September 2026 – Page 2

window insulation; electrical code; kitchen, living room drywall

2026092220260921 by Allan

The can said “low expansion”. I disagree. It expanded and dried overnight, and I cut probably 30% of it off. I’ll know for next time how much to use. At least it didn’t expand and push the window frame out-of-whack.

The bedroom and living room new framing gaps were Tuck taped.

west window exterior complete

2026102220260920 by Allan

Today’s task is to get the exterior of the new windows complete before the scissor lift is returned.

An unfortunate find.

windows finally in

2026092020260919 by Allan

When I got here this morning, the scissor lift was still there, waiting for work to begin.

The bedroom window rough opening needed to be framed before the window went in.

However, the lift didn’t go up past 10 feet or so. I moved the plywood back and forth hoping to give a level ground. Maybe the error 18 was because it was tilted sideways? I texted Aaron at United Rentals. A technician would call me back.

garbage

2026091920260918 by Allan

We (finally) got a new garbage container. Yay.

The old one had gang spray paint and a big crack in the front.

The garbage bags and the rest of the refuse wood was piled on the trailer. I’ll go in a couple of Saturdays to unload it at the landfill. I’ve separated the drywall, white wood, and garbage (bags, painted wood, etc.) to make it easier at the landfill.

Today we had the scissor lift to do work on the two remaining windows. Here is the view from up above.

scissor lift, remaining windows

2026091920260918 by Allan

While Dave sanded, mudded little holes, and primed and painted the bedroom, I got to work on the last two remaining windows that need replacement – the bedroom and the living room.

The amount of dirt inside the old framing was substantial, more than the other windows.

Rona+, protector plates and paper, living room window, range outlet

2026092620260917 by Allan

Rona+ is the only place I could find that sells whole boxes of protector plates (“bang plates”). They hardly have any staff there. Their app is broken – doesn’t accept my email and password despite being told several times over the past two years – so I can’t look up which isle and bay a product sits. I must stand at customer service way longer than should be before someone speaks to me. Their flooring guy in particular is the most miserable person I’ve ever met in retail, pushing me to go to End Of the Roll. In short, I hate this place.

Here’s a view of the new living room window. Looks good, I think. Just needs to be permanently installed before it falls out.

I put down some fresh paper. But this paper is too thin and rips easily underfoot (not from Rona+ but from Home Depot).

ceiling light holes, taping and mudding, windows, ladybugs

2026102520260916 by Allan

Here is my 3rd try at placing the kitchen lighting. <sigh>

I moved the smoke alarm to the left. Why? I measured and cut the hole from the wrong side of the drywall. Rather than patch it up and create a new hole, I moved the darned thing.

begin ceiling drywall

2026091720260915 by Allan

On to the ceiling. But first, move the boxes full of flat-pack cabinets that are in the way.

There is no rafter tie on the west end of the house. A spacer (1″) and backing (2×4 on-the-flat) were added for mounting the ceiling drywall.

Floyd came by and offered a badly needed 3rd set of arms.

cleanup, organization, begin living room

2026102520260914 by Allan

I spend much of the morning and early afternoon working on cleaning up and organizing construction materials and tools. Badly needed.

I bought Ziplock bags from Canadian Tire to organize all the electrical and other stuff. As it turns out, I have a surplus of outlets, switches, etc. that I didn’t know about as nothing was categorized before.