Author: kylan

This weekend I did some poking around and figured out how to get our in-ground sprinkler system ready for the winter. I’m recording the steps here so I can have instructions on hand next year…

1. Turn of all of the irrigation valves, located in the grass next to the sprinkler heads.

2. Shut off the system backflow pipe (next to the main water valve) by turning the two handles perpendicular to the pipe.

3. Using two five-gallon buckets, empty the contents of the sprinkler pipes by opening the two drain faucets and letting all of the water flow out. One faucet is located in the same cabinet as the main water valve, while the other has it’s own compartment in the downstairs bathroom. Note: this is a two person job! If you try open one drain at a time, the water pressure can play a trick on you and cause some minor flooding. Don’t ask me how I know… just believe me, okay?

4. Leave the drain faucets open through the winter. To catch any drips, a five-gallon bucket can be hung from the drain next to the main water valve, while a smaller cup fits nicely under the drain faucet in the bathroom.

Just remember to close the faucets again before firing up the sprinklers in the spring!

It turns out that or furnace wasn’t broken after all. The technician had simply put it back together wrong! After spending a night warming ourselves with space heaters, the issue was finally resolved. It’s still looking like a good idea to start tucking away a few dollars each month in a “new furnace fund,” but at least we’re up and running for the foreseeable future.

Last night we moved into our new house! We had a small army of friends help with the heavy lhiifting, and the whole process only took about two and a half hours.

That’s not the end of the journey, though. This morning we woke up to piles upon piles of boxes. It took a lot of work, but we managed to clear some floor space by late this evening.

We scheduled Hilliard’s to come do a routine checkup of our furnace this afternoon. Unfortunately, something went wrong while the technician was attending to the diaphragm, and now our furnace isn’t working at all!

Someone will be coming out tomorrow to see if they can figure out what’s going on. We hope we won’t be needing to buy a brand new furnace! Oh, the joys of home ownership…

(It turns out that our existing furnace is pretty old – it’s a Lennox Pulse that was installed in 1990.)