Working with Teak can be real expensive

Well it's been an expensive week. Bought a bunch of solid teak wood for the wainscoting and had a solid surface countertop installed in the Laundry room. However at the end of the day it was all worth it. So let's get onto what happened this week.

So on Monday we started work on finishing off one portion of the wainscoting. The top edge will get a 5" piece of teak. Then on top of the plywood will be 1/2" pieces that will form squares and cover the joints of the plywood as well. At the bottom will be a 5" piece of teak as baseboard. Once the floor is installed I'll finish this off with a smaller piece of "quarter round" trim to hide the edge of the flooring. I decided that the lower sill of the four windows that are over the wainscotting will have a teak lower sill and then the rest will just be finger joint pine painted white. So first thing we did was cut out two pieces of teak, one for the top of the wainscoting and a smaller one for the window sill. Since these two pieces are on the same level they needed to be joined together. This was accomplished using a biscuit jointer. While the glue was drying I took the time to start finishing off the top  and sides of the wall alongside the stairwell. This also received a teak treatment. This time the boards were 6.5" wide to accommodate some casing under the edges and still leave a little reveal. The third project was to install some of the leftover teak plywood pieces into the small cubby hole above the staircase that will be a small bookcase and storage area. The layout worked out as the joints were covered by 1by2's that will support two shelves. As I've done for the last few days I occasionally moved a few boxes into the house from the garage. Actually by the end of the day almost all the boxes were moved now we just need to move some of the larger furniture. Here is a picture showing the dividing wall with some teak facing on it and secondly the bookcase cubbyhole with teak installed.

On Tuesday we continued working on various trim pieces. We sanded smooth the top piece for the wainscoting and then proceeded to give it three coats of oil modified water based varathane. I'm really pleased with this product as it is giving the wood a nice colour and it cleans up with water. We also varathaned the teak facing on the dividing wall with three coats as well. 

On Wednesday it was a continuation of working on the trim and painting and varathaning various pieces as well. I usually paint or varathane a lot of the trim before installing it over painted surfaces so that I don't have to worry but getting paint on the wall. Once installed and the holes filled with a suitable material then I come along and very carefully apply one final coat of paint. Nice thing is I don't have to do the edge near the wall since this has two good coats, all I am doing is one final coat to cover the nail holes and the joints. 

On Thursday we installed the casing underneath the teak on the dividing wall as well we installed the majority of the trim over the wainscoting panel on the one small part I was working on. Later in the afternoon the countertop company came in and installed the quartz solid surface countertop for my laundry area. One other thing we finally did was finish off the vent stack for the plumbing. When we installed the plumbing the vent stack came out of the house at a 45deg angle. The reason was to avoid putting holes in the roof. I needed to finish off the soffit and facia before we could finish the vent. During the summer did not want to climb up on the hot roof and possible damage the shingles so waited until it cooled down. Today was a nice cool clear day. So we got out the large ladder and secured it to the house with a tie down strap, then placed a 4by4 on the roof in front of the ladder supports, this supported a second ladder that I laid on the roof. This setup prevented the second ladder from sliding down. I then climbed up the ladders and installed a piece of plastic lumber on the facia and secured the vent to this such that it sticks up above the roof the prerequisite amount. Here are a few pictures showing the completed dividing wall with all the trim installed. As well the small wainscotting area with two coats of varathane. Then the countertop installation and finally the completed vent stack outside.

On Friday we finished tiling the spare shower with the exception of the last row which needed to be specially cut. This was done and then installed on Saturday. We then spent a little more time working on trim and varathing pieces and painting pieces for the two doorways in the master bath and master closet area. As well I had been varathaning a transition piece to cover the gap between the tile and the flooring between bath and bedroom. This is a piece of Black Walnut with walnut stain. Here is a picture showing the tiling of the shower. We added an accent row for looks and so we did not have a small sliver row at the very top.

