A Little Shade For Later

Sometimes is nice to sit on the deck and not out front, but there isn't any shade, so ReBecca has been keeping her eyes open for a deal on a gazebo, and nothing has caught her eye. Last Friday we were in Calis in the US at a store called Marddens, it has about everything you could think of in there. Well I saw this 14 x 14 gazebo for a great price and we got it. Only to find out that the 14 x 14 is the canopy size, which is still rather large, and the inside is standard 10 x 10, very roomy. And still at a great price. So here is our new gazebo.

It's sitting on a 20 x 20 deck, still a large structure.

Very well made and solid.

Tub Is In

Finally it is starting to look like a bathroom, at least a little more like one with the tub in place. One of my golfing partners, Mike Tokach, came out the other day and we got the tub in place. Also we got the dry wall up in on one end, by the sink so it's coming along. It took a bit of adjusting with the fittings to get everything working. The original hardware broke off at the ends when I was taking the tub apart. ReBecca and I finally found a replacement on Friday and it was put in, but the water didn't flow very well, so after looking at the old one, Mike and I "Robbed Peter to pay Paul" and now we have great water flow. A little more work and then the final sheet of dry wall it to go up, some mudding and sanding and before I know it I'll be putting on the paint.

The tub had to be put together almost in place, it is three pieces.

Everything went in great, after a couple of adjustments.

So Do You Like The Colour

Just kidding, I only put on some primer to help me see some of the areas that require more attention. I sanded and added a third coat yesterday, sanded and primed today. This is a big step and I know there is more dry wall to go up but every little bit helps. ReBecca has been busy with the garden, tilling, planting tomato's and trying to clean it up some more, never sitting still too long.

It's coming together, slowly.

Once I get the conduits in place for the in floor heating, the tub can go in and then the taps and then the last bit of dry wall.

Like I said she is never sitting still for very long without something to do, always busy. The garden is just starting but it will be worth it.

Still Working Hard

So far this week it doesn't look like we've done much but we have. ReBecca is trying to find good taps and faucets for the bathroom, that are the correct type for our tub and sink. She also has been working on the garden, it needed to be bigger, something about the shade of the trees getting in the way. I have been doing some sanding and applying more mud, it needs to be smooooth. As the weather has been very good the past couple of days got a chance to cut the grass, again. It only took 3 ½ hours this time. I also had a chance to go for another flight with my Brother-in-Law on Monday and he took me over the house.

A look from the road with the garden in place.

I think we are about 1500 feet up, you can just make out the house.

Working The Land

The house may not be move in ready and this shouldn't stop us from using the land. ReBecca spent part of the morning tilling a couple of areas for a garden and a temporary flower bed. The soil looks great and after she gets some manure mixed in she'll get her garden underway. Today I just finished putting in the meranti board in two of the upstairs rooms and I cut out the pieces needed for two closets. Some of the mud was still wet to start sanding, so I'll do it later.

This is on the south side of the house, we were told a while ago and saw in a picture that this is were a previous owner had their garden and it was said to be one of the best in the area.

Temporary flower bed on the east side of the yard.

As promised from my last post here are the flower pots ReBecca did up yesterday. I know you can't see the flowers, it's still early, they're not ready yet.

And Then There Was 'The Mud"

After putting up a few more pieces of dry wall on the face side of the tub enclosure, I decided to do a little taping and mud, lots of fun. Even though there are a few more pieces of dry wall to go up after the tub is installed I thought to best to get some of it done, cleaned up. Because there are a lot of little pieces and this means more joints and more mud, so after sanding and clean up the two side pieces shouldn't be too messy. I hope. As the room is just the right size for a bathroom, it is a little small for two people and a ladder, so ReBecca spent the morning cleaning the old fridge we brought in from the shed and putting out her flower pots with new plants on the veranda (I'll get pictures tomorrow, I promise.)

Lots of tape and mud, equal more sanding.

Plenty of little pieces on the tub support face. It is coming together.

More Dry Wall

Yesterday was a quiet day at the house, we had a few things to do in town so no work done on the "Project". Today I put up the rest of the dry wall on the walls, we still have to do the tub walls, but that will be done another day.

This piece was taken out to get in behind the living room wall, I and to run wires for future speakers, and cable for the satellite dish.

A couple of pieces done by the door, left side because we were going to move the door over and at the right because I added another switch for the fan and there wasn't enough room beside the light switch and wall stud. It's coming together.

Putting Up The Fan

Sometimes the little things can take longer than they should. And that was the case with installing the bathroom exhaust fan. It wasn't hard just tedious, and it's done. I connected the insulated vent hose to the outside vent pipe, replaced the previously removed dry wall, re-installed the bulkhead and finally put up the fan supports and fan.

A couple of 2 x 4's later and a frame work is in place.

A clean look and protected to the outside.

A Full Day

Today ReBecca and I got quite a bit done, even though there were only two jobs done. ReBecca secured sheets of ¼ inch meranti plywood to the floor boards in the rooms upstairs. The existing sub-floor is made up of 1 inch pine planks, very strong and solid. And as they are rather old and have dried out a bit, there are gaps in the floor that we don't want beneath the re-finished pine boards that we'll be reinstalling later. The meranti isn't for strength just to give us a clean surface to start with. After getting the pieces cut and in place for ReBecca, I then tackled the lawn, with our push mower. It took 4½ hours to cut. Much quicker than the last time it was cut, that is because it's ½ as thick. ReBecca did the last cut and it was very thick, as well being the first cut of the year to took her longer than 4½ hours just to do the south section of lawn. Needless to say we'll be getting a ride on mower or when we get a compact tracker it will come with a good mower deck.

The plywood in the spare room.

Plywood laid in my office.

This is part of the east side of the house, it took an hour to cut.

Here's the south side and the largest section of lawn, it took 2 hours to cut. It was a nice day for it and I needed the exercise.

Dry Wall Experience

Today one of the guys I usually golf with, Mike Tokash, came to help with the dry wall in the bathroom. Mike also helped me earlier with the installation of the bathroom vent hood and the header and support beams between the kitchen and dining room. The dry wall I used was for bathrooms, it is moisture and mold resistant and very heavy, at least 3 times heavier than normal dry wall. The bathroom is a small space and with the support walls in place, cutting and fitting the 4 ft x 8 ft sheets of dry wall was to a little challenging. Success was achieved without too much trouble. It's all coming together.

It went well and there isn't anything a little tape and mud can't handle.

Most of the work is done, I have a couple of pieces to fit still, after I get the tub in place.