10/24/2024 – It’s not like I don’t like my generator. In fact, I love it. Whole house, shop and well… empowering, it has kept up going through multiple week long power outages, preserving both us and Biden priced groceries, and without hesitation in the most bitter winter weather.
As an alternative to being mounted on a cement pad, it was placed on a bed of landscaping stone, contained within a 2″x6″ frame of ground contact rated lumber. The gravel dampened vibration from the running generator, and the frame prevented it from leaving its home and taking a walk down the driveway.
All of a sudden, twenty years flash by, and the anchoring wooden frame… returned to the earth, taking most of the bedding gravel with it. So when I was alerted to the problem by the good folks at Gowen who service Sparky… three years ago, I jumped right on it and began making a list of tools and materials I would need to buy to facilitate repair.
Battery powered nail gun? A self leveling projecting laser level? Stainless deck screws? Surely a supply of 2″x6″ Lowe’s ground contact rated lumber? Then it was noon, I stopped for lunch with $500 worth a critical tools and assorted other material in my Lowe’s shopping cart. Then it got dark, so I watched TV and fell asleep. A few years overdue work already, another day wouldn’t hurt.
Seek, and ye shall find…
While snoozing, I heard John Lennon singing… which is weird because I was never a Beatles fan, particularly not a John Lennon fan. In any event, the tune sounded familiar…
Imagine you have lumber
It’s easy if you try
Some larger pieces to cut down
And no more tools to buy
Imagine all the projects
Getting done today…
So I woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Found my way downstairs and drank a cup, then headed for the basement workshop1. Lots of 2″x8″x8′ ground contact rated lumber, I changed the blade on the table saw and ripped some lengths to 5 1/2″ wide, and sealed the cut edges with a mixture of insecticide and poly penetrating sealer.
Twenty trips up sixteen basement steps, one tool at a time
Some might say my thought process lacks continuity. All answers come, eventually. Just not all at the same time, and not necessarily in the correct order. Still, that’s a lot to work with.
The pad was squared with a hand spade to avoid dislodging more stone. A perimeter around the old pad was trenched with the Mattock end of a pick, landscaping cloth was laid in place, a layer of stone was put down and used to create a square and level run for the new frame.
The frame was assembled in place, each joint secured with Gorilla exterior waterproof wood glue and three 3″ Torx head deck screws. The frame was checked again for square and level and then back filled with dirt and gravel and tamped down.
Seems like an awful lot of work, and a heck of a lot of words for such a simple project. However, I succeeded in buying no materials, no tools and I got to check off a three year old project. The biggest effort went into clean up and put-a-way.
1) Yes, also pilfered from the Beatles
That should hold it for awhile. Always feels good to check a project off the list. Sorry, no lyrical theme, but I enjoyed yours.
Always lots of small projects before winter. Thanks, Scott.