DIY Renos

Yah I figured, there's going to be a lot of work going on up there.

 

Hi Normy.

 

quote from another thread.......

I'm guessing you won't be answering the phone then, come dry wall 'daze'?

 

Nice work, Norm! Those stairs look fantastic.

 

4 more sheets of floor sheathing today, and then finish up the kneewalls on the south and east sides - that's where the fibre blown-in insulation goes, up to 16 inches high and 30 inches deep.

Hey fannie! Thanks for the long distance Wave! I can barely see it with our blowing snow (up to 25 centimeters over the next 24 hours. Yuk. And then down to -28C (-40 with windchill) for 4 days! Double YUK!!!

If I could hook up a couple big tomatoe cans to Andy's house, I'd dump the phone! The wife could go to the rail station for her family calls.

Thanks Steve. I've got one of those Bosch 1617 EVS router sets (Fixed and Plunge). First time I made a router jig ever, although I've used the router table a lot. Leave it to me to pick a stringer router jig for my first one. :banghead3: Now, I can do anything!

I really figured the plunge router would be a bear to handle, but I started at a low speed with a 1/2" shafted bit (also 1/2" diameter), then when I got the feel for it, I went full speed ahead. Slick way to do those.

This site was a huge help to do the calculations:
http://www.blocklayer.com/Stairs/StairsEng.aspx

And this one for making the Winder steps - Couldn't find any stair builders who make the winders at the top, so I had to steal some headroom from where the pantry is going - for a 6 foot amazonian gal, that could be a hardhat zone, but a 5'11" person would only mess up their hair-do:
http://www.renovation-headquarters.com/stairs.htm

as well as this old book (blocking and upper floor stringer configuration:
https://archive.org/details/stairbuildingthe00hodgiala

The Building code wants at least 80 inches of clearance from the ceiling above. I've got 83" from the second step and 84" where the winder clears the roof angle. I can put our kingsize bed up there without bending the mattress!

Since the mid-stair clearance is more than 10 feet, after the second step, I figured I'd include a special joist to hang a large cable eyebolt, and then I can use a small block and tackle to bring furniture up (maybe up to 300 pounds). I'll hide the hook in a recessed light fixture.

Built it wide, in case we ever need one of those stair-climbing rigs. Sitting between two partitions and reinforced between studs with 2X6 on edge, those walls are like rock.

This one does cloverleafs too.
http://stairlift.ca/stannah.php

 

The new Basement stairs will be 36" wide, running parallel to these up stairs. I made the main floor hallway wide (57"), so we could move stuff easily, after I build a coat and boot closet (18" deep) and a long Video cabinet about 9" deep toward the stairs entry. And I left a landing depth of 7 feet, so I could take a 4' X 8' sheet of plywood down the basement stairs (furniture to build). I'm going to build a small trough out of 2" ABS drain pipe and include rollers in the bottom, to make it even easier to get those down. The wood storage rack will extend on the same exterior basement wall.

The only rooms in the basement will be the home theatre and my workshop. We use baseboard heaters, so there's no furnace to deal with. The hotwater tank will go, once I get the right hydro main panel in, so I can use my Instant on-demand heaters - they each want a 40 amp circuit. Pretty hard when all I've got is a 125 AMP panel.

Anyway, the wife gets a space for preserves, in the basement, and a canning space in there, as well a cold room for veggies that we'll get from local farmers (spuds, onions, carrots, beets, etc.) Know I know why they also call it a root cellar - you can keep root veggies in them for quite a few months.

I'm still hoping I can change the roof to a Mansard roof, with a sun deck on top. Then I can moon the city police choppers.

 

On wood and plywood

We've got one well established plywood specialty chain in Canada, Windsor Plywood:

http://www.windsorplywood.com/

But you'd think that the big name lumber/DIY shops would carry Fir plywood! Home Depot? RONA? Nope. Special order only.

And while I'm ranting, what's with solid poplar priced more than Oak and Maple!?!?

I needed one sheet 4X8 of 3/4" Fir G1S for shop jig bases - $53!!! I used to estimate huge commercial furniture contract bids in the late 70s. Fir Ply was like $15 per sheet! 3/4" Particle Board was $14 - add 30% for retail prices. What's the excuse!

Ridiculous! Our forest/lumber companies are shutting down up here. And prices are out of sight!

I get that Oak and Ash forests aren't keeping up, but Poplar!?!?! The local grain farmers up here do an annual burn to clear more land for seeding, and poplar was never considered a furniture grade wood. Now its the big fad, because it almost looks like mahogany when stained properly. And somehow Birch ply (G1S) is the cheapest at $40 per sheet!!!

