Renovation Archives

March 9, 2021December 12, 2023

Floor Patching and Chokey Framing

Day #155

Back in October of 2018 I did some demolition in the old kitchen. During the demo I discovered some carpenter ant / termite damage. Today I will be patching the floor in this area and framing the rest of the water heater enclosure i.e. the “Chokey”.

Removing the damaged wood the resulted in a hole with multiple levels. I patched the various levels, one at a time up to the bottom of the 3/4″ tongue & groove pine flooring. The images below walk you through the process.

The hole before any floor patching. The small piece of wood is the first patch.

The first level is patched, ready for the next level,

Ready to glue in the second level of floor patch.

The second level is patched.

Restoring the stud bearing with a triangular block of oak.

The hole is patched up to the bottom of the pine flooring.

Moisture barrier is installed.

The final pieces of pine are patched in.

Next up was the rest of the framing for the water heater enclosure. I am moving the water heater out of the back closet so I can turn it into a hallway with an outside door to the porch. The new location for the water heater is hear in the kitchen. I immediately dubbed it the “Chokey” as a tribute to Matilda. Mark my words, if you don’t behave you will be sent to the Chokey.

As you can see, nothing fancy about the framing. The section of floor that I patched above is right inside the enclosure.

Chokey Framing — Chokey framing a.k.a. the water heater enclosure.

Next weekend I will start the framing for the last new window in the living room. I think Henry, Studger and Phil will be visiting too, so I can’t guarantee that we will be working the whole weekend.

March 8, 2021December 12, 2023

Kitchen Window Framing – Railroad Side

Day # 154

August 15, 2020 – Today I’ll be finishing the framing for the last new kitchen window. This window is located on the railroad (south) side of the cottage. There was an existing window in that location but the new one is slightly bigger. Because of the size difference I need to frame a new rough opening.

South Kitchen Wall — Electric outlet and old window opening in the south wall.

The outlet for the old kitchen stove is also located in this wall. We no longer need this outlet so it needs removed. The first order of business is to disconnect the electric, then remove the wire and then the outlet from the wall.

Outlet Removed — South wall stove outlet removed.

To keep the roof structure from moving while the new window opening is framed, I install some temporary roof support framing out in front of the opening.

With the temporary bracing in place I demolished and removed the header, jack and cripple studs from the old window opening.

Kitchen Window Framing — Outside view of the south wall kitchen window opening.

Then, I re-frame a new header, with jack studs, and cripple studs for the new window.

Once the new kitchen window framing is complete I can remove the temporary roof support.

Roof Support Framing Removed — Temporary roof support framing removed.

The last thing today, for this opening, is to temporarily close it in until the new window arrives. And there you have it, the kitchen window framing is complete!

Tomorrow I’ll be doing some floor patching and finishing the “Chokey” framing for the Trenchbull. Yep.

March 8, 2021December 12, 2023

Ceiling Insulation Take Two!

Day #153

August 09, 2020 – Just a short blog for today. I jumped back on the the kitchen ceiling insulation and I was able to finish it up. The rafter vents and the batt insulation are complete! Kitchen ceiling insulation take two….done! Check.

Kitchen Ceiling Insulation — Kitchen ceiling insulation is complete!

Next up, the installation of the remaining kitchen window and the remaining living room window.

March 3, 2021December 12, 2023

Structural Remediation – Ceiling Joist Repair

Day #152

August 8, 2020 – Back at the cottage for the weekend. I changed it up a bit and did some long needed structural remediation. After taking down the living room ceiling it became apparent that we have a situation. The ceiling joists have slowly pulled away from center beam. The loss of bearing on the joist end is not good considering that the joists hold up the finished ceiling.

Several years ago, when in the attic for the water heater installation, I noticed this condition on a couple of joists by the bathroom. I did not realize the full extent until now.

The image below shows the large gaps that have developed between the end of the ceiling joists and supporting beam. You can see, these joists are notched out and bear on a ledger strip that is in turn fastened to the bottom of the beam.

Joist Shrinkage — Large gaps at the ceiling joist ends require structural remediation.

