Almost ready for the first deck party

Well we're almost to the stage as the title says where we could have a deck party.
On Tuesday I spent the morning finishing off the deck joists and laying down the broken brick as protection for the landscape fabric and to prevent the critters from trying to nest under the deck. Considering the broken brick has a lot of sharp edges I don't think they'd find it a nice nesting spot. As well I plan on putting some lattice work around the deck frame so as to prevent their accessing this area. Around noon hour went out and picked up 60 12ft deck boards in anticipation of starting to lay decking. Here is a picture of what it looked like at the end of Tuesday. It ended up taking a lot longer to break up some of the brick as the day wore on.

On Wednesday morning we started by laying out the first two boards. These had to be cut out around the 5 posts that hold up the roof trusses so it took a little longer than the rest of the boards. I used a mason's line stretched tightly from end to end to help line up the boards. The string was moved 5 and 5/8 of an inch for each row. The boards were supposed to be 5 and 1/2 in wide so it gave me an 1/8 of an inch as spacing between the boards. On the whole it worked pretty well however some gaps were a little narrower and some were a little wider but the majority were narrower. By end of day Wednesday I had half of the deck done. Reason for slowness was that each board needed to be cut due joist spacing and I wanted to plan out some of the boards to try and space the joints as much as possible. As well I'm not as young as I used to be and getting up and down to screw all the boards was tiring on the knees. Here is a picture what it looked like at the end of the day.

On Saturday I first started out by installing a post at either end of the deck halfway between the vertical posts to help support the future railing. After looking at the prices have decided to go with Cedar for the railing and balustrades. The middle post I installed was a 4by4 that I notched at the top to accept a 2by4 that will be installed vertically under the top railing and then to insure it was in the middle the bottom part had to be notched around the joist. Once they were installed we could continue with installing the decking. Of the 60 boards I bought that were 12 footers and 3, 8 footers all were installed with the exception of 3, 12 footers. I did not install these as I need to install the floating floor on the cold storage deck first and I want to tie those smaller joists in with the larger joists. However we have a nice solid surface ready for the first party. Now I just need to find some nice patio chairs to go on the deck. So here is a picture showing the deck as it stands at end of day. The little bit of joisting you still see is left open to tie in the rest of the deck joists from over the cold storage area.

For the coming week I work Monday and Tuesday. I have Wednesday, Canada day, and Thursday off and then work again on Friday and Saturday. So hopefully on Wednesday for part of the day I'll start installing the 1by8 pine for my soffiting and continue on Thursday. I hope to be able to have the majority installed by end of day on Thursday.

Well for those Canadians out there happy Canada day on Wednesday and for those Americans reading this have a happy 4th of July on Saturday. Please enjoy the days and stay safe.

Harold

Making small bricks out of larger bricks

Well the die is cast. I've spent my first night at the new house. It will still be quite a while before all the work is done however I'll now be able to stay in the house about 5-6 nights a week. I'll come back to Mom's place at least every Saturday night so that I can do laundry on Sunday morning. So lets see how we came to this momentous occasion.
On Sunday I painted some quarter round for the bedroom. As well I moved dirt into the back porch area and cleaned up some of the left over mortar from when the bricklayers were there. Had some rain so did not do quite as much as I could have.
On Tuesday I installed the quarter round in the Master Bedroom and then had the Brother in law help with moving the bed into the room. The plan was to look at spending Wednesday night there so that I could go from my house to work which is only one Km away. I knew that I would not be able to move the night stands or the dresser as they were buried deeper in the garage and did not want to move all that stuff just to get them. However I thought I had left the box with the bedding out so that it was easily accessible however could not find it. As I have a California King bed suite sheets are not that easy to come by. So had to order a new set through Amazon which would be delivered on Friday. After all this was done went back to moving dirt to level off the back porch area prior to putting down the broken up brick and then joists for the decking.
On Wednesday I received a load of lumber from a specialty wood store about 1/2hrs drive away. This was 1300 lineal feet of 1by8 tongue and groove pine that will be used for the soffits above the decks as well as 400ft of 1by6 fir that will be used for the Freize boards around the house below the soffit. Once this was stacked on the cold storage roof area of the deck went out and bought some 2by10's to be used as joists for the decking. I also secured a 2by10 to the concrete blocks specially installed below the stone work as a rim joist and then installed a 2by6 just underneath this that was secured to the concrete basement wall by 1/2" concrete lags and anchors. Here's a picture of the deck area before the first of joists was installed. As well the Rim joist was not yet installed.

