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.

cracks in basement walls

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There are cracks in the basement walls. 

520 12C St N Lethbridge AB main 20230711_160812 view of front from BR1.mp4
520 12C St N Lethbridge AB main 20230711_161101 rain, cracks in basement wall, down spout.mp4
520 12C St N Lethbridge AB main 20230711_164621 crack in basement wall e1.mp4

These won’t make the house fall down as there are giant i-beams holding it up, but something must be done to move the torrential rains away from the house. 

The new gutters certainly help, but the flow from the down pipes must be moved farther away. 

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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first repair (pull string light in mudroom)

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This marks the first repair to 1403.  They (the previous owners) put in a pull-string light fixture in the “mudroom” (what I would typically call a “porch”).  Of course, like many things in this house, it didn’t work and had to be replaced.