October 26, 2006
Prairie winters & exterior doors
When we took possession of our house, it had all its original exterior doors, not a single one of which was in very good shape. We had to remove the raised panel, cedar door from the mudroom in early December. We replaced it with a new, nine-light, insulated, pre-hung steel door.
But, there were good reasons for this seeming sacrilege. Our primary concern was air leakage. It's not uncommon, here, for it to get to -40C (-40F) in the winter, and it is perfectly capable of hitting temperatures as low as -65C (-76F) with the windchill. In short, it can get pretty damn cold. And, while I loved the look of the original back door, it just wasn't practical to keep it . . . especially when, in early December, it had a good 1/2" coat of frost growing on it (and it hadn't even hit -20C yet).
Next came the front door. We bought a pair of heritage storm doors from Emco, both of which have self-storing glass & screens. They're not an exact match to the 12-light cedar storm doors that the house originally had (of which we currently only have one, as the back storm door is mysteriously missing), but they're as close as we could come and still get all of the advantages of the newer storm doors.
The original front door is a craftsman style door, with a single, almost-square, window and three recessed panels. The center panel is cracked to the extent that you can actually see the outside world through it while sitting in the old front porch. It's entirely fixable (with more than a little work), but the thin recessed panels provide little in terms of insulation . . . a fact that we discovered early last winter. So, with yet another sigh, we purchased yet another insulated steel door, although this time with a 9-light-sized stained glass-style insert.
We dearly would have loved to have kept all three remaining original doors, but it just wasn't practical to do so in this climate. Even once the house has achieved a good frost seal, it was still far too cold in here last winter. The two entry doors were going to continue to present a problem, even with insulating the basement inside & out, replacing all of the basement windows, and the planned insulation of and sealing* around the main floor windows that aren't presently being replaced.
So there, I've admitted it, we've committed one of the sins for which people often curse the previous owners of their homes. But, at least we'll re-use the doors elsewhere. The one remaining original storm door is in really rough shape, as the door-handle side stile is nowhere even close to sound. Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to be able to salvage this one. However, despite their rough shape, we're going to be able to re-use the original back and front doors. The back door, a heavy cedar raised-panel door, will go on the basement workshop, once it's reassembled from the bits and pieces to which it's currently reduced. The front door, once the center panel has been fixed and the glass frosted, will likely reside upstairs. In addition to this, we've obtained a functional fir storm door, which is destined, after stripping, refinishing, and glass frosting, to become the door for the new master bedrom. So, it's not as if we're shipping them off to the dump or something . . . we're just giving them new jobs to do.
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* A brief note re. sealing: We've been using a product that is often referred to as "blueskin" throughout the course of our exterior renovations. It's a self-adhering flashing, blue on the sticky side, that seals out drafts better than any other product we've seen on the market (and, considering that my father's been in the home improvement/building supply industry for 37 years, that's saying a lot). It's worked wonders on the areas of the house that we've managed to seal thus far.
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April 26, 2006
Maple flooring
We've been looking for a while for hardwood flooring for the office/bathroom addition that's our next big project. The rest of the main floor has 2-1/4" x 3/4" maple hardwood, which looks to be #2 and better (nice texture and colour, but a few *tight* knots and a bit of variation in colour). The best price I've been able to find here in Saskatoon for something that'll be a close (but not exact) match is $7.50/sq ft. Dad managed to find some "rustic maple" from Goodfellas (sorry, couldn't find a link) that'll cost significantly less. The catch is that it's 3-1/4" wide. However, because the area that we're doing is connected to the rest of the house via the kitchen, which will likely need to be refloored*, we'll be able to make a good transition. I'm hoping that we'll be able to salvage most of the kitchen hardwood, but we should be able to get some to match (fairly close).
I found a fir storm door at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which just absolutely made my day. It's in much better shape than the one that's on the front door (although, because we won't use that one as much, I'm not as concerned about it, but the greenstick fracture to the handle-side rail needs to be addressed). In addition, I also managed to find a light fixture for the dining room--it's not like the one that I really want, one of Rejuvenation's Alameda fixtures-- but, with a bit of doctoring, including new chain, a coat of paint, and (possibly) new shades, I think that it'll look just fine. I'll post pictures of these later today.
Dad's also found a couple of tubs, and will likely order one in the next day or so, which means that it'll be here the beginning of June. He's picking up the insulation this afternoon, from Surrey New and Used Building Materials. We're getting 2' x 4' sheets of 2-1/2" rigid insulation for less than what our wholesale cost would be! They've also got lots of the old cast iron tubs, feet, and hardware for them, glass/crystal door hardware, and many, many other things. As an old-house enthusiast, I can't wait for the next time I'm home to visit, as I'll definitely making a trip there, with camera in hand. There are a couple of things that we're going to need (namely more glass door handles and a large, in-floor cold air return vent) that it looks like we'll be able to get from SNU, without having to pay shipping/freight and duty to rural Saskatchewan.