So on Thursday I was working at Penner's when I get a call from Mom. At first I thought she was telling me the parcel had come. However what she said was that she'd found a set of my sheets in a cupboard area. After I got home I realized I had brought sheets to Mom's place so they could be washed and then I stuck them in the small desk cupboard in the spare bedroom and completely forgot about this. So we now have spare sheets. Later after work I went to the house and proceeded to break up  a wheelbarrow's worth of small brick chips. More on this later. 

On Saturday I spent the entire day either breaking up bricks for under the deck or installing joists as we moved along. Here are two pictures one showing the work being down the other at the end of the day with the last doubled up joist installed and the brick chips laying underneath.

So here's what I mean by all this. When the neighbours house was being built they had a lot of broken bricks laying about. Now to dispose of them would cost a fair amount of money at the dump since the tipping fee is based on weight. So I told the contractor they could clean up all the brick and put it on my driveway by the garage and then I would spend some time breaking it up into 1" sized chunks, or there about, and use it under the deck. So under the deck over the dirt I spread out some landscape fabric or what we also call weed preventative fabric and then laid the brick chips on top of it. It took 6-8 wheelbarrow loads to cover the ground under 6ft of deck and it took me 45min to break up enough brick to fill each wheelbarrow load. So I spent a lot of time breaking up the bricks. Here is a photo showing the area where I was breaking the brick. I have broken up a little over 1/3 of the brick that was laying there and as of now I still have 12 feet of rear deck and the entire front deck area to cover. Now where are those two strapping young nephews when you need them to do grunt work. Oh they're on vacation. Maybe next time.

So now that I had sheets I finally made the bed and spent Saturday night in my new house. At this time as mentioned earlier I'll most likely spend 5-6nights there a week and a couple at Mom's until I get my kitchen installed.  Here's a picture showing the bed with sheets. And for those interested that's a 59 Corvette in the picture. Now if only there were a real one in the drive way.

Today I spent about 6hours working on the rear deck and breaking up more bricks. I'll probably need to spend at least 4-6 hours on Tuesday finishing off the joists and then I plan on putting the decking on and then starting the work on soffit installation. I would really like to get the soffit installed before some of the local critters find it an easy avenue into my attic area. As it is i've already had some birds nesting in the rafters above the decks. One nest is already gone and another one will be shortly.

Well until next week have a great summer because as we all know we've pass the summer solstice and the days will start getting shorter.

Harold

Almost there

Well we're almost at the stage that I can move the majority of the bedroom furniture in. Still need to install some quarter round and then the bed can go in. So lets go over what we did this week.
As mentioned last week I couldn't find the correct plastic base plate for my floor nailer. So on Tuesday morning the first thing I did was take a piece of 1/4" thick plastic flooring and make up a base plate that would work. Once this was done we proceeded to continue installing the floor. By the end of the day the floor was installed in the Master bedroom and closet. It worked out really well and looks good to boot as well. Here are some pictures with the flooring installed.

On Wednesday I purchased and painted the baseboard for the bedroom. As well we cleaned the house up to get rid of as much sawdust as possible. As well cleaned up the porch area in anticipation of receiving the pine tongue and groove 1by8's for the the porch ceilings. As well the Brick company came down and picked up all the leftover stone that I had as well as one small cube of extra brick. That should at least give me a little money back. 

On Saturday I installed the majority of the baseboard in the bedroom and closet. Some pieces cannot be installed until I install the door frames. However enough could be installed such that I can at least bring the bed, nightstands and highboy in. Once we installed the baseboard I went outside and moved a couple dozen wheelbarrows worth of dirt into the porch area to bring the dirt level upto the required height. Here are some pictures showing the baseboard installed in the bedroom and closet.

