1403 3 Ave N, up

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 and a 1-bedroom suite on the 2nd floor. This is the story of the upper suite (“up”).

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.

half-inch ply

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I’ve changed my mind.  I decided to go with 1/2″ plywood rather than 5/8″ for several reasons.

1. The house has to be jacked up on one side.  It’s drooping.  If I use 5/8″ ply, it won’t bend over top the ‘hump’ in the floor.

2. The house has to be jacked up on one side.  When it is, I need a little more flexibility in the structure of the flooring.

3. 5/8″ is too dang heavy.  I have to cart it all up to the 2nd floor!

 

Logic Lumber was good about exchanging it.  And there it sits, wait to be used.

Also, the furring continues.

proboard, plywood, flooring

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First comes the proboard (a type of medium density particle board) and 5/8″ plywood from Logic Lumber.

 

Next, the flooring from End Of the Roll.

That’s the easy part.  Now I have to try to jamb it all up in the top floor of the house.  Yay.

finally – bare walls

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So I finally have the plaster, lath boards, panelling, etc. off the walls in the kitchen.  <phew>

Next:  Kitchen wiring, insulation, vapour barrier, drywall.

After that:  Flooring.  Then kitchen cabinets.

In the mean time, …

… a lot of cleanup.  So far, 29 contractor bags of plaster, lath, insulation, etc.

first insulation furring boards

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I’ve cleaned up as much as I have to to start insulating the walls and ceilings.  I’m adding 2×2 and 2×3 furring strips to the studs to increase the wall volume for insulation.  In one wall with plumbing along it, however, I have to furrow out 2.5″ (2×3) to accommodate a 2″ pipe.

The first furring strip was put up, and the second followed.

Rockwool, 2x2s, more lath & plaster removal

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I dropped by Rona to get some insulation and wood.  I decided on Rockwool because it

  • has a higher fire rating than fibreglass
  • is made mostly from recycled stuff (volcanic rock basalt and slag)
  • has better R-value than fibreglass

But it is more expensive.  How much more?  I haven’t done much in comparison, to be honest, as I need the extra fire protection.  This house is, after all, balloon framing.

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kitchen lath boards removed

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Sunday today.  The main floor tenants were home.  I hope I didn’t make too much noise.

I removed the last of the lath boards and old flooring (all remaining five layers) from the kitchen today.  I cut the remaining flooring into squares to aid in removal.  I set the circular saw to 2mm or so less than its total thickness and carved away.  Unfortunately, I gave myself sore sinuses doing it.  But it is done.

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kitchen renos

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Today FT and I removed the kitchen cabinet, a bunch of plaster, and flooring from the kitchen.  OMG, was that a lot of work.  There were 7 contractor bags of plaster and six layers of old flooring (seven if you count the 1/4″ particle board):

  • the original linoleum
  • another colourful lino on that
  • bright red tiles
  • a layer of 1/4″ particle board
  • more lino of yellow & brown
  • click-together wood laminate 

A before and after comparison: 

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