Back to Work

Our little holiday with Nathanial is over and we’re back to work – sort of. We still do not have our HVAC installed so no plumbing can go in and we’re still waiting for a permit to do this reno. I know, your as tired of hearing about this as we are of waiting but this gives me a place to vent or rant. Anyway, I hope it does not dissuade you from reading on.

Our late return from dropping Nate off at home brought us driving south on the QEW at about 10:30PM and we were still about 10Kms from Fort Erie, the night sky was ablaze with the July 4 celebrations from Buffalo, NY. We were tempted to carry on down to the river and watch but figured they would be done by the time we found a parking space. The fireworks still were erupting a good 20 minutes after we settled in at home so maybe we could have seen more but once we kicked our shoes off, the our easy chairs called out our names, we were done for the night!

Saturday found us making some changes to the back wall where the furnace was going. Under direction of the HVAC contractor, we had to move a couple of studs and being an outside wall supporting some roof rafters, we thought the building inspector would be happier with a header under the top plate where the studs were supporting. So Barb did the planning and the cutting and I did the nailing and in short order, we had an area that could be opened from floor to ceiling if necessary for the HVAC ducts. We’re both concerned on what the inspector would want for the vaulted ceiling in the ‘great room’. Barb suggested we should place a 2x4 strap across from rafter to rafter on the underside for added support. I agreed that was an excellent idea and so after calculating the roof angle, we cut and installed the members complete with nailing plates – just like the pros!

On Sunday, we dry fit the plumbing drain layout in order for the HVAC guys to see  so they knew what our plans were. Our nephew-in-law gave us some ideas on what we needed to do and with some other input, we managed to get it right – according to our HVAC contractor who is also does plumbing.

 

 

Monday is HVAC day! Yes, we’re seeing some forward motion. But wait, with the toilet drain where we want it, completely blocks the duct work coming from the back of the house. It doesn’t matter where in the bathroom we put it, it will be in the way so now what, put it in the living room! One suggestion from the HVAC guys was to turn the floor joists in the back the other way which would allow us to place the toilet drain up into the joist area and not below as we had it. That idea is considerable work and expense not to mention the little gain for us. We would have to chip out some spray foam on the foundation in order to install a header to support the floor joists in a different direction. This is not an ideal situation. We discussed a couple of other options and told them we would think about it and let them know so they could begin building the duct work. By now, we are getting really frustrated with the whole process. With the insulation we’re planning on putting in, it has been said that we could heat this place with a candle!

Anyway, back to the drawing board for us and see which plan works best for us. One suggestion was to put it in the bedroom closet – what! Who wants to hear that coming on in the middle of the night so no thanks, that is not an option but with such a small space, we are limited. The final decision is to put it at the other end of the bathroom, between the bathroom and the kitchen. We’ll need to build a small room for it, fill the walls with Roxul for sound deadening. By the end of the day, Barb has designed a new plan, designed the bathroom that works and we notified the HAVC guys and now they can move ahead with the build.

Tuesday was a brighter day for us, we got the call that our permit had been approved. Armed with our check book, we excitedly went to the town hall and picked it up. We met with the inspector that reviewed our plans and went over some of his changes. It all sounded pretty easy going at the time but we’ll see what they say and do when they are actually on site. He suggested we needed an additional 2x8 in the beam that goes across the back and that 2x10 headers were required over the 6 foot living room window. We have an 8 inch header now with no more room to increase it to 9 1/2 so like I said, we’ll see. He also said we need to install 3 smoke detectors that are interconnected, meaning when one goes off, they all go off! Hey, we’re talking 750 sq. feet on 1 floor! Who wouldn’t hear 1 smoke detector in this space? How many of you out there remove your smoke detector in your RVs when your making toast? I informed our HVAC guy that we had our permit. He said the inspector may want an amendment to the design since we are moving the furnace from back to midway, the ducts sizes may change – crap another delay. HVAC said he would connect with the engineer and get it changed non gratis.

Wednesday we went to the vampire clinic for upcoming doc appointments and while we were out, decided that we should see what our kitchen cabinets were going to cost us. Off to Lowes and looked at the off-the-shelf stuff and decided that they did not actually completely fulfill our needs. We stepped up to the kitchen design area to sit with a professional (tongue in check here) and see what a custom set would do for us. We previously did this in Ikea, were served immediately and had a rough idea on our costs so we expect similar service this time and Lowes has been fairly good with their service. We were wrong in this case – the ‘professional’ was at the desk but asked us to make an appointment so ‘they’ could schedule the time for us – she was about to go to lunch in 60 minutes and had another appointment after that – so I guess they do not accept walk-ins! I’m sure enough of you know us by now that we did not make that appointment or go back later – we did go back to Ikea on Thursday though and sat again with one of their professionals and finalized a kitchen plan that fills our needs. While we were there, we picked up our bathroom vanity and a wall cabinet. Now, all we need are some floors and walls and we can install them! On our way home, we picked up our tankless water heater – if only we had some plumbing to hook up to it! I know, stop whining, it will be done in time, we just hope it happens before the snow flies!

After our shopping excursion and everything was safely stored away, Barb washed down the house to get rid of the old spidery webs and dirt from the trenching in May. Me, I was on spider guard – you can imagine how many spiders were heading for the hills when Barb hit the cedar shakes with a 1600 PSI water canon!

On Friday, we replaced the temporary plywood covering the windows in the back room that we took out early in the project. These windows were all re-purposed else where in the house and the  replaced windows are in the garage, waiting to be sold. Anybody need some good windows? Terri & Mark came down on Friday evening to help us put some siding up on the garage. I had ordered the siding on line but had to use a store in Etobicoke that Terri & Mark picked up but when they arrived, the siding they were given was not the siding we ordered so, break out the lawn chairs and we’ll have a beverage instead of hard work!

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, they returned the product for refund and we’ll try again when the local store has stock. Barb & I replaced the 2x4 studs we took out to accommodate the HVAC ducts. Only problem was that the studs we removed were the originals, real 2x4s so I had to pick up 2x6s and rip them to the exact dimension. All fun at the end of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for that week, we hope all is good where you are….