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* Or, at least, we're assuming that we're going to have to refloor the kitchen in places, as the hardwood under the sink and under the exisiting bathroom is in questionable condition. It's kind of hard to tell, at the moment, because the kitchen cabinets are in the way in the one spot and the 1970s era bathroom subfloor is over the hardwood in the other.
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January 27, 2006
Back slowly away from the books . . .
I'll admit to a long standing obsession with books, which has in no way been alleviated by the acquisition of this house. Now, in addition to my previous research topics, I've gained a new one: the Arts & Crafts movement, particularly on the Canadian prairies. For most people this wouldn't be a problem but, at the rate that I acquire hoard books, it's definitely a problem (albeit in a good way) for me.
I'm still slowly working my way through the large stack of books that I brought home from the university library a couple of weeks ago (and taking shameless advantage of my graduate student's interlibrary loans privileges). Whereas previously I had but vague ideas about what the house should look like when complete, now I've got the opposite problem. Too many ideas, too little time/space/money/etc. I'm sure that this is a not uncommon problem amongst those of us who have undertaken renovations, whatever the scale.
During the course of my preliminary research (which is preliminary solely because it has yet to earn a dedicated filing crate and computerized folder), I've come across some exceptional books, the kind that I can spend hour upon hour thumbing through, seeing something new each and every time. I've had this experience previously with literary texts (which is one of the reasons I'm doing an M.A. in English), but not (at least to this extent) with more pictorally-oriented texts. I'm learning to read with a new eye, for both text and, for lack of a better term, texture. Like many things in life, the historical rehabilitation that Dana & I are undertaking is a learning experience, in more ways than one. The sacrifices we make whilst making this house our home will be more than worth it because of the many lessons that we'll learn along the way.
Tasha's sole comment to this sleepy philosophical bent is a resounding and surprisingly lengthy snore ;-)
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January 18, 2006
Multiple kitchen floor plans
This is the layout of the kitchen as it currently stands. The kitchen table lives underneath the large window on the west side (the top of the drawing is north). There's just enough space for a half dozen adults to sit around it, but it's far too cozy for my liking. Plus, counter space is very limited. Regardless of what happens to the kitchen, the fridge will move beside the stove and we'll install a dishwasher in the fridge's place, gaining 32 inches of counterspace on the west wall.
The next image, our first option for renovation (and Dana's preferred option), involves a tightening up of the bathroom so that we can install cabinets along either the north wall (as shown) and possibly extend these around the corner to the edge of the bathroom door. I'd like to add a built-in book case at the south end of the bathroom, as that space isn't really all that useful, and it would give me somewhere to put cook books, along with some of my good dishes and crystal. Leaving the bathroom at 4 pieces means that we wouldn't have to add another bathroom, aside from the planned master bedroom ensuite upstairs. But, I'm not convinced that having a tub & shower off of the kitchen is a good idea. On the plus side, at least you won't be looking directly into the bathroom from the kitchen table.
The second option, and the one that I'm leaning towards, turns the bathroom off of the kitchen into a two piece powder room, opening up enough space to put the kitchen table in the north-west corner of the kitchen. We can't get around having the door in the middle of the wall because of where the chimney is. But, while I'm not particularly fond of this, having more space for the table, and gaining the 32 inches of counter space mentioned above (for dishwasher) plus another five feet, is more important, at least to me. As with the first option, we'll build a bookcase into the wall at the south end of the bathroom.
If we go with this option, we're going to have to add a three- or four-piece bathroom in between the two main floor bedrooms (which is entirely feasible), likely opening up into both bedrooms (pocket door into master, 28" standard door into guest). This option begets further complications because the upstairs bedroom would also have to have access to a full bathroom, without having to traipse through either the planned upstairs master bedroom (which will likely have its own ensuite) or one of the downstairs bedrooms, necessitating the addition of yet another bathroom--not, however, that there isn't room to do so. We won't have to decide what we're doing upstairs for a while, as we'll make sure that, whatever we do, we'll have easy access to both a plumbing stack and hot/cold water. It's the main floor that we're going to have to deal with in the next several weeks, once the basement beam and bathroom have been completed.
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January 16, 2006
Kitchen potentialities
We're trying to do everything possible to increase the usable floor space in the kitchen. As I've already mentioned, the closet on the following drawing has been removed and we're hoping that, within the next several weeks (after installation of the basement's beam and the completion of the basement bathroom) we'll get to the point that we're going to operate on the bathroom off of the kitchen.
