Brew Hut Raising Weekend - 4/25

[EdWort]

Glad you got her taken care of...I am extremely jealous...

Thanks. SWMBO is very pissed at the sight of her yard today. Rocks everywhere, grass destroyed, uneven ground. It's not good.

Before.

After

I have lots of landscaping to due. Perhaps some heavy rains from hurricane Ike will wash much of the dirt down so I can go around and start collecting rocks.

At least now, the inside can begin construction in earnest!

 

[John Beere]

Early this spring, we had to have our sewer line replaced. Due to the slope of our yard, it was over six feet deep at the street. I can't even begin to describe the mess. In fact, our front yard still hasn't recovered - bald spots everywhere.... Better invest in some good fertilizer to get that sod growing!

 

[EdWort]

.... Better invest in some good fertilizer to get that sod growing!

Yep, I'll be bringing up my Newer Spreader as the horses provide plenty of fertilizer. The grass is Augustine, so it will eventually grow back as it crawls around.

 

[John Beere]

We have St Augustine too... just waiting it out until it fills back in, but I did hit it with some good fertilizer around Easter.

 

[Loweface]

I was allways amazed how much pride and thought Americans put into their grass. But then over here we just put down some seed and spend the rest of the time keeping it in check...

 

[EdWort]

I've got the Brewhaus all battened down in preparation for whatever remnants of Hurricane Ike that make it our way tomorrow. One neat thing is I have shut off power from the house to it in case it takes off like in the Wizard of Oz.

I've strapped the BrewHaus Tree away so winds won't cause it to move into the brewhaus and damage it as well.

Good luck to all in the path of Ike this weekend. Be safe!

 

[98EXL]

I've got the Brewhaus all battened down in preparation for whatever remnants of Hurricane Ike that make it our way tomorrow. One neat thing is I have shut off power from the house to it in case it takes off like in the Wizard of Oz.

I've strapped the BrewHaus Tree away so winds won't cause it to move into the brewhaus and damage it as well.

Good luck to all in the path of Ike this weekend. Be safe!

What, no pics? You have a birthday, and you forget pics!!!

 

[Jilaman]

Let us know if you made it through Ike, OK?

 

[EdWort]

Ike? Ike who?

Lotta work done in preparation, but he turned East and never showed his face here West of Austin. The Brewhaus is A OK. Got some more wiring done today. It's nice to have juice, though it cost an Arm, a Leg, and a left Cajone to get it there.

I spent the day cleaning up and moving non essential stuff out while working on moving dirt to fill the trench where there used to be solid rock.

After this work and investment, I'm definitely going with an electric HLT.

 

[bsay]

Looks great Ed, glad to hear all is well.

 

[TimGrz]

I'll check with the electrician before we pull. (that's why I hired one). He'll do the final look see.

If you have a grounding rod at the brew-house I hope the electrician made sure to tie it in directly to the grounding rod at the house-- even more now that the trench is filled in.

This can cause all sorts of problems with electrical equipment, the most noticeable being audio and video stuff anywhere in the house, or houses in this case.


/tg

 

[EdWort]

Yep, we pulled a separate ground after it was brought up. Thanks. It's great to have pros in various fields of work here at HBT!

 

[98EXL]

when the world ends, we will create our own state, and rule the lands for decades to come

 

[wihophead]

If you have a grounding rod at the brew-house

There better be one since 250.32(a) requires it....

I hope the electrician made sure to tie it in directly to the grounding rod at the house-- even more now that the trench is filled in.

This can cause all sorts of problems with electrical equipment, the most noticeable being audio and video stuff anywhere in the house, or houses in this case.
/tg

I have never see this, I know it isn't a code requirement....they are normally connected through the Equipment grounding conductor. Sounds like a waste of copper to me.....

 

[TimGrz]

I have never see this, I know it isn't a code requirement....they are normally connected through the Equipment grounding conductor. Sounds like a waste of copper to me.....

PM sent. Don't want to fudge up this thread.

/tg

 

[EdWort]

This weekend was very busy. I got to brew 15 gallons of Haus Ale and then took the family to Austin's Pecan Street Festival. Then Sunday got hopping on the brewhaus again.

After discussing flooring options, we nixed the tile idea due to the pier & beam construction and possible settling popping tiles etc. I could not believe the price of backer board too. Wow!

We decided to put down a heavy duty vinyl floor.

Before that, I caulked the entire first layer and then we put down a layer of 1/2" R-Max foil backed insulation (I picked up about 75 sheets of this stuff off of Craigslist for $100) . This stuff can be walked on and it does not compress. On top of that we put 3/4" OSB subflooring from Lowe's. It's tongue and groove, so it went together well. This was fastened with deck screws.

The floor is rock solid now. The difference is amazing. After that was finished, we began the job of moving the 10K BTU AC unit to where the cold room will be. I took back the smaller units that won't fit due to 6" walls. Here we framed it out and I drilled holes in the corners so we knew where to cut.

 

[EdWort]

We cut the hole, then framed it out with smooth cedar 1x6.

It's now installed and now only need to bypass the local thermostat with a Ranco controller.

Now the 220v, 12K BTU Cool, 11K BTU Heat unit is installed and man, does it kick out some chilling power. 220 volt is the way to go. I should be able to ferment in the 60s without any fermentation fridges if I want to.

 

[comp]

looking great

 

[98EXL]

Ed, this is badass!

 

[NoNothing]

I wish I had a brew house .

Thought a basement is just as good here in the UP of Michigan! Pretty stable lagering temps durring winter , ofcourse, I could bury my fermenter outside in snow!

 

[Otis The Drunk]

Looks like it's coming along Ed, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to try and contact you a few weeks ago. I was staying with a friend in Round Rock.

Next time I'm in the area I would like to share a beer or two with you.

 

[EdWort]

I wish I had a brew house .

Thought a basement is just as good here in the UP of Michigan! Pretty stable lagering temps durring winter , ofcourse, I could bury my fermenter outside in snow!

I wish I had a basement. My first house was in Utah. A small house, but new with an unfinished basement...my brewery. Oh I miss that basement.

Not too many basements in Texas, at least in the Hill Country. Here's why.

 

[comp]

seen alot of that in NC

 

[Calico Jack]

fingers crossed you hit some oil!

 

[Amiaji]

Any updates?

 

[EdWort]

No work on it last weekend due to the Oktoberfest.

 

[phissionkorps]

Not too many basements in Texas, at least in the Hill Country

I've lived in SE, far West, and now North Texas and I have never seen a basement except on really extravagant houses. I really wish we had them...I can understand not having them in the Houston area because of flooding, but no one in Lubbock had them, which made 0 sense because

 

[ThickHead]

No work on it last weekend due to the Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest...MMMMMmmmmmm...

 

[98EXL]

I've lived in SE, far West, and now North Texas and I have never seen a basement except on really extravagant houses. I really wish we had them...I can understand not having them in the Houston area because of flooding, but no one in Lubbock had them, which made 0 sense because

I have a full 8ft cieling basement

 

[drunkatuw]

I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but in the midwest, basements are practically required. The basement walls go down below the frost line, otherwise your house would shift all over the place when the ground freezes and thaws. And in places like Texas and Louisiana it's very expensive to build a basement because if the basement floor is below the water table, then it's very expensive to keep the water out of the basement.

Having lived in the midwest my whole life, I can't imagine not having a basement.