All fascia new boards stained

Since one never knows when the rain comes, decided it was time to stain all the new cedar fascia boards. Some are VERY high up, some are nicely placed over bushes and therefore hard to reach, but what they all have in common is that they are - thanks to our great weather - bone dry and therefore prime candidates for surface treatment.

Using only oil based products and a semi-solid stain from Cabot Stains. A great product that also is easy to apply, leaving a really nice "hue" to the wood.

At this run, I'll only do the fascia boards, even though it would make sense to also stain the plywood and rafter tails (ladders are in place), but I'd rather get the exposed fascia boards done while dry. The plywood and tails are well protected and can be treated even if it might mist a bit on a summer day.

Cedar siding ordered!

Finally ordered all the cedar siding, cedar window trim and currently looking at fastners. Will attach siding with 305 Stainless Steel screws, since I really don't trust naling into the OSB board where there are no 2x4 joists to anchor. Managed to find a few places on-line so cost for SS screws should still be below $200 for the entire project.

Ordering siding pre-stained and we should get the samples on Tuesday so we can finally get the process rolling. They "soak" the entire batch in a bath in order to get as perfect coverage as possible. It does add a bit to the price, but was not really eager to do that work here at home, or jump up and down on ladders/platforms, after the siding has been put up.

I am a firm beliver in letting building material "breathe", especially wood siding. Hence, initially I had planned to put up furring strips to allow for 1/4 air gap behind the sidng. But, since we are going with vertical siding, the furring strips would have prevented air (and water) to feely move behind the siding, so thinking of putting up a product called "Home Slicker". Anyone out there that has used it?

Chimney is gone!

Against the will of the wife, I did tackle the chimney removal today. She was not happy when coming home and seeing the basement full of crushed clay tiles and cinderblocks, but the tone changed when she got upstairs and realized I had finished up in the living area - and cleaned up everything.

Why remove the chimney? Well, first and foremost it was in a place upstairs we intend to open completely - removing the wall between living room and kitchen. Secondly, when we put on the new metal roof last fall, I was sort of about to keep the chimney, but it was clearly cracked (see earlier post).

With the chimney gone, cinderblocks out front to be used as hidden retaining walls later, one could see that the flashing had leaked. Water streaks on the inside of the drywall, but that was it. No mold, rot, or deterioration (space is always nicely heated and dries out quickly).

It was a dusty work, but still did not take a day, cleaning up included. With a new floor stud in place, the hole patched with plywood, we are at least ready to tackle the removal of the rest of the wall.

Added benefit is also that the entry to the basemnt will be much more :logical" and the basement area can one day maybe turn in to something else than "just" a basement.

And, with the chimney's gone, I can finally pull new coax and Cat5 cables the way they should have been the entire time (hidden agenda).

No photos on the mess in the basement, it was simply too dusty to even consider taking a camera out...

Prepping for tiling - Cement boards

Spent most of Saturday putting down cement boards and prepping the floor for ceramic tiles. Apart from the normal thinset, a screw every 8th inch is needed to ensure that the we get a stable base for for the tiles. About 400 screws later and over 50 lbs of thinset, we were almost done, but for sure done in for the night. Hard work getting all the screw to properly sink in.
Actually, had to take almost every one out on Sunday and counter sink them in order to get a proper surface - even though Hardie's instructions tells you not to, but I refuse having screw heads being clearly above the surface - makes setting tiles impossible!


At least some is done


Just like a pro - hard to find good workers these days

Fixed the "hidden" corner

Dad built this corner when he was here in April, but one can see his eye sight is not what it used to be (and, if that matters, neither is mine), so I decided to "straighten it up" and make it plumb before putting up the drywall.


Being plumb is important! Hidden corner with heating duct going down under the floor (in insulated box) to pop up under the large western windows.


Secret lines... (and mandatory temporary smoke detector, a tad low, but still better than nothing).


