We've spent the last couple of days beavering away on the nursery. The skirting boards (known over here as baseboards) were very boring, so we've added some beading to the top of the skirting board. And that's when we discovered one of the fun things about old houses. Despite the brand new 'gyprock' on the walls, they aren't flat. There's a gentle undulation. So our nice straight pieces of beading aren't flush to the wall. The ceiling is also not entirely flat. So the new coving (aka crown moulding) around the top of the room has had to be modified to take this into account, which then had to be backfilled with dry wall compound. We got a little inventive to do the back fill. We copied the idea of an icing bag used to put icing on a cake, and were able to inject drywall compound into the crack with ease.
The moulding around the centre of the room is there to accentuate the size of the room, which is in fact very small. We got the idea from a DIY program we saw. This was particularly difficult because the room slopes where the building has settled over the last hundred years, but the modern moulding is square. We lined up the first piece with the most difficult part to get right, the sloping ceiling. After that, we worked by eye to try and keep the moulding roughly level and in line with all the other pieces. Doesn't look bad, even though I say so myself.
The icing on the cake is that we've finally managed to get some primer on the walls and ceiling - we'll be ready to paint the walls in the next couple of days!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Kitting out the kitchen
Having hung the plasterboard on the wall, we've put the window frames back in place. Then spent three days sanding the floor. It seems that the previous owners had at some time glued previous coverings to the planks, which is a shame because as you can see from the photos, the pine has come out almost white. We now need to varnish the floor, which will probably take the best part of a week to do the three layers.
As you can see, we've had the worktop for the kitchen delivered, but as the units aren't built yet, we've had to leave it on the floor in the dining room. Of course, it's not flexible, so we've had to put wedges underneath it where the dining room floor isn't flat. To try and keep it clean, we've put some plastic over the top and posted a sign reminding people not to walk on the plastic. The cat clearly needs to learn to read!
We've finally stumped up the cash and got someone in to plaster the very awkward corner in the ceiling of the nursery. More photos soon.
As you can see, we've had the worktop for the kitchen delivered, but as the units aren't built yet, we've had to leave it on the floor in the dining room. Of course, it's not flexible, so we've had to put wedges underneath it where the dining room floor isn't flat. To try and keep it clean, we've put some plastic over the top and posted a sign reminding people not to walk on the plastic. The cat clearly needs to learn to read!
We've finally stumped up the cash and got someone in to plaster the very awkward corner in the ceiling of the nursery. More photos soon.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Kitting out the kitchen
With the door sill finished and in place, it's taken me a couple of days to build a brand new door frame and put in place a temporary door - the one from the kitchen. It's been very difficult and I've decided it's something I'm not very good at. Perhaps some practise is needed, but as I've haven't got any more doorways to build, I'm not going to know. It didn't help that (as with most of the house) nothing is square, nor are standard measurements used - inches or centimetres. A day or two of frustration however means that the doorway is complete, and once we have a period door to match, we'll be able to set that part right.
In the mean time, I've put the studding in the old doorway, and secured a piece of drywall inside. The wall inside the office doesn't appear to be parallel to the wall in the kitchen. To complicate things a little, the wall between the office and the kitchen still has the old wooden shingles and the wall boards on the studs. I've screwed the piece of gyprock in place in the office. The electricians haven't quite finished in the kitchen, so although I've cut the gyprock for the kitchen side of the doorway, just not screwed it in place just yet.
In the meantime, my wife has spent quite some time putting new trim around the small window in the kitchen.
The whole process of putting the kitchen in has been slowed down significantly by removing the door. We've put in the order for the additional wall units, and put in the final order for the counter top which should arrive before the new year. It seems companies round here take a rather extended Christmas break, so this was the last opportunity to get the counter before early January. We've also bought a small fridge to go under the counter, and we've ordered a sink to go under the small window. The hot and cold water shouldn't be an issue, as we can take the feeds from the water heater we're going to move. I'll put the pipes in before the water heater's ready to move. All we need is a waste pipe fitting - we'll be getting a plumber in for that bit!
