Friday, October 3, 2014

How I spend my time.

Nothing terribly exciting,  trust me.

It all revolves around trying to get it all done before the weather “closes in”.  Which is something that it does,  unless you get to leave it behind and head off to some place “in the south”.  We don’t do dat.

Anyway,  for my sister-in-law’s 80th birthday,  we all decided to step up to the plate and do a little work on her house.  A “little work” he sez.  *snort*

There’s painting,  windows,  chimney repair.  I’m in there.  On most fronts.  Her son did most of the work repointing the chimney (it was heaps easier than mine,  I hired someone)

DSC_0122

So all it needs now is a coating on the cap,  and it should be in good shape once again. 

Then there’s the inside.

For a couple days now I’ve been installing trim in the family room.  I guess that’s what it’s called.  It’s on the lower level of a side split.  Whatever.

We don’t actually remember how many years it’s been since there has been trim there.  At one point,  a new floor was installed,  and that was the extent of it.  The trim either got lost or whatever.  So I bought some new stuff.

It’s a pretty nice oak trim from a local lumber supply place.  Not Home Despot, coincidentally.

DSC_0002

Not going to tell you how this is done,  but anytime there might be issues with any undulation of the floor,  or unevenness of the walls,  it’s usually a good idea to also put in quarter round. 

Plus of course,  there’s this thing called a “coped joint”.  There are no inside mitres.  Mitres can open up over time.  Not good.

 

DSC_0004DSC_0005

There’s a lengthier explanation here.

Except I didn’t use a coping saw, but instead use a jig saw.  Hence the masking tape.  Otherwise the finish might get scratched.

It’s a bit time consuming,  to say the least.  But that part is done.  I have to figure out what to do at the bottom of the stairs.  There was a bit of a space left around the bottoms of the stringers when the cork flooring was installed.  I’ll get back to it.

So,  this mostly involved having to set up outside,  which meant that there were a couple days there when it was simply either raining,  or threatening to.  That doesn’t work.

To fill my time,  I decided to tear off our back steps!   They were getting a bit wobbly.  So I decided to have at it.

 

Maybe the pictures can tell a little story.

 

 

DSC_0182DSC_0183DSC_0184DSC_0185DSC_0186DSC_0187DSC_0188

DSC_0001

Now,  if you studied all the pics,  you might have figured out that something else was going on here.  Well yes,  we’ll be pouring concrete on Monday morning.

Yay me.

That little orange do jiggy is a laser level.  It’s kinda cool.  Christmas present one year.  It gets put into service every so often.  You just never know.

I just make sure I remove the batteries when it’s in storage.  Remember the flash incident?  We don’t want to repeat that sad tale.

It would be kinda cool to have the “weekend off”,  but there was a call this afternoon from Clegg Glass,  and my two thermopanes are being delivered tomorrow morning at sister-in-laws place.  

Oh yes,  there are window issues. 

That’s a whole other story,  and I’m at my word count limit, even if it’s an imaginary one. 

So that’s that.

 

Stay tuned. 

 

Thanks for looking.

8 comments:

  1. I got to thinking I'm looking at rebar or some other (heck, I don't even know what you call it... stuff that makes things stick together and hold together... kind of reinforces it) in that mess... thinking... there's a bit more here than building new steps. BUT... the thing that you folks get together and help out your family is the most wonderful thing. I'm thinking I might ask if y'all will adopt us....

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Once the corner gap is caulked and repainted, even substantial flaws can be almost invisible."

    the rule I live by for sure...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Always something to keep you busy, repair and replace, looking good.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You don't buy an old house; houses buy YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You should have your own home repair show on TV. Your projects are much more interesting than Bob Villa's! ;c)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Finally got caught up on your posts since I was away. Lots of sailing and even more to do projects on a variety of homes. You are always busy. Hope you rest from time to time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's a good time to do "things" like that. Before the weather (winter) closes in.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You have been busy. Mastering coping is an art - one I have not yet mastered but I keep trying.

    ReplyDelete

Well, I've been getting too many spam comments showing up. Just a drag, so we'll go another route and hope that helps. So, we won't be hearing anything more from Mr. Nony Moose.
I guess I'll just have to do without that Gucci purse.