Winter is coming

With many of the larger projects wrapping up and the kitchen re-do not slated to start until the spring, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to tackle what is to become my office space.  The space constitutes what I assume to be an old sleeping porch that has been enclosed.  It's located off our master bedroom and sits up over the front porch.  A great rustic feeling space that was left out of the half-ass renovation done on the upstairs it should make a fine place for my fly tying bench, computer and a book case. However, it lacks any insulation and in the summer was a broiler so its likely to be an icebox in the winter without a little work.  Plus, it sits adjacent to the ceiling space over the living room and foyer that lost any insulation when we had to tear out the ceiling to abate the vermiculite.

The first thing I had to do was to finish cleaning out some of the old insulation and debris in the knee wall space that we wanted to insulate.  There was a mix of old, moldy compressed fiberglass insulation, cedar shakes, woody debris from who knows where, old bees nests, newspapers and magazines from the 1930-40's.  The only thing I didn't find was Jimmy Hoffa's body but then again I'm not yet done in that space.  Plus I pulled out the rug in the office space that was covering some great old plank boards.

The picture below shows the knee wall space over the front porch and the backside of the office wall without any insulation.  The white foam pieces you see in the upper part of the frame I placed there to block airflow into the space above the office ceiling.  Stopping airflow goes a long way towards creating a warm thermal barrier.  Later I will spray foam around them to seal any gaps.

On the right, is the wall that abuts our bedroom.  It contained fiberglass insulation that fortunately was still in good shape but it was simply tucked in between the studs and had nothing to ensure it wouldn't fold down in places, which it had done.

First I stapled the fiberglass in place at the top and then came in with insulation board to cover the wall and create a better thermal barrier that could be sealed.  I used old pieces of lathe to anchor it with nails. 

Below is portion of the finished knee walls before the blown cellulose.  The upper picture is one side of the house and the next shows the other side.  I put the shiny side out to reflect heat away as that seems to be a bigger issue here given how hot our summers are here in Spokane.  Then I used Great Stuff spray insulation to seal any and all cracks or openings.

With the walls all squared away it was off to home depot to pick up the insulation machine and 30 bales of cellulose insulation.  Luckily the raft trailer comes in handy for such projects.  In the end we were 10 bales short so Elizabeth had to make a run back to the store late in the day. 

It took us about 5-6 hours to blow in the insulation which didn't include the set-up and breakdown time.  At one point we developed a nasty plug in the tubing that took use at least 30 minutes to clear. 

Talk about messy...

In the end we blew in about 18 inches of cellulose over the 1st floor ceilings.  I used some old particle board to keep the insulation in place and inside each access point there is a plank that allows access without compressing the cellulose.  I still need to make new doors with tight seals that access the knee wall spaces and obviously there is still more space needing the walls covered with insulation board and cellulose blown in.

Summer fun

Wow, I can't believe the summer is over.  A lot happened over the summer and thankfully it wasn't all house related.  Elizabeth and I have an agreement around making sure that we take time to enjoy why we moved to Spokane in the first place.  So with that said, we did a fair amount of local travel, including outings to fish, raft, hike, bike as well as spend some time with our new local friends, who are simply awesome.  Plus, in early September we spent a week in and near Yellowstone National Park.

One of my bigger projects this summer was to address some of the foundation issues we have.  In someone's infinite wisdom they thought it was a good idea to place irrigation sprinkler heads right up next to the foundation.  Over time, of course, this caused the concrete to wear, rot and crack.

 

First I had to clear back the soil to expose the foundation and assess the degree of damage. In the process I removed the irrigation. We plan to go with xeriscaping in the future to significantly lower our water consumption so the irrigation won't be needed.  One exposed I had to chip out any brittle and rotten concrete, then wire brush it and finally sweep away the fine particle.   Luckily most of the damage was confined to one front corner of the house though I have a second area just inside the backyard fence I will tackle next summer. 

