128 Scout - Days 83-97: Slow progress continues
Over labor day weekend my dad wanted to try out a pressure washer (which he had borrowed from a friend) on my shop floor. The first attempt was rather disappointing. The second attempt was also a bit disappointing but at least it went a little bit better. We couldn't really use the pressure washer to its full potential due to lack of sufficient water volume flow because of the long run from the well pump to the shop and the restrictions of the plumbing involved. At least it is cleaner for now though.
I worked some more on the tile countertops in the kitchen, but I'm still not finished yet. I think I need to do one more round on the bar and then start on the countertops by the sink/stove area.
I finally got the flood lamps at the back of the house taken care of today. I did some reconnaissance in the attic the other day and determined that my best bet for "doing it right" would be to run new wire from the eaves to the junction box and the switch panel. Running the wire to the junction was pretty easy as I just taped the new wire to the old one and pulled it through from the attic. Running the wire for the switch panel however turned into a major challenge because whoever originally did the wiring only drilled a small hole for the wires to drop through from the attic into the wall, so there's barely enough room for the two runs of cable that go through it. I tried the same trick as with the junction wire, but when the new wire reached the hole it got in a bind and came unattached from the old wire. Thankfully, I had bought a fish wire the other day (anticipating a problem of this sort!) and was able to send it through the path to the switch box. It ended up being a lot more work trying to actually get it where I needed it though without having someone to help, but eventually I got the fish wire routed and attached the new wires. Things went pretty smoothly until the new wire got to the bottleneck created by the small drop hole, and then it took quite a bit of gentle feeding and cautious manhandling to finally pull the fishwire and the new wire through the hole. Once I got the wires in place I replaced the old outlet box with a new one which is more solid and makes a better seal to the roof eave. After quite a bit more sweating, swearing, and mosquito bites, I finally got the new flood lamp housing all wired up and secured into place. I hooked up the switch, flipped the breaker, and tested everything out. So far, so good. Let's hope it stays that way.