Matching Tracksuits

fun in fours

around the house

New

Tuesday 05 July 2016

The day began with a treat for the Boy: the flooring company installed our new hardwood, which has been sitting in the living room for close to a month, acclimating to our house's moisture levels. E sat at the top of the basement stairs and watched as two men laid out the wood for the main part of the room while another worked on the small area in front of the basement door.

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They took a smoke break after finishing the layout, then came back and finished the rest of the job in less than a couple of hours.

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He of course chatted them up the entire time.

"Sorry about how shy my son is," I laughed. The gentlemen found him generally amusing, though, and were very patient with his questions and own little explanations.

The afternoon, though, was all about the Girl: we bought her a new bike, a Trek FX, which is in fact a small adult bike. Lots of big changes for her: braking with her hands, shifting gears. Plus the size change -- theoretically, this is a bike that can last her for ten years.

When K came home from work, she was happy to see the Girl's bike (which we took out for an initial ride in the evening of 11 km), but was even more happy to see the floor.

It looks like a room again.

Morning Light and Evening Dark

Wednesday 29 June 2016

Had I been able last night to imagine what our kitchen would look like, I would have probably had something like this in mind.

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As it was, it was dark, and I in fact saw something like this. Sort of.

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Dry Walls

Monday 27 June 2016

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Working

Monday 27 June 2016

Hide and Seek

Sunday 26 June 2016

For two weeks, it’s been approaching: the moment when hours upon hours of work disappear under insulation and drywall. The LVL that serves as the header for both the window opening and door, the installation of which was a day-long extravaganza of sweating and straining, will be visible only in pictures.

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The runs of 12-gauge and 14-gauge wires, all the pretty yellow and white lines snaking through the walls, will disappear, and the only evidence will be a working, properly grounded wiring system — what most folks take for granted in the developed world.

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The gas line that pops up from the floor will be hidden behind our new stove, though the majority of it (along with the new floor-supporting beam) will always be invisible, hidden in the crawl space.

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All these things were running through my head as I lazily prepared to install the insulation, thus hiding everything we’d spent so much time and money creating over the last two weeks. It was a job the Boy, who loves to help with everything, could have easily done — no heavy lifting, nothing dangerous edges — except for the fact that we had no protective gear for his eyes and lungs. And even if we had, I would be reticent to let him help with such a job. The least physically demanding yet the most dangerous in a way.

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I put some music on — Led Zepplin’s 2012 Celebration Day live album — and got to covering up everything we’d done.

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Job done, I tore down the plastic separating the kitchen from the rest of the house — we’ll need to protect the rest of the house throughout the process, but this particular piece of plastic was hung on a 2×4 that would make drywalling impossible — and thought how weird it was to have unrestricted access once again.

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Home Runs

Tuesday 21 June 2016

This was supposed to be last Tuesday.

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Wires

Monday 20 June 2016

(Obviously, not our actual kitchen...)

The wiring in our house was somewhat of a mystery. Why doesn't that three-way switch in the kitchen and hall work properly? Where does that line go? Where did that line come from?

Most of the morning was spent working out those details so we could kill a couple of breakers and start pulling out old wires. In their place, we placed some shiny new boxes for switches and outlets and pulled a bit of 14-gauge wire for a few of the outlets. It was another of those days where we accomplished a lot but it doesn't quite look that way.

Tomorrow, though, it all starts coming together. We'll finish the majority of the wiring, but since that involves significant time in the attic, we'll be starting quite early. The plan was originally to start at six, but since the weather report indicates a mild morning, I called and left a message that we could probably wait until seven to start. I know, however, that my mentor, like I, sometimes misses messages on his phone, so I'm not sure when we're actually starting, which is why I'm going to bed now.

Returning

Friday 17 June 2016

You should always return borrowed items in better shape than you received them.

So the neighbor will receive his truck back a bit cleaner than he lent it and with a full tank of gas.

We're done with the truck, which means we've hauled away the last of the old kitchen. Today we unloaded drywall, wood panelling, rotten subfloor, tired brick molding, and bits and pieces we'd accumulated. The kitchen is stripped and repaired, ready for the new starting Monday with electrical and plumbing. Out with the old. In with the mystery.

Sub

Thursday 16 June 2016

Two things got accomplished today: we got the window back in, which took most of the morning, and we got the subfloor fixed, which took most of the afternoon.

The evening was for family.

Crawling Space

Wednesday 15 June 2016

The light was particularly beautiful this morning given the fact that I knew we would be spending the whole day in the crawl space.

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It was a blessing and a curse, really. The heat outside was so oppressive that it was really almost pleasant in the crawl space, which made it a welcome change from yesterday. On the other hand, it’s the crawl space.

Out mission was simple: deal with a 3/4 inch sag in the dining room portion of the floor.

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A seven-foot level showed the problem clearly. The idea behind the solution was simple: build two piers to hold a new support beam under the affected area. An easy idea with a back-breaking implementation.

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But the beam is up, and the jacks are still temporarily in place. “The floor will need to settle a little before we make any definitive moves,” my mentor/guide explained.

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For now, things look good.