Joists, a Window, and Framing

It took about three weeks, but we have passed a milestone in the living room--we got the last of 10 ceiling joists up last weekend.

We "coupled" them to the existing joists which were in ok shape, but not wide enough to prevent sagging in the floor. It also seems that they didn't put the cross bracing in until after the joists had twisted and torqued out of shape.

Although we tried to adhere the new joist to the old with expanding foam and nails, some of the old joists were so twisted, the foam would have been completely useless. Troy stuffed scraps of wood between the old and new joists to give the new ones some support to keep them vertical.

It was certainly another example of how working on an old house is an adventure. Any time we thought we had the process figured out, the next joist would present another challenge. But we got it done, usually one or two joists in a session.

The good best news? As far as we can tell, this reinforcement has stopped the bedroom from rattling and shaking every time a truck goes by on the highway (and that's a lot). What a relief! We were hopeful that would happen, but you never know.

Another thing we finished since I've written here is the final window. It became rather drawn out. Troy ordered three windows for the living room. Eventually they came in. When we went to pick them up, the largest one was smashed.

We took home the other two and had them reorder the broken one, being very careful to check that the measurements were right and they were going to order the correct window. We don't know exactly what happened after that, but our best guess is that when we drove out of the yard, the guy at the gate scanned the wrong windows as delivered.

In any case, when Troy went to pick up the window they said was ready, it was the wrong window. Reorder again!!

Once we got the right window it was an adventure to install. Troy got things all set to go and then removed the old window. That's where is he got a surprise. I don't know the exact details, but part of the trim that is usually thinner where the window is was actually thicker. Or however you want to describe it, it results in the opening being smaller once the window is out. So Troy worked and worked with a planer and a chisel, and we went to put the window in. Wouldn't fit.

So he worked some more. And we went to put the window in. Wouldn't fit.

This went on til about 12:30 on a cold Wednesday night and then we were done for the night. The window wasn't done, but we were. So we left the new window propped (and secured) partially in the opening and went to bed.

It was an eventful week so we ended up not getting back to the window until Sunday! On Thursday, however, I remarked on just how cold it was. Troy pointed out that there was a gap more than an inch wide above the window...that's a lot of outside coming in! I had some foam to fix that and things weren't so bad for the next few days.

On Sunday we pulled the window back out again and Troy worked some more (and more) til he was really sure the window would fit. Then we stuck it in and this time it worked.

And finally, once the joists were done, Troy could start work on the framing:

He has the outline of the room laid out and the framework in place.

All I can think is that after framing comes drywall and then that means insulation...I need me some of that!! (And I can't believe I'm looking forward to insulating...)

More Tile

Just a quick post to show you what I got done today...

Worked a lot on the focus tile to be put above the stove. You can read all the details on this post of my other blog, but what I ended up with is this:

Yes, that is a Canadian flag. I love it.

Once that was done, I turned my attention to the window well. I got it covered in tile and had just enough energy to get up the frame tiles that didn't need cutting:

I wanted the seams to match and I wanted to miter the corners. The cuts didn't work out so that I could do both. Now I'm debating putting little 2" squares of the Mexican tile in the corners. I'm not sure yet. Let me know if you have any bright ideas.

Good night.

-c

Siding on a Sunny Sunday

The weather conspired to be sunny and calm on a day when Troy and I were both home, and boy, did we take advantage!

The north wall already had five pieces on it. We quickly slammed up four more and that took us to the window--the only "obstacle" on this wall.

Troy hadn't put on the J-trim so we worked on that:

The last window had some issues (something like the two side pieces being an inch different in length, as I vaguely recall) so we measured twice and got through this one without any hangups.

All trimmed out

I was relieved that the siding worked out as we anticipated (we had to make a decision about using full pieces, or starting with the half piece left over from the south side) so that a seam fell across the middle of the window. We just had to cut a rectangle out of two pieces of siding and slide them into place. So we measured, cut, and scooted the first piece in from the right:

Then measured and scooted the left side in from the other direction. Troy had to show off his strength and muscle to get it in position as the interlocking ridges couldn't easily slide over each other while constrained by the J-trim. Anyway, if you don't get the details, suffice it to say he proved himself a man and got it into place. (Yeah, Troy!)

Not willing to stop at the window we put up one more sheet. We made sure to check if we were level so that things would be ready to go next time, and we were right on. Gotta love that.

Here's a nice angle making it look like we're almost done. Not quite, but with 12 sheets up, we are past half the distance of this wall (36 of 70 feet), and certainly past half the work since the window is done.

Yeah, us!

Ode to walls

So yes the work on the dining room walls is moving right along while we still wait for things to come together on the concrete for the shop.

