A Short Week

On Sunday, Terri & Mark planned to stop by on their way home from the cabin. Barb & I had to get some stuff done before they arrived so we would have a productive afternoon when they get here. We had poured a cement column under the beam that the floor joists connect to and the beam had to be raised a little and steel placed between the beam and the cement column. Our 20 ton auto jack came in handy so Barb didn’t hurt her back lifting the beam! Once the beam was level and supported, we then nailed on more joist hangers and a few more joists so the plywood we had down was a little safer to walk on.

When Terri & Mark arrived, we smoked into the rest of the floor joists in the back of the house and got them all installed and levelled. With that done, we continue to open the floor around the perimeter so our insulation contractor has access to the foundation to apply the spray foam insulation. Because this is old lumber, we are trying to save it to put it back down – if we tried to fill in this area with todays lumber, the floor would be uneven. This slowed us down considerably but got it done.

It was a short work week for us but we got a lot done anyway. Dawn, our second daughter was having gall bladder surgery and we wanted to be there when she came out. So, on Monday we ran a bunch or errands and picked up more supplies for later. We stayed at Terri’s overnight to get an early start in the morning for Napanee. We arrived just as Dawn was coming out of recovery. The hospital was releasing her around 2PM and we drove her home and sat with her there for a short time before getting back in the traffic for home. The ride back had two bad rain storms and we arrived back in Fort Erie safe but tired.

Bright and early Wednesday – well, bright anyway, we continue to open the perimeter across the front of the house. There once was a deck across the front. As we opened the front edge, we could pass a car through the opening into the house! Joking aside we did see Raccoon paw prints on the joists.  Don`t know how anyone could have lived here under these conditions! Barb & I built a header from side to side and added a nail strip for the new siding. The sides are ok but joist lookouts had to be added to support the floor after the spray foam insulation is applied. Trying to think of everything that needs to be in place or removed for the spray foam is tricky. It was a little tight for nailing but having a pneumatic nail gun sure helps.

 

 

On Thursday, we looked over the main part of the house attached to the original front porch.  We found an interesting issue with the 1st 2 floor joists. The one on the west side of the house was not nailed to the beam or any of the floor boards and the floor joist on the east side was not there! After securing the joist that was there, we set about replacing the missing one and securing it so it could not go missing again! The main beam across the front of the centre portion was a bit weak in places so we sistered up a new piece side to side to it to give it more support.

 

 

 

Saturday, we decided that we were going to get the sewer cleaned up and move our temporary trailer hook up to the outside and the opening closed for spraying. Wow, what a job that was! I had our nephew-in-law plumber, Jessie, on speed dial for help. I just about used up a complete butane tank on the heat torch trying to melt the lead bead around the cast sewer pipe. I managed to chip a small amount out and gave up with the heat. Got the grinder out and broke that. Tried putting the cutting wheel in a drill and broke the cutting wheel. I think someone was working against me here! Finally, I was able to cut the 90 degree elbow off flush with the hub with our reciprocal saw. Now what, I still have to get the old pipe out of the hub – I see a small gap where I was able to pick out some of the lead and oakum. I inserted the reciprocal in and after some fight to hold on, I was able to cut the lead bead all the way around the hub. Some more heat, a little hammering with the crow bar and my hammer and finally, I was able to wiggle the rest of the elbow out of the hub. Now it is ready to start building the new sewer system and build a dump station on the outside for the trailer.

In the meantime, Barb installed all the blocking in the stud walls around the front of the house by herself. I provided some assistance with the nail gun but she did all the other hard work and heavy lifting – like I said in the past, I have a great construction partner, not to mention a wonderful wife!

That’s it for this week, we hope all is good where you are and please enjoy this photo of our Oleanders back at the Plantation, courtesy for Ann & Bill.

A Slower Week

Barb & I took Sunday off, Barb was able to do some quilting and me, well I just hung out and got some restful down time. We watched a family of Robins flitting around our mounds of muck filling themselves with discovered delicacies. We needed the time off, we were both exhausted from the renovations so far. The trenching was unplanned and set us back in our timeline and it is hard not to play catch up.

