If Richard would have had his way, I would have stayed here all last winter (2019-2020) to continue working on the Palm Rental. However, I just did not want to continue into the winter here because the temperatures drop into the thirties and occasionally lower each night during December through mid February. That is just too cold for me to endure, especially since I am this year turning seventy years of age. I choose, instead, to drive to the bottom of Texas where the night time temperatures during these same months are in the fifties and sixties with occasional drops into the forties.

So, when Richard called me in early February, I told him that I would return by the end of February to help him finish the work on the Palm Avenue Rental. I do arrive on 29 February 2020 so that tomorrow, I can make the weekend meeting here at the Kingdom Hall in Hemet.

With the pineapple express pummeling the southern California area, the work on the Palm Avenue rental comes to a close. Well, there is more work to do on the rental, such as painting the exterior, adding second coats to the interior paint and other items, but with the pandemic waging war with the world during the first part of 2020, it just does not seem to be a good thing to continue any further with this project at this time.

So, today, I did a walk through and tidied up, after which I took some photos of what had been done in the way of restoration of this old mobile home.

Upon arriving and setting up my place to park, I first sweep the driveway of all the debris that has blown in during the winter. Then, I go inside and string an electrical cord through the window to provide power to the jammer. Finally, I go inside to check out the rental which looks like to me that not much has been done since I was here last.

On Monday, the water is turned on, and I am able to begin taking regular hot showers. Also, since Richard is busy most of today, I spend time organizing the jammer. Then on Tuesday morning, Richard arrives at nine in the morning and soon after, we begin trimming one of the palm trees in the front yard.

He will not allow me to climb the ladder and says that he will do the ladder work and I can do the ground work of cleaning up the falling debris. I am good with that.

My job is to pack the branches to the street and stack them for later pickup. We plan on continuing the trimming Wednesday morning.

Richard asks me if I will install an GFIC receptacle outside on the rental wall but under the open air deck area where an existing broken receptacle is located. We go to the hw-mart and purchased a GFIC receptacle and new cover just in case there is enough room in the box to install it.

When we return to the rental, I take the cover off of the receptacle and after looking at the box, tell Richard, I can not do it, the box is much to small. So the parts stay in the bag and have been sitting on the kitchen counter since. A few days later, methinks that there is another way and once I check another box in the hall, a double box, I find that it is on the same circuit as the broken outside receptacle. So, I drive back to the hw-mart and purchase the parts I need, return to the rental and begin the repairs.

Regardless of whether I can install the GFIC into the hall box or not, I still need to replace the duplex receptacle outside and go directly there and do that first. I take out the old broken duplex receptacle, then, I add some black tape to the existing wires and finally, I install the new duplex receptacle.

Like most old mobile homes, and like all of the receptacles on this trailer, all of the boxes are very small and for good reason, the walls are only three inches thick, even less than a standard 2 by 4 wall studs. Due to this narrow thickness of wall, all existing electrical boxes are thus small in size. In fact, a single wall box in this entire rental will barely fit a GFIC receptacle much less also all the wires in the box. This is what I told Richard when he asked me to install the GFIC in the outside box, I told him, The box is just not big enough.

Later, when I looked into the double box, I suspected that it would be tight, but I still tried using that box to install the GFIC which requires a rectangular hole in the plate to cover it. Ideally, a single hole on one side would be best for this location. When I went shopping for the necessary double plate to cover the box, all that was available were plates with two holes and I chose the plate with one rectangular hole and one duplex hole, which would mean that I would also have to install another duplex in the same box as well. That would make the already tight box even tighter, but there is just not another choice.

After finishing the outside duplex, I go next to the hall and over the course of the next three hours, I put all the wire in their places, add a couple wires to install the extra duplex and then begin using the hammer handle to push all of the wires to the very back of the box. I learned this trick long ago when I had tried to use a pliers to bend the wires inside a box. That only caused damage to the plastic wire wrappers and I then had to pull every thing out and do it over. Methinks, Never use pliers on wires inside a box, is a lesson that I have already learned and do not want to go through that again. The hammer handle has a big flat rubber coated surface and you can push all you want on the wires with the flat part. I did, a lot, to get all the wires into the now seemingly tiny double box.