Wacky!

 

I must have worked on Noah's Ark, in a past life. This old house was built by his descendants, I swear! The roof has a 12-12 pitch, that's 45 degrees on each side of the roof. Not these guys of a 112 years ago. 48 degrees!

Anyway, I got one of those digital angle finders, so I could cut the new attic joists. The old ones look like they used an adz to cut them from an old Fir tree. Hatchet marks all over. They were all at different heights, and all lower than a regular ceiling height, some as low as 78 inches. I started to replace them with 2 X 8s. to acheive a finished ceiling height of 96". One by one. More ladder work than I like. My old wooden step ladders are in good shape, but they have narrow steps. Leg cramps are a PITA! Anyway only 6 more to go. Too cold today (-41c with the windchill).

For those who ever have to do this, you make a 'story stick' with the finished height marked about an inch below the top end, in my case, 97-3/4", but the story stick is 98-1/2" long. I also made a TEE support with a 2 X 4 at 1/4" shorter than my finished height, and a cradle on either side of the width of the 2 X 4, to hold the new joist steady, while levelling it.

I use the story stick to mark the rafters at the correct height, then use a cabinet clamp on both ends at the mark, and fasten it to the rafter, after checking that its level as well as level between joists (straight edge across the new joists - level on top).

I'll wrap up tomorrow.

Makes you wonder if Noah is still ticked off at being flooded out! Can't help but be reminded of Bill Cosby's Noah story! "Who's gonna clean out all this poop?"

 

Pocket Door Lessons before mistakes

With all the mods upstairs, I wanted a wide stairway (to get furniture up) and a convenient hallway without obstructions, so I decided to use a Pocket door for the bathroom. Well, the hardware is the key to pocket door bliss. Scouted the WWW, and came up with a good, non-commercial How-to:

http://www.renovation-headquarters.com/doors-pocket.htm

They make an emphatic point about ball bearing roller hardware, so I clicked on their Amazon link and started trying to find the hardware locally. ZIP, NADA, ZERO! Life in the flat prairies. All they had were no-name Asian junk! Even Home Depot and RONA big box lumber and hardware stores.

I go back to the Amazon site, and check out the brands. Stanley, Richelieu, L.E. Johnston. Johnston's is the only 5-Star product? I check out the reviews. Holy smokes! Not one bad comment. hmmm...

http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Slidi...352&sr=1-3&keywords=Pocket+door+track+rollers


Back to search out Johnston dealers here from their Dealer Locator: BINGO! 4 of them!

These roller assemblies can be removed without taking the track out, and they're on ball bearings - smooth as butter, according to most reviews. Since I have to build the partitions upstairs after the insulators come, this is gonna be a piece of cake.

Pair of rollers, a track, floor guides, a bumper for the backend of the 'pocket' and latch hardware.

As one reviewer said, these rollers will fit any brand of track, and roll doors up to 200 lbs. And Johnston makes their products in the USA! So does Richelieu, but their rollers are from Asia, and Stanley's are all Asian made, except their commercial grades for garages, etc. The Asian rollers use synthetic ball bearings. How long would they last?

Here's Johnston's Canadian vendor list:
http://www.johnsonhardware.com/canada.htm

Main site:
http://www.johnsonhardware.com/

I'm not all that comfy with an aluminum track, but with their rollers, on their track, they should last longer.

I was surprised to find pocket door frame kits. They're so simple to build. Different strokes, I guess.:confused:

The new joists are up. I've got some furring to add to the rafters to get the maximum insulation depth, and then the new attic ladder and wiring.

 

The Insulators are coming next week!!! AMEN! Actually, the project coordinator is coming at 5:30 tomorrow to nail down the quantities of insulation, etc. And we'll get to enjoy lower electrical bills.

Got a few details to wrap up today and tomorrow before he comes, so I'll post the results of his visit on Thursday.

 

Thanks for the updates.

 

I figure that any one of us handy wagon train owners, use it for more than a road queen, and probably do their own home renos and repairs, so when I find info, products, techniques or my own tips, why not here too?

