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Bent Nail Ranch Hermit's Woodshed Projects

Installing the Boiler and Pump Panel.

Heat and a shower are two of the requirements for an occupancy permit. This house will have a combination boiler providing hot water to the heating pipes embedded in the concrete slab and hot water to the domestic hot water supply. The wall mounted boiler weighs 120 pounds, or so. Trying to lift it so that the mounting points align with the little mounting bracket, which is overhead, proved to be not only difficult, but downright dangerous. With a little bit of old people engineering, and a pulley from Harbor Freight, we were able to fashion this redneck contraption.

Square Body Chevy comes in handy.
We still needed to lower it, then put our shoulders into it to get it to seat in the bracket.
boiler and pump panel for combination boiler
All the plumbing is connected.

The plumber made the final connections to the pump panel. Long story short, the central heating (all the plastic pipe embedded in the concrete slab) works. The domestic hot water does not. This SNAFU will be worked out eventually. Meanwhile it is quite aggravating.

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Bent Nail Ranch Projects

Balcony Rails

In order to get an occupancy permit, one of the things we need to do is build guardrails for the balconies. The model shows solid panels, but I can’t figure out how to make those, except in a model.

An early model

So, I decided on a cable railing because I can order the whole shebang from Stainless Cable and Railing.

Shaking out the parts
cable rail
Corner with continuous cable.
This corner does not have continuous cables, but the top rail support holds it all together.

The building code stipulates that a 4″ sphere cannot pass through any part of the guard rail. Ostensibly so that a baby’s head cannot pass through. I’m not making this up. At one time in history it was also true that horizontal cables/rails were not allowed because children could climb up them and take a header off the balcony.

According to the local building official, the other things that need to be in place to receive an occupancy permit are:

-a bathroom with a sink and a toilet.

– a shower. This seems random. A shower is not necessary for one’s survival.

-a way to cook.

-a place to store your groceries.

-a kitchen sink

-heat.

We will now cover these (not necessarily in order).

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Bent Nail Ranch Projects

Getting There

The drywall is finished. The solar is commissioned. The water storage and propane tanks are in place. The boiler and pump panels will be here this week, as will the balcony rails. The goal is to call for an occupancy permit early next month. The building permit expires the 2nd of February. I don’t want to pay to extend it.

solar panels
Power
Propane and water tanks.
Storage batteries and inverter for off grid power

Went into Tucson today. After some scuffling about, I think I found the material for the baseboards, casing and window sills.

More to follow…