Back Breaking Work

I have returned from Ottawa! And since the snow has stopped, Ryan and I are back on track again. I don't have much to say in the intro so take a look at all the pictures that have been posted and stay in touch for more!

We are currently in the process of digging ourselves out of a hole... a bit more to go!

Thanks to our friend Roy, we now have a borrowed plumbing toy! To explain a little further, it's a snap cutter. It wraps around the pipe (ours is clay) and grips the pipe tighter and tighter until the pipe cracks. Sometimes things don't work out and the pipe might crack length-wise but not this time! Great job Ryan! Again!

Who knew about these crazy, but very useful tools?!!

"CRACK" (no plumbing jokes please!)

Inspector Chance takes a closer look to see if Ryan installed the coupler properly while Ryan was out shopping at Rona. All our work is "cat scanned"!!!

Chance wonders why the pipe he is sniffing is smaller in diameter than the one behind his butt. Now he understands why Ryan had to go out to Rona, to buy another coupler. Ryan makes it past this round!

After lugging all the large pieces of concrete through a maze of stairs, cars and black ice (with my really bad knee) I saw that I had an "opportunity" to battle through more concrete and lots of clay. You always have to look for the "opportunities" in life! I may need to redefine the word "opportunity"! Can you see how excited I am?

The pick helped when the shovel couldn't. "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to bed I go, with a broken back and a layer of dust, hi ho, hi ho, hi ho, hi ho"!

The installation was successful!

After I went upstairs to start uploading pictures for the blog, Ryan decided to conquer a concrete slab. All I heard from upstairs were the flying pieces of cement hitting the main level floor!

So most of the pipes are roughed in for the bathtub, toilet, and sink. Ryan needs to pick up a few more pieces from Rona to finish the job. This means, for tonight, the whistle has blown and it's the end of the day for us. Unfortunately it's been 2 hours getting all these pictures posted and at 11pm I'm past ready for bed, I'm sleep typing! I figure it's a well deserved thing to do for our readers since we haven't posted much in the past week. Well, I'm back from vacation now so get ready for lots more!

One last angle. By the way, since I don't think I will be able to move my body tomorrow it makes me re-think this 2 person renovation... if anyone would like to offer their help it would be greatly appreciated. Just let us know when! A worth while investment if you are planning on doing any reno's of your own in the future, you can count on us!

Good evening and until tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Kat!!!

Sorry for not having any new posts lately. It's my sisters birthday and I'm in Ottawa! Ryan and I were hoping that he would be able to update the blog with posts but it seems that the snow in Toronto has given Ryan another schedule, snow removal.

I can tell you that all of last Friday Ryan and I were busy doing price comparisons at Home Depot and then going to Rona and ordering everything we needed for the home reno. It took us about 6 hours to order everything because we had to do it at customer service and we had to have all the item codes marked down for the customer service woman to type into her computer. But it's done! Well, except for ordering shingles which we are going to add to the long long list! The good thing is that on Saturday Ryan and I went back to update our bill with all the price comparison items that cost less at Home Depot and almost made $300 back! Who says price comparison isn't worth it?!

Well, hope to have some new items soon. I'll be back home on the 28th around noon so hopefully Ryan and I can get something done before the end of the day!

P.S. I went to post this and it is officially 1:13am on Feb. 27th so the post times are totally off.

(Jack) Hammer time!

Remember those Bugs Bunny cartoons where one of the characters would get bounced all the room riding the jack-hammer?

Well, guess what? It doesn't work like that. I tried.

They are however, loud, messy, destructive and the temptation to misuse them can be hard to resist! I think most guys wish they could justify renting one.

My attempt to limit the dust storm...

Me checking what the sewer pipe is made of, clay or cast iron. Thanks Kristina.

Ta da! Pipe!

Well, now I get to dig up the busted concrete, pile the gravel, dig the trench and lay out the new pipes ... tired already.

Catch Up

Good Evening,
Today the Gardner was extremely slow, so slow that the traffic backed up all the way to the 427. So I took back roads all the way home and my entire drive took me only an extra 20min! Success I would say!

So like I had mentioned previously, I worked late today which means the only thing on the list tonight is going to Rona and making a shopping list. The other day Ryan and I found out that we could buy all the items we need at once and by asking for certain items to be on separate requisitions we can pick up material in small stages! That means instead of our basement housing all the stuff we need for the reno, Rona will house it!

So I will leave you pictures from Ryan's progress yesterday and hope to have more for you in the next few days. Since we do have to order everything from Rona before Sunday (when I leave for Ottawa for my sisters birthday!!!) we will have to do a lot of paperwork and organizing to make sure we don't miss anything.

Oh, I forgot. Ryan installed a new plumbing system for the outside faucets. The new system works without having an additional shut off valve on the inside of the house for each faucet. He also installed some window film so that no one can look into our basement but at the same time the film allows sunshine to get in.