On Saturday we spent the majority of the day working on cutting and preparing all the teak and pine for the window trim as well as the wainscoting trim for the remainder of the wainscoting. Since Teak is not the cheapest of materials you want to make sure you use the pieces to their maximum efficiency. This meant that I needed to carefully straighten a few boards before cutting them down to size. Since I don't have a long fence to do this with on the tables saw we did it the old fashioned way. I carefully made to marks at each end of the board 1" in. I then stretched a string from mark to mark and then went along and made 1" marks back from the string towards the edge. I then connected the dots and carefully cut this sliver of on the tablesaw by free hand. A little touch up from the belt sander and we had a nice straight edge. Once this was done I could cut out the 5" wide top pieces and laid them out on the wainscoting edge. We then carefully measured up each piece and made the appropriate cuts so they would all join up nicely. As well we cut and marked where the window ledge pieces would go. Once this was done we took all the pieces down made all the slots with the biscuit jointer and then glued up the three sections for the three remaining windows. So here are two pictures first ons showing the string on the board for finding a straight edge and the second one showing the three sections glued up in the clamps drying. If you look closely you can see the 45deg cut on the one board. There are three corners and with the exception of one angle that was 46deg the other two were bang on 45's. No filler required there.

So we have a Thanksgiving dinner at the sister's tomorrow and then the brother is coming down on Monday so we'll have a second dinner then. So I don't expect to much work over the next two days. Thursday I head back to work so I hope by Wednesday evening to have all the wainscoting installed. Then I can varathane it in the evenings after work. Then paint the spare bedroom and bathroom, install flooring and lastly build and install the kitchen. Things are looking up and who knows maybe by the middle of next month I'll have a living room that I can relax in. 

So until next week have a happy Canadian Thanksgiving. 

Harold

And the work continues

As I said going stir crazy not being able to do much work so relegated to doing small light jobs. But at least we continue to move forward. It's amazing what a nice lawn does. I've had numerous people stop and compliment me on how my new lawn has progressed. I've even been asked what was my secret for such a nice lawn so quickly. Just shows that people are still looking around and not fixating on the road ahead. Unfortunately with the cooler weather and inability to move wheelbarrows of dirt the remaining lawn seeding will happen next year. On a sad note I'm sorry to say Drew your plants have finally started giving up the ghost. I guess they just don't like overnight temps in the low single digits. Anyways onto the story for this week.

On Monday we finished making and installing the doors for the Laundry cabinets. After test fitting them all we removed them and prepared them for a coat of primer. Here are two pictures showing the doors prior to being removed.

On Tuesday we just spent some time priming all the doors on both sides.

On Wednesday we first went to the Doctor's office and had my stitches removed. The Nurse who did the procedure advised me that it looked real good and that starting next week Monday I could start some serious bending and stretching of the and wrist area to get everything back in shape. Based on our conversation it looks good for going back to work on the 15th of October. Thankfully I'll be getting a paycheque again. Later that day we spent some time putting the first coat of Semigloss white on all the doors and drawer fronts. Here's a picture showing some of the doors while they are drying after their coat of paint. Let me tell you they're right, it's painful watching paint dry. Had to leave and visit Mom for a while.

So Thursday morning took a road trip to Exotic Woods in Burlington to pick up my Teak plywood. What a place they had all sorts of wood that I'd never even heard of. If anybody is looking for exotic wood that lives in the Golden Horseshoe area of Lake Ontario that is the place to go. They're on the web Exotic Wood. In the afternoon we installed a few tiles over the shower and the cut out most of the tiles required to start the two side wall and to finish the last row on the back wall. Hopefully this coming week I'll be able to finish this job and then be able to paint the spare bathroom and the spare bedroom. I also decided that I better start moving the rest of my furniture and effects out of the garage and into the house. So I started by moving some boxes into the basement to be stored there until they can get moved to their final resting place as the house gets finished. I want to get everything moved before the weather gets too bad. As well I've noticed that some of the furniture is getting a little mold on it from the humidity of the air in the garage.

On Friday we gave all the doors a second coat of paint on the face of the doors in the morning. Later in the evening we managed to install the lower cabinet doors and the drawers. The upper cabinet doors were not installed in case I decided to put a third coat on them. In between we made a few trips back and forth with the dolly moving boxes. This will take a few days as I am not pushing myself and damaging the incision that is healing nicely.