We've removed the the plaster around the stairwell, which was flaking off the wall all too easily - probably got very wet at some time. Once the gyprock is in place, we'll put up the plaster (also known as drywall compound) on the seams, and over the screw holes.
In the mean time, I've put the studding in the old doorway, and secured a piece of drywall inside. The wall inside the office doesn't appear to be parallel to the wall in the kitchen. To complicate things a little, the wall between the office and the kitchen still has the old wooden shingles and the wall boards on the studs. I've screwed the piece of gyprock in place in the office. The electricians haven't quite finished in the kitchen, so although I've cut the gyprock for the kitchen side of the doorway, just not screwed it in place just yet.
In the meantime, my wife has spent quite some time putting new trim around the small window in the kitchen.
The whole process of putting the kitchen in has been slowed down significantly by removing the door. We've put in the order for the additional wall units, and put in the final order for the counter top which should arrive before the new year. It seems companies round here take a rather extended Christmas break, so this was the last opportunity to get the counter before early January. We've also bought a small fridge to go under the counter, and we've ordered a sink to go under the small window. The hot and cold water shouldn't be an issue, as we can take the feeds from the water heater we're going to move. I'll put the pipes in before the water heater's ready to move. All we need is a waste pipe fitting - we'll be getting a plumber in for that bit!
We've removed the the plaster around the stairwell, which was flaking off the wall all too easily - probably got very wet at some time. Once the gyprock is in place, we'll put up the plaster (also known as drywall compound) on the seams, and over the screw holes.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Kitting out the kitchen continued
The next step is to get a door in the wall in the office. We've not got one that matches the rest of the house, so for now we're just going to install the door we just took out of the kitchen. To do that we needed to remove the window. We've finished taking the window out, and removed the wall below the window frame - still some work to do but it's nearly there. We're reusing the window sill as the sill to the new doorway. We've cut off one edge to square it up. The floor in the hallway has two layers of floorboards, and the lower layer sticks out by 2 cm. So I'm going to have to route a grove out of the edge of the sill so it will sit flush with the floor. We've started that process, but I spent most of the day trying to level off the area where the sill will end up.
We've been in a building site for a month a half now, surrounded by plaster dust and a mountain of plaster lathe and wood. The electricians began working on rewiring the building a few weeks ago. The electrics are so old they were probably original to the building - so they could be 100 years old. We've been moving forward slowly, but we feel like we've not had a huge amount of success until today. It's amazing how much of a sense of satisfaction you get from just one thing getting installed just right:
We've been in a building site for a month a half now, surrounded by plaster dust and a mountain of plaster lathe and wood. The electricians began working on rewiring the building a few weeks ago. The electrics are so old they were probably original to the building - so they could be 100 years old. We've been moving forward slowly, but we feel like we've not had a huge amount of success until today. It's amazing how much of a sense of satisfaction you get from just one thing getting installed just right:
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Kitchen design rethink
Our electrician, Quentin, has pointed out the obvious solution to our dilemma over the layout of our kitchen. The kitchen is a terrible lay out:
One of the doors leads into an office space at the front of the house. The office only has one other door, which leads to the front of the house and the outside world. The office is an addition to the house, and there are two windows leading into the space, one from the dining room and the other from the hallway. We'd always intended to take the window out of the hallway and put a door in its place, but the plan was to do that further down the line. However, Quentin pointed out that if we did it now we'd be able to fill in the door in the kitchen creating an entire wall to put counter top and cupboards on. It also means we'll now have space to put a sink in. It will also simplify moving the water heater, as it means we'll be able to run the pipes round the wall behind the cupboards rather than under the floor.
Before we could change our plans permanently, we had to check out the space around the window. The wall in the hall used to be an exterior wall, and therefore is load bearing. We were warned to look for a plinth in the wall cavity that shouldn't be removed. Luckily, when we opened the wall below the window, it appears the plinth is at the level of the floor in the hall.
So we've removed the doorway in the kitchen and made a start on removing the window. Removing the window was very hard work, clearly very well built. The original wooden shingles were still attached to the wall and in very good condition, which made them difficult to remove and we had to break most of the to get them off the wall. We're hoping we can use the old window sill at the bottom of the door as a step as it's a good solid piece of wood.
