Matthew steals the laptop

So sorry for radio silence the last couple months. It has been non-stop around here! Since last you heard from us, we have finished some repairs so our new wonderful tenants could move in, flew out west to visit family over the holidays, we have been maintaining the property with the constant snowfall, working on the "mother-in-law" wing of the house to get it ready for renting as an extension of the motel (that'll be our next blog post), and whew are we tired!

We have been asked before why these updates to the property take so long, so I wanted to share some of the behind-the-scenes projects over the last year we have personally been working on that don't normally get mentioned because they are not directly tied into the rehabilitation of various rooms or units at Woodford Rest.

In a previous post Elizabeth had mentioned her happiness in tearing out the old deck on the main house. However, it revealed the results of a poorly sloped and ill-maintained decking: all that water had penetrated the house and rotted the ends of the joists, as well as much of the cedar shake (constant water contact, wicking, and even just ageing with poor upkeep on paint).

With some time and choice words, the joists are repaired, the shake siding replaced, and the concrete has been wrapped in flashing that is also buried several inches to prevent water and insects from gaining access through the concrete or transition to wood. The shake is primed to get through winter, and we'll spray a fresh coat of paint over everything come spring.

The large cottage had a few windows that did not stay open due to damaged balancers. Before we rented the cottage, we needed to open up the windows, replace the balancers to provide the tension required to properly hold the window open when desired, and then reassemble the windows. We hope to replace the windows over the next few years, but at least this allows them to be usable and not lose a finger for the time being.

The large cottage also had a huge carved out section for the crawlspace access, which collected all the rain water in the area and flooded underneath. After having the old insulation removed and replaced with foam boards, I then framed and poured a concrete foundation for a hatch door. It does a great job and has solved that issue. While I had the concrete mixer on site, I also dug and poured for the posts that will hold the enclosure for the communal garbage area. We had the pad poured in 2023 while we had a mixer on site for another project. I've gotten the posts and roof installed before the snow caught up with me; I'll hopefully have that finished in a couple months once the mountains of snow have vanished.

As threats of snow were closing in, we forced ourselves to break away from focusing on the motel and take care of our own home, specifically heating. We do have a heat pump that provides decent heat upstairs and in part of the downstairs. However, with the old windows, etc., and single-digit temperatures, the heat pump for downstairs just cannot properly keep up (and electricity is so expensive!). There is a chimney in the center of the house which a dying pellet stove had been using. Pellet and gas stoves will still need some form of electricity to function; and while the electrical grid out here has been amazingly consistent even with the strong winds at the top of the mountain, we wanted to be extra safe and went with a small wood stove that can function in the event of an outage. The chimney was professionally inspected and found to be compromised--small cracks, etc. where CO2 can permeate into living areas; it would need a chimney liner to be safe. However, a couple thousand dollars to install it was more than we wanted to spend currently. We ordered the liner, and between us and one of our neighbors we installed the liner over an hour. Then connected the stove pipe and we have a toasty stove!

The new renters are occupying a few rooms of the motel, and while those rooms are not refinished yet, they still needed to be usable and comfortable. That entailed installing three new toilets, replacing one of the propane wall heaters, getting a new refrigerator and propane stove installed, upgrading the propane water heater for the motel, and installing a new shower valve in one of the bathrooms. To avoid doing a bunch of tile installation inside the shower, I opted to open the wall up behind the valve instead. But that also meant working around a wall stud, which made me reconsider the tile-installation avoidance that led to this decision. Additionally, the shower head and tub spout had rusted so badly that the copper for those sections had to be completely removed and replaced.

Remember several months ago Elizabeth mentioned we had some contractors replacing some damaged siding on the office? Well, one of my autumn tasks was to then replumb the propane lines that had to be removed during those repairs. However, that kept getting bumped for other projects, because hey--it's still warm out, we have time. Fast forward to December and temperatures are in the teens and I really need to get that heater working. That was not pleasant, but it is working now!

The motel and apartment drain lines were having issues, especially with additional strain placed on them over last couple months. It was cast iron from the '60s, and upon inspection those 4" main lines had narrowed to 2" through rust and gunk build-up. Additionally, with time, ground settling, etc., cracks had formed and some were starting to leak. It was time to replace those pipes! We hired a team to complete the upgrade. Unfortunately, due to delays, they were not able to begin until we had flown to Oregon for the holidays. Tenants were told not water usage for the day they were there. We were messaged that all was completed and tenants were notified that water usage could resume. Fast forward a week later when we returned, we found the motel basement flooded. Luckily, it was only sink drain water and the regular high water table that enters the basement and flows into the sump pump! Also, the sump pump line had frozen outside which is why it was so filled up. That part at least was an easy fix.

It turns out the team was only 'done' for the day, and would complete the work at some point later? I called and they would not be able to be there for a few more days. That would not do! After gathering supplies, I went down to finish the replumbing; one of our tenants volunteered to help, and the two of us finished it up over a few hours. A few sinks and one unused toilet needed to be plumbed. New drain lines installed!

While in plumbing mode with the sewage lines and the new water heater, it was time to also install a washer and dryer; we had been discounting the tenants' rent through the end of 2024 due to lack of machines on site. We repurposed some storage area in the motel stairwell to house the machines. I brought over electricity, water lines, drain line, and dryer exhaust. Elizabeth gave it some new paint, and huzzah--we have working laundry for the tenants!

Before: first coat of paint going on

Before: to the right of the washer, after Elizabeth removed all the extra shelving

After: all hooked up!

After: this space will hold a few small lockers for motel guests to store skis, etc., which will minimize bulky things needing to be brought into the motel rooms where they may ding the walls.

Our first winter here was extremely mild and a good way of easing into Vermont. This year has been described as what normal winters on the mountain used to be like (aka, it could be much worse--this is just "normal"). And of course, our UTV plow died Thanksgiving day when we had our first stow. After having a couple shops work on it, it was never able to bounce back; it struggled with the harsh cold and the strain from plowing. Paying someone to plow our driveway and parking area each time it snowed was getting very expensive very fast. We decided to go with something a little more hardy that we could also use for some other projects the rest of the year.

The little tractor has a bucket and plow attachments. So when the piles are closing in, I can move and stack the snow. At one point the snow was as tall as Elizabeth's SUV!

Hurry up and take the picture! It's cold out here!

Unfortunately with cold temperatures, lots of snow, and an increase in heating (from multiple tenants under one roof), ice dams are inevitable. A couple of the units started developing leaks. Ugh. In-line with our luck that ensures nothing can go easy, my extendable ladder was too short to reach the motel roof. So we needed to buy a ladder rack and install it on our truck and then buy a new 32ft ladder so we (...well, I) could climb up and start hammering away. After a few channels were carved out, and scoops of salt thrown on top of the remaining ice, the leaks disappeared. Huzzah. I also wired an attic fan to whisk away any escaping heat into the attic to help avoid (or at least minimize) future dams. Fingers crossed.

Ian Malcolm would say that is one big pile of ice.

So remember: for every blog post detailing our success of a visible project moving forward, there are three projects behind the scenes that involve me crying in a corner.

Elizabeth says to remind everyone, "Don't forget to rest!"