Today we installed all the teak plywood for the wainscotting. Actually went pretty well with one minor exception. I had all the pieces laid out to match as close as possible to their neighbours. When this was done I had two pieces that were darker than the others. This would not be an issue as I had one small wall that only needed two pieces so that's where they would go. However as I was cutting out the last electrical box opening on the last piece before this short wall I dropped my jigsaw and punched a small hole through the sheathing. So one of the darker pieces now had to be moved into its place. Luckily this was in a corner so that both darker pieces now occupy either side of the corner. It all worked out but there were definitely a few cuss words spoken when the incident occurred. Once this was done we decided to install the upper cabinet doors and then I installed the two taps on the copper stub outs for the laundry sink. When building the base cabinets I knew that the cold pipe was going to be close to the outer cabinet wall. The intent was to install the tap before installing the cabinet. However I went a little to fast building the cabinet and forgot to install the tap. Luckily Lennox makes a small tubing cutter that can cut off a pipe within a 1/2" of the wall. So we bought one and it worked like a charm. Actually much better than the other small cutter I have. Even worked better than the bigger cutter as well. So here are some pictures showing the Wainscotting and the completed cabinets as well as the two taps with the cutter I used on my hand.

Well that's it for now. Next week we have a counter top company coming in to measure up for a counter for the cabinets and I hope to start work on the upper cabinets for the kitchen. I also want to make a decision on the flooring so that I can place the order for this as well. So until next week have a great week and please ask for the heat to be turned back on. Waking up to 9C weather is not the greatest.

All the best

Harold

Yeah we have Grass

Well I got bored out of my skull sitting around so checked into it and I was allowed to do some light work around the house while waiting for my hand to heal. This past week Monday was allowed to remove the cast so have even more mobility. Have my stitches out next week Wednesday and we'll see what the Doc says however expect light duties for another 2 weeks.
So as I said in the title we have grass. After 2 weeks this is what the front lawn looks like today.

So last week while I still had the cast on I managed to prime the lower cabinets, however it was not as easy as I thought it would be so decided to wait till this week before I did more work.

This week Wednesday I spent some time putting all the face frame pieces on the lower cabinets. In case I did not mention it earlier the carcass is made with Poplar plywood 3/4" thick and the face frames are made from 3/4" solid poplar lumber. For the lower cabinets I broke it down into 3 sections with the third section being the area where the laundry sink will go. In the other two sections I also built in two drawers. By the end of the day the cabinets were framed out and the drawer parts were cut out. Here are two pictures showing the lower cabinets and then the parts for the drawers minus the drawer bottoms. As you can tell by the second photo the drawers are based on the process of an interlocking corner and then groove for plywood bottom.

On Thursday we built the drawers and sanded and rounded over all the edges on the lower cabinets. I then test fit the drawers and realized my tolerances were to tight and had to spend some time sanding down the sides of the drawers where the drawer slides go to allow the drawers to move smoothly. Here is a picture showing all the parts awaiting paint.

On Friday and Saturday I spent time first putting a coat of primer on the cabinets and then a coat of semigloss on the lower cabinets. At the same time I coated the drawers with three coats of waterbased varathane. I still plan on at least one more coat of semigloss on the cabinets however I think the drawers are complete. Later on Saturday afternoon I installed 6 sheets of 1/4" mahogany plywood on the framework of my wainscotting. Later next week I plan to go to Toronto to buy 6 sheets of 1/4" Teak plywood to install over the Mahogany plywood. This will give me a 1/2" thick sheeting and a nice looking wainscotting. Here are two pictures showing the cabinets with 2 coats of paint and the second photo shows the Mahogany plywood installed.

Well that's where we're at as of now. Hopefully this coming week will allow some more work to be done and hopefully the Doc is happy with my hand and its progress. So until next week have a great fall.

Harold

With a little rain some grass should grow

Unfortunately the little rain is turning out to be a fair amount of rain. So far at least the front lawn is holding out. However we still have it looks like 4-5hrs of rain in the forecast off and on. Then 4-5 days of sunshine. So we'll see what happens. So why am I talking about this well lets see what we did to cause this.

