So... What are YOU doing? - Part 8

[Naiwen]

Howdy sup there! How’s it going so far with your day? Today, because it’s another very cold, dark and gloomy day outside, currently feeling like -6C, just relaxing online before hitting the bed tonight.

 

[Lamb]

Woke up early and started on some laundry.

 

[tango]

Lazy morning so far. Last night was way better than the night before so I feel like I actually have energy to do something that involves more finesse than ripping through pipes with a sabre saw. Maybe today I'll cut replacement struts for my ceiling joists and cut the old ones out, so I can finally get busy spraying foam. Yesterday I chiseled out a load of patchy mortar seams and packed them with fresh mortar, including filling quite a hefty gap that was responsible for a very noticeable draft.

It was a surprise to see what was clearly once the outside face of some bricks inside the room I'm working on. It changes my thoughts on how the building has evolved over the years, and looks like the section that is currently the garage was always there. The color of the brickwork looks like there was once a canopy so I'm thinking that what looks like a doorframe behind the wall in the adjacent room might once have been an exterior door. It will be interesting to get it all ripped down to find out just what is behind it all. So far I've found a number of concealed door frames I wouldn't have expected. Some of them are a nuisance because I have to work around them but at least two of them are useful because it means I can put doors into them without having to deal with the permits required to create a doorframe in a supporting wall. As it happens there are two places I want to put doors and both of them have doorframes tucked behind the drywall, which is handy.

 

[Confessional Lutheran]

Using the So- Clean on my C- PAP machine and drinking some coffee. I tested my blood pressure and it's in the normal range. A good start to the day!

 

[tango]

More work on "the other side" I needed to pull down some more ceiling to get at the area I needed to work, which in turn meant I needed to start another bag to store the broken up drywall.

It was tricky getting at all the spaces I needed to get at but I made a reasonable start to it. I've pulled down another strip of ceiling about three feet wide and another two strips of ceiling tiles. The first few gaps between the ceiling joists now have new struts in place and the old ones removed. Two joists had nasty cracks in them so I bolted offcuts of 2x4 across the cracks.

I also got a load of dust sucked out of assorted small gaps, sealed two gaps with sealant because they were too small for foam to be useful, and sprayed another entire can of foam into a combination of gaps and cracks. Now there's a more noticable draft in the room - I think I've sealed up some of the ways the cold air was getting in and now it's coming in more strongly through the remaining gaps.

My friend who burns the wood scraps came by and took away about 80 pounds of scraps and a big pile of ceiling tiles. Now I've got that bag out of the way I've got space to start another bag. Because I've got space for more offcuts I started cutting up some more scrap, so now I've got three bucketfuls of chopped up scraps in the bag.

Tomorrow I can press on fixing up some more struts and cutting away the existing ones, and probably get some more foam sprayed. I'll also need to move a couple of wall units I took down out of the way, so I can do the same to the ceiling on the opposite wall.

 

[Naiwen]

Hey sup there! How are you doing with your day so far? Today, just been catching up on sleep as I’ve had yet another bad night again last night.

 

[tango]

I figured I really need meatier screws for the struts I'm putting in place. I don't think they are doing anything important but if they are I'd rather have screws rated for load bearing applications. That means instead of $20 buying me an enormous great box of screws it will get me a few dozen of them. I'd rather not deal with it but given the potential implications if I get it wrong I'd rather pay an extra couple of bucks per strut and know they aren't going anywhere, than get everything finished and find I get to do it all again because something failed.

I'll also need to get my air compressor out and really blow away the crud from a few spaces. Yesterday I used the shop vac which seemed to work but I still got a bit of dust blowing out when I sprayed the foam. If I blow it all hard with the air compressor I should avoid that. And the next stage of spraying foam involves a nice big gap, between a contoured brick wall and a stud wall. Once that's done I should have a nice seal pending pressing on with the next small section. If needs be that little bit can wait a while.

 

[Naiwen]

Howdy morning alll! How are ye all doing today? Today, just been catching up on sleep since I’ve had yet another bad night again last night.

 

[Confessional Lutheran]

Enjoying my day off. Got a few thank you notes off to some relatives, net surfing and watching a little television.

 

[tango]

Not as productive a day as I hoped. I got some of my pocket screws replaced with lag screws and then it felt like the draft was coming through the ceiling cavity from the opposite wall, so I cleared some space and took to dismantling the ceiling around the affected area there. Now I've got a couple more pieces of recovered cedar wood, another small pile of ceiling tiles and another big bag of smashed up drywall. That means I've probably got 3-400 pounds of general trash in sacks, which is getting to be a nuisance. I'll need to start feeding it out to the trash company. I think I've still got more empty bags but since I'm using them for everything from storing broken up drywall to crushed drinks cans to wood scraps it's surprising how many of them it ties up. I may need to use more of them to store my growing supply of scrap copper. I don't know how much more copper I will end up with, having ripped out almost the entirety of my home's original electrical cables, but I know there's still a bit more of it out there. When I've got all of it out it will be time for another trip to the recyling depot to cash it all in. Chances are by then I'll have a good stash of crushed up cans as well.

Maybe tomorrow I can make some more progress. It helps when it's cold because it's so much easier to feel the cold air coming in, which makes it easier to identify where it's coming from. I have (I think) five more cans of foam ready to spray so hopefully I can nail the drafts in there once and for all. For now I've got an electric bar heater set on low, just to keep the worst of the chill off.

 

[Naiwen]

Happy New Year’s Eve all! How’s it going so far with your day? Today, because it’s New Year’s Eve, just playing some games on my phone before heading to bed tonight.

 

[Lamb]

Happy New Year's Eve, @Naiwen!

I'm trying to decide if I'm hungry enough to eat breakfast yet or not.

 

[tango]

A little more wrecking today, disrupted by a call from church about some technical problems so I went to fix those. Now I've got some errands to run before I get back to the wrecking.

I was going to take the bags of smashed up drywall to the landfill to get it out of my way but they close early today. Maybe I'll take it next week. Or maybe I'll just move it onto the front porch and feed it to the garbage company a bit at a time.

 

[Lamb]

Organizing some craft things

 

[tango]

Went for a short walk and now ready to have a drink and a snack before getting back to the wrecking. Not the most inventive way to ring in the new year but it's what there is. Most of the friends I'd normally look to hang out with are still very cautious about COVID for a variety of reasons, so it will just be the two of us.

 

[Confessional Lutheran]

Just got back from the New Years Eve Divine Service at Hope Lutheran Church ( LCMS) in Manassas, VA. Blessings upon blessings that we celebrated Holy Communion and had some good singing thrown into the bargain! How good the Lord is!

 

[Naiwen]

Happy New Year 2021 to all! How are you? Today, as it's New Year, just playing some games on my Switch before heading the sack tonight.

 

[Lamb]

Happy New Year! Not sure why I couldn't sleep in later LOL

 

[tango]

Bit of a lie in today. My wife and I saw in the New Year with a glass of port and a movie. Usually we like to spend the evening with friends but the people we'd typically spend it with are still being very cautious about COVID, mostly due to having elderly/vulnerable relatives. So we stayed home and greeted a couple of friends over video call instead. It's not the same.

 

[Naiwen]

Happy weekend all! How are you? Today, I've just had leftover pizza with lemon iced tea for lunch. Tonight, just enjoying my usual TV show before heading to sleep.