on the outside. I could only find a wide roll. so I'm cutting it into narrower strips. Using my old rotary cutter!

Here's the beginning. This is what the underside looks like. I left enough slack in the heat tape so it would reach the electrical outlet-see I planned!

I didn't plan on the edges though. And there's a brace in the center-I'm not sure if I should go the full width of the top deck or half at a time.....

I poke the heat tape into the grooves-it stays in place pretty well while I rip off the tape and stick it on.

It takes a lot more heat tape than I thought!!! I did each half instead of going the full width. 

See this is the top side. I didn't know that each plank of aluminum had a big edge on the bottom side. 

So here we go, once I get going it goes fairly quick. 

I'm not going to have enough heat tape to go down the ramp though. I had enough to fully cover the top platform area right outside the door though. 

I used the entire roll of tape-cut into sections-to do this part. I'll need to buy another heat tape to do the rest, but I think this will make a good test! It snowed a few inches the other day-really early snow-and so I went out and plugged it in. And YAY! The snow was melted and the deck was dry! SO the heat tape is plugged in now and I'm waiting for a good snow!

 

Home Ownership Part XXXIV or some huge number....

 SO this bit of "landscaping was messed up when the driveway sealer trailer incident occurred. 

The insurance company for the driveway sealer people says they will pay us for the damage, but I need to get an estimate from a landscaping outfit so they know what the cost could be.  I've called 4 different landscaping outfits, and not one of them has even returned my call or email. 

I mean I get it, folks are really busy this time of year, the durecho has made a mess for a lot of folks and I'm just not that big of a deal. But jeepers! Would it be too much to ask for a return call? I don't know if I'll ever get it estimated so the insurance folks can stop calling me!

My next project involves this ramp. I want to run  a heat tape on the underside so it will be ice and maybe snow free all winter. I unwound my long tape measure to estimate how much it will take, I guess about 70 feet for the 35' ramp. I emailed the heat tape company to see what they though about the idea....guess what? Yup, no reply. They say you can use the heat tape on a metal roof, to prevent ice dams, so I'm thinking I should be ok. But it might be nice to have confirmation before using a product.

And of course, in the "there's always something" file, the toilet was not filling well at all-like it took an hour to refill. SO I replaced the guts. It was very easy-no tools were even needed!!

It's the little things, that can just make ones day.  A good flush is rather satisfying.