Weeks 22-25

Three more weeks, we’ve had sun, we’ve had snow and we’ve had an ice storm!

The weather picked up and we had a lovely day outside clearing up and trying out our new super long ladder. We had a “3^rd Rock from the sun” moment when we all headed up onto the laundry room roof to enjoy the warmth and the view…

 

We also tried to empty the water from off the tarp covering the pool. Every time we got it draining, we had more rain and it filled back up again. We are hopefully getting an old sump pump from the plumber to clear it off.

The ice storm didn’t bring as much devastation as we expected based on neighbourhood trees, luckily we only lost a few branches and some flattened sumac. The power went out for 6 hours, which meant no heat and no running water, maybe a backup generator would have been a good idea after all.

 

 We plodded along doing subfloors for a while and we finally got them all replaced. Next was the framing… We put up a wall, started putting up another, noticed a mistake (we didn’t have all the crowns facing the right way) and took them back down again! Fixed the problem (or is it an opportunity?) then put the wall back up. After much measuring, sawing, screwing, checking for plumb, and overall building, the walls are up, hooray! We had to take the ceiling fan down (no great hardship since it wasn’t pretty) because it was right in the way of where the wall needed to go so now we have no lights in our work area.

 

The plumber came over to install some outside taps after we discovered that the tap outside had been cut off in the basement so we had no water running to it! Another mystery as to why the previous owners did what they did. I’ve stopped trying to understand the logic behind the things we find. We also discovered that the well which was decommissioned a month ago is still hooked up to the pump and bringing water to the house! I had asked the plumber to remove the old pipes and luckily he checked them before cutting them off. We would have had an indoor pool if he’d gone ahead and taken the pipes out. Now I need to contact the well company and find out exactly what we paid all that money for?

We’ve put the snow blower to bed and started up the ride on lawnmower, bring on spring!

After much deliberation we also decided to replace rather than fix all the eavestroughs and downspouts (that’s gutters and drainpipes to all my English speaking friends) so now tha rain will hopefully be diverted away from the basement a little better.

We had the building inspector visit and he’s approved the framing, he must have been here three minutes tops! I guess it must look good for him to not check anything, their next visit will be final inspection J  We can begin hanging drywall next…

Weeks 19-21

You can tell I’ve slowed down, three weeks in one entry!

The plumber and electrician have done their thing and we are ready to build bathrooms.  We also have a whole new water treatment system and water to our fridge. The doorway for the upstairs washroom was expanded and framed, we even reused the old door and hung it J The old doorway has been framed up ready to drywall and hang a wall sink.

This will be a sink...

Old door in a new frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have started clearing out in the floor joists again, filling the gap with insulation and then laying the subfloor. We needed to make sure that there wasn’t going to be any more plumbing or electrical work before gluing and screwing the plywood down.

In Callum’s bedroom to be, we had to support under the floorboards to the adjoining room and now that is done, the subfloor can be laid in there too.

We took the spare door to James’ old bedroom in Ayr (a French door) and reused it for the laundry room. The old door didn’t have a latch to stay shut from the kitchen side but had catches which held it shut from the laundry room side. That meant the dog could get in there but then trap herself in! Now we have more light coming into the kitchen and a door which stays shut J

 

Another reused door, now the sun can come into the kitchen J
 

 

On the wildlife front, more tracks which I can only assume are coyote, two red squirrels (Nutkin -on the left and Tufty-on the right)who visit daily to clear out the bird feeder and a mouse in the kitchen! Did I mention Steve? He’s our resident male red cardinal, and Mrs Steve(the female red cardinal) who we see every day too. There is an abundance of birds out there now, they kept their presence hidden when we first moved and we were worried there were no animals here at all. We also had a whiff of skunk one day, they can live elsewhere thank you very much!  A slightly disturbing discovery, we found a raccoon skull in the barn A: How did it get there? and  B: Where is the rest of it?

 

Week 18

And we’re off again!

The electrician came back to do some more work, he’s moved a kitchen light, changed the location of the bathroom fan switch so it is near the door (rather than at the far side of the bathroom) replaced the bathroom plug receptacle with a GFI, moved the switch for Callum’s bedroom light( so it’s not hanging down from the ceiling anymore) and removed an extra light which wasn’t needed. The latter was a very messy job up in the attic and he came down covered in insulation. He also discovered a spot where he found bat poop, (yes, bat poop in the attic, ewww! ) He brought a dead, dried up bat down to show me but before I got a chance to view the poor creature Kaiya ate it (double ewww!) Now I shouldn’t be surprised because she eats everything but really? Bleurgh!

