projects on the go
So today was mostly about prepping for 6-mil poly (plastic vapour barrier). No time yet to put it up – prep was kind of time consuming. We wound the kitchen circuit wiring (a 20-Amp kitchen counter and a 15-Amp microwave) through the furring strips.
That done, we all stood around the 2nd storey stairway to determine the best plan of attack.
I generally take pics of everything I do to keep a record of stuff. Today’s big task was re-routing electrical wires. The previous person had 16 objects on one 15-Amp circuit. To me, 10 is about maximum, and they would be mixed within various rooms. These 16 were mostly in one bedroom, the living room, and the bath. As well, they mixed lights with receptacles (outlets), a no-no in today’s practices. I cut the circuit in half, ran a new 14-2 wire from a new breaker to the second half of the circuit in question (living room, now total 8 items), added four extra receptacles to the original one (total 9 items), and cut the lights from this circuit, adding them to another light-dedicated breaker. Sorry, no pics. Maybe later. Late night. I got home 15 minutes before the New Year celebration on TV (CBC, I think).
Also, a partition wall between the hall and the stairway leading to the 2nd story suite was taken down. Not to code! A fire-rated wall will be put in its place.
I also found my notes from the last renovation four years ago.
Lighting was the main reason for starting first-floor renovations.
Bedrooms 1 (front) and 2 (middle) had no lighting. Well, that’s not entirely true. Long ago, it had lighting. It seems that when panelling was put up to hide the plaster, they simply paved over the light fixtures. (Boneheads.) I’ve had the house for about four years now, and this has always been a sore spot. Now? Let there be light!
The insulation of the first floor has begun.
From the looks of the framing, there used to be a west-facing 30″ x 60″ window in bedroom 1 (front bedroom).
They framed it in and paved over it with rock-dash stucco during the stucco craze. In its stead, they added a south-facing window. I’m not sure if the front porch was built before or after, but this new window opened onto the porch (a.k.a. sun room). So, if in the middle of the night you wish to get some fresh air, you can’t, unless you wander outside and open the screen door window. No other window in that porch opens.
“The trailer’s a bit heavy,” I said.
“I think it’ll be fine,” HFT said.
“Looks heavy to me,” D said.
We didn’t make it more than 5 blocks when a tire blew. We stopped along 13 St N, hazard and overhead lights blinking. I put out my safety triangle 10 paces behind the rig. Luckily, I decided to bring the spare trailer tire this day. Yay! Except…
More work must be done to raise the 2nd floor back to its rightful elevation. The load-bearing partition between the living room and laundry / bathroom is, by my measurements, two 2 1/8 inches too short. The floor dips that much from over 28 inch span across the hallway. The installers of this wall didn’t really care enough to make it the same height as the other interior partitions. So, it has to be removed and another put in its place.
Nearing the end.
So is my back.
Today was pretty much devoted to pulling panelling, furring strips, plaster, lathe, and bricks from the walls. The exterior walls all had bricks inside. These are not structural but, rather, meant as a heat sink, barrier from wind, fire block, and insulation. We have better quality insulation that acts as a fire block (like Rockwool) available now.
That’s a long title, isn’t it?
The rim joist on the east wall of the original 4-square house has cracked. When? Hard to say. Why? Easy. Too much pressure was put on it many years ago from a support column in the first floor. Raising square-corner butt joint joists were raised up just recently, but the split widened as there was nothing under that portion of it to support it, where the 1st floor support column is.
So today we dug a new area for a new footing. I did the digging and hauling of 20L buckets to the stairs, D from next door hauled the buckets to HFT, and HFT hauled the wheel-barrow to the back. “Are we nearing the end?” I’d hear every now and then. “Almost!” I would shout.
So then what? Fill it with concrete. We mixed one US gallon hot water from the SRV on the water heater, four shovels of cement (blasted 40kg bags! (danged 88 lbs.)), eight shovels of sand, and four shovels of gravel (mixed with sand). Very scientificy, I know – especially as we had to add a little more of this or a little more of that. We got about 3.5″ of concrete. More tomorrow, if the weather holds out.
The after-hours cleanup was also fun.
In mixing concrete for the side patio, we hooked the hose up on west the side of the house. It looks like it was put in in the 1950s. The faucet leaks continually when turned on. Since the main floor kitchen sink is now against an exterior wall, I think we should put in a new frost-free hose bib there. It only makes sense to put it there as it would be more central to the rest of the property (grass, shrubs, potential garden).