- 5 doors, one on each wall, and an additional one on one of the longer walls.
- The staircase going up into bedroom 4
- The water heater next to the cooker
One of the doors leads into an office space at the front of the house. The office only has one other door, which leads to the front of the house and the outside world. The office is an addition to the house, and there are two windows leading into the space, one from the dining room and the other from the hallway. We'd always intended to take the window out of the hallway and put a door in its place, but the plan was to do that further down the line. However, Quentin pointed out that if we did it now we'd be able to fill in the door in the kitchen creating an entire wall to put counter top and cupboards on. It also means we'll now have space to put a sink in. It will also simplify moving the water heater, as it means we'll be able to run the pipes round the wall behind the cupboards rather than under the floor.
Before we could change our plans permanently, we had to check out the space around the window. The wall in the hall used to be an exterior wall, and therefore is load bearing. We were warned to look for a plinth in the wall cavity that shouldn't be removed. Luckily, when we opened the wall below the window, it appears the plinth is at the level of the floor in the hall.
So we've removed the doorway in the kitchen and made a start on removing the window. Removing the window was very hard work, clearly very well built. The original wooden shingles were still attached to the wall and in very good condition, which made them difficult to remove and we had to break most of the to get them off the wall. We're hoping we can use the old window sill at the bottom of the door as a step as it's a good solid piece of wood.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Square peg, round hole...
As we are discovering the Canadians (and Americans) really do like to do things a little differently. The screws need a different driving bit - a square hole???
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Kitting out the kitchen
Taking a brief respite from the nursery to allow the plaster to dry, I've started to tackle the insulation in the kitchen so we can move the water heater. The sparks are using the power cable that was attached to the tumble dryer to temporarily power the new fuse board, which frees up the corner. Same old trick:
In a more modern construction, we wouldn't need to add the noggins between the studs. Insulation has a way of drawing water in, and once wet it stops being so good at insulating. This in particular causes a problem in a wooden building as the water can start to rot the timbers.
In the roof there's an additional problem. The asphalt shingles are nailed to the roof, and a lot of the nails go through the roofing boards. These nails are exposed to the outside temperatures, including the freezing cold, and frost can form on these nails inside which will quickly soak the insulation in the rafters when it warms up. To prevent this, when installing the insulation polystyrene rafter vents, which are stapled to the roofing boards before the insulation is installed. This allows crucial air flow to keep the nails and roofing boards dry, when combined with ventilated sofits and further ventilation at the top of the roof.
Once we've finished drywalling that half of the kitchen, we can start to fit the kitchen cabinets.
Oh yes - and I apparently don't know my own strength. I've managed to snap the bolt on my circular saw that determines the cut depth.
The pink rafter vents can be seen in the photos of the nursery below:
- Tear down the lathe and plaster (a very messy job, which isn't helping my cough/cold)
- Adding some noggins between the studs so I can attach the vapour barrier at the top and bottom
- Add insulation between the studs
- Stapling the vapour barrier to the studs
- Finally screwing the drywall to the studs, and plaster over the cracks and screws
In a more modern construction, we wouldn't need to add the noggins between the studs. Insulation has a way of drawing water in, and once wet it stops being so good at insulating. This in particular causes a problem in a wooden building as the water can start to rot the timbers.
In the roof there's an additional problem. The asphalt shingles are nailed to the roof, and a lot of the nails go through the roofing boards. These nails are exposed to the outside temperatures, including the freezing cold, and frost can form on these nails inside which will quickly soak the insulation in the rafters when it warms up. To prevent this, when installing the insulation polystyrene rafter vents, which are stapled to the roofing boards before the insulation is installed. This allows crucial air flow to keep the nails and roofing boards dry, when combined with ventilated sofits and further ventilation at the top of the roof.
Once we've finished drywalling that half of the kitchen, we can start to fit the kitchen cabinets.