Once cleared away I mixed up hydraulic cement to patch the deeper cracks. A few advantages include a rapid set time so you can come in with the next layer of cement and it doesn't shrink so therefore it blocks any potential water from entering the foundation.  Some of these cracks were wide enough for my fist and many inches deep once I got done cleaning them back to intact concrete. 

Once the hydraulic cement was set I mixed up quikrete mortar mix and began to work that into the surface and level things up.  I would use a large trowel to spread it but I found with a smaller trowel I was more effective at getting a uniform look, though this took longer, given that I don't do this work everyday and it requires a degree of "flow" to make it come out smooth. 

The final step is known as parging and this is where I used a patching concrete to try and smooth things up and put on the finishing touches.  It definitely requires a lot of practice to make it all look professional.  I used a sponge to smooth out imperfections at the end which helped.  Luckily for us the old walls weren't perfect and I plan to mix sand into the paint when I get to that point so I think it will have that shabby-chic craftsman look in the end.

The final step before calling it good was concrete sealer.  Next spring I will prime everything and then put on some paint, though we haven't settled on colors. 

Next installment:  Replacing the old wood fireplace with a gas insert. 

Drainage issues

So for about a month we dealt with a finicky kitchen drain.  One day we noticed noticed it started draining ever so slowly and it seemed to get worse with each passing day.  We did the usual plunger and liquid plumber in an effort to bust out some type of clog.  We plan to move the kitchen sink in the kitchen remodel so we didn't want to spend a lot of time or money fixing something that was destined to be torn out.  Still, it was frustrating waiting for the sink to drain or having it back-up while doing dishes and coating things with a greasy slime.

We brought a plumber out to have them install a utility sink so we got a quote on what it would cost to have the drain pipe roto-rootered.  I also choked when he came back with a quote of $550. This was almost half the cost of putting in the new utility sink which would take the better part of a day.  Pass we said...we'll deal with it even if it means washing dishes in the utility sink.

So we gimped along until the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  That evening the sink wouldn't drain and as we packed for a trip over to Mazama to hang with our friends KP and Julie I found myself in an irritated mood.  Elizabeth was rather positive it would drain by the time we got home in 2 days.  Luckily we had decided to come back home Sunday so we could spend at least one day on house projects.  Well, you can imagine how frustrated I was to find the sink still completely full of oily water.

Not one to be beat down I decided to do some research and take things into my own hands.  I mean hey, doing plumbing is like piecing together an erector set, except that it might leak if you don't get it right.  I did some reading and watched a few videos online and then headed off to the store for supplies.

If the outside appearance of the pipe was any indication of what I would find inside, well, then...With a metal blade and sawzall I was able to quickly remove the sections I of pipe I was most concerned with. What I found inside the pipe certainly wasn't surprising though it was a messy, stinky job cutting through the pipe. You definitely want to wear gloves, a mask and eye protection for this one. 

Once the cast iron was cut away it was as simple as bringing in the ABS pipe joining it to the cast iron with what are called No-Hub Couplings.  The only tricky part is making sure you measure the distance correctly so that you end up with a nice snug fit the couplings.  Once the couplings join the pipe it is as simple as tightening the hose clamps.

Cast iron pie on the left and ABS plastic on the right. 

Here is a rough before and after photo of a section I swapped out. The best part about the whole job is that it cost us less than $80 for all the materials including metal blade to complete the task.  A far cry from the $550 we were originally quoted.

In case you were wondering, there is a new clean out valve that I installed that sits just outside of the view of this picture.  After I got everything installed and tested it out, it was the one spot that leaked, but that was quickly remedied by tightening the plug.  TS

Color

Once again I find myself pedaling madly to catch up the blog.  I guess with the arrival of summer that is par for the course.  As I write this our house continues to transform into being a home.  We've had great evenings sitting around our fire pit, cooking out in the backyard and enjoying the warm summer evenings.  Plus, we adopted two cats who have become a source of near constant entertainment for just the cost of some litter and food. 

