Christmas Celebrations and Wishes

So yes, we have been neglecting the blog!  It all started on Dec 14th when Mom Hawkins turned 85 and we went to Victoria for an extended weekend of celebration with Jim and Elaine.  Since then it has been nothing but fun fun fun.  But just to let you know the inspectors came and it was all good, just some paperwork to be finished and we are COMPLETE!  Well, only in the final inspection sense.  We still have lots of finishing touches to put in place.

Len got bathroom and bedroom doors put on the garage loft and down in the basement so that all our company could be as private as need be.  (Doors are not necessary for a final inspection here).

Then we began preparing for our visitors.  First to arrive where the Dunkleys - our daughter Melissa, husband Blair and grand daughters Cathryn and Victoria and doggie Tucker.

Blair helped do some finishing

Victoria was sick for much of the visit and needed lots of sleep

We made pies, went on a horse-drawn sleigh/hay ride, and walked in the snow.  Len took Melissa, Blair and Cathryn out to cut down a tree and we all decorated it.  Poor Victoria was sick with a bad cold for most of the visit.

Kyla and Chris and doggies Deuce, Tank and Asia arrived on Christmas Eve.  We went to a candle-light service before having a great salmon dinner prepared by Chris and then we opened presents.  Everyone slept in  on Christmas day and then it was stocking time.

Molly and Dolly at the Hills Guest Ranch where we took our sleigh ride

Cathryn was in charge of the fire

Merry Christmas dinner

Dad and Kyla out on the trail across the valley from our house

Lots of fresh snow

Boxing day we went to see the Hobbit movie in our small town's theatre.  Then we said a sad goodbye to Kyla and Chris this morning (the 28th).

So maybe this family activity explains why there is a shocking lack of house-finishing going on.  Len has his New Years resolution ready - he is going to take weekends off in 2013.

Speaking of which, Christmas blessings to one and all, and all the very best for a great New Year.

Cath

Finishing up

I am busy finishing the items that were mentioned at the inspection for our final on our permit. The first thing was to cover up all of the insulation and vapour barrier. In the basement this meant finishing up some peripheral projects. One of them being the 200 amp panel in the utility room.

I started with blocks at the top to secure the wiring

Next came a box frame around all of the panel and wiring

Finally a little drywall to finish

The green light at the bottom is a panel surge protector

Next project was the drywall for the garage.  The ceiling wasn't required so I did just the walls at this time.

Garage done and baseboard waiting on the floor

Next project was one that I thought would take a couple of ours but I was at it from 7:00 to 7:00. I had to put vapour barrier on all the walls where the floor joists meet the outer wall and add insulation if there was none.

In the utility room

In the storage room

Tomorrow I will be building a gate for the deck where we intend to have our stairs to the garden. I actually have to build the gate and secure it with screws as if it was a solid rail panel. Then, next spring I will undo it and build some stairs.  They won't sign it off otherwise. The last thing to finish will be some securing of waterlines and wiring downstairs. 

I am going to Victoria on Friday so tomorrow is the day to finish everything as I am scheduling a final, final inspection for Monday.

Len

Doors done...check.

There are lots of steps when you're installing doors from scratch and then to make it look good with trim work and paint. It does eventually all come together and voila a door.  I completed the three main doors upstairs but left the master bath for now. Not on the priority list.

Powder room door by the kitchen

I have been putting off the ash pit in the basement and it has been filling up.  For the purpose of easy cleanup I have created an ashtray that folds in the middle for easier emptying.

Here is the tray with a hinge riveted down the middle

Hope this works

Ashes piling up

The new tray in position.

I have a little work to do on the door but is serviceable for now. I will be starting on the drywall that is required downstairs so we can get our final done

Len

Finally, some doors

So our final inspection has come and gone and we are on to other things.  We still have to put drywall downstairs and in the garage to cover the vapour barrier but that can wait.  We have the gang from the flying club coming over this Friday so a little detour from inspection issues. We thought that a door or two would be more appropriate and so here I am installing doors.

I routered the doors for hinges back in Kelowna a couple of years ago and now I have to match them to the door jam.  I assembled the jams in the garage after a little dado on the top and installed them nice and level.  Now Cathryn could go ahead and paint the jams. 

