New Thermostat

The iComfort 10F81 thermostat died. The screen lit up, but it was just a gray rectangle. So, I bought an Amazon Smart Thermostat on Saturday night and they delivered it Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. I tried to install it, but I couldn't get the furnace to turn on.

So, I called Energy Works NW and they were able to send Izzy out Monday afternoon, July 29, 2024.

The iComfort was a "communicating" thermostat and was wired like that. Izzy rewired it as a simple "legacy" thermostat because the Amazon model isn't fancy.

The Lennox furnace is a two-stage furnace. The idea is that if it's trying to get to 75 degrees and it sees that it hasn't gotten there in, say, 8 minutes, it kicks on the second stage to get hotter faster. That was the iComfort thermostat's responsibility, apparently, so it could do it all fancy. Izzy configured the furnace to do its own bump up to the second stage. No big deal.

While he was here, I asked Izzy to do an annual service on the furnace--that's $250--and he charged me for 1/2 hour for the thermostat, so with tax it came to nearly $400. He would have sold me a $40 filter, too, but he didn't have one. I bought two 16254, MERV 8 filters for $50 at Home Depot. I'm not sure how often I should change the filter, but the old one (which might date to 2017) was pretty dirty. (By the way, a 16254 filter is 16" x 25" x 4"--mystery decoded.)

Thinking About the Carport

When last we discussed the carport, we were thinking of a 4x wood frame with Suntuf polycarbonate panels. That pencils out to about $2500 worth of materials.

The concept, which turned out to be controversial when I discussed it with Peggy, calls for six posts and a standalone structure unconnected to the house in any way. Because there is only about 19" between the top of the garage door and the underside of the eave, I had planned to lift the carport roof above the garage roof, draining into the garage gutter. But that gets tall and obtrusive.

I revisited the Suntuf specifications. They say that 1-1/2 in 12 is the "minimum recommended slope," but that "When installed at a lower pitch, additional sealing should be applied to ensure weather resistance." Using 12' panels, I don't have seams along the slope.

It seems that I can tuck polycarb under the existing eave, sloping slightly less than 1-1/2 in 12. The idea is to keep it simple.

Basic SunTuf on wood frame

There are all-metal patio cover/carports available that would be double the cost or more, but that might be worth it. I've talked to Versatube, Behr.

Glass "sunroom"

These examples tend to connect to the house on one side. A standalone carport creates a moment arm at each post, but this can be handled.

Itiel's Carports (itcarports.com)

Yardistry 11x13 gazebo

"Why don't you just ask for what you want?"

What Happened Next

 After the painting, I lost track of time.

Mauricio came by Saturday, April 20 and I paid him 50% for the gutters. The painters had finished the eaves, so he planned to install them the following week.

New gutters are white, seamless and slope perfectly, despite sagging fascias.

Mauricio (Mata Roofing) brought a truck with a seamless gutter machine.

Mauricio (foreground) had a new helper. Still took 10+ hours.

Tuesday, April 23, the painters finished and cleaned up after themselves while Mauricio and a new helper installed all the gutters and downspouts in one long day. I wrote a check to Una and a check to Mauricio (Mata Roofing) that day.

On Monday, May 6, Ernie came by and looked at the chimney and the post light. On May 10, I paid B&D Construction (Ernie) $1100 for his work re-pointing, waterproofing, and closing up the chimney. We agreed that he would set a paver over the flue that could be removed later if I want to use the chimney.

Ernie Gonzales
(206) 445 2897
bdhandymanllc@gmail.com 

Ernie pressure-washes the chimney.

The post light planter was falling apart. I hadn't noticed.

Ernie fixed it all up, re-pointed it and even painted the flaking green post.

Chimney after Ernie: no more air in or out. He attached the spark arrestor (for appearances) so that it won't blow off, but both flues are closed off.

The Maids came and deep cleaned the house Friday, because Jon arrived for a visit on Saturday, May 18. Frieda went to the hospital on May 25 and Jon flew home on Friday, May 31. I drove to Portland on June 1 and we had a big wind storm on June 3.

I began noticing that you couldn't even see the Douglas Fir by the driveway anymore.

The wind storm left stuff on the roof that I had to blow off with the leaf blower.

Funny artifact of the new metal valleys and the gutter covers. Luckily, it can be cleared by hand from the ground.

I installed new house numbers and bought a bench from Ikea.

The numbers are centered on the wall, ignoring the window.

New roof, new gutters, fresh paint.

Jon returned for the weekend on Thursday, June 13 and left again Monday, June 17. I flew to LA on Tuesday, July 2. Cruz Landscaping came July 7 and uncovered the trunk of the Douglas Fir by the driveway. 

We can see the Douglas Fir again, thanks to Cruz.

Next up (or soon): Time to replace the polyethylene carport. With what? Stay tuned.