Well thought it was time for an update.

I really have not done much over the last few weeks. I guess my drive has slowly petered out. Oh well as long as I have suitable living conditions there are no worries. We did though manage to do some small work.
Since last we spoke I took receipt of a brand new LG Fridge. This is a french door version with door in door which allows you to access certain items without opening the door to the entire fridge. For those interested it is LFXS30766S. I initially tried to save a few pennies by reusing a compression fitting for the water supply but that had a slow leak so of to the hardware store to buy some new fittings and once installed no leaks. After 24hrs with no leaks we slide it into place. I also spent some time finishing off the quarter round under the kitchen counters. All that's left is the area in front of the stove. I will need to remove my stove platform once I buy a stove to allow the installer to hook up the gas line. I also spent time trimming out the back entrance area. We're all done with the exception of the baseboard around the laundry platform. I ran out of baseboard so will need to buy some more and then take the time to give it a couple coats of paint. However it still looks pretty good. I also managed to find some time to setup and get my Grandfather clock up and running. I needed to build a small bracket that is mounted to the wall and is at the height of the top of the clock. I then drilled some holes through the back skin of the clock at the top and installed some bolts with a few springs into this bracket. This will prevent the clock from falling forward when the door is opened to rewind the system. It looks great and even with all the moving around seems to be keeping pretty close time. Finally today I took the time to install the floor transitions that cover the gaps between the floors under the future doors. These were installed with some nails and silicone so there are weights on them for the next few days while the silicone cures.
I have also started to spend some time in the garage installing shelves and cupboards to be able to store all the small tooling and other associated articles. I still have not finalized the final positions of all the machinery but am getting closer to the final layout. We're supposed to have some nice warm weather next week so hopefully on Tuesday and Wednesday I can finally sort out the majority of the garage issues. So here are a few pictures showing the work. First is the back entrance, second is the extra shelving, third is the fridge in place, fourth is the clock in place, fifth is the bracket holding the clock vertical, and finally a pictures showing the floor transitions with concrete blocks as weights while the silicone dries.

I don't expect to update this blog again for some time as the next work to be done on the house will be making the doors for the rooms and the kitchen cabinets. I don't plan on  doing these until the May time frame. As well I cannot do any exterior work until the weather warms up, again the May time frame.
With this in mind have a great spring and we'll see you towards the Apr/May time frame with the next update.

All the best

Harold

Just a short update today

Well over the last few weeks we did get some stuff done but the rate of work has definitely slowed down. Essentially we finished the flooring in the back entrance. This was accomplished by laying down a 1/4" underlayment first and then laying down the Vinyl Kronix flooring. This flooring is from Germany and is 100% waterproof. It is laid down like engineered flooring in that it is a click lock system. It was real easy to install and cut really nice with a sharp chopsaw blade. The only issue was that the static electrical charge kept the plastic flakes stuck to the floor so each piece and the floor was vacuumed prior to installing the cut piece. Here are two pictures showing the flooring in the back porch. First the underlay and then the finished product.

Speaking of vacuuming, I installed my central vacuum cleaner on Tuesday the ninth. I then installed the floor and used the vacuum to clean the tiles before installing. I thought the vacuum was a little loud but once finished and when I went downstairs I realized that it was not only loud but broken as there was a strong electrical smell in the basement. So contacted the company and they said send it back. Once they received it they opened it up and said yes the motor was shot. They believe something must have fallen into at some stage and once installed and running just ruined the motor. So they installed a new motor and shipped it back. Reinstalled it and it runs a lot smoother now. I still think the motor will need to run a little longer to really settle down but the difference is quite noticeable. 

Next big project for me was to work on the sink. When the countertop company installed the sink they used an industrial silicone to attach the sink to the underside of the counter. Although I trust the bond I really don't trust it that much. So I devised a safety strap system to mount under the cabinet to provide just a little more support and piece of mind. Essentially I installed two hooks into the cabinet walls on either side of the sink just below the countertop level. I then cut and sewed up two straps with rings at either end. The one end went into the hook on one side and the other ring went into a turnbuckle that was hooked onto the hook on the other side of the sink. I then tightened the turnbuckle until a suitable tension was established. I did this twice to provide me that piece of mind I craved. Here are three photos showing the parts, the installation and then a better look at the installation on one side of the sink.