On Sunday morning and late afternoon and evening we moved some dirt around to get a layer of topsoil down on the front lawn.
On Monday I moved more dirt until the heat drove me inside. Once inside I decided I could finish off some drywall mudding in the basement. We spent a few hours finishing off the first coat of drywall mud in the second bedroom, the hallway and one of the two rec room areas. Now the only room not given a first layer of mud is the second rec room and the lower end of the staircase to the basement.
As well I installed a piece of Bamboo countertop in the kitchen area. When I built the kitchen area I built a wall to act as the back of one set of cabinets and to provide an area for a eat in bar area. At the end of this wall where it hits the exterior wall I built two small extensions for a small table there. One of the reasons for this was to hide the gas barbecue pipe that came up there from the basement and went out the wall for the BBQ. Well I picked up a piece of Bamboo countertop at Lowes on Sunday that was 6ft by 25in by 1.5in thick. The piece was cut down to fit, about 48in, and then installed on the small wall extensions. The top is quite heavy so all I did was lay down a decent layer of wood glue on the wooden wall tops and set the piece on this. I then laid down the first of many coats of water based varathane. I finished the day by cutting down to size some of the tiles that would be installed over the shower in the spare bathroom. Here is a picture showing the Bamboo table in the kitchen area.

On Tuesday morning the first thing we did after meeting the gang for coffee was to go to the lumber yard and pick up some 1/2" metal screening. I picked up a two ft square piece and nailed it to a frame work of 2by4's and proceeded to sift dirt for the front yard. Initially I spread out the topsoil but it included the odd stone and some larger clayish lumps. For the last inch or so I wanted no large lumps so I sifted the topsoil to remove anything larger than 1/2". This sifted topsoil was then spread out over the front yard area. I managed over the course of the day to spread out enough dirt to cover about 75% of the yard. In between working on the yard I also spent some time indoors to get away from the heat and the light rain. While inside I installed about 75% of the rear wall of the shower enclosure with tiles. I've decided that instead of cutting a thin strip to finish the wall off I would instead buy a 1" tile to act as a decorative border thereby allowing me to install full height tiles. This meant I had to leave the last two rows empty until I could find a suitable tile for use as a border. As well we put the final coat of paint on the upper cabinet carcass for the laundry room and varathaned the Bamboo counter twice during the day. Here is a picture of the tile work as it sits for now awaiting the decorative border.

On Wednesday morning we finished sifting the dirt and spreading it out over the front lawn. I then rolled the entire lawn twice going north/south once and then east/west. Once that was done I took a lawn rake and scratched the surface to loosen up the lop 1/8"of soil. Next we went around and spread some grass seed. Again we raked the dirt to mix the grass seed in and then spread some more. I did this one more time before we again rolled the yard to ensure the grass seed stayed put. Now all we need to do is wait for some rain and sun to get the grass growing. Once this was all done I went inside and installed some shelf track supports in the upper cabinets before the sister and brother in law came over to help install this unit. The installation went smoothly with the exception of one screw. I had marked and predrilled holes in the poplar 1by4's so that I could install screws in every stud on the wall. Unfortunately one screw fell right on the plate that protected the ABS vent pipe in the wall for the laundry tub. So instead of 10 large screws holding it up only 9 are doing the trick. So here are three pictures, first one shows the front lawn after seeding and rolling, the second picture shows the shelf support track and the third shows the installed upper cabinet.

Some of you will notice the level sitting there. Yes it is bang on level. Later in the day I started work on the lower cabinets and the picture below shows their state at the end of Wednesday.

Well for the rest of the week I had to work however on Friday night managed to get a little bit more work done on the lower cabinets. I had hoped to have them at the stage that they might be ready for painting such that I could paint them next week while recovering from my minor surgery however with the rain today I did not bring home the plywood needed to finish the lower cabinets. So as of now this is what the lowers look  like.

Well due to the surgery mentioned above it will be a few weeks before I can get back to work on the house. About the only thing I might do is water the front lawn with my left hand over the next few weeks to try and get the new grass growing. So until I get back to work I will most likely not be writing any updates. I anticipate being back to work on the house in the second week of October so hopefully around 10 Oct I might have an update. 

Until then have a great few weeks.

Harold

The Hill is barren and the grass is hopefully on the way soon

Well as stated the hill is bare. I guess people want to see pictures of this hill and weeds. Sorry I did not include them last week. For those who asked here are two pictures showing the work in progress and the size of the weeds.

Now that, that's done on to the work we did this week.

