You may recall
this Episode, from May of 2016, in which we showed updates from both the 'hood (the neighborhood), and the hood (the hood over the stove). In this Episode we re going to do the same, again, with one difference - we will have local 'hood updates and a guest house hood update.
'Hood Update #1
The first local 'hood update is this: our pear harvest is in full swing. So far the Slimy Squirrels have not gotten into our pears enough to be a nuisance, and we have had a couple of harvesting sessions. We have lost a few pears due to them becoming over-ripe and falling off the tree (and splattering on the ground), but we still have several ripening pears on the tree for future harvesting. There is no picture of pears in this Episode.
Hood Update Part I
The Parents' House came with a hood over the stove, and it worked for many years, but it eventually wore out and needed replacement. Since I have experience with
hood replacement, I was happy to tackle this project. As with our Cat-filled House, the hood in the Parent's House was not fancy - just a plain, garden-variety hood that did its job for many years.
This is a front view of the hood, and the surrounding environment. Note that I took this photo after loosening some of the mounting screws. The hood did not sag like that in real life. Note also that the breaker for the hood is already turned off.
This is the view from below. Note that the filter has been removed from the fan already.
Here is a close-up of the electrical connections. There was a protective cover over these connections when the hood was in use. After disconnecting the wires I removed the mounting screws completely and uninstalled the old hood.
And this is what I found behind the old hood - the exhaust vent. Let's take a slightly closer look at that vent.
It doesn't really show very well in the picture, but this is not a properly-constructed hood vent. The rectangular conduit was not the same size as either the hood's exhaust port, or the outside vent. Said conduit was a seemingly random-sized piece of conduit loosely placed in the wall and not sealed at either end in any way. Possibly someone stuck it in there and said, "That's close enough. No one will ever know." Well, we know, and it was not good enough, which meant I would have to replace or rebuild the exhaust vent, in addition to replacing the hood.
'Hood Update #2
This past summer there have been a few fires in the hills surrounding our Cat-hair-filled House.
This fire was photographed from my workplace, and I believe it burned a few hundred acres. It may have been started by a car fire.
This fire was photographed while I was on my way home from picking up supper (or dinner) after work one late afternoon. I don't recall how many acres it burned.
Hood Update Part II
The next step after removing the old hood was to prep and install the new hood.
This is the new hood, pre-installation. The old hood was 42" wide, but the local Home Depot only had 30" and 36" hoods. It was decided that a 36" hood would be fine. This hood was designed to be used for top venting, rear venting, or non-venting installations. I would be using the rear venting option, so I sealed up the top vent cutout and installed the included little flapper door on the rear vent.
Mounting this hood was relatively easy, thanks to its mounting rail system. I bolted the rails into place (after careful measurement), then partially mounted the new hood on the front part of the rails to insert and connect the electrical wires. My mom helped hold the hood in place while I made said electrical connections. After that I fully mounted the new hood on to the rails and bolted it into place.
Here you can see the hood's electrical wires spliced to the house's electrical wires. I got a bit confused while splicing and used green electrical tape instead of my signature yellow electrical tape. I don't know why I even have green electrical tape. After connecting the electrical connections I re-installed the cover for the electrical connections.
'Hood Update #3
This mysterious truck was parked across the street from our Cat-Food-Filled House for a couple of days. Why would a commercial water truck be parked on a residential street for a couple of days? Does the company let employees use these trucks as personal vehicles? The truck disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared. Hmmm....
Hood Update Part III
Now it was time to tackle that vent replacement, which meant a second trip to the local Home Depot. I searched for parts to rebuild the vent and conduit, and I found a one-piece unit that was exactly what I was looking for (conduit and vent as a single unit). It fits the exhaust port of the new hood flushly, it has its own little flapper door, and I just needed to trim its conduit for length.
This is the old vent, way up high on the wall.
As you can see, the old vent was made of plastic, and it was held in place by nails. It was not too much trouble to remove the nails and the old vent (although the vent did not come off in one piece).
Here is the new, one-piece vent (with built-in flapper door). As you can see, it is secured with bolts and copious amounts of silicone-based caulk.
The caulk came out of the tube white, but it cured clear. The new vent works great. The flapper door opens when there's air pressure from the exhaust fan, and it closes up nicely to keep critters and varmints out.
This is the new hood in place and running at full power. You can almost feel the air moving at 300 cfm. The sheetrock in this photo comes from the old hood. The old hood had a hollow area on top, and the sheetrock was in the hollow area.
And this is what the stove area looks like now with normal lighting and everything back in place.
Anybody know how to clean a bug zapper?
bIsh