This style of framing is not correct for this type of structure. The ceiling joists are not continuous from one side of the cottage to the other. Any load on the gable roof above, i.e. snow, pushes down on the roof. This causes the side walls to push out and the joists to pull away from the center beam. Thankfully, the side walls are still plumb on both sides of the cottage so, it is my assumption that these joists have dried out and shrunk over the years. It’s amazing, in all this time we have not suffered a collapse!

To remediate, I added metal strapping from joist to joist across the bottom of the beam. My hope is to prevent further movement or separation.

To restore full bearing I cut and bolted on new joist ends (image below).

I completed this structural remediation for each of the six ceiling joists.

Tomorrow I’ll be continuing the installation of the roof insulation in the new kitchen.

February 11, 2021December 12, 2023

Kitchen Ceiling Insulation

Day #151

July 31, 2020 – Well, we reached the end of July, 2020. Despite all good intentions to complete the kitchen ceiling insulation today, I didn’t make it.

After we got up, we cleaned up a bit, packed and headed home. It’s been a long week. Tomorrow we have Ross and Lauren’s wedding to attend. It’s going to be awesome and we are looking forward to the party.

I will be back to the Cot-Taj-Mahal on August 8th to continue the kitchen ceiling insulation and the renovation. Stay tuned.

PS: As I write this post, I realize that I am only seven (7) months behind on this renovation story. Ugghhh!

February 11, 2021December 12, 2023

Cathedral Ceiling Rafter Vent and Batt Insulation

Day #150

July 30, 2020 – In the new kitchen we will have an exposed cathedral ceiling. When complete, it will be covered with 1″×8″ pine barn siding. Today, I started installing the rafter vents and batt insulation in the joist spaces for this ceiling.

R30 Batt Insulation — R30 batt insulation for the cathedral ceiling.

Cathedral Ceiling - Rafter Vents — proVent rafter vent installation in the cathedral ceiling.

Above and below, the rafter vents or rafter baffles provide a continuous air flow from the soffit vent through the roof ridge vent. In the summer this helps to keep the cathedral ceiling structure cooler and guards against mold, mildew and rot. I used proVent that I purchased at Lowe’s.

Rafter Vents 03

I started the rafter vent installation on the river side of the kitchen. When I had the vent on this side complete, I dropped back and installed the R30 batt insulation (below).

Cathedral Ceiling - R30 Batt Insulation — Batt insulation between joists.

Rafter Vents 04 — proVent installation on the railroad side.

With the insulation on river side of the ceiling complete I moved over to the railroad side and repeated the whole process. Rafter vents followed by batt insulation (above and below).

Cathedral Ceiling - R19 Batt Insulation — Batt insulation on the railroad side.

Tomorrow I need to wrap up the cathedral ceiling insulation. We’ve been at the Cot-Taj-Mahal all week long and tomorrow evening we are heading home. We have a big wedding to attend on Saturday. Ross and Lauren are tying the knot!

February 11, 2021March 31, 2024

Interior Gable Framing and More Wall Insulation

Day #149

July 29, 2020 – Today I continued the wall insulation and started the framing at the interior gable end of the new kitchen.

I hung the television to have a distraction but, today I have to take it down to insulate the wall behind it. We used a Sanus Advanced Full-Motion TV Mount so it’s really easy to mount and un-mount the TV.

Wall At TV — Interior of the wall at the television.

Below, installing the insulation in the kitchen wall above the river side window.

Wall Above Kitchen Window — Insulation in kitchen wall above window.

Wall insulation behind the TV is complete and the television is re-hung and covered (below).

Insulation At TV — Wall insulation at the television.

Above, I am working on the framing to close in the interior gable end of the kitchen. In this wall there will be a access door to get into the attic above the living room and the remainder of the cottage.

Below, wall insulation in the newly installed gable end framing. I have a rolling scaffolding which would make high insulation process quicker but we just have too much stuff in the way. For this reason I am working from a ladder. Needless to say it is a whole bunch climbing up and down.

Gable End Insulation — Insulation at interior gable end.