Today Sunday went out and bought a Samsung microwave for over the stove since Lowes had 20% savings as well as a pair of lights for beside the front doors. Once at the house I again moved about a dozen loads of dirt for the porch area until the rain got a little to heavy to work comfortably. 

So I now have a small fridge, toaster oven and microwave at the house. The bathroom is functional. The bedroom will hopefully be outfitted this week Tuesday or Wednesday and hopefully Wednesday night I've be able to sleep in the house. So here's hoping for a good week ahead. 

Take care and have a great week.

Harold

The Good with the Bad

Well the plan was to get a lot more done this week. However unfortunately the body said otherwise and I spent almost all day Wednesday in bed fighting a 24hr bug. The good news though was that at least I passed the inspection for occupancy certificate on Wednesday afternoon.
So this is how the week progressed.
On Sunday I installed the permanent lights in the Master Bath. These are a 4light LED system on the ceiling and a 3light LED system on the wall over the Vanity. Here is a picture showing the lights.

On Tuesday I initially went to see a surgeon about my Carpal Tunnel and in his words "surgery recommended sooner rather than later". So have surgery booked for 14 Sept. In the afternoon I spent some time at the house finishing off the HRV vents the basement bathroom vent and the two outside taps. Now that the Masons are finished I could secure these items properly to the stone work. With the taps I initially installed a piece of plastic deck flooring which is secured to the stone and then secured the tap to the plastic. Here is a picture of that.

By late afternoon I started feeling a bit off so decided to call it an early day. Went home and by 7pm was flat on my back in bed. After a little side trip to the bathroom at 10pm where after a few minutes I left what was in my stomach there I felt much better. However I still did not have the energy to go to work on Wednesday at the house. All I managed to do was get out there by noon to meet the inspector who gave me my Occupancy certificate. After a relatively sleepless night I felt well enough to at least go to work on Thursday and Friday at my day job. 

On Saturday went out to the house and cleaned up all the stone and brick left by the masons. I palletized the stone so that it can be returned for credit. I made sure that I kept enough for the Stone work on the garage. I then spent some time starting to do a layout of the stone for two of the four locations. We then called it a little be early so that I could go out with the family to celebrate the occupancy certificate milestone.

I decided that on Sunday I would go out and install the flooring in the Master bedroom. So first went to Lowes to pickup the mirror that matches my vanity and installed this. Then vacuumed the floor again, laid down the flooring paper, and then laid out two boxes of flooring. I chose the wall closest to the hallway as the starting point and stretched out a string into the closet for the first row. Since you are too close to the wall for the flooring stapler to work used other nailers for this first row. Here are two pictures showing the first row. Hopefully in the second picture you can see the string.

So took the piece that was cutoff from the first row to start the second row. Again could not use the flooring stapler for the first 6ft. However once we got into clear area went and got my stapler. Before using it I carefully made sure that the correct plate was on the stapler for the 3/4in flooring. Unfortunately the 1/2in plate was on instead. Went out to the garage and searched through the boxes at least twice but cannot find the plate. Normally that plate is secured to the small air compressor however since it went in for repair a while ago I took the plate off. So cannot find the plate anywhere and Lowes and Home Depot don't carry the sole plates. So instead of showing you a completed floor all I can say is that I had a relaxing afternoon at home. Now I need to find somebody close by who carries these plates or have one mailed in so that I can finish the job. Before I went home did spend some time working outside doing a little cleanup. 

So that's what happened this week. Hopefully next time i'll have some more news to pass on and maybe even a move in date. 

Until them have a great summer.

Harold

Well Strike the master bathroom off the list.

