outlets, switches, gaps, fillers

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We begin again.  This is where we left off last time – with a temporary floor. 

I noticed, when putting a cover on the outside GFI for block heaters, that nothing would plug in.  The outlet was stuck.  I see now that it is a tamper resistant outlet.  In other words, it has some piece of plastic in there to prevent things from being plugged in.  Dave noticed and told me about it earlier in the year when he was plugging in the cement mixer.  As it turns out, all GFI (or, at any rate, all 20A GFI) duplex receptacles are tamper resistant.  I went to Home Depot to get one that isn’t, but they didn’t have any.  Dunno what I’m going to do here.  More on that later. 

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living room window in, skim coat on

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Time to put in a temporary floor so we can get the window in.  I picked up some treated 1/2″ plywood from Lealta Building Supplies.  The counter guy game me some good advice about later painting the surface of this.  It will be two layers of 1/2″ instead of one 3/4″ ply and one 1/4″ paintable ply. 

The window is in.  Dave and I hoisted the window up on its frame and  s l o w l y  carried it to the veranda where we rested it on three upturned buckets.  We put a 1×4 across the opening on the inside so the window wouldn’t just fall in. 

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window caulk, cable

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The large living room window was turned up-side-down, and I put a bead of Flex Paste in the interior gap.  This stuff is hard to squeeze out of the tube.  But, for $22 a tube, it is likely better than simple caulking.  Now I must wait for it to cure. 

In the mean time, I fitted the small living room window framing with exterior sheathing of 1/2″ OSB.  It is a smaller window than previously, so the gaps need to be filled and sealed. 

Next, tape flashing to seal up the gaps. 

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living room drywall and window

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Now that the lift is complete, we can work on the main floor. 

This is a milestone, a turning point.  I don’t want to jinx it by saying so, but things should go smoothly from here.  <knock on wood> 

Now that the living room window wall is straight, the window rough framing is tilted. 

Floyd, Dave, and I discussed how to fix it. 

  • Shim the crooked parts so that the window looks straight. 
  • Carve the rough opening wood down so that the window frame is straight. 
  • Reframe. 

You know what I would choose.  We reframed. 

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lift complete

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Finally!  The house is finally level and stable. 

I thought about it all last night – whether to rent the jack hammer again for $40 and chip out more concrete to put align the bottle jack with the stable part of the sill plate and rim joist.  I wracked my brain to find another way.  

The way, it turns out, was simple.  The house was stable, yes, but it was still holding the add-on down.  So, I screwed the new screw jack stands up and pumped the bottle jack until they are both up high enough to add the last course of bricks in between the foundation and sill plate. 

The five little red screw jacks at the end in question were easy to screw upward one-at-a-time.  Together, they had enormous lifting power. 

The gas line, with the hole through the rim joist elongated, sits stably on the rim joist hole. 

While down there, I talked with my sister in England via WhatsApp.  Between jacking and bricking, I weeded. 

Now that the lift is complete, on to the main floor living room drywall and window. 

drywall – but before that…

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I picked up more drywall for the living room from Home Depot.

But, before that, I wanted to check their spray foam bottles and applicator.  It seems that that little plastic thing stuck in the applicator was not part of it but likely broke off from another spray foam bottle. 

Before any drywall is put up on the final living room wall, several things must still happen. 

  • Insert living room window glass into its frame, seal it, install window frame into rough opening. 
  • Reframe rough opening if window does not fit.  (That corner of the house had been lifted, so most certainly the rough opening shape has changed.) 
  • Insert bricks under add-on sill plate.  Raise the room enough to do so. 

So, that means no drywall, taping, or mudding yet. 

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living room add-on walls

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The living room add-on walls are scraped of all rotten sheathing.

I got some spray foam insulation from Canadian Tire and filled the cracks between the stucco and the studs.  Very sticky stuff.  Next, the insulation went up.  We used what came out of the walls but doubled it up (R12, yellow) and filled in the rest with new (R22, pink). 

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LR beam support stud, jacking SE corner

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The living room support stud was there, right where I left it. 

I got some long drill bits from Canadian Tire again for pilot holes – #6 and #7, I think.  The first five wore out from fatigue (or misuse). 

The second support stud went in.  I used 3½” screws to mount the first and second stud to the existing balloon studs. 

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front jacking dry-run, new beam supports

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Dave arrived shortly after I did, and we kicked the front forms from the footing. 

Before putting the beam in, I inspected the balloon studs and floor joists.  One is badly worn, rotted.  The rot should be cut, and a shim should be added. 

The beam I was going to use fell short.  It must span five studs / joists. 

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living room furring, veranda

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I added 2×2 furring strips to the SE and E living room walls.  

The new window framing must be complete first, so I removed the old window.  Some kind of insect had made its nest in there a while ago. 

 

Corners are always a small issue when furring.  This time, I fastened a 2×3 to an existing 2×4 and a 2×2 to the 2×3.  This allows for drywall attachment. 

Dave showed up.  After we temporarily fitted the new living room window in, we looked at what used to be the porch (soon to be the veranda) and how it was constructed and added to over time.  I tore off a bunch of superfluous wood used to frame in the old windows. 

Whoever changed the original veranda into a covered in porch carved up what used to be beautiful pillars.  There are four in total.  I wonder if there is someone with a lathe who wants to turn a 6×6 post.  It doesn’t have to be fir – that would be expensive.  But it should be 8 feet long. 

I’ll start the insulation and replacing the header king studs next.