After everything was in the box and I tried to install the plate, it did not fit because both receptacles needed to be adjusted. Each receptacle has two screws, one on top and on on the bottom that attach the receptacle to the box. Also, these two screws are how you align the receptacles to the left or right. Once the receptacle is located correctly, then the attaching screws are tightened snugly. After both receptacles are in their correct location, then the plate should be able to be installed. On this box, it took three tries before I got the receptacles right. Finally, the plate went on and once the plate screws were in, job done.

Well, most times, if the installer of the receptacles is not extremely meticulous about each and every receptacle screw tightening, (about a dozen on this job) and each and every wire nut tightening, (some five or six) then when you turn the breaker switch back on, the there is an electrical explosion in that seemingly tiny double box and the breaker kicks off. If that happens, all is lost and everything in the box will most likely need replacing.

That is what I was thinking when I flipped the breaker. The only thing that happened, is the light in the Rear Tool Room came on, which is a good thing because the light is plugged into another receptacle on that circuit.

So, I began checking all of the receptacle downstream of the GFIC receptacle by plugging in a drill and pulling the trigger, the one in the Front Deck room works, the two in the living room works, and then I walk outside onto the deck, plug in the drill and nothing. I go back and check the GFIC and the red light is on, it had tripped. So, I turn off the breaker, go back into the living room, take the cover off of the receptacle opposite the new duplex and examine it. I find the duplex to be an original two wired receptacle with no ground. Too, the ground coming out to the new duplex was not connected within the inside box even though there was a ground in the inside box.

Methinks, this is what else could have happened when installing a GFIC in a circuit. Someone else, not an electrician, has modified the system prior to this current work and a person who does not install the correct wires, either a wire without a ground or a wire of smaller amperage rating. Going further in this circuit, I follow another wire from this same box, which has two problems: 1. It does not have a ground; and 2. It is a 14-2 size wire only capable of carrying 15 amps maximum. The circuit is a 12-2 with ground and capable of reaching 20 amps maximum with a 20 amp circuit breaker that would trip the circuit if the current ever reached 20 amps.

If someone had plugged a small heater in that DIY receptacle, one that draws 15 and more amps, then that 14-2 wire would have burned the house down because the circuit breaker would keep giving it 15 amps, 16 amps, 17 amps all the way up to 20 amp before the breaker would trip. Meanwhile, the 14-2 wire, which can not withstand a constant flow of 15 or more amps would have gotten hot, in fact, really hot and any nearby combustible materials would have caught fire.

Combustible materials are what trailers are entirely made of.

I am so glad that I found this! Too, it is not the first location where I found Do It Yourself (DIY) electrical work, and electrical work totally done wrong. I still have two more receptacles to pull apart and inspect, receptacles that were DIY by a previous owner or tenant. I will do the inspection this Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Richard arrived at about five this afternoon and I showed him all of that which I found with the electrical. We also pulled a new 12-2 with ground wire from one box out to the one that had the 14-2 wire. I will continue to install the wires and finish the wiring the right way making this house safe for the next owner. That is the only way that I do restoration, not the easy way or the stupid way but always the right way.

This trailer, when it was installed, had a covered patio along the entire west side. Too, the rear half had an aluminum frame enclosure with screened glass windows. Some time after, the enclosed area was upgraded to separate it into two rooms with insulated walls. The front (north) room which we call the Patio room and the rear (south) room which we have been calling the Tool room because that is where we have kept all of Richard′s tools while we are working on the rental home.

Over the years, the awning over the patio area has deteriorated and the resulting water leaks have damaged the faux wood ceiling and the subfloor beneath the green grass carpet. These areas have become my next project. Since I have returned to the desert, Richard wants me to restore these two rooms, at least to a point to correct the water damage and to make the rooms appear to have no water damage.

To begin with, both rooms will have to have the green carpet removed

After removing all of the green carpet from the deck, we find there is one location at which the plywood had previously been wet and is now structurally weaker. However, the deck joists are still solid and we then decide to just add a second layer of plywood over the original plywood.

Richard has acquired some plywood siding panels, which panels were new but left outdoors in the weather. The panels do not look like they are any good but they are still solid and we will install them over the existing floor to strength it.

