Fit it, cut it, fit it, cut it, fit it, cut it.................

Finally got finished the stair rail ro the loft.  I must say that this has used more brain cells than any other project.  There are just too many variables and I didn't want to have to remake anything as it all takes so long to create. I think that I have come up with a pretty good likeness of a stair rail incorporating a handrail and all to code as well.  It is an easy 2 inches from the smoke chamber of the fireplace.

Newel post secured

Rails fitted

Handrail ready for attachment

The handrail attached to the cutdown 2 x 6

Everybody secured together

A completed project

Looks pretty good if I do say so myself

I can now concentrate on finishing the small railing by the stairs.  I'm still not sure what to do with the little space past the post by the fireplace but I'm sure something will come to mind as I work on it.

Len

Range hood is in

More work on the stair railing today including fitting the top and bottom rail pieces and cutting and fitting the first two starter pickets. This gives me an idea of where the lower post will be cut off. Cathryn put varathane on the pickets and other bits so tomorrow I should be able to assemble everything.

Just about time to cut this post to length

While waiting for varethane to dry I took on another project. Since my visit by Todd the inspector I found out that I need to have the range hood finished to pass our final inspection. One more thing to do, so away we go.  We decided to put the venting inside the wall as opposed to inside the cabinet.  This meant a trip up into the attic to cut a hole in the upper double plate for the plenum. This done I was able to lower a modified unit down to the hole behind the range hood.

Prepping the plenum

prepping the wall

 A little wiring and foil tape for leaks and voila.

The finished product

Of course there is the issue of all that insulation we blew in the attic.  I had left it piled high away from the plenum work area.    I had to build up the walls of the attic access hole and pull all that insulation back in place for even coverage now that we won't be up there anymore.

Tomorrow after I drive Cathryn to Williams Lake I will finish the stairway, hopefully.

Len

Good to go

Finally got the inspector over to help make a decision on the railing clearance behind the fireplace.  Seems my 4 inch clearance to the stairs is correct and the clearance drops to 2 inches at the smoke chamber areas. This means I can get my railing to fit with only slight modifications for proper attachment to the posts top and bottom. More on that tomorrow.

Today I created 35 more pickets for the stairway and will need about 6 more to finish the little rail by the basement stairs. I have routered out the top and bottom rails as well and created the handrail.

The finished posts upstairs

This is the cutout for the bottom stair post.

I have fitted and drilled for bolts on the lower post so now I can stain it and put it in place to measure and cut the rail top and bottom.

I lit this today and thought it looked like a gas fireplace

On my way to get the mail and groceries tonight, I noticed as I was pulling up to our driveway, a large black creature running up the hill.  No walkies for Banjo tonight unless he wants to be bear food.

More tomorrow, might pick up some drywall if it looks like it won't rain or snow.  Cathryn is stuck in Vancouver for another night as the minimums were too low for landing at Williams Lake. Too bad, she was looking forward to getting home after a week in the big smoke.

Len

I feel safer now, I think

I had an unwelcome visitor last night in the form of a bear, probably black. Seems even if your garbage is well frozen he can still sniff it out. He chewed off the plastic lid after dragging it back in the yard and spread the contents.

The only track not covered with snow about 6 inches across

The trail as he dragged the garbage can

Here is the saw after I moved it inside with its dust skirt attached

Afrer a concerted effort I was able to complete the loft railings. They look great and are quite solid, the inspector will be impressed.

Top of the stairs

Almost done

The finished product 

Now on to the stair railing and it's challenges. The District says 4 inches clearance to all combustibles so that is going to make this interesting.  More tomorrow

Len

First snow and I don't care

So here we are in the middle of October and it is snowing. In the past this would have been something of a concern but since all of the outside is completed it doesn't phase me in the least. It is so nice to be working inside in warmth and comfort.

Just a skiff but more to come over night

A walk in the valley and it's starting to really build up.

My great plans to start flooring have once again been preempted and the living room is full of wood for the rails.  Seems that I am supposed to stay focused on one task at a time. We just disagree on which task that is. I devised a solid method of attaching the rails to the large posts using a 2 inch thick piece of plywood glued and screwed to the post and then dropping the rail from the top down and glueing it in place.

Careful measuring

Secured to post

Rails in and waiting for pickets

 I mass produced 65 pickets with a chamfered edge out of three 14 foot 2 x 10 cedar boards left over in the house package. I still don't know what they were for but I suspect that they were thrown in in case we ran out of facia material. If the house falls down I'll let you know.

Putting a round chamfer to 260 edges

Here they are ready for stain

I also created 8 post caps from the remaining cedar, they are visible in the previous picture.  These will go on the exterior rail posts if the weather warms up a bit.  At $20 a copy from TimBr Mart (yes spelled correctly) I whipped these up in 10 minutes.

Here is my favorite stainer hard at work

She left for Vancouver and left me with some Varathane to put on

I am busy now trying to figure out the stair railing. This would be a lot easier if I had thought about the fireplace clearance to the railing of 4 inches when I was creating the stairway. I am going to talk with the regional district guys tomorrow and see what I can get away with. 