 

 

On Monday, we finish the backfilling of gravel and made an attempt to remove some of the muck and mire sitting around. Without the proper equipment, it was futile and after an hour or so, we called it a day and said farewell to the mini backhoe. Terri & Mark stopped again to help out. This time, we removed the low ceiling joists in the front part of the house, removed all the nails and re-used the joists to raise the ceiling up to 8 feet. With the vaulted ceiling on the centre and 8 foot ceilings in the front – wow, does that ever open it up! It is sooooo much more fun when we’re constructing instead of de-constructing. After a beverage and a little personal clean up, we took off for dinner to ‘He’s Not Here’, a great place for wings or burgers and of course, a cool one too! They have an outdoor patio that over looks the Niagara River – it’s not Big Daddy’s works for us as a replacement.

 

 

 

 

 

  Not too much was accomplished on Tuesday. We fused around with the wires for the sump pump, chiselled a hole under the foundation and dug a trench inside the crawl space so we could place a weeping tile and gravel to help keep the basement/crawl space drier. Yes, the trench and the hole under the foundation lined up and water was able to drain from inside out to the perimeter trench and down to the sump pump. At the end of the day, we also poured our concrete footing for support of the beam in the back of the house. These activities will not be apparent at the end of the project but necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday was a little more productive visually. Barb & I installed the collar ties on the vaulted ceiling and joist blocking in the newly raised ceiling in the front part. We also removed 3 windows of the sunroom where the laundry and closet will be located. The windows will be re-used in the east wall of the bedroom. You may think it a little early but our activities are moving us to getting some of the spray foam insulation done.

 

 

Thursday was a slow day for us. Our water main has been leaking and we have tried to have our local plumber come by to let us know what we can do since it was on the city side (before the water meter) of the service. We also want to move the water meter and shut off into the ‘warm side’ of the house so it won’t freeze up in the future. We think that this leak has be leaking for a long long time and could possibly be a major contributor to the wetness in the crawl space. Did you know that cement takes longer to dry than paint? We have to wait for the concrete before we can do more with the beam support and hanging floor joists.

 

So on this rainy Friday morning, we’re off shopping for the plumbing supplies to fix the leaky water main. Since the city water valve does not shut off the water 100% and you can not solder pipe with water in it, we have to use the more expensive Sharkbite fittings for the repairs. I have to borrow a water main shutoff wrench from our friendly local plumber so have to wait until he is done for the day before we can start work. More digging to expose more of the work area keeps me busy for part of the afternoon. We finally have the water off and Barb & I remove, clean and reroute our water line so it is more accessible in the future and hopefully will not freeze in the winter.

We were lucky enough that a previous owner left us the old wooden garage doors leaning up against the back of the garage! We thought we could just carry them out to the bin and drop them in – wrong! They are way to heavy and need to be cut into smaller, more manageable pieces so that is our first task on Saturday – the bin is close to being full so we’ve got to get them in soon. As I am running the circular saw through the doors, I smell that earthy smell of cedar – these doors are solid cedar and a shame that they were not maintained. They would have been a beautiful door in their day but way to far gone now to be restored.

 

 

Back in the house, we are starting to remove the old hardwood in the centre of the house and cut the subfloor 2 feet from the edge so we can inspect the rim joists for rot and sturdiness. We are surprised by 2 things: no standing water and the rim joist look fine, as do the beam supports in the centre so now we do not have to take up this part of the floor – halleluiah! It’s early afternoon now and we decide to take the rest of the day off, hit the beer store and take a walk down to the Niagara River and enjoy our surroundings for the first time.

In a few blocks, we are on the Friendship Trail, overlooking the Niagara River and some very nice water front properties. Now, we did not walk all 17Kms of the trail here in Fort Erie but we did manage to get out of the reno mode and enjoy our adventure. And yes John, we did manage to find a place to pick up an ice cream!

I think that is all for this week. We’ll leave you with a picture of a bloom from our magnolia tree back at the Plantation thanks to Ann & Bill for taking it and sending it to us. We hope all is good where you are….