Speaking of which, I bought one of those attic ladders by Werner (the leading ladder company. They sell an aluminum unit with a weather seal gasket. I bought a wooden one - no seal.

http://us.wernerco.com/attic-ladders/products-overview

And their How-To Video is well done too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V20IF7YYhPw

My original plan was to use insulating styrofoam -3" thick and laminate with construction adhesive to get an R-60 insulation value. Trouble is that the folding ladder would hold it off the hatch by 8". Since the Roxul 8" Batts are R-32, and the insulators will go to 16" (doubled up batts), The 18" of styrofoam would actually hit the roof (shallow attic), so I checked out an old PDF that I got of http://www.conservens.ca

That Nova Scotia site is dead, but it sent me to their new site:

http://www.efficiencyns.ca/

Which didn't have the cross-referenced document:

"Sealing, Caulking & Weatherstripping guide"

I found out why, indirectly... They copied the one from Manitoba Hydro, and posted it as their own (Governments don't cheat, right?)

http://www.hydro.mb.ca/your_home/resources/1_sealing_caulking_and_weatherstripping.pdf

They recommend a thin V-shaped door seal, all around the edge, on the frame, AND, cauking on both edges on the ceiling trim. Why's this important? Because when I install this ladder, I have to allow for the thickness of the seal. Sooo... I thought, why not buy a new Freezer type seal, and glue that to the frame, instead of the cheap V-seal, and use latches to close the gap enough to keep the air leakage down? That document recommends latches on attic latches. Just unlatch it from a short stool, and pull that ladder down, IF I ever go up there again - don't know why I ever would (barely room for a hornet's nest, once the insulation is in, but the Building Code says I need attic ladder.

That new Nova Scotia Energy site still hasn't got their own bunch of tips documents, but you can find them on our Hydro site:

http://www.hydro.mb.ca/your_home/resources/

When we bought this old 120 year old house, the heat was gas-fired, as was the hot water tank. Manitoba's water is always carrying stuff in it, because of oil drilling, farmers and rural flooding, even uranium silt from Northern Saskatchewan (Great Slave lake region), so after changing the hotwater tank twice ($700 each time, plus the gas fitting guy), And the Furnace guy told me ours was up for a new one, I decided "NO Fahrfenugen WAY"!!!

You can't imagine the floor space and ceiling height I got back, when I pulled all that crap out! I went with baseboard heaters and thermostats for each room. We aren't in the room, it drops to 68 F (18C), and up to 70 F (21C) - 2 degrees difference. But, it gets better. Since heat rises, the upstairs heater will rarely go on! My summertime heat and hydro (July/August) runs about $29 per month, taxes and billing charges included). December with Gas, back in 2003, was over $400. Hydro was $50 (more lights during the winter, before we switched to CFLs). This December Hydro bill was $239, all Hydro power, because I need the upstairs open since I can't install baseboard heaters until these insulators come and do their magic. So downstairs heater are heating an Uninsulated Upstairs. Once, they're done, if my calculations are right, our Winter heating and hydro (cooking, lights, appliances, workshop) should drop to just over $100 per month.

I've got a wagon to restore. I could sure make better use of $140 bucks a month than the Hydro company's CEO!

Once this Insulation Mountain is conquered, I'll switch the interior lights to the new LED 'bulbs'. At $20 bucks each, it gets expensive, for non-mushroom folks like me. My wife likes dark spaces when she cooks - adds mystery spices.

My recipes call for millimeter measurements.

 

OH! This Manitoba Hydro grant uses certified insulating contractors - only 2 for the whole city of 700,000 people. Well, they endorse Owens Cornings' Pink fibreglass stuff, but for the difference in price (about 10% more), they'll let me have Roxul's fireproof insulation, which actually works about 10.5% better - product for product. Since I already had the main floor done to R-33, they agreed. I'd rather pay the extra $300 or so, ONE TIME, than pay 10% more in heating bills every month, for the next 120 years.

The white cellulose has the highest R/RSI rating per inch, but the chemicals used to refine it (newsprint, rag content and straw) and reduce its burning properties give off smoke pretty bad smoke. Our neighbourhood has had a lot of backalley arsons over the last decade, so that was a prime consideration for us. And Roxul is easy to work with. I used an old meat cutting knife that my mother gave me, when I went to univeristy (Sheffield Steel - double serrated edges. Great for cutting Fruit Cake or a Roast too! A fine point hand saw works too.

 

I'm tired from all of that insulating and ladder installing.
Yep, makes sense to me to cut a hole in the ceiling and install a ladder to nowhere.

 

Gotta keep the bureaucrats happy. Our city passed a law that when you sell your house (we aren't) that you have to have it inspected, and pay a fine for each major infraction.

Knowing my dear Mexican wife, if I croaked, she'd probably move to Mexico, so by building to code, she'd have more left over. Since we're the owners and I'm an Engineer, I can do the work, but a city inspector has to OK anything structural, electrical or plumbing. So far, I'm hitting all 12 cylinders!