Oh yes - and I apparently don't know my own strength. I've managed to snap the bolt on my circular saw that determines the cut depth.
The pink rafter vents can be seen in the photos of the nursery below:
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Sorting out the bumps in Bumpkin's room
We've only got one sloping ceiling panel left to do! We spent the day doing a jigsaw of pieces of drywall, trying to get all the power outlets and light switches in the right places. Very time consuming, and surprisingly difficult compared to yesterday's easy 'wins'. We bought a medium sized tub of ready mixed 'drywall compound' (Canada's way of saying 'plaster' - too hard eh?), which we've used about half of already filling over the screw heads, and some of the gaps. I suspect we'll need another tub before we finish the room. I think the bigger tub next time considering this is the first room in the house we've got anywhere near finished.
Tomorrow we've got the electrician's back in hopefully to finish the upstairs. We'll try and work around them. It would be nice to get as much done in the nursery as possible before our weekend off. Yes - a whole weekend off.
Tomorrow we've got the electrician's back in hopefully to finish the upstairs. We'll try and work around them. It would be nice to get as much done in the nursery as possible before our weekend off. Yes - a whole weekend off.
Footnote
Err - not entirely a weekend without DIY. Technically we've not picked up any tools, nor done any work at the house. However we did spend several hours in Home Depot and Renovators Resource buying bits for the house. Does that count?Wednesday, November 24, 2010
More on the Nursery
We've had a really good, successful day. We started on the wall with the insulation on it. I've cut the left hand board a little narrow which we're going to be to fix later. The board on the right was better, even with the angle cut out of it. That angle cut has been very handy. The line follows down into that right hand corner so we will be able to cut out a square section for that corner. It is also of course a mirror for the opposite wall, which made cutting that board far easier and took out some of the guess work.
The side walls were very easy. The boards are 4ft by 8ft. The left hand wall was slightly larger than 8ft by 8ft. The right hand wall is 8ft by 4ft.
The only complications arose from the wall sockets the electricians had put on the studs, and that none of the walls are quite straight. The first board we put up, we'd completely forgotten the box and we'd made a little bit of a mess trying to find it after we'd screwed it to the wall. We learnt from that mistake and measured up the other boxes. We've still got the last wall to do with the door in it, and filling in the wall with the window in it.
The side walls were very easy. The boards are 4ft by 8ft. The left hand wall was slightly larger than 8ft by 8ft. The right hand wall is 8ft by 4ft.
The only complications arose from the wall sockets the electricians had put on the studs, and that none of the walls are quite straight. The first board we put up, we'd completely forgotten the box and we'd made a little bit of a mess trying to find it after we'd screwed it to the wall. We learnt from that mistake and measured up the other boxes. We've still got the last wall to do with the door in it, and filling in the wall with the window in it.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Nursery continued
With the electricians now finished in the nursery (although not live so we've got no light in there yet), so we've started work insulating and drywalling the room. There were no noggins at the top of the exterior wall, so I added some to prevent air flow through the very top, and sprayed in expanding foam to fill the spaces around to create a more air tight space.
Wikipedia's comments on vapour barrier in construction
Each stud has a bead of vapour retardant adhesive to prevent vapour spreading sideways across the stud once the drywall is in place. I've made a bit of a mess at the top in the middle. The vapour retarder in the first tube ran out, and I only had one tube. When I went to the hardware store they only had larger diameter tubes, which are far harder to use because a greater pressure is needed to get the gunk out. So I was struggling for about 30 seconds with both hands before it would come out - and then it wouldn't stop.
I also got to use my new 'toy' - a compressor and nail gun. Compressors are incredibly powerful. A 6 page manual, consisting of four pages of warnings and two pages of how to use it. Set the tank to 60 PSI, and the inch and a half long staples went into the wooden stud like a hot knife through butter. Much more than that and the end of the hoop would get buried below the surface of the wood and would tear right through the vapour barrier. It comes with a pressure regulator built in to keep it at the right operating range, so although the 2 gallon tank is at 100 PSI, the staple gun is only using 60. When the pressure in the tank drops too low, the compressor kicks in and charges the tank. These compressors are also useful for pumping tyres and sports balls. With the right equipment, you can spray paint too.
