Ferry Village Renovation

More Mush

See the Mush photo album for the latest discoveries of rot. The ones beginning with "The Mighty Beam" were taken 8/15/09.

Mush

So I pulled up a few more deck boards today, and the verdict is in. We have full on rot in the sheathing, sill, ends of the floor joists and possibly the bottoms of the wall studs. Looks like that FatMax demolition bar I got for Christmas a couple years ago is going to get some use! Is your deck flashed? If not, do yourself a favor and do it now. Really, take a day off from work and go crazy with the flashing.

Life as a Compost Sifter

Apparently compost is good for everything, especially the lawn. Between filling in the hole left by the removal of the walkway to nowhere and top-dressing the rest of the lawn, I will be using my new sifter every weekend from now until about 2014. I borrowed Uncle Bill's, and it worked so well I had to build one oof my very own. Simple to make and a must have for any gardener / yardscaper.

Miter Saw Bench

This fall I built a second work bench in the basement. Not only did we need more bench space generally, but we needed a place to put the miter saw, which had been residing on the basement floor.

The new bench works great. The only complaint is that the saw is now bolted to a bench two floors below the job site for any work on the second floor. It was quite a quad workout to hang crown molding in the bedroom.

"Shimmer" Me Timbers

So our shower has a three panel enclosure. A one-panel enclosure would simply not be enough of a pain in the neck. A few weeks ago we noticed some separation at the seams of the panels. So I stripped out all the old caulk. The plan was to shoot Liquid Nails behind the parts of the panel that were coming up away from the wall where the seam had split, then re-caulk the seams

I got the Liquid Nails back there but had misread the instructions. The label said I had 10 minutes to work with the LN, so I thought it was a quick drying product and I simply had to apply pressure for 10 minutes. No such luck. It has 10 minutes of working time, but takes hours to fully set. So here I am leaning against the shower enclosure trying to keep the panels flat while the LN takes hold. Fortunately a solution was to be found in the attic. 

When I removed the door and window trim from the bedroom (old crappy trim that we won't be re-using) I put it upstairs in the attic. So I grabbed a bunch of the trim and headed downstairs to the miter saw bench. I cut the pieces to span the width of the bathroom and shimmed the pieces in place between the shower enclosure and the opposite wall of the room.

It was a bit of a limbo to use the bathroom for a day or so, but in the end, the shower came out just fine.

Clearing Brush

Being a new homeowner, and thus master of all I survey, one of my first tasks in the summer of 2008 was to clear away the brush on the other side of our fence. Sweet brier vines had grown around many of our maple trees, literally choking them. I bought a pair of bypass loppers and began cutting away the mass of vines. I made it about halfway down the fenceline before discovering we have a fire ant nest, the hard way. The little bastards crawled up my shoe and started biting my ankle. The pain was searing, even long after I tore off the shoe and hosed down my foot. I didn't go back until the fall.

In the fall, a good friend came over with his chainsaw. We cut down a few small trees that were cluttering things up, and then the vine hacking resumed. We now have a decent swath on the other side of the fence that is actually passable on foot without a machete.

Bustin' Rocks

With the shed moved to the side of the yard, we had to remove the section of walkway that became the walkway to nowhere.

The first step was to score the slab at the point we wanted it to break, so no cracks would penetrate into the section of slab we wanted to keep. The folks at Maine Hardware hooked me up with a 7" diamond blade for the ol' circular saw. That sucker sliced through the concrete like it was paper mache.

With the score in place, I used an old (like 30 years old) sledge to begin making cracks in the slab. The crooked handle and rusted head of the sledge held together through the whole process. The sledge hammering process was made more difficult by the fact that the slab was about 6" thick instead of the typical 3-4" needed for a walkway.

Fortunately we had a San Angello bar on hand. this long metal bar has a chisel on one end and a point on the other. The chisel can be pushed into small cracks made by the sledge in the slab's surface, then worked back and forth to break off large chunks.

Next step is to dispose of the concrete waste. Stay tuned for a post on how that works out.

More Shed Fun

With the shed moved and nobody injured in the process, I had to reattach its ramp. The original ramp supports no longer fit because the ramp now lands on the ground and not the surface of the concrete path, which is about 4" above grade. The original supports were triangular-shaped pieces of 2x12, but I needed something bigger. Thank goodness for the better half's brain. After hours of scratching my head for a solution, she suggested I cut two pieces of plywood to size then fasten them together for added strength. My internal overkill instinct led me to nail 2x4s for added support. Should our humble compound ever have the misfortune of being struck by some meteorological calamity, I have no doubt that the shed ramp will remain upright.

Look for lawn care and an update on the bedroom remodeling project in the next post.

Cheers.

Shed Moving

Fortunately our home came with a large shed. Not one of those tiny ones you can buy at a garden center. No, this is a fully-framed 12x12 with a loft. Since we purchased the house it has been the home to several boxes of items that don't yet have a home inside the house as well as the typical shed items like the lawnmower and garden tools.

Unfortunately the shed was plunked in the middle of the yard rather than on the edge, We have always known we wanted to move it, but haven't always been sure how. A company that sells garden sheds wanted nearly $400 to move it with a flatbed. After consulting friends and the internet, a more cost effective solution emerged. We bought six pieces of used 10' long x 4" diameter pvc pipe for a song from a pipe supply store in South Portland.

First thing in the morning Uncle Bill dropped off a 4,000 lb jack, which proved essential. The small spare tire jacks we had could have worked, but the larger jack had a much more efficient handle mechanism. We lifted up one side, removed the cinder blocks, and dropped the shed on the pipes. Then we repeated the process on the other side. The shed, large as it is, rolled easily once we had it on the pipes. We needed to move the shed not only sideways but also back a few feet, which required us to re-jack it and reorient the pipes in the other direction.

Special thanks to John and Derek who lent their muscle and minds to the cause. We now have a large patch of yard that needs to be replanted with grass seed, but otherwise our yard is much more open and functional.

(Re) Plastering the Walls

Finally another blog post after a long absence. Over the past few weeks I managed to finish prepping the walls. The wall paper backing residue has been stripped away and the walls washed. The next step was to drive in dozens of little "buttons." These are like washers, but made of especially thin, pliable metal. As the screw bites into the lathe, it pulls the button flat and the screw-button combo holds the plaster in place. They work quite well. There were several areas where the plaster had clearly broken away from the lathe and could be easily pushed in and out. The buttons tightened those spots right up. They are especially helpful holding the plaster together along crack lines.

After the buttons were in, I began filling large holes with a plaster compound. This dries harder than standard joint compound and is more similar to the original plaster that makes up the walls. It works well on areas where large chunks of plaster have simply fallen away from the lathe backing. In these deep voids, I am applying the plaster in three coats. I have completed two so far in some places and it seems to be adhering well. The plaster is also useful for filling nail holes and other small divots.

We are using standard joint compound to cover the buttons and the self-adhesive tape (usually used for drywall joints but also used for plaster cracks) nicely. The next test will be to sand down the first coat and apply the second and third coats so raised areas feather down to the plaster gradually, giving the walls a smooth appearance.

Next steps will include moving an existing electrical receptacle and buying or making new trim to go around the windows and closet doorways. Stay tuned.