1403 3 Ave N, main

This is a house built in 1906 at 1403 3 Ave. N., Coalbanks (later to become Lethbridge), AB, Canada. I bought the house in Dec. 2021 as a rental property. It has a 3-bedroom suite on the main floor (“main”). This is the story of that suite.

proposed explanations on bricks in balloon framing wall cavities

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I have searched online for a while and, up to now, came up short, until now.

3 Reasons Old Houses May Have Stones Between The Studs 

I was searching for a reason 1403 was built with bricks inside the wall cavities.  Built in 1906, the original (first phase, so to speak) of the house was balloon framed, meaning the wall studs go from bottom to top, unlike modern style platform framing.

About 80 or so years ago, people started abandoning balloon framing.  Why?

  1. The price and availability of long timber, some as long as 35 feet.
  2. The lack of fire block in this type of building, with fire being able to lick up the entire wall without breaks.
  3. The skill required for balloon framing, compared to the simplicity of platform framing.

But, up to now, I couldn’t figure out why there are bricks in the wall cavities.  Are they structural?  Were they pretty good insulation back in 1906?  Facade?  Was it the original exterior?  Why bricks?  I don’t have a final, definitive answer, but this is really close.

not a stitch of insulation

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I learned today that this old house has no insulation!  There is nothing in the attic of the main floor, and there appears to be nothing in the walls, either.  I took the trim off the top of the kitchen window, and there appears to be nothing there.

I found Sunny South Insulators at the Home & Garden show this spring.  A guy came out to have a look, and this is what we found – nothing.  So, it would be $8500 to blow in insulation into the ceiling and walls.

tub surround

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The project for today was removal of the glue at the tub surround.  It was cracked in many places.  It had to be replaced.  Behind it though was a truckload of glue that was basically just squirted on in an S shape without being trowelled.  The result was large gaps where the surround plastic was bulging away from the wall, creating ample opportunity for someone to lean on it and crack it.  In some places, the surround was glued in place a good quarter inch (0.7cm) away from the wall.

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