I ran a bundle of old lathe boards through the planer and polyurethaned them. These will become trim for the upstairs suite at 1403.
When my arms have healed a bit more, I’ll resume work there. Here is my to do list.
leftovers
Food leftovers are great, in my book, but sometimes you need an extra fridge to store it all, like a porch fridge with turkey or a beer fridge in the garage.
I have quite a bit of leftover inventory from the latest projects (main, up). The mudroom at 1403 still has a lot of drywall and other material, tools, and equipment to complete the upper suite. Most of the other material is stored at home in the shed. I bought some plastic storage totes from Walmart and organized it all in an inventory list.
rear walkway nearly complete
We (finally) resumed work on the rear walkway for the house. We picked up 3/4 yd. of gravel from Lethbridge Landscape Supply and spread it out along the walkway area. This is what it looked like over time.
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So today’s work was to add more gravel, level everything with a slight slope, and put in the paving stones (basically concrete blocks 24″x24″). The existing ones needed to be moved to line up with the new ones, so the steps were temporarily removed. The pavers were not quite lined up with the house because the patio area slab (formerly gazebo slab) was slightly askew. We straightened them all out, and now I think it looks alright.
3795333 520 12C St N Lethbridge AB prop 20261105_163045 main rear walkway complete, no step.jpg 3925393 520 12C St N Lethbridge AB prop 20261105_170736 main rear walkway step.jpg 3373077 520 12C St N Lethbridge AB prop 20261105_170800 main rear walkway nearly complete.jpg 3119663 520 12C St N Lethbridge AB prop 20261105_170804 main rear walkway nearly complete.jpg
Next is to straighten the edge of the gravel with a form, fill in the remaining edge with soil, and plant some sort of vegetation – small shrubs maybe. But at least now the tenants can shovel the walk of snow without digging up the gravel.
However, the gate still isn’t up yet, so I guess that would be next.
leftovers stored
I have enough material left over to start on another suite!
I’ll deal with the smaller things later (bathroom fans, screws, electrical, etc.). In the mean time, here is some stuff still in stock.
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I put the refrigerator (Magic Chef) online for sale, but no one even called.
I tried selling the range online for $100. No one wanted it. I dropped it down to $50. A couple of people were interested, but no one came.
I intentionally bought extra flooring tiles as the stairs, mid landing, and entrance for the 1403 upstairs suite are not yet done. I hope it will be enough.
I have no idea what to do with the house wrap. The garage at 1403 is covered in stucco, as is the house. The shed doesn’t need wrap.
As for the waterlines, the house at 1403 was changed over to PEX, and this is the leftovers. Enough to do another suite? Probably not.
temporary barrier
A temporary barrier was put up at the front veranda so that Halloween kids won’t fall into the pit.
It was supposed to be old and scary looking. I’m not sure if I captured that.
Reuse, Recycle, Refuse
Going to the landfill doesn’t always mean that the garbage goes into the landfill. Lots of this refuse is recycled.
This refuse was from the upstairs suite renovations.
Concrete is ground up and used as aggregate for other concrete or fill.
White wood, they call it, is wood that hasn’t been painted. It can be chipped up and used as biomass in garden beds, according to the people at the recycling depot (a.k.a. the dump).
baseboard heater fixed, faceplates added, stairway storage completed
The baseboard heater works now.
According to my electrical engineer friend, the thermostat was arcing. When dialing it up and down, one can hear a kind of buzzing or hissing sound, the sound of a small arc going on within. Likely the contacts are dirty. He thinks it’s fine, but I think I will replace it anyway. Arcing leads to carbon building which leads to more arcing.
faceplates, baseboard heaters
More finish work was done today. I added faceplates to most of the outlets and switches. Double outlets / switches aren’t done yet because I bought the wrong ones. I’ll pick up the right ones tomorrow.
Seam sealer, normally used in vinyl flooring, was used to seal the butt joints in the countertop.
The baseboard heaters were all installed except in the bathroom. The heater does not work.
organizing
Today is organizing day. I brought home much of the building materials, supplies, tools, etc. from 1403 and put it in the garage at home. Now comes the sorting, storing, cleaning, throwing away, recycling, and … the big one … inventorying. Why make an inventory? As workdays went on, stuff became less organized and more chaotic, so, when something couldn’t be found, a new one was purchased. This was the case for everything from a box of screws to a laser meter. If only I had stuck to a method of accounting for all of my stuff, my accounting wouldn’t be in such a state.
The upper suite at 1403 is not yet complete, but they are moved in, any my arms are sore, so I will spend the next while organizing.
the other half day outside
Another trailer load of junk.
The rear light, previously used at the rear of 520, was malfunctional (yes, it’s a word), just as my tenant attested. The neighbours here at 1403 said the damned thing flashed all night long. After changing the settings, it still flashed. “Cheap is cheap”, as a long-forgotten person would say. So I picked up a motion sensor light from Rona along with a 2-pack of 15-Watt bulbs. Dave held the ladder and handed stuff up to me while I scrambled up there in the wind. I’ll have to go by the house at night to see if it works.