I then spent some time arranging the items in my kitchen as I emptied out all the boxes that held my kitchen stuff. Lastly I installed the remaining trim around the patio door and the baseboard in the eat in bar area. I also cut sanded and varathaned trim work that will cover the gap between the flooring and the kitchen cabinets. Along with this trim I have also cut out and am varathaning the 5 floor transitions that will be needed under the doors from room to room between the different floors. 

Well that's it for now. Hopefully see you again in a couple of weeks with some more updates.

Harold

Flooring is almost done

Well a pretty simple week. All we did was install flooring on Tuesday and Wednesday. For the rest of the week I worked.
On Tuesday we managed to install all the flooring in the hallway and just into the kitchen area. It took longer than last time because of all the cutting around doors. Around the christmas time I moved the table saw and chopsaw into the garage. So every time I had to make a cut necessitated a trip from house to garage. On top of that it was time for a visit to the Dentist so that lost an hour or two as well. Oh well I'm not exactly speeding for the finish line so being a little slower doesn't mean as much as it use to. On Wednesday we finished the floor in the kitchen area and then went into the back entrance and installed a subfloor on the laundry pedestal and then laid down some commercial grade vinyl. That folks was it. I received my central vacuum system that I'll install next week as well the click lock vinyl flooring for the back porch came in so this coming Tuesday and Wednesday will see me installing the flooring in the back entrance, installing the central vacuum and then starting on finishing off the trim work. I'm hoping that by the end of the month I'll have another appraisal done on the house so that I can finalize my paperwork to be able to claim back some of the sales tax that I spent on building the house. Theory has it that I should be able to get back about 50% of the sales tax I spent. Only time will tell if they agree and rebate me this amount or if they decide I'm only entitled to a lesser amount. Anyway here are a few pictures showing the flooring in the hallway, the kitchen and then on the laundry pedestal.

Well that's it for now. Not sure when the next update will occur but it will most likely be a few weeks down the road once I've managed to get some of the trim work completed. Enjoy the mild spring and think warm thoughts for an early summer.

See you

Harold

Short update on the kitchen

Well the only thing that happened this week was the installation of the tiled backsplash. I initially started on the north wall which has the fridge and stove in it. We then went around the corner to the sink. I kept this tile level all the way around and stopped right beside the window. The reason for this was that if I tiled under the window area I would have to cut a lot of tiles since they did not fit without cutting. Therefore I decided to install one piece of solid surface countertop as a backsplash under the window. I therefore am having the countertop people cut and polish a piece about 39in by 6.5in for this area. After we finished this area I had the Sister and husband in to talk about how to finish the other side. We  all agreed that continuing at the same level and then going over the small table top would be a good way to finish the tiling. With that decision done I tiled the small area that will be under the eat in counter area on the south wall and then finished off the east wall over the countertop and then over the table top area. This work was all done over Tuesday and Wednesday. Today we spent the morning and early afternoon grouting all the tile work. After cleaning it off a few times and once the grout was more or less set I reinstalled the plugs and switches and that's where we sit at this time. So now that this work is done I can start bringing up the boxes with all my kitchen stuff and start filling in the drawers and cupboards. I still need to finish installing the under cabinet lighting and later this spring I'll start working on building cupboard doors. But for now we have a reasonably functional kitchen, or at least we will after I buy a fridge and stove. So here are some pictures showing the tile installation and then what it looks like after the grouting was complete.

Well I hope that by the end of Wednesday I'll have the remainder of the floor installed and possibly working on some of the trim if I get enough painted. After that I'll work on the flooring in the back entrance. I want to get that done before I get the laundry machines installed.

Well that's all for now see you next week for another installment.

Harold

Kitchen is coming along nicely

Well after two weeks we have some work to talk about. So with the immortal words of the Bugs Bunny Roadrunner show, "On with the show this is it".

Last week Tuesday the counter top guys showed up and installed the kitchen counter. They also mounted the undermount sink at the same time. Took then maybe 1.5hrs after they brought in the four pieces until they were finished and left. And it looks great. We also spent some time in the garage working on shelving for some of my stuff

On Saturday all I did was work in the garage and fix my snowblower. I needed to weld up the drive pulley that had broken into two pieces. The pulley was built in two pieces and all they had was a single tack weld to hold the outer flange on and it finally broke. So when I welded it back on there are now 4 tacks and it will not separate again.

On Sunday went with Mom and the sister and her husband out to the local Lowes store to look through and pick out some tile for the backsplash over the counter in the kitchen. We finally settled on a colour and tile and the took all they had even the broken sets and brought them home. The tile is a tan coloured affair in brick pattern with approx 1in by 2in tiles. Here is a picture showing the tiles on the counter awaiting installation.