Project Detour

Whew, another week of excitement and fun! We started Sunday off by cleaning more debris from the crawl space – margarine containers etc that the previous owner used to feed the cats that were living under the house. We also cleaned out the spidies from the garage so we could hang the floor plan and the project timeline for easy reference. We cleaned ourselves up and spent an enjoyable afternoon and evening at Corrie & Dean’s for Mother’s Day dinner.

On Monday, we completed the rim joists for the back of the house. Thankfully, we were able to re-use some of the floor joists that were not rotten to fit in. It would have been a more difficult job to do with todays lumber dimensions – a lot of shimming would have been needed! A beam is needed to support the floor joists in the back part of the house so Barbie & I set about laminating some 2x8’s together and got it in place and levelled up.

 

 

 

Monday was a long day but we accomplished a lot. When we woke up on Tuesday, we find a few inches of water in the crawlspace from the overnight rains. Crap! If this is going to happen every time it rains… well, I’m sure you can imagine. Anyway, we were not ready to put in the weeping tiles around the house but it appears it needs to be done sooner than later. This throws a wrench in our plans and pushes us back some. We have a neighbour that mentioned he would help with knowledge and equipment when we were ready to put in the weeping tiles. I wander over to his home and ask him to have a look at our water problems and see what he thinks. Well, the next thing I know, we’re digging test holes and discussing plans to dig a trench around the house and install the tile and backfill with gravel. One of the test holes revealed an old ‘grease pit’ where they drained the kitchen sink into. The top was broken so it was not hard to open and wow, did it stink! We get it all cleaned out so we can place a plastic barrel in it with the sump pump.

We realized we needed to get a ‘locate’ done for gas and other underground services but when called, they would not commit as they require 7 days notice. Dave calls in a favour and the next thing we know, I am out in the pouring rain at 9:30PM with amber lights flashing talking to a ‘locate’ guy. He said this was not an emergency situation and there is nothing he can do. He spoke to the dispatcher and there will be the proper ‘locators’ out the next morning to identify where the services are.

Barb sidelined herself because ladies do not work out in the muck but she kept herself busy working on some quilt projects and made herself a little quilted bag to hold her measuring tape and pencil on the mitre saw.

 

After the rain stopped a little, we noticed the locate paint marks, showing us where the gas and telephone lines were. It has been a week of cool and rainy weather but we manage to dig the trench on Wednesday and avoided the gas, water and sewer lines successfully. Now Barb & I had to shop for the drainage pipe and parts so we can start moving gravel and laying in the pipe on top on Thursday. This seems like last minute stuff and it is! We gat back to the house around 10 PM with the drainage supplies and more lumber. Terri and Mark plan to come by on Saturday to help build the vaulted ceiling in the main area of the house and we wanted to be sure we had the supplies.

 

Thursday morning, our first task was to get the sump pump set up in the cement tank that we found Tuesday. At least we can start pumping some of this water away to help dry the ground up some. We are up to our ass in mud and mire around the house. My arms are a little longer now after pushing the wheel barrow through it to dump gravel in the trench – now I have to wear gloves all the time to avoid scratching my knuckles on the ground when I’m walking!

By Friday, we have the pipe in the trench and start back filling the gravel – the pump is running a lot and moving out lots of water. The water in the crawlspace is slowly disappearing. I knocked a small hole at the base of the foundation and plan to dig a trench inside to help catch more water to ensure we do not have standing water again under the floor.

Saturday, we get our money’s worth out of Terri & Mark! But, there is no way to get in the house! The front door was closed due to the moat around the house and there was no floor in the back. So, before they arrived, Barb & I installed some floor joists and laid some plywood so we could get into the house through the back door. After removing the old ceiling rafters and some discussion on how, the new ceiling was in and looking great. With some time left, Terri & Mark moved lots of gravel to areas that were not accessible by machine. With Barb shovelling gravel into the wheel barrows and Terri & Mark hauling them and me raking – yep, I had the easy job – we moved a lot of gravel in short order.

Just reliving this week, I am exhausted so that’s it for now. Hope all is well where you are….