The plumber finally made it out to hook up the new well J We have great water pressure now and this means the well guys can come back and decommission the old well. Fill that sucker in! Although cool to look at and being a piece of the home’s history, it is also a safety concern so I’ll be happy when it’s gone.

The old stone well, soon to be filled in...

 

The plumber also began roughing in the plumbing for the bathrooms upstairs which is soooo exciting!!! We’ll be able to put everything back together again and move our bedroom upstairs. The downside, he opened up an exterior wall to run the new vent, only to find it has no insulation, only the brick and some parging. We thought we may have to remove all the lath and plaster, possibly reframe, and insulate; something that wasn’t part of the plan. It would also mean that I’d have to try and remove the window frame while keeping it intact to drywall the wall.( Most of the trim is held in with huge nails so it might end up splintering L ) I spoke to the building inspector and he said that because it is a reno on an older home, we just need to patch it right back up, no need to panic after all J The inspector came out to look at the plumbing and found a low spot in the drainage so the plumber has to come back and remedy it…

The makings of a bathroom...

 

The HVAC company came and installed new ductwork in our bedroom, moved a floor register in the kitchen (so we can move the fridge away from blocking a window) and ran a gas line for a future gas stove. At our old house we ran a gas line and eight years later we still didn’t have a gas cooker, let’s hope we get one before we move from here! One of the guys cut his hand pretty badly on the duct work and lost copious amounts of blood, he wrapped it up and carried on working all day, what a trooper. When they came back the next day to finish off I found out he ended up getting three stitches.

Lovely, shiny new ductwork, no more baseboards heaters in our bedroom to be...

 

My job this week was to punch a doorway through into the closet, which will become the new upstairs washroom. Lots of mess and dust again but it feels like we might be getting somewhere. One step closer with each job…I also started removing the door trim to try and reuse it.

 

Before and after= more mess

 

We’ve ordered some building supplies J

Week 17

A slightly less busy week this week.

The electrician came back and installed pot lights in the bathroom, we discovered in the process that the ceiling in the bathroom has lath and plaster, wood panelling and then a layer of drywall! Who knew? He also finished off the electrical work for the septic. I was under the impression that the septic company would be taking care of that but it seems not, so I’m glad that our electrician was able to hook it all up and make it good. The septic guys came to check it was all working so we are finally finished! Hooray! We can check it off the list.

Bathroom potlights
 

I went along to the Township office and put in our planning permission application. I know most people wouldn’t even bother since our taxes will go up once we install the new bathrooms but I’d rather keep things above board. It will take about two weeks then we can start the major building project JUPDATE: it came through already! We can start building walls and roughing in plumbing and electrical.

The only other thing I did was remove the remaining parts of the bulkhead in the kitchen we started way back. The frame was nailed into the wall with 6” nails so it wasn’t going anywhere fast! After hammering, levering and angle grinding I finally got it done.

JM and I put some new battens up on the kitchen ceiling in preparation for drywall in the future, were thinking of getting a drywall guy in to do that what with 9 ½ foot ceilings and all.

Still waiting for the plumber to hook up the well…

Week 16

This was a busy week.

The well company came and set up their truck to drill our new well. We had to sacrifice a few tree branches to get the drill in place but it wasn’t too severe. Once it was set up, it was an all day process. Thankfully they didn’t have to go as far down as we initially thought based on neighbouring wells so that was a bonus ( saved us over $3000!) only 124 feet. There was grey water being spewed out all over our lovely white snow so it looks messy but will be worth it. They came back the next day to take the drill down and capped the hole.

Drilling the new well

We reached water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few days later the well guys returned to dig a trench to the house, bore a hole through the foundation wall for the water line, install a pump in the well and a tank in the basement. We went with a continuous pressure system so we will not have to deal with sporadic full on then trickly water in the shower J

Water tank for well pump
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The plumber came to replace the old UV system and softer, he installed the UV and a reverse osmosis system but hasn’t been back to add the softener yet. Once the plumber hooks up the water supply the well will be up and running.