Tomorrow I’ll be starting the insulation in the cathedral ceiling above the kitchen. At this point, my designer tells me she is okay with surface mounting conduit and boxes to hang the kitchen light fixtures from. This will give us a more “industrial look”. Okay….let the insulation begin.

February 11, 2021December 12, 2023

New Panel Wing Wall and Happy Birthday to Me!

Day #148

July 28, 2020 – Continuing the electric rough in with a wing wall for the new electric panel and I finish the end wall insulation. Plus, it’s Happy Birthday to me, Gyeem Raj Du-Kamar. It has to be a good day, right?

As part of the electrical renovation we are going to upgrade the electric service from 100 amp to 200 amp and relocate the main panel from the kitchen to the living room. The framing below is a “wing wall” between the kitchen and the living room. This is the location for the new 200 amp panel.

New Panel Wing Wall — Wing wall framing for new 200 Amp electric panel.

All the electric wire will be pulled to this location and eventually terminated in the new panel. The wire dangling in the image below will power the new refrigerator along the end wall.

Panel Wing Wall — Wire for a new refrigerator receptacle.

Most of the overhead wire show in this image (below) is powering the cottage from the existing 100 amp panel. Eventually, I will disconnect this wire from the old panel, drop it down into the wing wall and reconnect it to the new panel.

Electric Wire — Electrical wire rough in.

After the rough in of the refrigerator outlet is complete the remaining wall insulation in the end wall can be installed.

The new refrigerator will be located in the center of the wall as you see the old one below. There will be cabinets and countertops below the windows, on both sides of the fridge.

Kitchen Wall Insulation — Kitchen End wall insulation.

What’s up for tomorrow..? Well, you guessed it, more electric rough in and more insulation. Oh joy!

February 1, 2021December 12, 2023

Electric Rough In and Insulation in the Kitchen

Day #147

July 27, 2020 – The electric rough in continues today with the installation of eight outlets in the kitchen. These are in the outside wall along the driveway side. Outlets along the river side were roughed in a week or so ago. It takes quite a bit of extra time because we are trying to keep something of a kitchen in service. I have to move stuff back and forth, out of the way until it gets in the way, and then repeat. I was able to start the exterior wall insulation in the kitchen and the new ceiling insulation in the living room. So there’s that too.

Electric Outlet Boxes — Electric Rough In – Outlet boxes and wire.

There are two outlet boxes under this window on the left side, and two boxes under the window on the right side. Each box will house one duplex outlet giving us a total of eight outlets along this outside wall.

Electric Rough In - Outlet Boxes

Lots of clutter in the kitchen makes the going sloowww.

Wall Insulation 02

The wall insulation proceeds left to right. These are basically 2×4 stud walls so the insulation is R-13, three and a half inch thick fiberglass batt.

Kitchen Clutter 02 — Electric Rough In – Outlet boxes under the kitchen windows.

One of the outlet boxes under the right window is visible in the photo above.

Ceiling Insulation

The insulation in the ceiling is a bit thicker. It is R19, six inch thick fiberglass batts. Yes I was watching tv as I insulated.

February 1, 2021March 31, 2024

Let’s do some more demolition!

Day #146

July 22, 2020 – Just a short blog for the work today. Since we have the dumpster we want to get as much of the remaining demolition completed as possible. To that end, Jess and Phil are removing the old siding and I am taking out the living room and kitchen windows.

Siding Demolition — Siding demolition along the back of the cottage.

The last time we were removing the siding we stopped at this point. We have to finish setting up this scaffold section to remove the siding that remains on the gable end. Once that is complete we can continue around the corner towards the driveway.

Siding Demo Close UP — Close up of the siding removal.

Above, removal of the living room window and time out for a beer.

Below, the framing to temporarily close up the living room window opening is ready to install.

Above, the kitchen window demolition is next. Siding removal down to the next corner by the electric service conduit.

Below, the kitchen window is removed and the living room window is temporarily closed in.

When I took out the kitchen window we found Mikey Mouse’s brother, Mortimer Mouse hiding behind the window frame. Similar to Mickey, he has seen better days.

After the siding demolition we install tyvek building warp to keep the elements from entering the outside walls.

That does it for today. I guess this post was a little longer than I though it would be. Oh well…