This past Tuesday I installed the kitchen sink taps and drain system. As well we installed the dishwasher into its receptacle. I am really glad the local hardware store where I work is only one kilometer away as I must have been there about 5 times that day picking up parts needed for the installation. For example I was installing the tap and the hoses that came with it were just long enough to reach the taps provided the tap receptacle was pointing up. This was the case with the hot water tap however the cold water tap was pointed straight out due to the addition of a tap and line for the fridge water. This necessitated a trip to the hardware store to pick up a hose extension. I also had to go there to pick up pieces to adapt the drain pipe to accept the dishwasher drain line as the original connector I had bought turned out to be to small. Oh well by the end of the day the dishwasher was installed, with the exception of the drain line and the taps and drain were installed on the sink and they worked great. Here is a picture of the two items.

 So today we hooked up the drain line and proceeded to run the dishwasher on its shortest cycle just to make sure it worked and there were no leaks. Worked like a charm. Reason I did not hook it up earlier as I wanted a few clamps to hold down the drain hose inside the corner cupboard and I forgot to pick them up until Thursday night after work. Once this was done we spent time laying out the tiles for the backsplash on the north wall of the kitchen. This is the wall with the stove opening. I had to carefully measure it out so we could cut out the plug openings and cut down a few sheets at the end of the wall. After this was done we spread out the glue and installed the tiles. It looks good and now I'll need to decide on which colour of grout to use to finish it off. Tomorrow I'll probably work on the south wall which is the short stub wall and once that's done we'll need to decide how to do the east wall behind the sink. Since there is the window there and two plugs and a switch I will need to decide whether to go high or low and how to match up the two ends since the north end is 20in high and the south end is only 8in high. Decisions, decisions. At least I have some help on the with Mom and the sister and husband giving me their opinions as well. Here are some pictures showing the backsplash installation.

Well that's all for now. I hope over the next week to finish the south wall backsplash and then hopefully on Tuesday and Wednesday we can finish installing the flooring in the hallway and kitchen area. After that it will be working on the back entrance area and deciding on which appliances to buy for my fridge, stove, washer, and dryer.

Take care and enjoy the winter, may it soon end for summer.

Harold

What lovely warm weather we're having

Well at least for now the weather is pretty good. Got up to 10C today however colder weather is enroute next week.
First I'll start by saying that I will most likely not be doing a weekly update anymore. As we get closer and closer to completion there is less to talk about. So for the future I'll probably only update this blog after some significant work gets done.
Again this week was pretty slow. We painted some trim and did some minor work. I installed the toilet in the spare bathroom, added an extra shelf in the master bedroom closet and trimmed out the small cubbyhole in the living room. After that I spent some time in the garage working on getting some shelving installed to start storing items and cleaning up the area. At this time it looks like the kitchen counter will get installed this week and once that happens I can finish the flooring in the house with the exception of the back room. That will get done separately. The last thing I did was trim out one of the basement window and then spray foam the gap around it. I've had an issue where the small piece of exposed concrete around the window was sweating due to moisture level in the basement. I am working on reducing that moisture level  but it will take time. By trimming out the window and filling the void with insulation it should prevent that moisture from forming since the concrete will not be in contact with the warmer air. I still need to do this with the remaining 5 windows as well. Once they are done all the insulating that can be done will be done and the house will be sealed up quite tightly. Because of this I am now running my HRV(heat recovery ventilator) full time at a humidity level of 40pct. So I'll leave you with a few pictures showing the end result of the work described above.

Well I'll see you next time after the countertop has been installed and the floor has been leveled. Until then have a great 2016.

Harold

Thank goodness the holidays are over

It was not the most productive week at the Mulder homestead. So this update will be short and sweet.

On Sunday we painted trimwork for the spare bath and bedroom. I also did this on Monday after work. On Tuesday we spent the afternoon watching the new Star Wars movie and I personally give it a two thumbs up. It was a good movie. On Wednesday we painted the trim again after work. On Friday we spent some time working on installing the trim in the bedroom and bathroom. I did not start early and did not finish late so as to have some time to relax. Today went to work for inventory counting. So really it was a pretty quiet week. 

Next week I hope to do some more trim work and then install the toilet in the spare bathroom. After that we'll wait and see as to when the counter top will get installed. Once that is installed I'll finish the floor and look at starting the process of installing some doors in the bed and bathrooms. 

So until next week take care.

Harold