Next in this room is to remove damaged ceiling panels and restore the ceiling, but first, I will remove the green carpet in the rear deck room.

Now, on to the next room, which is an inclosed room on the rear deck. We have been calling it the tool room since November when we moved all of Richards tools into it. Now, however, I need to remove all of the tools out from it, in order to remove the carpet and do the needed work on this room

After an hour of moving tools I have before me an empty tool room.

With all the carpet removed, next up is to remove all the trim from the walls and ceilings.

There are a couple of spots on the wall which seem to have grease on it, so I plan to scrape the paint down to the bare wood and then paint wood primer on the wall so as to seal any grease that is left.

When Richard returns, we begin cutting the new plywood panel and installing them, however the night before, it rained and we discovered that there is still a roof leak. We both go up to look at the roof and we find that he had installed some new sheet metal over the old roof seam but he did not caulk the screws that he used to install the metal. So, we caulked the screws and now have to wait for the old panels to dry out before we cover them with the new lid.

However, that does not stop us from installing the ceiling, trim and painting the dry side of the Tool room.

Before the second side can be installed, there is an issue with the roof leaking. So, in order to put a stop to this leak, I climb up and use a flex roof seal and fiber tape to cover the seam where the leak is coming from. This job take about four hours but during the seam sealing, I find the hole where the water has been getting in and but a permanent stop to this leak.

Now that the water leak has been corrected, I can return to the work on the ceiling in the back deck room.

Also, the locations where there were grease spots on the walls, I scraped off all of the paint, and then scrubbed the wall with a de-greasing detergent. Then, after the wall has dried, put a white sealing primer over these two spots. Later, I put a second coat of the primer on the spots.

Due to the fact that the previous tenant had animals in the rental, the wood subfloor in the two deck rooms still have a urine smell, so, to remove the smell, I use a special oil base paint in order to encapsulate all odors. After the first coat of this paint is down, the smell is gone. Still, since I have plenty of the oil base paint, I roll out a second coat.

While waiting for the oil based sealer to dry, I carry the trim boards out to the open deck, lay them out and since I still have the roller wet with the oil based sealer, I roll the trim boards with the sealer as well. This will prevent any urine that is on these boards from venting the smells.

Finally when the trim boards dry, I put the a coat of the top paint on all of these boards. This water base top coat dries very fast and then I am ready to install the trim in the Rear Deck Room.

Next, I get out the top coat paint and roll the all of the walls, which dry very quickly, after which, I touch up the ceiling trim boards.

Then, I roll out the vinyl flooring, trim to size, roll it back up against the end of the room so that I can roll on the vinyl glue.

After rolling the vinyl back on top of the glue, I pull back the wall end and roll the final section of vinyl glue. Finally, I push the vinyl end down and walk across the entire floor while dragging my feet, so as to help the glue to stick well.

The final task of the Rear Deck Room is to nail the floor trim in place, which when done makes this room look so much better now.

After that, the Rear Deck Room is transformed back into the Tool Room and house all of the tool for this job.

Richard had previously brought over his leaf blower and so I spend the day cleaning up the west side outside area. I carry more of the red landscape bricks from the stack on the opposite side and use them to make a flower garden digging up and turning the dirt. Then I transplant the flowers, herbs and aloe vera plants from elsewhere in the yard. Finally, I rake the rocks up to the bricks to finish the landscape.

Since I did the way back while I was doing the herb garden side, what is now left is the front and the small square garden inside the fence behind the driveway shed.

I choose to begin with the front and do the time consuming task of removing the white rock from the gray and vise versa. Too, there were some square bricks stacked in the back corner, so I brought these to use in the white rock walkway.

Once Richard sees what I am doing, he says that he has some rubber divider and asks me to wait until he brings it here. So, the next day that I need to do some landscaping, I choose the garden behind the shed and begin working on it.

Richard comes by and I tell him that I have done all of this without a hot shower and he offers to bring me a five gallon bucket of hot water. I accept and give him three one gallon water bottles and tell him that I will be working until sunset to please bring it then.

At sunset, Richard and Kim arrive with the hot water and I tell them to come see the flower gardens. We walk along the herb-flower garden first, around the back to the finished (except for removing the cactus cuttings) backyard flower garden.