On Monday after work I spent some time backfilling the small retaining wall on the west side of the house that I built last week. 

On Tuesday I first started by pulling weeds and filling up the trailer for a second load of weeds to the dump. For reference here's a picture of a trailer load of weeds.

After we went to the dump I went to the local lumber yard and picked up some Poplar 3/4" plywood and some 3/4" solid poplar lumber. This material once brought home was turned into a carcass for some upper cabinets in the laundry room/back entrance. The lumberyard cut my plywood in half so I had 2 pces 24" wide by 96" long. This was easier to transport and easier for me to handle as well. Once home we cut one piece into 37" long pieces and then proceeded to rip these into 12" widths. Luckily the original panel was almost 49" wide so we had one 24" wide piece and one 24-1/2" wide piece. I now had 4 pces 12" wide and 36" long. I notched out two pieces on the back sides of these panels to accept a piece of 1by4 poplar. The lower piece of 1by4 was grooved to accept a pce of 1/2" poplar plywood for the bottom of the cabinet. I then cut down some more of the lumber into 1by2's for the face frame. The top pce was rabbited to allow the top of the cabinet to fit into the rabbit. I also rabbited the bottom pce to accept the three lower pcs that would make the base of the cabinet. Hopefully some pictures will help later on. Once all the pieces were cut and ready we started the assembly by dividing the four side panels over the 92" length of the 1by4's. The upper cabinet will be 36" tall by 92" wide. Later the bottom cabinets will also be 92" wide but they will end up around 40" high and 24" deep. The 1by4's were glued and screwed into the notches on the side panels. Then the upper front face 1by2 was glued and screwed followed by the top plywood. Once that was done we installed the three bottom pieces and then glued and screwed the lower 1by2 face frame onto the plywood. All that was left was to install the 4 pieces of face frame on the front of each panel as well I installed some 5/8" filler strips on the plywood behind the face frames in the location where the hinge plates will go. I did about half of this in the morning and then went outside to spread dirt while I waited for an appraiser to come by to check out the house for my bank. They needed this done before I can receive a Home owners line of credit/mortgage to  provide money to finish the house. Once he was done off to the lumber yard to pick up the screws I needed and then back home to finish building the carcass as described above. Here are some photos showing me cutting the plywood, then all the parts prior to assembly. Then we have a photo from the rear of the cabinet showing the 1by4's in place followed by a picture from the front showing the filler strips and the completed face frame. Later in the evening we pulled more weeds to start filling the trailer for the third and final load to the dump.

On Wednesday I started by finishing the weeds on the dirt pile and then taking the last load to the dump. Once this was done I moved the upper cabinet carcass onto the deck and proceeded to round over the majority of the edges as well as giving a final sanding with 120grit paper. As well I had earlier applied wood filler to the screw holes to fill them in prior to sanding. After sanding we touched them up with a little more wood filler and once dry sanded those areas again. After this was done spread out a tarp on the deck and proceeded to prime the entire cabinet. Unfortunately the humidity was extremely high that day so there were times my sweat was dropping onto the paint. However on the positive side the paint dried quite quickly allowing me to put the first coat of Semigloss on the carcass that evening. However this time I moved the carcass into the house on sawhorses so I was not sweating as much. In between painting went back to the lumber yard and picked up some more 3/4" poplar plywood and lumber for the lower cabinets. Their construction will be very similar to the uppers however larger and I will also have drawers in two of the sections. The third section will house a laundry sink. As well there will be an indentation at the bottom for a toe kick. After this was done we again went out in the evening and moved a few more wheelbarrow loads of dirt. Here are some pictures showing the carcass with primer and then paint as well a picture of some of the pieces for the lower cabinets.

On Friday evening we spread a little more dirt and then painted the majority of the uppers with a second coat of paint. 

On Saturday we spent the majority of the day moving dirt. However I did take a break around noon hour to spend some time building the stairs to the front porch. Once that was done and it was a little cooler again we went back to moving dirt. Here are two pictures showing the stairs which are functional just not complete, still need railings. As well the second picture shows the front yard after numerous loads of dirt, some racking and then rolling to pack it down. Once the entire yard has its first layer of dirt I will then carefully spread out more where it needs it and then roll it again. Once that is all done I plan on taking a leaf rake and loosening up the top 1/4" of soil and then spreading out grass seed. Then raking it again, spreading out more grass seed before rolling it for the final time. Then we'll need to start watering the yard however I hope mother nature will help in this.