Paint has since gone onto the walls due to the persistent work of my beautiful and artistic wife.  She has chosen such warm and wonderful colors to greet us as we arrive home after a long day at work.

The above two photos are in the living room

Please don't ask me the names of the colors however.  That is the perview of the painter who I am sure will rattle off a bunch of things about color values and tones.  I happily nod my head and appreciate that we have developed a most excellent division of jobs that plays to our strengths.  I do know this though, she is a big fan of Benjamin Moore paint and I have to say that it is really great quality paint and worth the extra money.

Front partial wall separating dining from living room. 

The media room (I have a story about that sofa for later)

The fireplace with shiplap set against the new color.  We are still debating painting the brick a deep chocolate color.

I think the one thing I notice about the colors Elizabeth has chosen is that they change through the day with the outside light.  It is a bit like being in a new house as the day wears on.  In general I don't think the pictures capture how well things have come out but perhaps as the rooms come together with less chaos of tools and boxes and random furniture I can post some better pics. -TS

Shiplap

Wow how time flies.  Once again I'm way behind on posts though progress on the house has been great.  In any event, today is father's day, and I think it is only right that we recognize those that have imparted to us their mastery of the home improvement way.  Those budda's of the work bench. The swami's of the hammer swing.  The king's of carpentry...You get the idea.

So we left off with shiplap.  As I previously posted we had no luck getting the type of product we sought.  Elizabeth was able to come up with an alternative, however, after some internet research.  So off we went to Lowes where we had them rip 4 x 8 foot sheets of utility plywood into 6 inch strips.  In order to obtain that classic spacing look between boards we used pennies to separate boards before nailing.  In the end we are very happy with the look.  It creates a bit of a cottage effect that breaks up the sheet rock wall look and it pairs well with the bungalow style of our house.  Plus, it cost us less than $100 to do the wall and the area over the fireplace.  

 To tie it into the living room I rebuilt the frame around the chimney and faced it with the shiplap as well.

That brown you see poking out from under the shiplap is the paper backing of fiberglass insulation I placed in the space around created by the framing.  It hadn't previously had insulation and I can only imagine it was a major heat sink for the house.

Once the shiplap was up the trim needed to be added both to the chimney area as well as the walls and baseboard.  I was able to salvage some of the trim I had removed though most of it had so many layers of sloppily applied pain that it wasn't worth re-hanging.  The trim for around the fireplace was courtesy of the wood that came when I tore out the drop ceilings. 

So with the walls up and the trim coming together its was time for a little clean-up.  We could finally start getting some of that paper off the wood floors that had gone down for protection. Plus, the walls were ready for paint. Elizabeth has a real eye for color so I turned her loose, and as the upcoming posts will show she has really brought things back together. 

Task completion

So after almost two months since we took possession of the house I feel like some  spaces are starting to come back together and some critical fixes are done.  One of the major things we knew we had to do going into all this was to update the electric.  The house was on 100 amp service with at least 70% of the house being old nob and tube and the plan was to upgrade to 200 amp and run romex to replace the old stuff.  Given that you can't safely insulate around nob and tube it leaves the house vulnerable to heating and cooling issues.

On a recommendation from a friend we hired a local solo electrician by the name of George Thompsen.  George really took the time to listen to what we wanted and made suggestions so we could stay within the budget.  Having opened up some of the interior walls made things much easier for fishing wires.  Initially I wanted to be more hands on with the electrical but with a full time job and all the other work needing to be done there weren't enough hours in the day.

Part of the old Nob and Tube system

Some of the new Romex going into an exposed wall

I was finally able to finish up the flashing around the chimney.  My friend Kevin loaned me a rope and harness so I could properly anchor and secure myself while working on the roof.  It doesn't look like it but that roof has quite a pitch.  I used a tar flashing system that integrates fiber glass mesh and is applied right to the shingles and chimney.  It worked pretty well and based on my quality control checks it appears to be working.   Thetop picture shows the up-slope side of the chimney before application.

The photo above shows how I used duct tape to create a clean edge when removed and the next one shows the results. 

