Our bedroom had a leak from the roof where the water soaked between two drywall sheets and messed up the paint. After the roof got fixed, I pulled the drywall tape on the junction, cleaned up a small damaged section on the ceiling drywall, and fixed everything up. Luckily I still had leftover paint of the bedroom wall color so the touch up produced a pretty decent result.
Bit the bullet and called Cross Roofers of Milpitas to replace our past-end-of-life leaky tar-gravel roof with shingles and torch downs. Hurt my wallet a lot, but they did a fantastic job. A couple of places had dry wood rot which got replaced with new 1/2" boards. Too bad the original boards are 3/8" and at places they flex a lot. Not going to walk on the roof any more. Pictures of the finished new roof are in the next post.
Surprised to find gas bill jump from $49 in June to $112 in July. Middle of summer. No central heat. What gives ?
A PG&E truck came over right after our call to check for leaks. A non-hazardous, very minor leak was found at the oven where the gas line connects to it. But this still could not contribute the huge spike. The smart meter was next to check. Voila, the dial read 1984 while the readout on which I was billed was 2036. Now we remember that till last month someone came over to take a reading. The moment they started using the digital smart meter readings, the bill shot up. I heard this happen to many others and looks like we are another victim. Everyone has to be aware of this and need to check their bills.
Hopefully PG&E will correct the discrepancy and we should get the refund and correct bills.Having a small backyard has its benefits. It is actually possible to single handedly redesign the landscaping and have some serious learning in the process. We want to make this small space both utilitarian and a little fancy.
The approximate plan is to have the following:
- Two soil boxes for vegetablesLast week I finished the major tile project for our frontyard. I wanted to have a spacious outdoor area to enjoy summer afternoons, and it is ready just in time.
I lost count of time I spent on this project. But despite many back breaking hours, the satisfaction is almost surreal, unparalleled by any other non-work activity I do. Cost analysis:Next big project: Backyard remodel.
The tiling is not yet fully complete, but at least I got to do the grouting. Finished the whole french-vanilla tiled area in one go, taking 5 hours. Looks and feels exactly as I visualized.
The tiling is taking quite a bit of time. With a discipline of waking up early weekend mornings I should be able to finish it soon. Bringing the tiles from the wholesale dealer (Terico, 1723 Junction Ave, San Jose) is pretty back-breaking though.
Attempt at patching up the cracks in the driveway concrete.
Started tiling the front yard last weekend. Lots of labor involved, so this is likely to continue over the next few weekends. Funnily, all the tiles I bought from a local wholesale store are made in India, as I found out later.
