1403 3 Ave N, property

This is a house built in 1906 at 1403 3 Ave. N., Coalbanks (later to become Lethbridge), AB, Canada. It was the same year the Lethbridge Viaduct (commonly called the High Level Bridge) was built. It is one of the only two-storey houses built in the area. It’s been added on to three times but still maintains its original look. I bought the house in Dec. 2021 as a rental property. It has a 3-bedroom suite on the main floor and a one-bedroom on the second. This blog is an account of all that we (FT and I) have done to make it rentable. Read about the main or 2nd floor (“up”) by going to that category. Comments are welcome (but moderated)!

Structural Engineer

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I met a Structural Engineer today.  We had a look at various parts of the house to determine why there is such a slope in the east half of the structure.  We have determined:

  1. Concrete footings in the crawlspace had broken apart due to slumping in the soil.
  2. Upright supports have moved due to soil slumping, and 6×6 notched support beams have split and come away from the house.
  3. The living room and bathroom addition to the structure was done poorly.  They cut through many of the framing members (balloon frame studs) to open up the walls.  (See diagram below.)

So, to correct this, most likely:

  1. Screw piling will be put in the front and rear of the property.
  2. A beam will span this length under the house.
  3. An LVL bulkhead will be added to the living room / bathroom span.

I will open up the floor in the 2nd storey to expose more of those cut-through timbers and email him pictures.

I did a brief laser level check.  (The laser should be 1-5/8″ above the floor, from my measurements.  Funny – nothing in the manual stating this.)  This shows that, in about 4 feet, the floor dips down about 2-1/16 inches.  Wow!

 

shed floor framing

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FT & I worked a little on the floor framing on the shed today.  I added the top sheathing of the partition wall.  Rene saw me holding the sheathing up and looking down at my screws & driver.  He helped hold it up whilst I fastened it to the framing.  It doesn’t quite meet the top, but it is a shed.

Cripples are hung on blocking where the 1/2″ plywood meet.

Then came landscape fabric and shovelling of the drainage gravel to fill in the gaps.

I was able to fit all of Rene’s stuff (carts & all) into his half of the shed.  Finally, no shopping carts in the yard!

Then came the fun part!  Power washing!

We began washing the fence, too, in preparation for paint.

 5/22/2022 10:38 AM      2763964 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_103839 shed sheathing partition.jpg
 5/22/2022 11:00 AM      2176716 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_110040 shed framing partition.jpg
 5/22/2022 11:00 AM      2348728 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_110044 shed framing partition.jpg
 5/22/2022 11:00 AM      2957841 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_110052 shed framing partition.jpg
 5/22/2022 12:22 PM      2649116 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_122242 shed floor framing cripple.jpg
 5/22/2022 12:37 PM      3723247 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_123756 shed front drainage gravel.jpg
 5/22/2022 12:38 PM      2522210 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_123806 shed front drainage gravel.jpg
 5/24/2022  9:19 AM      2582597 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_133203 shed storage.jpg
 5/22/2022  1:32 PM      2436052 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_133218 shed storage.jpg
 5/24/2022  9:20 AM      8180540 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_133230 shed partition, storage.jpg
 5/22/2022  1:32 PM      6877176 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_133249 shed storage panorama.jpg
 5/22/2022  1:33 PM      2186522 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_133323 shed Rene's carts.jpg
 5/22/2022  1:33 PM      2550477 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_133328 shed Rene's stuff.jpg
 5/22/2022  3:08 PM      3937090 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_150810 shed power wash.jpg
 5/24/2022  9:22 AM      4185669 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_150816 shed Floyd power wash.jpg
 5/22/2022  3:08 PM      3944408 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_150823 shed Floyd power wash.jpg
 5/22/2022  3:09 PM      1713196 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_150948 shed Floyd power wash, Allan.jpg
 5/22/2022  3:09 PM      4157299 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_150957 shed power wash.jpg
 5/22/2022  4:17 PM      3933268 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_161704 shed Floyd power wash.jpg
 5/22/2022  5:13 PM      4247196 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_171356 fence power wash.jpg
 5/22/2022  5:14 PM      3214361 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220522_171400 shed power washed.jpg

new shed plywood & OSB

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Building material prices have gone up and down a lot lately.  I picked up a few sheets of OSB & plywood for the shed today.  We have to cut the bottom off the exterior sheathing (rotten, chipped, dried, dirty, ugly) and put an actual floor in it.

 5/16/2022  2:20 PM      2911152 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220516_142022 shed Floyd.jpg
 5/16/2022  3:33 PM      2654693 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220516_153340 shed plywood & OSB on van roof.jpg
 5/16/2022  4:12 PM      2839351 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220516_161235 shed framing floor.jpg
 5/24/2022  8:52 AM      2200617 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220516_161238 shed Floyd.jpg

shed on beams

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We put the shed on 4×4 treated beams today.  What a task!  This shed is heavy and likes to bend into a parallelogram.

 5/15/2022  6:05 PM      3605537 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220515_180521 shed setting on beams.jpg
 5/15/2022  6:05 PM      3210123 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220515_180532 shed setting on beams.jpg
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 5/15/2022  6:05 PM      2921104 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220515_180542 shed setting on beams.jpg
 5/15/2022  6:05 PM      2722152 1403 3 Ave N Lethbridge AB 20220515_180548 shed setting on beams.jpg