 

 

 

 

 

JM and I took down a wall in the laundry room to see what was behind it and to see what condition the plumbing was in. We found smiley wallpaper under the door trim and a strike plate that was held in by 6"nails, talk about overkill! At first we intended to build a new, insulated wall for the area but since it is brick we have decided to build a half wall to keep the brick exposed. I think it will look really good.

 

We also opened up some holes in the kitchen ceiling to install pot lights. Much mess and a few challenges but we got them in and were excited to be making progress. Part way through, I had to buy a new blade for my zip saw. I bought a Dremel one which lasted just a few holes before wearing smooth, which I wasn’t too impressed with, so I took it back and they gave me my money back. I couldn’t believe it! I replaced it with a Bosch one which lasted much better, I guess it pays to buy better quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had our electrician put an exterior plug socket for part of the septic system, install a switch for the well and hook up all the kitchen pot lights. The kitchen is so much brighter now J He seems to be doing a good job and his prices are fair so I’m happy with him.

 We have lights!

 

And just for fun...icicles!

 

Week 15

It seems that things are starting to come together...
We figured that if the septic is almost done, we’ll be applying for planning permission for the bathroom very soon so the job we’ve been avoiding had to happen- removing the chimney. JM went ahead and started without me and surprisingly was able to lift the section in our bedroom clean out. I joined him at this point and he put it back in place for a photo…big mistake! Once it was back in, it attached itself to the section below and we weren’t able to separate them, d’oh! We got Callum in on the act to lower the now longer chimney through the bedroom floor/kitchen ceiling and it was a bit of a struggle because of the weight of the thing. Once it was down, the boys took it out to the barn. JM headed into the attic to try and take out the next section, we got it unscrewed and all bolts removed but it didn’t budge. After much huffing and puffing, jiggling, twisting, pushing and pulling we ended up leaving it for the time being. It won’t be in the way of the building work so we’ll take it out with the top section(on the roof) in the spring.  Now that the chimney has gone we can open the closet door all the way! These simple little things make me happy.

Septic system? Nothing much going on there…more earth being shifted around but they haven’t been here for days so I think they are waiting for us to put in a plug socket to hook it all up.

We had the plumber (and assistant) out to do some updates to the waste pipes in preparation for the other work we’ll be getting done. They ripped out all the corroded cast iron and a section of lead. When they looked inside the base of the old stack they found so much debris that the vent was completely blocked. That is not good for the plumbing system, no venting in the entire house! I’m so glad we’re getting this all updated… He’ll be back in a while (once the well is done) to run some new lines and install a water softener, UV treatment and reverse osmosis unit.

And talking of the well, they were planning on drilling Friday which would have been fine if a massive snow storm hadn’t come through, dumping a foot of snow on everything. The kids’ schools were closed and JM worked from home so we were all here all day, not going anywhere. We cleared the snow the next day, it was a beautiful sunny day and a pleasure to be outside. We even had a bonfire to clear out some of the wood that needed to be gotten rid of.

Electrical, we’re having a new breaker panel put in to replace the old fuse box. It is happening right now! Lots of banging and crashing going on in the basement and they will be updating some wiring and installing some new receptacles -plug sockets for those who don’t speak Canadian :)  It is exciting to be making some progress although we still have a long way to go.

Week 14

The septic system is almost finished (hooray!). The gravel has been laid in the bed and the third tank with pump is hooked up and ready to go. It should pass the final inspection tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Almost done!

 

We got a call to say the well would be coming today but no sign of the well people. In preparation for the truck to drill the well we had to remove a few sections of the fence at the side of the house. JM made easy work of that J

The gate has gone
 

Big gap in the fence now!

 

Another thing we did this week was replace the tap in the kitchen. It has been dripping since we’ve been here and sometimes it still flows after it is turned off! I tried replacing the washer but the one I had to replace it with was a tad too big, I don’t think the original one was a standard size. I think it looks much better…

 

A bit of demolition this week too:  I took out a section of wall in the cupboard under the stairs to create a new doorway for the bathroom. Currently the bathroom opens into the kitchen( gross!) so we are going to change the access to the hallway via the cupboard under the stairs and eventually have storage in the corner of the kitchen where the bathroom door is right now.