Insulation! Like a coffee cup...

Green may be a nice colour...

I don't know why... just cute! He was sleeping like that!

Pictures from the weekend....maybe.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Well, I finally got yesterday's pictures posted and it took a long time so today there will be no pictures.

All this week I will be working longer hours at work to make up the time I lost when I was sick. Which means that I'm not sure how much I will get done in the evenings. Tonight Ryan and I made a run to my grandmothers and got rid of the rest of her stuff! And that's about it from my side. I'll go get Ryan so that he can tell you about the excitement he had today!

"RYAN"......

Well, we got the waste subsidy to dispose 1000 kg. of reno trash, so I took advantage of it. I felt like I had a seasons pass to the dump! It seems that I need to get out more. I was however surprised to find that the basement wall was in fact insulated! The expanded styrofoam panels were 1/2" thick giving them an R-value of 1.6 or so. Like a coffee cup. Code for basement walls is 20, I think.

Anyhow, tomorrow I'm hoping to use the jack-hammer and trench the sewers. We'll see how that turns out...

The bar.

The bar mirror.

The foil on the back of the bar mirror.

Parts of the bar.

The in-law suite before the weekend.

Ryan removing the panelling and finding what he called "insulated with paint"! I love that quote!

Ryan calls this his Thor pose. I don't know? It's a man thing I guess!

Our contribution to the "Red Neck" society. Sorry if that offended anyone.

The basement after the weekend.

Ryan Comes Out of the Woodwork!

Ryan here,

Well, I've finally dragged myself out of the technological basement and I'm making my first blog entry! Today became a banner day for me because we manged to clear out the basement enough to allow for me to start rippin' stuff apart! It isn't empty, but close enough for the girl I go out with...

Tomorrow will be fun, because I'll be using a jack-hammer to trench the floor for the sewer plumbing. Gotta love using a jack-hammer... loud, messy and it breaks concrete! I really hope that waste disposal subsidy comes in the e-mail tomorrow. I'm gonna need it! Our driveway is filling up quick with scrap lumber and those tacky veneer panels.

oh, I found out why the side hallway was so cold, it is insulated with paint. I think it may be warmer only because the is no windchill! These old houses are sturdy but, not insulated well at all. I'll laminate the exterior walls with 3/4" Styrofoam panels then drywall it. that should help the comfort and lower the gas bill. That will be interesting to see just how much of a difference the insulation in the basement, and where ever else, has on our Enbridge bill!

Ok, now it's my turn! Kristina here,

Sorry for the few days of no posts, Friday I was sick with a crippling headache and was in bed all day and then Saturday I worked overtime selling the message of "Peel Approved" 4.8 or 6 litre toilets. "Peel Approved" meaning that the toilet has been tested to make sure it has enough power to flush the average amount of human waste down the toilet. And with our working display I was able to flush "makeshift" waste down a 6 litre toilet to prove that they work without having to flush twice. Ok, so now that you know about toilets....

Anyway, so when I got home from work, Ryan and I starting packing the basement until we got sick of packing. Then instead of packing we decided to do some demolition. The subject of our demolition was the bar. The bar was built in the other opening to the other side of the basement so once we tore that out, viola, another entrance! Then after that we packed up for the night and the last thing I felt like doing was going onto the computer.

So today, Sunday, Ryan and I moved the rest of the items in the in-law suite to storage. It took almost all day but it's done. The only things left are some of my granny's stuff, furniture that we will store on the main level, metal to be sorted, garbage to be thrown out and kitchen cabinets waiting for a place to call home. Ok, so that still sounds like a lot but not compared to what we had down there this morning or a week ago! Oh right, and Ryan proceeded with more demolition. Sorry Sabrina, you'd better get here quick! Sabrina loves demolition! Who doesn't I guess!

So once my battery re-charges I will download a bunch of new and interesting pictures for you to enjoy!

So tired.

Sorry, we are having problems up-loading our pictures and will do it another time besides 12am!

Move it!

Sorry, no exciting renovation news. Tonight Ryan and I made two runs to the storage area. I was excited because I thought it would make the basement look so much cleaner, but it didn't. It's like a never ending basement of junk. The good thing is that when we bring things back into the house I will be getting rid of a lot of stuff. So I will now advertise for our spring garage sale!!! Actually, I would like to sell and oak dresser and a side table to match if anyone is interested.

Ryan's been working for a snow removal contractor and had to be at work for 8:30am valentines and got home around 6:30pm and then had to be back on the road at 4am until 4pm today. Work mixed with valentines has slowed us down a bit.

12 days. That's all the time we have left before we have to buy all the renovation materials that we will need at 0%. I work overtime this Saturday so I guess tomorrow night and Sunday will be busy busy!