Well that's were we are right now. I hope over the next few days to finish spreading the dirt out front and hopefully even get it all prepared for grass seed. The hope is to have this seeded prior to my going under the knife. I may not be able to do much work but I should be able to spray some water on the seed daily with my left hand. Well we'll how it goes. I'll let you know next week.

Harold

The hill gets a haircut

Well interesting week. More work being done to be able to start spreading topsoil. As well we started work on weeding the topsoil pile in behind the garage. There had been a letter sent to my neighbour complaining about unsightly weeds. It turns out the letter was actually meant for the company that owns the property behind us however after they finally cut the field this week I decided I had better weed my dirt pile. I really should have done it sooner but I procrastinated, and it cost me. I am now pulling out weeds that are over 6ft tall and around 1 inch diameter at the base. Luckily the soil is dry so it is reasonably easy to shake off all the dirt. I took one trailer load to the composting facility this morning and I have it full again ready to take to the composter on Tuesday. Then one more load either Tuesday or Wednesday and I shall have a naked dirt pile. I really should have had the nephew start weeding it when they were here last Saturday but I never thought about it then. Anyway onto the work that we did this week.

On Sunday afternoon/evening I dug out the trenches for the stone retaining walls along the front of the house and the west wall. Here are two pictures showing the end result. The west wall will be 12 inches away from the house and the front wall will be 4 ft from the deck. This will allow me to install gravel behind the west wall. As well I'll have room to plant a few bushes along the front of the house.

Now as anybody who has installed retaining walls knows. It takes a long time to lay the first course. First you need to dig the trench deep enough for gravel under the stones. Then I tamped down the dirt prior to installing the gravel. Then I tamped down the gravel in 1inch levels. Once the gravel was within a 1/2 inch of the final grade I switched to Limestone screenings to bed the stones on. Then you carefully bed the stones on this screening material and hammer it down to level in two dimensions. As well you need to keep the stone's level with the string so that you have a nice straight wall. Once the first layer was installed then adding the second layer or the capstones was relatively easy. Because of this work it essentially took me all day Tuesday and Wednesday to install the approximately 100ft of wall. Of course you are on your knees doing this so multiple breaks to get up and stretch were required. As well I had to pick up the stones at the local lumber yard so there were breaks there as well as 50 stones is the max my truck will handle. Finally on Wednesday evening I started work on pulling those weeds I talked about above. Here is a picture showing where I ended up on the west wall after installing the stone work.

On Saturday I spent the morning installing 102 Capstones on the wall. These as mentioned went a little faster than the lower stones. After this was done we loaded up the trailer with weeds and went to the composting facility to drop them off. After we got home I pulled some more weeds and started filling up the trailer for another load. After getting tired pulling weeds decided to get out of the sun and work in the shade at the front of the house backfilling the stone wall and leveling off the area in preparation for topsoil work. So after a few hours of doing this the front yard is ready for topsoil and the side wall is about 50% backfilled. The plan is to level off the front yard first and then work on the side yard to ensure we swale it properly to allow proper drainage from the rear yard to the front yard ditch along the road. So here are two pictures showing the front yard area ready for topsoil with the retaining wall backfilled and the second pictures shows the side wall which is about 50% backfilled.

So what's next on the agenda. Well first we'll finish the haircut on the hill and get rid of all the weeds. Then we'll work on spreading topsoil on the front yard area. As well we'll finish the backfilling of the side wall. After all this is done I'll probably start doing some work on the inside and that would be building some cupboards for the laundry room area as well as working on tiling the shower in the spare bathroom. Unfortunately I only have two more weeks to work on the house before I go under the knife for Carpal Tunnel syndrome. After the surgery I have a 4-6week recovery period where I will not be able to work on the house. So hopefully we have a few good weeks and then I guess I'll just have to take it easy for a while. 

So until next week all the best and good luck to all the students that will be starting school soon.