Whilst I've been insulating the exterior wall, my wife has been working out the best way to remove the paint from the old wooden window frames. The paint is in a poor state, suffering from age, sun light and damp. Trying just the paint stripper was ineffective and would have turned out to be very expensive if we did the whole house. However using the heat gun to remove the outer layers, followed by the paint stripper got almost back to the wood. The putty round the glass was in a state too, about half had fallen off, but for the most part the rest is still very sound.
In the mean time, the cat inspects the works so far:
Wikipedia's comments on vapour barrier in construction
Each stud has a bead of vapour retardant adhesive to prevent vapour spreading sideways across the stud once the drywall is in place. I've made a bit of a mess at the top in the middle. The vapour retarder in the first tube ran out, and I only had one tube. When I went to the hardware store they only had larger diameter tubes, which are far harder to use because a greater pressure is needed to get the gunk out. So I was struggling for about 30 seconds with both hands before it would come out - and then it wouldn't stop.
I also got to use my new 'toy' - a compressor and nail gun. Compressors are incredibly powerful. A 6 page manual, consisting of four pages of warnings and two pages of how to use it. Set the tank to 60 PSI, and the inch and a half long staples went into the wooden stud like a hot knife through butter. Much more than that and the end of the hoop would get buried below the surface of the wood and would tear right through the vapour barrier. It comes with a pressure regulator built in to keep it at the right operating range, so although the 2 gallon tank is at 100 PSI, the staple gun is only using 60. When the pressure in the tank drops too low, the compressor kicks in and charges the tank. These compressors are also useful for pumping tyres and sports balls. With the right equipment, you can spray paint too.
Whilst I've been insulating the exterior wall, my wife has been working out the best way to remove the paint from the old wooden window frames. The paint is in a poor state, suffering from age, sun light and damp. Trying just the paint stripper was ineffective and would have turned out to be very expensive if we did the whole house. However using the heat gun to remove the outer layers, followed by the paint stripper got almost back to the wood. The putty round the glass was in a state too, about half had fallen off, but for the most part the rest is still very sound.
In the mean time, the cat inspects the works so far:
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Preparing the kitchen
The plaster at the back of the cooker was peeling off the wall in chunks. So we've stripped it back to the studs, and we're going to put up a vapour barrier and water resistant plaster board (also known as gyprock, or drywall) over that wall. We also need to repair the ceiling as that's where the chimney was.
I'll also get to use one of my new tools - a compressor and nail gun. This very scary piece of kit is noisy but should make stapling the vapour barrier very quick. The instruction manual reads more like a "How not to use this tool" than an instruction manual.
I'll also get to use one of my new tools - a compressor and nail gun. This very scary piece of kit is noisy but should make stapling the vapour barrier very quick. The instruction manual reads more like a "How not to use this tool" than an instruction manual.
Monday, November 15, 2010
28 dollars + tax bet
We were getting rust coloured water through the hot water system since we moved in. After a little research, we discovered that North America tends to use steel in their electric water heaters. To prevent them from rusting, they use a sacrificial anode. However, as the name suggests, the anode is destroyed in the process.
A new anode was $28 (+tax), and took us the best part of an hour to replace. Turns out it was pretty easy. We turned off the cold water into the hot water heater. I was a little worried that this was going to be a problem - most things in the house have been so badly maintained I didn't think I was going to be able to turn the tap at all, but it was fine. This stops the water pressure from pushing hot water round the system. Leaving the hot water taps upstairs open, we opened the draining tap at the bottom of the tank, draining a lot of the water from the tank down a hose pipe and into the street. The water was cold as we'd poured a bath before starting. The anode was surprisingly easy to take out - you can see it next to the replacement anode in the photo:
The red box highlights the old anode, the blue is the new anode all shiny and new.
After we'd replaced the new one, and filled the tank again, we ran the hot water tap - and ended up with copper coloured water. After about half an hour it was running clean.
I bet tomorrow I'll be able to take a bath in non-rust coloured water.