Wait for transforming updates....I know I am!!

Walk of Fame

So because of the wonderful thing called snow Ryan and I opted to stay inside and prepare for our next opportunity to bring things into storage. I must say, I got a lot of little things packed up in the in-law suite but not enough to show an update picture. Soon though.

And Ryan got the shower ready and poured the concrete floor. Unfortunately he had to fix it because it seems that Chance (our cat) decided to leave his mark, or more like 6 marks, footprints more like it! Always getting into trouble that one! So Ryan and I spent a few minutes bathing Chance's paws until they were nice and clean. Then guess what happened after that? Chance liked it so much he went back! I guess he wasn't satisfied with his work. Oh the adventures of Chance. I think that will be a new chapter in our daily updates since it's almost on a daily basis that Chance gets into trouble!

Off to bed, I must get my beauty sleep if I am to look good for my valentines date tomorrow!!! I'm told that I will be surprised! And I get to open a box that has sat in the spare bedroom waiting for that special day, mom, you definitely know how to keep me in suspense and this time I couldn't guess what it was!

Happy Valentines Day....Tomorrow!

1st try

2nd try

The whole picture.

More Stuff Gone, More Stuff Built

Good Evening,

So I think that the weekday posting will be much shorter. Tonight Ryan and I brought another load of stuff into storage. The basement is looking better but there is still a lot of stuff to move. Hopefully we don't get too much snow tomorrow because it will make moving things a little more difficult.

On the upside, Ryan was able to frame in and install some louver doors. The main purpose of the doors is to hide the furnace and water heater while still letting air flow in and out. It looks really good except we still have a lot of stuff piled on the opposite side of the room and currently it seems like a tight squeeze to get into the spa area.

So I will post some pictures and write again tomorrow.

Ok, so the pictures have been trying to be posted for the last half hour. And after reading my friend Rita's Blog it seems like it's not just my computer. By the way Rita, the picture that you drew of Trixie is really cute. I tried to write a comment in your blog but it didn't work. And everyone else, you should really check out Rita's blog site at http://www.ritawoodburne.blogspot.com/

Also, my friend Luisa is working towards running a half marathon and she needs to raise money to participate. You will get an income tax receipt if you donate. For those of you who are thinking about their tax return, this is a great opportunity. Not only does it help you, but, it will help Luisa get to run a half marathon and raise money for cancer. The half marathon will be held in the end of May. I will send everyone an e-mail that will have details on how to help.

Well, well, well. How nice of something to show up....an hour later! Well folks, here are the pictures! Enjoy!

What beautiful louver doors! And you bought them for how much?! $20, when they usually cost $30-40?!!! What a great deal. Way to find a bargain Ryan!!!

Oh look! The same louver doors but from another angle. They still look lovely!

You were probably waiting for the close up weren't you?! I knew it! And here it is.

Sunday Evening

Another day gone and a little more accomplished. Unfortunately it's back to the full time, other job tomorrow. Ryan has a lovely 7am start and luckily I can start a little later only that Ryan's drive is 8min and mine is the hour and a bit if traffic agrees. Hopefully I can get to work early so that I can make it home earlier so that I can clean in the basement again. Right now I should be in bed but I am trying to be good with my updates so here goes...

Today Ryan and I both worked in the basement except he worked in the "spa" area and I worked at getting the in-law suite emptied. Ryan made good progress, from what I know he put up some more drywall, did some plumbing and a little electrical.... I think. I worked at eliminating some boxes entirely and then decided which boxes were to go to storage.

So as exciting as my story is, which is as much excitement I can muster at the moment, I will just leave you with some pictures. Hopefully. 4 minutes still remain before all the pictures are finished downloading.

Peek

A-Boo

Chance (cat) is our official "inspector" and I am sure you will see him in many pictures! Chance doesn't mind when we build things but he gets very upset when we do any type of demolition to his house!

So this is the spa area a little more finished.

And this is the beginning to the end of having anything in our in-law suite.

Goodnight. Where has the time gone?!

Caught Up!

Hello,

As promised I have added the long lost post from before we started purchasing items for the basement. Take a gander!....

"Good Afternoon,

So last night Ryan and I went to Rona to apply for their no interest and no fee for a year credit card. It was quiet nerve racking but it’s something we have to do to get our project rolling. Anyway, within half an hour we had been approved! Thank you Rona! Now this project has become even more of a reality.

Currently Ryan has been measuring and creating a floor plan. Our next step is to set a budget and create a material list. I’d also like to price match our material list with a variety of stores since Rona does provide a price matching service. Ryan has already noticed that glass block is cheaper at Home Depot than Rona. For those of you who are interested in glass block, take note! Then we must work on finishing the “spa” area. I will post some pictures of the basement before we moved in and then what it looks like currently, this will show you the battle we have been fighting in for the past year!

