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.

BR2 mostly drywalled

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Bedroom 2 is mostly drywalled.  There is still a board missing above the door header and a 4″ strip at the top to do. 

 

But at least the drywalling has finally begun. 

only one new stud

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It seems I was busy all the time I was at this property today.  I got there at 2pm and left at 8pm.  So what did I do?  I put in a stud. 

But it’s more complicated than that.  Also done:

  • wiring – The reframed wall from previous had to be rewired.  Two lengths connected to various outlets had to be redone. 

  • trimming of sills – We put in sills rather than just standard 2×4 framing with outside planks and shiplap and inside furring strips.  As the exterior planks and shiplap had become de-nailed over the past 120 years, they had to be squeezed back together, and the window hole shrunk by 1/4″.  As a result, the top and bottom sills had to be trimmed in the interior. 
  • wall prep – This was mostly pulling of nails all over the place.  But there also had to be framing added to have enough wall meat to which to attach drywall.  One new 2×4 stud was placed here.  This meant pulling out five lengths of wire (14-2, 14-3, and 22-ga.) and feeding them all through the new stud. 

So, all in all, only one “new” thing was done.  The rest of my activities were fixing, completing, or redoing other stuff.  Yay. 

shower stall attempt (or PLSS)

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The new shower stall base was put in, and the back and side walls were added.  The results:  The house is still crooked. 

As Dave would comment, “It’s built like a pig barn.” 

The only solution is to continue raising the add-on (pig barn) to be level with the remainder of the house.  You can’t have plumb, level, square, and straight in an old house, so I’m told.  There’s always going to be one or more of those missing from the equation.  In this case: 

  • plumb – The east exterior wall of the add-on was erected without the rest of the house being level.  It is more-or-less plumb.  It is out less than 1 degree. 
  • level – The add-on floor is not level yet as there is no support under the north wall rim joist.  It is currently being held up by 30-tonne hydraulic jacks under the joists 10-16 inches away from the footing.  The floor of the main house (1st floor and 2nd floor) are also not level. 
  • square – Because the floor is not level, nothing is square, as you can see from the gap between the shower back wall and the side wall. 
  • straight – There is no way they found the straightest timber with which to build this add-on. 

Next step:  Jack the add-on and east side of the house until it is level with the west half.  There can be no progress in the eastern half of the house until this is done. 

new fan, shower wall, vapour barrier, junk

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I bought a new bathroom fan from Rona.  It’ll be mounted in the shelving separating the toilet from the shower.  This is only 1 of 2 fans they had.  The other one is almost twice as loud at 6.0 Sones whereas this one is 3.5 Sones. 

I bought some more insulation for the walls separating the two suites (2 hallway / stairway, 2 kitchen / landing, & 1 bathroom / entrance).  Rona initially sold me four bags of 16″-center batts, but the yard guy trusted me and loaded me up with 24s, and I went back in and pair $45 more. 

But, rather than starting those walls, I wanted to design a wall / shelf system separating the shower and toilet.  It will be a 36″-long 2×4 shower wall, 4 studs, double bottom plate and shelves with 12″ 2×4 walls, a bulkhead for the bathroom fan at the top, a raceway for the dryer vent next to the wall, a 2×12 base, and four or five shelves.  Sneak preview of what it will look like: 

 

Why double bottom plate?  The studs I have left over are too short.  Reuse, reuse, reuse. 

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BR1-2 vapour barrier, bath switches

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Before anyone arrived, I arranged the switches in the old bathroom light switch location.  (Why did the previous owners put a bathroom light switch in the middle of the room, ten feet away from the door?)

So the plan is, since the bathroom light fixture wire ends at that electrical box, I’ll add a motion sensor for the toilet sconce light, an humidistat for the bathroom fan, and a timer for said fan at that spot.  In this way, I don’t have to dig the light fixture wiring out of the ceiling to rewire it – I can junction another 14-2 wire from the switch (where it should be) to inside this box. 

(Did he just say an humidistat?  Yes, just to bug people.) 

I filled in the remaining cavities with Rockwool insulation, completed the furring strips, and relocated the outlet.

When everyone arrived, we put in some backing around the gap next to the window in BR2, sealed it (and the window frame exterior) with flashing tape, and added large-gap spray foam insulation on the inside.  The trim board will go on over this. 

 

We completed the Rockwool insulation and vapour barrier in the first two bedrooms today. 

rotten floor fixed, wall built

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Floyd wasn’t here today.  I made the rest of the repairs to the rotted out floor under the staircase before moving on to the wall.  There is now a layer of 3/4″ plywood in lieu of the 3″ tongue-and-groove floor boards.  Beneath that, more 3/4″ plywood in place of the original floor planks.  It’s all fastened down with anti-squeak screws (expensive!). 

 

Next, the 2nd 2×6 wall separating the main suite from the staircase to the 2nd storey suite.  Again, this wall has double bottom and top plates. 

cleanup, electrical boxes

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I had some time today, so I thought I’d putter.  I cleaned up the place a little, added some electrical boxes to the living room / bath wall, and … I forget what else. 

 

Oh, right – I properly mounted the brake / tail lights to the flatbed trailer.  I got these from Princess Auto. 

Since these brake lights don’t hang down like the other ones do, they are less likely to break while backing into places like the landfill. 

bathroom / living room add-on header support

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When they (whomever they are) put the add-on to increase the bathroom and living room sizes, they not only didn’t level the house first but they also didn’t put in the right size of support holding up the double 2×10 headers supporting the rest of the house above.  It was 1.5 inches too short, making it extremely obvious above in the 2nd floor suite. 

So most of today was dedicated to engineering a new support system and taking out the old. 

telepost in bathroom

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