We have two options: keep this bathroom as stands (with tub/shower, sink, and toilet) or turn it into a powder room (with pedastal sink and toilet) in the space that the tub currently occupies. If we leave the bathroom as is, we won't have to create another 4-piece bathroom on the second floor (in addition to the planned addition of an ensuite to the future master bedroom). If we significantly decrease the size of the bathroom, we gain about 50 square feet of floor space to the right of the old closet, which would give us enough room to put a kitchen table there, clearing up the space underneath the large west window, which would then become countertop. Drawings to come, likely later this week.
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January 10, 2006
Floor plans
I've admitted defeat at the hands of computerized graphical house plan programs, and have resorted to the tried and true hand-drawn version. Dana's dad has kindly offered to create computerized versions, via AutoCAD. But, for the time being, here are my not so pretty versions of the house as it was when we took possession. New, revised drawings will follow shortly.
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January 03, 2006
Trenches, beams, and walls . . . oh my!
We've been debating, since we bought the house, as to the best method for ensuring that the horizontal cracks in the basement walls don't result in structural failure. We've dealt with the source of the bulk of the problem (lack of eavestroughing), and will deal with the surface drainage issue as soon as the ground is thawed.
We were faced with several different options. We could support the house from within, dig out the offending wall, and repour it. Or, we could dig a trench along the offending wall, install weeping tile, and push the wall out (from the inside) so that the top was once more directly over the bottom. We decided that both of these options, while feasible, were entirely too much work. If we were going to dig out and replace one wall, we may as well have replaced them all, and poured a new floor at the same time.
While we're not going to, as Andy put it, "build a mighty beam," we are going to put a beam in place, just inside the existing foundation. This will entail digging more holes in the concrete floor (*sigh*), but we should be able to get away with three 7'-9' jackposts and a tripartite 2"x10" beam. I'll take the appropriate measurements tomorrow, after which we'll consult with William to ensure that we're going to be doing everything properly. Thankfully, this means that we'll have the foundation issues addressed before spring thaw. The wall will still be ugly and cracked, but at least we'll be sure that the house won't fall in around our ears. We'll make sure to take lots of pictures, so that when we sell the house we'll be able to show the nature of the existing wall and the steps that were taken to rectify the problem.
If you look closely at the following pictures, you should be able to see the large horizontal crack that runs about 2-1/2 feet below the window. This is the offending wall that has occasioned the preceeding discussion, and ensuing construction, to remedy any future/potential structural failure.*
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* If you hadn't already guessed, this particular sentence reveals, without a doubt, that my area of specialization is English (not renovating) ;-)
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December 28, 2005
Computer storage options
Most people would be content with a desk that's got room for their computer. In our case, this just isn't going to cut it. Of all our computers, only my laptop has a true home. All of the others live on the floor in various parts of the house. This is not going to happen in the new house, as we've got more than enough space for each to have its own home.
However, a quick Google search indicates that there doesn't seem to be much out there in the line of attractive home designs for servers and other such beasts. Thus, it appears that we're going to have to build our own housing for the two monster boxes (two HP Visualize J7000s) and the firewall, leaving adequate space for future expansion. It's likely that these will end up living in the master bedroom's closet, away from any basement dampness and with lots of space to work with, as we'll need access to both sides of these machines.
I'm thinking of building a cabinet that resembles a large bookcase, with deep shelves and access front & back. We should be able to use the computers to heat the closet, but I'll also integrate a vent into the outside world so that we're not adding heat to the second floor in the middle of August. This is still a ways away, as we're likely not going to get to the second floor until the fall, but it's something that we'll be thinking about for a while.
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November 25, 2005
Automatic dog water supply
Tasha, our elderly American cocker spaniel, drinks a lot of water, and is constantly getting gunk in her water dish. I'm contemplating the addition of an automatic dog watering system to the new house, although Dana's not convinced that Tasha's smart enough to figure out how to use such a contraption ;-)
It seems as if there are two types: one that screws directly onto a faucet, and one that's basically a small sink with a float and valve assembly that keeps the water at an appropriate level. Reviews of both have been good, but the simpler of the two does have the potential to develop a rather serious leak if not regularly inspected. The faucet add-on is appealing because it won't require much in the way of cleaning. The other, while requiring a little more installation time, seems like it might be the way to go.
I'll have to do some more research, and pick out an appropriate place to install such a thing. In the meantime, the faucet-mount attachment is available here and the sink-style watering system is available here. Now if Icould just find an automatic pooper scooper . . .
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