Tonight I plan to sort through a few more boxes and maybe gaze at the floor plan in far away thoughts. A late night in the office accounts for an early night in the basement!"

Now for today's update, Ryan and I stayed up until 2am working on the basement and yes, I did go back into the basement to help. Going to bed so late meant that we didn't get up until approx 9:30 this morning. When we did get up I must say that we were quiet efficient. We loaded a bunch of pails of metal to return to the scrap yard and made $30, then we went and brought some HHW (household hazardous waste) to the dump and then we went to this great breakfast place called the Wexford where we had an old fashioned plate of eggs, homefries and toast, well that's what I had oh yeah, and some fresh orange juice. Ok, so that didn't have much to do with renovating but I promise you now, the fun begins here..... So after breakfast Ryan and I went to Rona where we had to buy a bunch of products but then the Rona that we have to buy things from (a small temporary stipulation on the credit card) didn't have the tiles we needed so we decided to go to the other Rona across the street, buy what we needed, returned it to the Rona we were at first, oops forgot a small detail, Ryan locked us out of the truck, so after CAA arrived then we went back to the other Rona where we purchased all our items. Then we went to put them into the truck, little did I know that I would be running across the parking lot after some Styrofoam that decided to break apart from Ryan. Now we are home where I am taking a break and writing in our blog.

Update on price matching: Ryan noticed that this special drywall was sold for almost $3 less a sheet at Home Depot compared to Rona so we got $3 off plus an additional percentage. And like I mentioned earlier, the glass block at Home Depot is $2 cheaper so we got that off our 6 pieces of glass block plus an additional percentage! It's totally worth keeping an eye on!

Anyway, tonight our plans are to clean more of the basement and take more items into storage, Ryan is going to put up some strapping in the basement so that we can drywall our block wall in the "Spa" and then hopefully we will get to rest a little although we both agreed that that probably wouldn't happen.

I'll leave you now with some pictures. Pictures? Yes, Pictures!!!!!

So this picture is of the in-law suite just after Ryan and I moved into the house.

And this picture is of the in-law suite just before we moved a bunch of re-used kitchen cabinets into the basement.

And this picture is of the laundry room when we had just moved in.

And this is the laundry room now! It's not done but it's close! Ryan made all the cabinets and the counter top. The reason we made the counter top instead of just buying one was because our counter top is a lot deeper than pre-made tops. More room to fold clothes on!

And this is the spa area after we had cleaned the basement for months. Yes, you read right, cleaned.

Anything else you are interested in that I have not written about or have not included pictures?

Have a great Saturday and keep posted!

Procrastinating

Hello Dear Reader,

Currently I am procrastinating. Ryan is in the basement adhering the special drywall to the newly developed shower frame. I on the other hand started to clean in the basement and then brought up some items to the main level only to stay on the main level. What do you expect, we have been working all day now.

It's 10:16pm on a Friday night and Ryan and I have just finished unloading 27 boxes of a "deal too great to pass". 27 boxes of laminate to be precise. When the cheapest laminate starts at $1.39 per square foot then .73 cents is a great deal and the colour is even nice!!!

I should also apologize for not writing earlier. I did have something written but I didn't post it because I ended up working late at my place of employment that after and hour and a bit of a drive home I didn't feel like getting back onto the computer. Perhaps I will post it anyways.

So just for a quick update, yesterday Ryan and I visited about a million building stores. Who knew that we had so many Rona's and Home Depots in our area! I could start a tour company just for those of you who are interested! (just not anytime soon ok?!) Now you might be thinking how did I have so much time to go shopping on a Thursday? Well, I took a day off sick. It seems all this spending has called for the return of my migraines. yeah. Now my migraines consists of loosing my vision, loosing the ability to form a sentence, numbness of body parts and nausea. Once all that leaves then I get the bad headache. So home I have been, or maybe more like Home Depot! Don't worry, Ryan does the driving!

Anyway!!! We have now officially rented a storage space for all the lovely storage items we keep in the basement. And as of today we have officially put some things into our storage area! How exciting. And then we brought all the flooring into our basement, flooring which by the way had to be taken to my grandmothers, stored in her garage and then brought here once we made some room for it. That meant loading it twice and unloading it twice in two days. More fun!

So I guess I said I would give you a quick update and it's gone a little longer. There I go procrastinating again! Off I go. Keep an eye out for my previous posting that never got posted!

Good night. I wish!!!

Testing Testing

Mission Possible?

The Mission: Two homeowners will build a basement in-law suite. Before starting the suite they must clear the basement, build a spa area which will include a working toilette, shower, sauna and sink and renovate the main floor bathroom so that the shower, tub and sink can be used in the in-law suite.

End Date: End of March 2007

Mission Possible: Who knows?

Stay tuned for the beginning of a very exciting adventure!