projects on the go
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”).
Installation of the insulation. Say that five times. Anyway, no one likes a cold shower. This Rockwool insulation is so easy to work with. It cuts like a loaf of bread. It is fire retardant and soundproofs really well. Plus, it doesn’t make the installer itchy like that fibreglass stuff does.
One doesn’t usually get too excited about 2x4s, but these are actually 2 by 4, or close to it. Plus, they’re fir, not just SPF. What do I need these heavy monstrosities for? I need to replace four tie beams (bottom chords) tying my rafters together. Some crackpot notched one badly, two more are split and compromised, and one more has been drilled through it so many times that there’s no way it is actually holding structurally anymore.
Thank you, Windsor Plywood, or bringing these in!
YouTube is not always my go-to as there are so many opinions, regions with different building code, lines of products, regional variations within products, etc. But this was helpful.
The flooring is finally underway. The last little bit of sub-floor to complete (the landing) …
… is now complete.
The vanity & shower plumbing is in. The shower will be vented (not wet-vented as previously planned) the same place as the vanity. The shower now drains through 1-1/2″ pipe (shower drain assembly reduced from 2″ to 1-1/2″ with a collar), toward the vanity, and on to the 2″ drain that runs from the kitchen sink. Slope: 1/4″ per foot, as per normal except for after the first elbows and before the wye-joint, which has a slightly higher slope (3/8″ per foot).
Or did you already see this picture? Maybe you did. Segway to the toilet plumbing. That’s all installed. See the laundry waterlines?
Plumbing begins today. This is the part of the project we’ve been working toward for the past few weeks – or more. It’s the age-old issue – before plumbing, this has to be done. Before this, that must be done. Before that, … etc. Well, now the plumbing can begin.
Toilet plumbing:
Lining everything up wasn’t the issue. Gluing everything in place was because of how rigid 3-inch pipe is and because it is such a short run to the drain / vent stack.
Vanity, shower plumbing:
Note on floor structure:
Drilling through the double floor joists wasn’t an issue as these blocks were added, keeping the compression on the top, tension on the bottom scenario to a minimum; that is to say that adding 50% more material over 18 inches or so helps to spread the tension / compression around. Plus, it also improves rigidity to the double joist system, almost eliminating movement. There are no herringbone struts to stabilize the joists because they are only 7-1/2″ deep (very little room to add stuff). Plus, the house never had it before, and ‘officially’ changing the structure is not what I had in mind – only replacing s*** that others had done to this poor, old house.
This is a repost from someone else.
Yes, this just happened to me – not at the toilet but, rather, at the laundry inlet of the drain stack. (See my comments.)
Yay! The shower arrived! It was supposed to be sometime next week, but it arrived today.
HFT and I opened it up outside and took each part up separately. We put the drain on the shower pan to see the final elevation of the drain.
We got a load of 3/4″ plywood for the floor, pipes to divert the drain / vent stack, and more soundproofing panels for inside the floor. Now that the joists are set in place, we can get blocking done (got some joist hangers from Rona) and get ready for the next few steps. Slow going!
We were diverted by ceiling work in the 1st floor, but now we’re back!
The final joist is almost in place. Still missing one 8′-length of 2×10 to tie it all together.
Wow, the number of spliced, pieced-together pieces of s*** – we’re talking 2x4s nailed to 2x6s and everything else – is just incredible. Who would build in such a way!? So we’re almost done this task.
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