Yes, there is mastic underneath, and then the duct tape is secured with metal tie wraps to ensure it stays in place even it dries out over the years (cheap insurance).
Wires to three way light over stairs in background and control circuit to central vacuum haging down. In here (but hidden) is also Cat5 to a security camera, power to the same, wiring to a new alarm system keypad, and other goodies. Part of corner will eventually be an "odd" shelf, since there is room to "do something" with it.


Everything is sealed and nicely secured. Central vacuum pipes to be terminated as soon as drywall is up.


Home made weights work as well!

Heating and insulation underneath...

With the duct extended and now terminating in the crawl space, it was time to route it to where it was needed - a floor outlet under the big westerly windows. I could have routed an insulated flexibled duct, a quick install, but they really do not last, and the last space I want to have (heated) air leak out of a duct is outside the heatid living quarters (do not care as much is a duct is leaking inside there, the air still heats the house).

Routing the rigid duct and mounting it was not too tricky, after that we insulated it and built a box around it. Also added an electrical conduit for futre outside lights (easier to do it now than to put an ugly one on the outside).

With box finished, really left to do was to insulate the floor with R-30 fiberglass batts. With dad cutting batts outside, I pushed them into place and it did not take ling until the entire place actually also started to look good. Since this is going to be an "active" stiorage area, we covered it all up in OSB boards and could carry in all the stuff (mainly firewood and lumber) that we removed in order to be able to work there.

Upstairs, one could note a difference in that the floor no longer had that "canny" sound to it, but a more dampened "thump". Insulation is not "only" for energy efficiency...


BTW, also added a conduit for a fire alarm/heat detector here. Not needed by code, but it can be a cheap piece of mind since there is a lot of wood stored under here.



Duct from upstairs


Running under joists


Insulation, insulation


Cranky two-dimensional bend since I wanted the duct hidden up in between floor joists where possible.


Mastic underneath and notice the metal ties that secure the duct tape. No leaks here - ever!


Stringer anchored to the contrete wall. Notice how the batts are allowed to fully fill the cavities. OSB will be put up here as a "Celing" since this is after all a "working" storage area, and insulation needs to be protected.


Box is taking shape


See, bend is gone, hidden...

Wanting something to do...

Dad, visiting from Sweden, wanted something to do, so he was tasked with casing in the inside (hidden) corner. Sort of an odd design, but this is a remnant from the old (exterior) overhang. Earlier this was over the steps leading up to the front door, now it was at waist height inside the new addition.

After having pulled a new 6" heating duct, a new branch for the central vacuum, power, and alarm cables, it was time to close it up. Fairly simple task, but never the less needed.










Big saw for a small hole


Protection for the metal casing, and so no animals step on the sharp edges and cut up some paws (like in 2006...).

Taping and mudding...

With me having an inherited disgust for drywall, I realized that the "finishing" of said products was not really up for me.

In comes Ben, who some long time ago had promised to give me a hand with the taping and mudding. Clearly an expert and it looks like a "whole different place".

Ben was rewarded with some beer and promises for future help when he needs a hand with electrical, mechanical, or carpentry stuff (+wife tiling his bath room floor).


In action...


...from a different angle, different profession

Scaffolding gone - drywalling done!

With scaffolding gone, all of the T&G up in the ceiling, it was easy to work in a cleaned up area and put up the few remaining pieces of drywall. Sure, a lot of cutting around windows, but still not to bad.






Can't see it in this picture - and that is sort of by purpose - but did spend some considerable time ensuring that the vapor barriers seals as good as possible along each side of the ridge beam.

Painting - upside down

With all the strips in place, all the trim and fitting done, I put on two layers of clear polyurethane since the wood otherwise has a tendency to rapidly turn yellow. It will do that eventually, but it'll take longer time if treated.

I thought about doing this before the strips went up, but I really did not have time - or room - and it wasn't too hard to put on these two coats - working upside down.

With the ceiling completed, time to remove the scaffolding so the final sheets of drywall on the "walls" can be hung.