I built a small jig to router out the door jams and it sure saves a lot of chisel time. With a 1/2 inch diameter bit in the router it does a pretty professional job.

Never buy what you can make

Once the frames are in and the hinges are on, the doors can be hung.  Then I have to drill for the locksets and do some careful chisel work to set the lockset in place.

Waiting for door paint

Door finally on the office

A door for the bedroom, how original

Tomorrow will be the addition of all the trim, the door stops, some painting and lockset installation.

Len

Post inspection fallout

So our inspection day is finally here. I had a list of things to get done before he showed up and I got all of that done. One was a landing in the garage. The drop was 12 inches so it needed the landing. I guess the timber we had there wasn't to code.

A new landing

Anyway I waited all day for him to show up so I worked on getting the office furniture together. We've been waiting a long time to be able to do this.

First the desks themselves

Then I built the hutches.

We'll be a while turning boxes into useable stuff.

This should get rid of a few boxes from the garage, which by the way, is starting to look a lot emptier.

Tomorrow I start on the items he found in his inspection.  I guess we have to cover all the insulation and foam walls so as to prevent any damage to the insulation. Hoo Boy. More on all of that later

Len

Flooring....check!

Len was surprised that it took a whole week to finish the flooring, but I'm not.  If you had watched Len put in tiny little pieces with great accuracy, sometimes going to the shop 3 times to cut a complicated piece, as I did, you would know why it wasn't done sooner.  But it is DONE RIGHT!

Working toward the office and back hall

Yes, there is a pattern here

Mr Clamp-it strikes again

Finished railing - now we are safe!

First Picture up in place

Finally in the office

The finished floor

Back hall done

Front hall

The very last piece

The next step toward getting our final inspection includes such exciting items as putting carpet up in the garage loft, some plumbing work and a few other odd bits.  We'll keep you posted.
Cath

So this is what a house looks like!

When we got the great room and dining area done, it was out to the garage to retrieve some furniture that had been stored for 18 months.

Dining area

Great room by the fireplace

Cath's reading nook

Bowling anyone?

 Today Len has been working on fiddly bits around the posts near the kitchen.

Every piece carefully fitted

Of course we had a big dump of snow so the trips out the shop are chilly!

Len has worn a path back and forth

In a day or two the kitchen should be done.  Watch for pictures then.
Cath

Bamboo flooring learning curve

It was the weekend we have been waiting for.  For months now, we have had piles of bamboo flooring in the great room, waiting for the day when it would finally go down.  This was THAT weekend.

The first thing we did was to thoroughly sweep and vacuum the area and move everything out of the way.  Of course that meant that all those items were now shoved into a smaller area.

All clean and ready to roll 

Then Len tested out the flooring nailer which seemed to work quite well on our test strip.  But there was certainly some learning to be done.  The bamboo is quite brittle and not that easy to work with.  Most of the planks are quite straight, but some are a bit bowed.

Wack-a-mole anyone?

 We also ran a line to keep everything straight.

The first two strips ready to go in

 Len had to work around the vents and posts.  And guess what, the posts have shifted out of square as they dried, so it was even more challenging.

Len marked the area then cut it out using the table saw and chisels

Putting in the next row

The chop saw is down in the basement so every cut means exercise

As we progressed, we noticed that the big floor nailer was leaving some marks on the boards.  Len tried to adjust it, but soon realized that there was just too much pressure on the small and brittle edge of the planks.  So he got out the trusty brad nailer and has been using it instead.  This means that we have to do all the fitting by hand as there isn't the big wollop when the nail is put in (with the big nailer, it moved the planks together tightly).  Len devised a method to get it really tight - first the hammer., then if it is resistant, he uses a wedge.  One part is screwed to the floor and then he puts the wedge next to the plank and hammers the wedge in to tighten the planks.  It works like a charm!

Using the brad nailer

When we can't get a tight fit by hand, Len uses his "wedgy" device

A small strip had to be cut to continue into the dining area

The completed area with the furniture "stored" out of the way for the rest of the floor

 One other small accomplishment on the weekend was putting up the Christmas lights.  We opted for low-tech this year and just wrapped them around the deck railing.  Does look festive.