On Sunday Troy interupted some perfectly lovely sunbathing (and you know we don't get much here) to have me help him put up the vapour barrier, or more simply known as plastic. This is really the first of the construction work I have done. [I forgot the first rule of helping (or should I say working with) Troy which is to put on grubbies. So I ruined some nice capris.] But for once I was running the caulk gun and staple gun as much as Troy, not just assisting.

We were working with 8x10' sheets of plastic and I had to agree with Troy that it would have been quite unmanageable with just one. So he was quite justified in drafting me. We caulked every edge and seam and just tried to get it up as smooth, straight, and tight as possible. In the meantime I made a lot of jokes and puns on the word, caulk (who could resist?), and I'm sure if I repeated any of them here we would lose our family rating. But I trust you can come up with your own.

We did get the room done. You'll see in the pictures that it was quite colourful as Troy bought siding caulk (which comes in a variety of tints to match "any" colour). Every new tube was a surprise.

The pictures may cause you to think that where caulk is concerned, Troy thinks more is more, and you would be right. On top of that all the edges were stapled. Troy's new "super-duper" electric staple gun pooped out about half way through so we had to resort to the manual gun. (We are building some strong hands in this house!) Troy later exchanged the gun for a cheaper model (when the expensive one doesn't work where else is there to go?) but it didn't work right out of the box. Wow.

Then, even more exciting, Troy got some drywall up on Tuesday. Look at this:

It really looks like a wall, doesn't it!? With a honkin big window. Yup, that would be about right.

I don't know exactly what's coming up next, but I do know we'll have to blow the walls full of insulation some time soon. Troy promises that's even more fun that working the caulking gun. I don't think I should trust him on that....

-christina

Recent destruction

Troy has been very busy. The wall between the dining room and living room went from this:

to this:

Troy ripped off the panelling (living room side) and plaster and lath (dining room side), we took out some more of the suspended ceiling in the living room, removed trim, and opened up the passageway by a few feet:

Partway through the work:

A view from the dining room looking into the living room:

Things got a little messy, and we went back to the fifties by covering our furniture with plastic:We're thinking about keeping it...ha ha. Ok, maybe not.

And, as promised, pictures of the new windows. Here is the old south-facing window that's still in the living room:
And here's the new south-facing window in the living room:

Double pane, argon filled, I believe. We will enjoy the new clearer view and fewer drafts. Very nice.

All for now. I'm hoping to do some yard/garden work today. It's sunny so I'd better take advantage. I'm installing something to try and hide the propane tank which is smack in the middle of the east yard. Not pretty.

-christina

And two windows installed is even better yet

Yup, Troy got the second window in last night. I don't know exactly how far he got on the sealing and caulking because I was upstairs eating my popcorn dinner and then when directly to bed. This was one of those Sundays I spend all day in town so having the window open all day didn't bother me a bit: I wasn't there! Plus the weather is "milding" a little.

On other news we completely burned through all the glycerin Troy and Isaac had distilled the methanol from (despite the slightly milder weather) and Troy worked on a new batch of that yesterday as well. Yes he can be a very productive man!

I have worked on emptying one of the shelves of tools in the living room in anticipation of cutting the opening between the living room and dining room wider. The shelf has to move so we can cut out the wall behind it. Troy first mentioned this three weeks ago and has mentioned it several times since, but I sense a certain reluctance to let the mess extend beyond the gutted dining room. We really live in the living room. The TV's there; the woodstove's there (where I spend all my time!); the furniture is hard to move (big couch)... We're going to have to work harder to live around that mess. The dining room is easier to seal off and ignore if you're not actually working in it. But we'll have to do it sometime...

Another thing that's come up is that our oven quit. Now, I don't cook or bake a lot so this isn't quite the crisis it might be in some households. But I sure miss it whenever I think about cooking or baking! That is something on Troy's list of things to fix, but I'm not sure how fast it's moving up the list...

And my final note is that the resumed production of biodiesel has rendered the oil stove in the kitchen "useful" again and it is merrily pumping out heat. I no longer need to wear my toque or winter coat in the kitchen. We kept thinking spring was right around the corner and it wouldn't be big deal, but it certainly was as cold temperatures continued to hang around.

all for now,
christina

Windows are good; having one installed is even better

So I didn't want to write earlier in case it sounded like complaining, but now I am pleased to report that we have a new window installed in the dining room!

"What is there to complain about?" you ask? Well, during the process our house was without a window for a full day. I came home shortly before Troy on Tuesday and did notice that the house was chilly. But the weather's stayed cold and it's not unusual for the house to feel chilly. (We're talking low 50's F, just for a rough number. Cause I know one person's chilly is another's comfortable.) As I was thanking Troy for starting the fire in the woodstove, he made a comment to make me suspect what I soon confirmed: the west window in the dining room had been out all day!! The opening was covered with naught but an old thin curtain he had stapled to the outside frame. Brrr...