A new anode was $28 (+tax), and took us the best part of an hour to replace. Turns out it was pretty easy. We turned off the cold water into the hot water heater. I was a little worried that this was going to be a problem - most things in the house have been so badly maintained I didn't think I was going to be able to turn the tap at all, but it was fine. This stops the water pressure from pushing hot water round the system. Leaving the hot water taps upstairs open, we opened the draining tap at the bottom of the tank, draining a lot of the water from the tank down a hose pipe and into the street. The water was cold as we'd poured a bath before starting. The anode was surprisingly easy to take out - you can see it next to the replacement anode in the photo:
The red box highlights the old anode, the blue is the new anode all shiny and new.
After we'd replaced the new one, and filled the tank again, we ran the hot water tap - and ended up with copper coloured water. After about half an hour it was running clean.
I bet tomorrow I'll be able to take a bath in non-rust coloured water.
Oops
Well I lost the bet. I disconnected the wrong thing in the basement, so the heater was still powered when I drained the tank. This popped the heating element. We ended up getting a plumber in. Turns out the tank has two heating elements, the lower one had already failed, so it was generating enough heat to give us most of a bath of hot water. Now we've got two elements, a new anode and very very hot water - and after a couple of days it's coming through almost clear.Saturday, November 13, 2010
The new kitchen
With only a short time to go before the sale ends at one of the local hardware stores, we decided to go for a new kitchen. The current kitchen has very little worktop space. It's going to need a major reorganisation. The cooker needs moving over a little to allow for some work space on both sides. To do that we've got to move the water heater, which is in a silly place anyway. So we're going to move it under the stairs on the other side of the room, which is currently occupied by the fridge. We inherited a fairly old fridge with the house but as with all North American fridges it's enormous. So we're moving it into the pantry. There was a big ice box in the corner of the room. We took most of this afternoon to rip it out. It was made of four lays of inch thick wood, nailed and screwed from several different directions. Well constructed, and very difficult to shift. We've damaged a lot of the wood and for the most part it's not going to be usable for anything else - which is a shame as there was no signs of rot. We also took out another of the worktops in the pantry so we can put a dishwasher opposite the fridge. That will tie in nicely with the waste and water from the sink on the other side of the door into the pantry. Now all I've got to do is see if I can take up the floor without doing too much damage to it. But that's for another day.
Monday, November 8, 2010
The mudroom, and half bath
At the back of the house is a small extension, which used to be used as a summer kitchen. There was a wood burning cooker at the back, and a sink. The cooker also used to heat water in a tall tank. However, at some point the water to the kitchen was cut off. Having done some investigations, it seems that the waste pipe is also blocked. A little more research also revealed a large body of water in the foundations of the kitchen. We've had four days of very heavy rain, and we've seen a lot of it end up in our basement, and this body of water under the summer kitchen seems to be the source. We've begun pumping the water out of the foundation and we'll see what happens there. The floor in the kitchen is very solid, and bringing that up to work underneath is going to be difficult. The next few days will be interesting.
In other news, the electrician should be coming back tomorrow and help us start work on the electrics in the nursery. I imagine he'll disconnect the old power, and show me how to install the ring necessary for the lights in there, and the one or two sockets we'll end up with.
In other news, the electrician should be coming back tomorrow and help us start work on the electrics in the nursery. I imagine he'll disconnect the old power, and show me how to install the ring necessary for the lights in there, and the one or two sockets we'll end up with.
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Nursery
We need to get the nursery up to scratch soon. Most of the plaster on the walls and ceiling is peeling off the wall, so we've started to remove the plaster off the lathe with a view to putting it back once we're done.
Not bad for an hour and a half or so's work.
Today we finish removing the lathe from the walls, and clean up ready for the when the electrician comes in to replace the power in there. After that, we'll insulate the exterior walls, and then 'gyprock' (plasterboard to you and I) the walls and we'll have our nursery back!
Not bad for an hour and a half or so's work.