Well as my old boss, Dick VanderEnde use to say "time for a shit, shave and a shower". I'll talk more about this later as the progress from the preceding week is discussed.
On Sunday I went in and grouted the tiles above the shower stall. This was not as easy as it seemed. First off the work is vertical secondly the tiles I had chosen have beveled surfaces which meant it was even harder to work the float across the surfaces. I actually had to stop grouting 2/3's of the way through and start sponging off the first side I started on. However we persevered and a few hours later the grout job and initial cleaning was done. Twice more during the day I went over the tiles deglazing them from the grout and cleaning them. In between all this work I also managed to install the basement handrail with the help of the brother in law, give my storage shelving a second coat of paint and I also did some more mudding in the northerly basement rec room. Here are some pictures showing the work done today. The third picture is a little dark but still shows how the hand rail was installed using, first a piece of 2by4 pine and then a piece of oak on top.

Well on Monday I drove back and forth to London to pickup my mother who had been visiting the brother so no work done. On Tuesday I had to work so the next day at the house was Wednesday.

On Wednesday the HVAC guys came to install the Air Conditioner and the final thermostats thus hooking the entire system together. They spent the entire morning working on this and shortly after noon hour the install was complete and tested out. The funny thing is that so far there has been no requirement for AC. The warmest it has been in the house is 21C or 70F without any AC running. The house has remained nice and cool so far even with some of the heat we had recently. It will be interesting to see how long this lasts. Once they were finished I spent a little time in the Master bath installing the baseboard and then called it an early day after returning some of the unneeded stone sills back to the brick yard. I will also be returning some brick and stone eventually as too much was ordered. Sorry no pictures of the AC however they all look the same. The only difference with mine is, is that it is a SEER 16 rating which means it is among the most efficient so far on the market. As well because of the efficiency ratings of my furnace and air-conditioner the provincial government will be giving me a cheque for 650$ to compensate for buying the more efficient equipment. That money will go to the cost of flooring the house.

On Thursday and Friday I was back at work while the masons continued bricking the house. By Friday at 2pm the brickwork was done and they are now complete. I am really pleased with the look of the stone and brick. So pleased that I forgot to take a picture to show you the finished product. Now all I need to do is install two porches, some tongue and groove soffiting in the porch areas and then frieze boards all the way around the house. As well I will need to fill in the area above the doors and windows with board and batten siding similiar to my gable ends.

Now on Saturday I went in with the express purpose of getting the bathroom complete. First thing was giving the baseboard one final coat of paint. I then test fit the vanity to ensure the plumbing would work. I then cut the copper stub outs and installed compression taps on the three stubs. Next we installed the toilet and turned it on, success it worked and no leaks. I then went back to the vanity and finished installing the taps and then the drain system. Again turned it on and success no leaks. However I did notice that when I tested the overflow system that although it works the drain line from the overflow will in no way take all the water that the taps are capable of giving at full throttle.  Next we went on to the shower and installed the taps and the shower head. Again tested it and no leaks. I am one happy camper. I am I believe just two little railings away from getting an occupancy permit. Hopefully after next week Tuesday is done I should be all ready for this. Then it will just be a matter of scheduling the inspection. This brings us back to the first comment I made. I am now capable of having a "shit, shave and a shower"in my house. Here are some pictures showing the completed items. You might be able to see that the shower is actually running.

Well that's all for now. On Tuesday I'll finish those railings and then try and schedule the inspection. As well I start to work on prepping the Master bedroom for the flooring that has been acclimatizing in the house. Then we'll install the trim and finally I'll bring in my bedroom furniture. 

So until next week all the best.

Harold

I'm so excited the Brick and Stone look amazing

Well it's been an interesting week. The House is now starting to look like a house as it slowly gets it's skin. Over the past week the Mason's have almost finished installing the stone work and they even managed to install some brick while waiting for extra stone. Here are two pictures. The first one shows the last area of stone being installed and the second one shows the first area that brick was installed.

I am extremely pleased with the look of the stone brick combination. 

As for myself on Sunday we spent some time buying stuff at Lowes during their beat the tax event. As well some of the stuff was on sale as well so we had the double the savings. Then on  Monday I started working on installing the tile above the shower enclosure on the back wall. Here is a picture of that work.