Harold

"VOHE", "VOL" and then "VOHI" explained

Well as I said last week I would explain these acronyms this week. They are in order Victory over house exterior, Victory over landscaping and finally Victory over house interior. Of course then my brother had to come up with another one. His was when will you have SPOG, which is Solar panels on Garage. He knows that I will seriously look at this in the future as I had them installed on my previous house as well. But that will come down the road some day.

So what did we do this week well here it is. On Sunday I first reinstalled all the downspouts that I had removed from the garage to install my siding. I then placed 3 coats of Thompson Waterseal on 5 fir boards I had that would be used for frieze boards. After spending some time at Mom's and doing my weekly laundry I came home and proceeded to dig out the trench between my side porch and the front deck stair slabs in preparation for some Wall stone edging between the driveway and the side of the house. Here is a picture of that trench. It is setup so that about 4in of gravel will be tamped down and then 1/2in of Limestone screenings will go on top of that before the stone work is installed. The stones are 4in thick by 12in long by 8in deep.

On Monday night after work I spread out the gravel in the trench shown above so it was all ready for the stone work after being picked up Tuesday morning.

Then came Tuesday. Well the first thing I had to do was go to Brock Ford in Niagara Falls to have my truck worked on. For the last few weeks I've been having blue wrenches show up on my dash as well as the check engine light. So there is a Ford mechanic who lives in the area that is a good friend of the Brother in law and he prepared the shop for my coming in when the lights came on again. Well Tuesday morning after going for coffee with some other locals on came the lights. So after picking up my stone at Penner Lumber off to the Ford dealer I went. Luckily I was able to get the truck in the shop right away. Unluckily it needed a new throttle body which after install cost me almost 700$ as well they advised me that I would need to replace my VCT's soon and that will also cost me the better part of 800$. Oh well these will be the first big repairs on my 6yr old truck so we'll get it down. And by 11am I was back at home with new Throttle body and a smooth running truck. So in the afternoon. I installed all the stone work edging and even managed to level the dirt off and tamp it down in preparation for the fabric and gravel. Here is a picture of the finished stone work in the trench from the previous picture.

On Wednesday I started off by installing all the Frieze boards on the west wall and finishing off all the work on that wall. I started by reinstalling the blocks I had installed prior to the Mason's doing their work. Turns out most of the blocks were not secured tightly against the house so reinstalled them. As well the blocks are only 3.5in thick and turns out the brickwork ended up being about 4.25in away from the house so I needed to install another piece of 3/4in filler strip prior to putting up the frieze board. Once these repairs were down I installed all the trim and caulked up the expansion joint in the stone work that the masons had cut out. After this was done I moved over to the other side and did the same thing here between the side porch and the front deck. I once the trim was installed I laid down some landscape fabric and proceeded to shovel over a few wheelbarrow loads of red gravel to lay on top of the landscape fabric. Here are a couple of pictures first showing the blocks with the filler strips being installed and then two pictures showing the completed west wall. All that is left is landscaping along this wall. The last picture shows the area with the gravel installed between front and side porch. As you can see I was two wheelbarrow loads short of covering all the fabric.

On Thursday night I dug out the trench that will be used for the edging from the front porch to the road. 

Saturday morning after having breakfast with some of my coworkers we proceeded to start working on the front edging. First we installed the gravel and tamped it down. Then we installed some limestone screenings and slowly started out laying down the first course of stone. Once this layer was installed we installed the capstone layer with some specialty stone glue. Once this layer was installed we leveled off some driveway gravel along one side and backfilled the other side with some leftover dirt. Once all that was done we had a situation like the picture below.

We are now almost ready to start spreading out the topsoil for the front lawn. All that's left to do is install the stone edging in front of the deck and along the west side of the house. The stone along the west side is to allow me to hide some of the exposed water proofing material and provide a smooth line for the swale I need to install between me and the neighbour. This swale will direct all the water from that side of the house and from my rear downspouts out to the ditch along the road. This will take some time and may not be down before I head off for Carpal Tunnel surgery in Sept. We'll see how it goes and you'll just have to follow along. The last thing I did today was dig the trench out beside the garage for the stone wall edging that will be between my sidewalk gravel and the lawn going towards my shed. Here is a photo showing that trench.

Well that's it for now. Hopefully next week we'll have another good work week and be able to pass on more info on how it is going on the Mulder homestead.

All the best, Harold