More destruction
Having removed some of the plaster, we looked at the way the roof ran inside the house, and realised that there was a big chunk of space taken out of one side. Having decided that we were going to 'gyprock' (plaster board to those in the UK) the room, we went to investigate inside. You'll see timbers in the photos that are clearly original to the house - including some of the bark from the trees they came from. Possibilities here include:- Removing the timbers: Very very unlikely as they are holding up the roof
- Putting new gyprock over the timbers: Less likely as we don't gain much by doing so
- Trying to utilise the space in some way - perhaps leaving the timbers exposed: Much more likely as it gives us some space, and creates a feature for an otherwise small room.
Today we finish removing the lathe from the walls, and clean up ready for the when the electrician comes in to replace the power in there. After that, we'll insulate the exterior walls, and then 'gyprock' (plasterboard to you and I) the walls and we'll have our nursery back!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Deconstructing a chimney
So far, so good. We've got it down from below the attic and down to the level of the floor in the bathroom. The pictographic story so far:
As you can see from the photos - we've finished. Tomorrow the clean up begins. We've had to temporarily nailed some board over the holes in the wall to stop the cat from infiltrating the space between the floors. Probably looking for mice, or just being a curious cat. She's good at that!
As you can see from the photos - we've finished. Tomorrow the clean up begins. We've had to temporarily nailed some board over the holes in the wall to stop the cat from infiltrating the space between the floors. Probably looking for mice, or just being a curious cat. She's good at that!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Why humble house?
During our first wander round the new house, we found an old photo frame with a small sheet of cotton in it with some cross stitching. I figured it was a piece of history probably from the previous owner, so we shouldn't get rid of it. We've been trying to find a name for the house, and this chose it for us. 'Humble House' is rather ironic, considering it's a four bedroom house, at nearly 2000 square feet it's far from humble.
Flooded basement
It's been an exciting and challenging few days. We woke up on Thursday morning to find water pouring into the small basement below the new house following a couple of nights of very heavy rain fall. In places the water must have been a couple of inches deep. I can't say I'm totally surprised it had flooded, I'm just surprised that it was so loud - like we had a stream running through the basement. According to our neighbour that's not entirely uncommon in older houses like ours - he said he regularly had a stream running through his basement.
At some point soon, we will have to dig a sump pit and install a sump pump to help prevent this kind of incident from happening in future. Part of the problem is that there are almost no gutters on the entire property. This is less of a problem at the front of the house - it points down hill. At the back of the property however, the building is U shaped, trapping water that runs off the roofs and off the side of the hill, and there is no where for it to go except the basement. There's little we can do about the hill run off at this stage, but I'm going to spend the next couple of days installing guttering to try and guide the roof run off away from the foundations.
In the mean time, we've got a submersible pump to remove the vast majority of the water, along with a wet/dry vacuum to remove the remaining water. We might also need to invest in a dehumidifier to finish the job.
Annoyingly this whole episode disturbed our efforts to remove the remainder of the old kitchen chimney. We'll have to get back to that once the basement issues are resolved.
At some point soon, we will have to dig a sump pit and install a sump pump to help prevent this kind of incident from happening in future. Part of the problem is that there are almost no gutters on the entire property. This is less of a problem at the front of the house - it points down hill. At the back of the property however, the building is U shaped, trapping water that runs off the roofs and off the side of the hill, and there is no where for it to go except the basement. There's little we can do about the hill run off at this stage, but I'm going to spend the next couple of days installing guttering to try and guide the roof run off away from the foundations.
In the mean time, we've got a submersible pump to remove the vast majority of the water, along with a wet/dry vacuum to remove the remaining water. We might also need to invest in a dehumidifier to finish the job.
Annoyingly this whole episode disturbed our efforts to remove the remainder of the old kitchen chimney. We'll have to get back to that once the basement issues are resolved.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Well - what a change
So it's been rather a long time since I posted on here. Over a year in fact. But then so many things have changed - and we're now moving to Canada. Where we are buying a house that will need as much (if not more) work than this house. And so it begins again. I will continue to post here with the changes to the new house in Nova Scotia. Until that time (which won't be long I hasten to add) TTFN!
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