But as I said, things continued to progress and Troy had the window in by the end of the night. He had to grind at the oak frame so we also had a lot of smoke floating around the house, but it had cleared by the next morning. We got the window lifted into the opening (we are thankful for handles with good suction cups for lifting glass) and Troy got it sealed, caulked, and foamed. The house doesn't feel quite as drafty now.

And as expected, it looks great: just one big sheet of glass, 69" tall by 53" I believe. I may post a pic if I can get a good one. Getting a pic OF a window (instead of through a window) is a little tricky.

ttfn
-christina

New Walls, Old Walls...illustrated

Let me try to add some pictures to illustrate the previous post. First of all, here's a shot of the header board of the wall that was in the basement. Looks nice and solid, doesn't it!
And here's a before...
and after...
of the basement support wall. The pics are taken from opposite views, so sorry you don't have a direct comparison. But look at all that fresh new wood. Yum.
And here's a view of the dining room just before we moved in. (The left window faces south, the right window faces southwest.)
Here's a mid-destruction shot: (now the left window is the southwest window, and the right window faces west)
Notice how high the insulation goes. There was lots of empty space in the walls.
And here's the dining room as it sits tonight:

You're seeing the south window on the left again, and southwest window on the right. Troy is putting house wrap on the inside of the walls where he can, and a lot of foam where he can't. And look! There are our new picture windows stacked against the wall ready to go in. How exciting is that!!

All for now, this girl needs some shuteye.

-c

New windows

Just a quick update: our new windows are in at Menards! I'm so excited. Hopefully this will be the last post for a while as we will be busy putting in the windows. Ha ha.
-c

New walls in...old walls out

Wow it's been a while, hasn't it? Well, we've been busy...

Troy finished the wall in the basement so now the wall jacks are out and a nice 2x6 stud wall is in. And by "finished" I should specify it is a bare (empty?) stud wall. But it is holding up the house so that is a big improvement.

While the weather remained too cold for work outside, Troy started on the dining room. Hmm...I should give you a house layout to reference...let me think about how to do that. Meanwhile, Troy is in the dining room tearing out the plaster, lath, ceiling and anything else he can find. He also ordered the replacement windows. Twice. Ok, so he wanted to replace the old big picture windows b/c they are horribly inefficient at insulating. I want to keep them, but can hardly argue the point b/c my teeth are chattering too much to be able to talk. Troy orders a pair of double hung windows to replace the nice big sheet of glass we have now. It's a solution. But you know, not one I'm crazy about. We have a few more of these circuitous discussions and Troy does some more calling. What do you know! you can get a piece of glass that big without getting a new mortgage. So he was able to cancel the old order and put in a new one. And you know what? it was cheaper that way too. Hmmm...chattering teeth or not, my expression is smug...and satisfied.

So last week Isaac came up for spring break and Troy's parents (dad and stepmom in this case) came up to visit and then the work really started getting done! Let's see...

• For one, my washing machines now plug into the wall instead of sharing one extension cord that I would have to trade between the two machines. Not only is this easier on my hands (not having to dislodge the plug from the stubborn cord), it also frees up the ("the" as in only) plug in the bathroom. Nice.


• Our lightswitches were rewired and fixed so they no longer sort of "hang" from the wall instead of being mounted securely to the wall. I feel a little safer already.


• Our visitors will be happy to hear we have a guard rail along the back basement stairs. Now, I never felt unsteady around the gaping hole in the floor, but I did worry about the visitors who didn't have this trap marked in their mental maps of the house. Sorry, it's still not safe for kids as the stiles are a good 24 inches apart yet.


• In addition to being stripped completely bare, the dining room got at least 4 or 5 more electrical outlets. Too many for a dining room you say? I do not agree. Especially since the room may serve as entertainment room or office at some point.


• Troy also managed to use the "warm enough" weather to distill the glycerin (to recover the methanol) and he made a mould so that the glycerin bricks exactly fit the pot we burn them in. He is clever sometimes, I have to admit. This also means the fires are running very hot again for this last kick of winter.

Well, that's all the work I know about, noticed, or can remember. I was at work all week so I did not get in on all the fun. (In fact all I got was a cold!) We had good visits with Tom, Clures, Isaac, Mom and Aunt Marie Ann. It's feast or famine with us and guests I think, but that's ok. Thank you to Tom and Isaac who pitched in mightily and Clures who kept us very well fed.

Sorry, no pictures for you to ogle. I got tired of waiting for a good time to upload them. Maybe I'll add them later.

All for now,

christina