While simultaneously finishing these projects we were dealing with, and still are, a partially clogged drain in our kitchen.  At some point we'll get around to snaking it but for now we are getting by, particularly since we had a work tub installed in the basement so we had a place to clean tools and pain brushes.  We were going to let the plumber snake the drain until we got the estimate.  We decided it was better to have the work tub and we would just make do until we tear out the kitchen and put in new plumbing.

With the electrical roughed in, the sheet-rock work could begin.  We hired Finish Line Drywall on a recommendation from George.  Ryan, the owner, has been great to deal with and we are very happy with the work.

The wall to the right, visible in the upper picture, was intentionally left clean of drywall so we could do shiplap.  A lot of people aren't familiar with the term shiplap though likely they have seen it.  It used to be an inexpensive way to finish walls when people couldn't afford lathe and plaster.  Instead they would hang strips of boards with a slight gap between them to allow for expansion.  The problem I found though, was that it was impossible to get true shiplap on the west coast.  After a lot of research Elizabeth struck on what someone else had done when they faced the same issue.  Take a look at the pictures and then I'll tell you how we did it in the next post.  Plus I'll include some pics of Elizabeth's amazing painting and the eye catching colors she chose. 

Lastly, my apologies to those of you waiting for this update.  We have been trying to keep some balance between work, remodeling and having fun.  The weather has been great and we have really enjoyed getting out fishing and hiking and spending time with good friends. 

What goes up...needs to stay up

So as it turns out tearing down the drop ceiling not only exposed the water issue around the fireplace but also revealed that nine of the ten ceiling joists in the living room were not sitting on the upper plate of the load bearing wall.  Instead they had simply married them to the corresponding joists coming from the other side of the house with large nails and called it good.  I can't fathom why they would have done this though I suspect it may have had something to do with saving money and the fact that the second floor was probably used as an unfinished attic for storage only.

Amazingly the ceiling didn't show signs of sagging and neither did the roof line but it needed a fix.  Using 2x6's and bolts I set about marrying the joists.  Now I'm sure that some engineering types would say that to achieve true structural stability you have to extend the new boards "x" distance and so on but I had to just go with my gut on this.  Plus I was working around the electrician and didn't want to delay his work and the sheet rock was scheduled to go up in less than a week and I had other issues to tackle. 

With the new boards married I had to drill additional holes for the electrical lines to run through but overall the job went smoothly.  Using the clamps allowed me to position things properly and get a snug fit when the bolts were tightened.  Plus, since I was working alone, I wasn't fumbling with the boards while trying to tighten the nuts.
























Once this was done I could turn my energy to the dry rot around the fireplace.  I did a lot of thinking about how to best tackle it.  Knowing I would need to prop joists and jack some of them back into position to level things I waited the week until after Elizabeth and I had moved her over from Seattle.

So the picture at the right gives you an idea of what we started with.  First we cut some 2x4's the right length and positioned them under the floor joists. Next, using a sawzall we cut away the 2x6 that lay against the chimney.  You can see a little part of it at the left side of the picture.  We also removed the 2x4's running vertically along the chimney because the upper wood on one of them, the diagonal  lying one, was full of rot.

With the rotted wood removed we cut a new 2x6 piece for along the fireplace.  It was a challenge to slide back in around the existing joists and a lip created by the fireplace brick and required the right amount of brute force, pounding and deft positioning to get back in. Once positioned, we used the scissor jack from my car to jack the joists back into position, level them, and affix them to the 2x6 using metal brackets.  The next few pictures show it pretty well. I also put Kilz paint on a few board ends just for good measure in case there was any impending "rot creep" that wanted to occur.

 

Once the joists were affixed I added back one of the 2x4's along the right hand side building a "skeleton" to anchor it.  This would allow us to have anchor points for the sheet rock and the shiplap we plan to add to to the front.  In the end I think it came out well and we had it all put together in time foe the sheet-rockers to get in and start doing their thing.