toilet shelf, scorched outlet, trim boards

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Well it isn’t perfect, but it will have to do.  The resin cured fairly well, and it looks okay.  There are four shelves that will look like this. 

This certainly isn’t perfect, and it cannot exist.  I suspect that the breaker did not deactivate when too much resistance melted this localized area.  There was nothing left of the old wiring to know if it was caused by a knife nick, faulty screw connection, or what-have-you.  The old Stab-lok breakers have been replaced with new ones that comply to UL standards.  I replaced an outlet scorched like this a month after the previous tenants moved in. 

More trim boards were treated with polyurethane and left to cure.  

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heat duct, door adjust and paint

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One of the heat ducts became loose. 

Outlets were attached. 

Paint began on the doors. 

The door for bedroom 2 was maladjusted.  How?  It was put in before the house was straightened and levelled, so, thus, it was realigned with the world. 

The bathroom door was painted along with the bedroom 2 door. 

Window frames were also painted. 

exterior outlets, drywall, window framing, bare wood

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The veranda outlet wire was put in a while back.  I’m just now getting around to connecting it.  It’s a 15-amp GFI (ground fault interrupter) outlet. 

To get this wall finished, in terms of drywall, the bottom strip had to be attached.  It varied around 3 1/2″.  With levelling the house done a few days ago, we could finally complete this wall.  It could not be done previously as the slightest movement would crack the newly taped and mudded drywall. 

There is a problem with the outlet at the west side of the building (near the front parking area).  It seems that every 20A outlet is tamper resistant, making it very difficult to plug in anything.  This was fixed. 

The veranda outlet was covered and sealed to the outlet box and wall.  Those outlet covers with the little metal flaps or one large metal flap are not used anymore. 

On to the window framing.  These living room windows (new small and old large) do not include frame extensions to fit 2×4, 2×6, or 2×8 walls, so interior framing had to be added.  This is a dry fit.  Paint will come later. 

However, I’m a softy for nice lumber markings.  Because of the colouration of this wood, I couldn’t bear to paint this bare wood.  I’ll save the piece for another project that doesn’t cover it up. 

outlets, switches, gaps, fillers

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We begin again.  This is where we left off last time – with a temporary floor. 

I noticed, when putting a cover on the outside GFI for block heaters, that nothing would plug in.  The outlet was stuck.  I see now that it is a tamper resistant outlet.  In other words, it has some piece of plastic in there to prevent things from being plugged in.  Dave noticed and told me about it earlier in the year when he was plugging in the cement mixer.  As it turns out, all GFI (or, at any rate, all 20A GFI) duplex receptacles are tamper resistant.  I went to Home Depot to get one that isn’t, but they didn’t have any.  Dunno what I’m going to do here.  More on that later. 

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living room window in, skim coat on

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Time to put in a temporary floor so we can get the window in.  I picked up some treated 1/2″ plywood from Lealta Building Supplies.  The counter guy game me some good advice about later painting the surface of this.  It will be two layers of 1/2″ instead of one 3/4″ ply and one 1/4″ paintable ply. 

The window is in.  Dave and I hoisted the window up on its frame and  s l o w l y  carried it to the veranda where we rested it on three upturned buckets.  We put a 1×4 across the opening on the inside so the window wouldn’t just fall in. 

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window caulk, cable

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The large living room window was turned up-side-down, and I put a bead of Flex Paste in the interior gap.  This stuff is hard to squeeze out of the tube.  But, for $22 a tube, it is likely better than simple caulking.  Now I must wait for it to cure. 

In the mean time, I fitted the small living room window framing with exterior sheathing of 1/2″ OSB.  It is a smaller window than previously, so the gaps need to be filled and sealed. 

Next, tape flashing to seal up the gaps. 

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living room drywall and window

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Now that the lift is complete, we can work on the main floor. 

This is a milestone, a turning point.  I don’t want to jinx it by saying so, but things should go smoothly from here.  <knock on wood> 

Now that the living room window wall is straight, the window rough framing is tilted. 

Floyd, Dave, and I discussed how to fix it. 

  • Shim the crooked parts so that the window looks straight. 
  • Carve the rough opening wood down so that the window frame is straight. 
  • Reframe. 

You know what I would choose.  We reframed. 

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lift complete

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Finally!  The house is finally level and stable. 

I thought about it all last night – whether to rent the jack hammer again for $40 and chip out more concrete to put align the bottle jack with the stable part of the sill plate and rim joist.  I wracked my brain to find another way.  

The way, it turns out, was simple.  The house was stable, yes, but it was still holding the add-on down.  So, I screwed the new screw jack stands up and pumped the bottle jack until they are both up high enough to add the last course of bricks in between the foundation and sill plate. 

The five little red screw jacks at the end in question were easy to screw upward one-at-a-time.  Together, they had enormous lifting power. 

The gas line, with the hole through the rim joist elongated, sits stably on the rim joist hole. 

While down there, I talked with my sister in England via WhatsApp.  Between jacking and bricking, I weeded. 

Now that the lift is complete, on to the main floor living room drywall and window. 

drywall – but before that…

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I picked up more drywall for the living room from Home Depot.

But, before that, I wanted to check their spray foam bottles and applicator.  It seems that that little plastic thing stuck in the applicator was not part of it but likely broke off from another spray foam bottle. 

Before any drywall is put up on the final living room wall, several things must still happen. 

  • Insert living room window glass into its frame, seal it, install window frame into rough opening. 
  • Reframe rough opening if window does not fit.  (That corner of the house had been lifted, so most certainly the rough opening shape has changed.) 
  • Insert bricks under add-on sill plate.  Raise the room enough to do so. 

So, that means no drywall, taping, or mudding yet. 

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