On Wednesday I went in and installed the tile on the one side wall as well as started work on a set of shelves for the basement storage room. This shelving unit used a couple of 4by4's in the corner and vertical 2by4's notched out to accept the horizontal supports. Once assembled a piece of 1/2" good one side plywood was used as the shelf itself. Here is a couple of pictures showing the work from start to finish.

On Thursday I finished installing the tile on the last wall in the shower. I then went downstairs and gave the shelving unit a coat of semi-gloss white paint. Once that was done I went upstairs to install the shelving unit in my Master bedroom closet. This system is made by Rubbermaid and is the metal shelving units that are flexible layout depending on what you want, The nice thing is that the kits are such that after installing my closet there was enough left over to do at least 1/2 of the closet in the spare bedroom. After that was done I started a little mudding of drywall mud in the second bedroom in the basement. Here are some pictures showing this work.

Well that's all for now. Next week I plan to grout the shower tiles, then install the trimwork in the bathroom followed by the toilet and then the vanity. Once that is done I have a handrail to install and once complete I should be able to get my occupancy certificate. Hopefully by end of next week the work will be done just waiting for the inspection. 

Well time to go and we'll see you all next week

Harold

The Stone and Brick begin

Well sorry for the late post as well sorry for no pictures as I left the camera at the house.
To be honest very little happened from my point of view this week. I went in on Sunday just to give my basement railings a 4th coat of Varathane. Since I worked on Monday and then Thursday to Saturday all the time I had was on Tuesday and Wednesday at the house. I had made arrangements for the stone and brick to be delivered on Tuesday so I initially started by preparing the area to accept these items. I laid out a large tarp for the sand to sit on and then placed some skids around the house for the  brick cubes to sit on. I knew the materials was coming in three trucks. Sand in one, Stone on another and then finally the brick straight from the company. Sand arrived at 0930 and was placed nicely on the tarp. After he left I used the remaining part of the tarp as well as another tarp to cover the tarp to keep it dry. An hour later the Burnstein truck showed up with my stone, lintels and mortar. We placed the stone around the house and then I proceeded to wait for the brick truck. While waiting I worked on a few small items. I installed the shelves in the two closets in the back room and installed the clothes rod in the larger closet. I also did some cleaning around the house. Finally around 2pm I called Burnstein to find out about the brick truck. The sales rep called me back within 5min and said sorry but the company decided not to come to day and  would come on Wednesday instead due to delivery schedules. So packed it in for the day.
On Wednesday the Masons showed up and started their setup and then started to lay the stone on the West wall. About mid morning the brick truck showed up and they placed the brick around the house. During this time I started installing my tile above the shower on the back wall. I did this in two stages and by mid afternoon the tile was installed. Since I had to work for the remainder of the week I did not finish the other two walls. I plan to finish the tile tomorrow on Monday. Well by the end of the day the Masons had placed stone on half of the west wall.
On Thursday they finished the west wall and on Friday they finished the rear wall and started on the front of the house. I expect they will be back on Tuesday to continue. I theorize they should be finished somewhere around the middle of next week. Once they are finished then I will have the HVAC guys back to install the Air Conditioner and finish their portion of the work. With those two jobs done that should be the end of the trades people working on the house. All the remainder will be done by me unless I win some money.
So today Sunday went out and had a late breakfast at a great little restaurant in Niagara Falls called the Sunset Grill. This is on the same plaza as Lowes and we were going to go there to pick up some items on their beat the tax days. This restaurant specializes in eggs and is only open for the breakfast and lunch crowd. Their portions are large and the meals are great. For info their omelets are 6 egg omelets. So after breakfast over to Lowes to pickup my bathroom vanity and vanity top. As well I picked up some Rubbermaid shelving units and Mom and my sister picked out the paint for my spare bedroom and bathroom. The colours are Sweet Carolina and Ironclad which are in the green family. The plan is to paint the bathroom and the headboard area with one colour and the rest of the bedroom with the other colour. Not sure when I'll get around to it but I do plan on doing this soon before I start on the flooring.
Well that's all for now. I hope all you Canadians have a great Victoria day weekend.

Harold