Don't tread on me

I got busy today with some more sanding belts for the stair treads.  They turned out great after a couple of hours.

Heae they are ready for stain

Here they are after stain

The grain sure comes out

We tried one of the stair stringers in position and found out that it was going to interfere with the light for the basement stairs.  The next photo is after I moved the light box down 6 inches and  Norm the drywaller did a patch on the original hole. Should be okay now.

I have started on the posts for the loft railing and will continue with that tomorrow.

Len

If you don't succeed and blah blah blah

So I've started again on the stair stringers with nice straight and dry planks. They are 2 1/2 by 12 by 16 feet.  They are rough sawn so lots of work to get them to look good and still look a little cabinish.

The slot jig

All of the treads ready for finishing

I did some preliminary work with hand planes

Soon I was using the planer to speed things up

The finished product on the right

Holes for lag bolts 

Giving the edges a round finish

Cath is adding some stain and varnish

Setting the router up to finish the treads

This is what you get after sanding for an hour

The finished product and ready for staining

Now that the stringers are completed I have to stay out of the house as the drywallers don't want any dust in there mud. I don't want any drywall dust in my finish so I will be working on the deck as I assemble the stairs then bring them in for installation. I think they will be quite heavy so I'll have to figure that out when I get there.

Len

Drywall Mudding etc

Well we had a nice break over Easter, thanks to Dave, Doris, Mom and Dad but apparently it wasn't enough rest for poor Len whose viral infection seemed to come back.  He has been dizzy and nauseous for a couple of days, but is back in action today.

Smiling in spite of it all

With the departure of all the snow, much muck is left behind on the north side of the house.  Len made a trench to drain it, which partly worked.  Since then we have had rain, so the muck isn't really drying up.

Mucky muck

A trench takes away most of the water

Len had to clear out the whole house for the drywall finishers and so the garage is even more full.  He had to leave the fireplace, obviously, and the wood for the loft floors is under the plastic as well.

Norm and his wife, Lynn, have been busy taping and mudding the walls.  You can see some of the progress below.

The kitchen

Our bathroom

Today Len went to get the new stringers for the staircase.  That's because the original ones he spent so much time on warped again and are unusable.  So he had the local mill cut two new ones and they put them in the kiln to dry - no twisting we hope!  We will take some pictures as he progresses with the stairs.

a stair gets put through the planer

Note the ear protection - definitely needed!

The new stringers

Also, if you haven't had enough of us,  you can follow my gardening attempts under the title "Gardening in the Cariboo" on blogger.

Cath

Bluegrass and Sniffles

The 108 Mile Cabin Fever Bluegrass Workshop was a great success and it was lots of fun for everyone but Len.  He was down with a cold and couldn't really get into the spirit of things, although he only missed a few hours.

Here is where I found him when I got home.

Looking a little bleary-eyed

Here is a little proof that I actually do some things around here.  This is the last of the many plugs that I hooked up.  Len did all the switches.

Always use the meter to make sure the circuit isn't live

 Meanwhile, Len has been working on making a pattern to cut the stairs into our long timbers cut for us by a neighbour.  They were the twisted ones that Len straightened by clamping them to the timbers on the covered deck.  Here you can see the board - 14 feet long I think - and the start of his template.

He'll use the router to cut the slots for the stairs.

I will be away for meetings for a couple of days and then there is the Easter weekend which we are planning to spend at Ruby Lake and Sechelt.  So if you don't see a new entry, it is because Len is either still sick or too busy to write.

Cath

The Fireplace is finished....up to the chimney

Nigel came for 1 1/2 days of work.  After all the rock chips had flown, the fireplace was complete.  Just waiting for the mortar to dry before it can have it's final cleaning.

Mortar under the hearth

Fitting the door

Nigel, our wonderful mason

Back of the fireplace

From the loft - the dark lines are mortar that is still wet

The finished project - almost!

Now we have to figure out what is going to happen with the chimney.  We may have to enclose the chimney up to the roof, or (we hope) use black chimney without any enclosure.  It depends what the building inspector determines is the best.

Len spent quite a bit of time cleaning up the rock chips and dried mortar everywhere so it looks pretty good now.  Next on the list is to get the drywall finisher started.  We have selected a contractor who can get going next week, possibly, while we are in Vancouver and up the coast for Easter.

We are going to take a few days off house stuff and will be going to the Bluegrass workshop tomorrow evening through Sunday.  So if you don't hear from us, don't take it personally!


Cath

Will it ever end? No? didn't think so.

Well let's see, what have we been up to.  On Friday Len woke up early and decided to drive to Vancouver to pick up the rest of the rock for the fireplace.  He left at 7:30 and was back less than 12 hours later.  So we had more rock to haul in, but this time the wheelbarrow wasn't frozen in the snow and we were able to use it to our advantage.

The load included rock and the hearth stones

Using the wheelbarrow was helpful

The rock laid out, ready for Monday

The hearth stones fit perfectly

Nigel, our mason, is coming on Monday to finish the main part of the fireplace.  The chimney?  Not sure when that will hit the to-do list.

 Len has been finding more drywall to do.  He had a few sheets left over and so decided to start on the back stairwell.  Sure looks brighter now.  And then we decided to put up the light so it is actually BRIGHT.

drywall around the garage door

Let there be light!

I have been putting in all the plugs in the walls.  I finished the basement and am working on the main floor after work, in between cleaning up, cooking and such.

We have had four drywall finishers come by.  One fellow said the job was too big for him.  Another quoted us a very high price so we wonder if he actually wants the job.  Another fellow isn't available for a month.  One seemed just right - not outrageous cost and is available in a week.  Just waiting to see one last quote before we commit.  It will be great to get that messy job done.

Today we went for three hours of bluegrass music jamming at Lac La Hache.   We are going to the Bluegrass workshop at the Hills Guest Ranch here at 108 Mile starting Wednesday night so we would like to have everything ready for the drywall mud by then.

The sun has been out, melting the snow and drying up our driveway.  The upper yard is still a skating rink but we are hoping for serious melting any day now.

That's all the news from the 108.
Cath

The "end" of the drywall

Despite the absence of recent blogs, Len really has been working.  The goal was to post something when the drywall was truly done and as it happened there were little bits (and a couple of big bits) that cropped up.  So sorry for keeping you waiting!

We are having the drywall finishers in to do quotes today so that should reassure you that we are "close" to completing our part of the drywall project.

Len had to get artistic on two areas in the media room.  The beam out to the post only went 1/2 way across the front of the room and to Len "it looks stupid".  So he constructed a fake extension to the beam and drywalled over it and voila!  Looks good.  The post is lovely wood, presently being protected by plastic and wood strips.

Note the fake extension on the right

The finished product

Remember how I said it would kill Len not to have the wall behind the fireplace finished?  Well I was right and so it was indeed finished.  He will use another method to make a working platform for Nigel to finish the fireplace.

Not done = not acceptable

More uses for the lift and planks over the stairwell

Another ta da! moment

Today is the first day of spring.  Could have fooled us.  It snowed a couple of times, just a skiff, still it was white and cold.  Looking forward to some serious melting soon.