I don't know if Cathryn will appreciate the natural look

So the stair railing is shut down for today but I am up in the loft for it's railing.  I have glued down the joints of the carpet and placed the inside picket molding over the carpet. Now I can cut the pickets to fit and place all the spacers between them as I install them. I will glue and nail the outside molding for a strong finish.

Carpet edging in place

Next was enough spacers for the loft.

A box o' spacers

I brought the saw inside and have created a dust bag that I hope works. Time to put in some pickets.

Len

Changing gears again

I have decided to get the railings done so they won't hold up any flooring later. After starting I realized that our planned wiring for two way switches in the loft would have to be done first.

Router a slot, put the wire in and cover it over. Sounds pretty simple. This took me two days with band practice thrown in there twice.

I did make the pickets and work on the rail

Here is the rail in fabrication mode

Then to a lot of router work

Make a slot

More slot

Bring in some wire

Cover it over

All covered

That was the easy part.  I had to bore through a large beam on both ends and fish wire through insulation up to the waiting switches.  That took all day but it is finished and now back to the railing.

Len

I think I'll start the floor now

As I mentioned yesterday here are a few photos of the day.  I have finished the window trim except for the basement and the garage loft. I actually have to put an apron under all of these but I will do that when they are all done.

The music loft done

The master bedroom done

I even finished the entrance door

I have been repairing damaged driveway trees. Can you spot the repair?

It looked worse before, honest

And now it's on to the flooring. I spent some time fixing a low spot with door skin material. It is quite thin and will work just fine. I need to get some floor adhesive to stick it down then I can roll out the paper underlayment and after measurements are verified, start placing the flooring.  The first rows will be nailed manually as I can't get the hammer nailer in yet this close to the wall.

Finding the low spots

Ready for adhesive.

We in the house building trade don't call it glue. I will probably stop at Joe's tomorrow for some outer rail material.  I need some 16 footers in fir as I don't want any joints in the upper finish board.  More on these tomorrow

Len

More little bits

So Cathryn is in Victoria this week and Banjo and I are supposed to get a lot done. We'll see how that goes.

First thing was a trip to town yo return the blower and hose. Oops, forgot to return the extra insulation, 7 bags. Back to the 108 building supply where I also picked up a couple of old lumber tarps from the lumber yard so I could cover some piles of wood before the snow flies. While I was there took down our coffee house poster.  It will go up again this week after they clear off the board again. This happens on the 15th of the month so if you don't get it down it's gone.

On my way home I took a side trip to Lac La Hache to look at an old Toyota with a snow blade on it.
It was on Craigs list so I hoped I would catch him home. No luck. I'll send him an email.

When I got home i spent some time securing tarps on all of our wood piles

Back at the ranch and I am working on trim in the Master bedroom and the loft. Should be able to finish tomorrow. One of the pieces for the door was a bit short as I am running out of that size so I biscuited a couple of shorter leftovers together, just trying to be frugal. def: cheap.

I had to put up some plastic on the gable end of the shop as the wind was blowing through and taking some insulation with it. This wouldn't happen if I had the soffits up. Not enough months in the year.

Then I decided to do some screw tightening on the deck. This I did till the battery went down so I'll finish that tomorrow as well.

Took Banjo for a walk and finished off the day by repairing one of our firs on the driveway that was scraped by a concrete truck last year.

Just another day at the Aune project.  I'll take some photos tomorrow.

Len

I thought the insulation was done a long time ago

Saturday morning dawned bright, and since I am going to be away all week, Len got to thinking about what jobs there were to be done that took 2 people.  In thinking about preparing for winter, Len remembered that we still had to blow insulation in the attics above the kitchen, master bedroom and the whole shop.  So with a quick call and visit to the 108 Lumber, he came home with 48 bags of blow-in insulation and then I went and picked up the blower.

We started right after a quick lunch.  We finished above the kitchen in 1.5 hours and then moved to the bedroom section which took another 1.5 hours.  After a quick stop for juice and a bran muffin, we moved over to the shop.  We finished up at 7:30.  You do the math.  Let's just say it was a long day.

Len was up in the rafters while I was outside hoisting, opening and feeding the material into the blower.   It was a nice day, not too warm or cold, so it wasn't too bad being outside.  Len says that being cramped into the attics spaces was not his favourite thing.

The machine and packages

What happens when you turn on the machine prematurely

Len all ready to go

Like snow only warmer

Over 18" on top of the batts

Above the bedroom

No pictures of the shop, but it looks pretty much the same.  (It was dark when we finished and then Len sealed up the opening so can't show you even if I wanted to).  We should be nice and cozy now.

Today (Sunday) we are inside - Len working on window trim and I am cleaning up and getting ready to go for the week.  And we are also having a band practice.  So now, over to you, Len, to keep people (and me) in the loop.

Cath