Back to Working on the House...sort of Part 2

The frustrating part of finishing a house is finding the time to do the projects. Well, that's not entirely true....we will have plenty of time later on this winter when Phil is laid off for a few weeks from the Marine Sciences Centre - it's more along the lines of being able to work when the weather is pleasant. We still have to set up our cutting tools outside & when it's howling & raining out - we can't very well do that....So, slowly but surely we are getting things done.

One of our big priorities has been to make an outdoor storage area for the pellets that we burn in the pellet stove. When the decks were built, we knew that under the back corner, we would be installing some walls to protect the central vac system & the generator plus giving us room to store the 18 kg bags of pellets.

This is Phil's first wall - we don't have any one coming in to help us with these projects that need completing, so Phil had to figure this one out on his own. Of course, it doesn't help matters when I come down & offer my opinion...







At least the day was nice & dry!







This is the big, black wall - covered with some roofing paper & still waiting on the hardy-plank siding...who knows how long that will take...At least we can store some bags of pellets along side the wall & tarp them up.


This past weekend (Thanksgiving weekend) Phil had some days off & we decided it was time to install the spindles in the staircase going up to the loft. This was a safety issue as well as a requirement for obtaining our occupancy permit with the building inspector. We tried to get in some 'professional' help, but he didn't show up, so we continued on our merry little way....

We didn't feel it necessary to go fancy with the spindles, so we just had some 2x2 fir wood sent in (months ago) & we preped them for installation.

You can't really see from the photos, but the wood has some gorgeous swirls - the grain - that are further highlighted when they are varathaned.





We snapped our blue chalk line, got the clamps out & started screwing them in place. The real tricky part of the job was figuring out the spacing of the spindles. There is a maximum distance they are allowed to be - 4 inches - something to do with a child's head size.....really - when babies' heads are small enough to fit through a spindle, they aren't anywhere close to being able to get to them!! Also - if there is a distance requirement for the spindles, why isn't there a requirement for the open space between each tread?? I'm more concerned about the little people slipping on the stairs & falling through the steps than I am of them getting their fool heads caught inbetween spindles...

So we measured twice & made sure everything was level & got them screwed in place.

My job was to sand the spindles down before installation & then fill in all the screw holes with wood filler (instead of using wood plugs - much easier), then sand them all down again & start the varathaning process.





This is the finished project. 3 coats of varathane - hopefully that's enough & a much safer way to climp up & down the stairs.

Next.....wall caps & the railing on the other side of the stairs - of which, we haven't come to an agreement as to how they should be done.....

It will be interesting to see what happens to the spindles over time. We've noticed that the fir has darkened since we've installed the stairs (treads, landing & railing, as well as the one wall cap - not shown in picture).

Another little project we did this month was to hang up my spider plants & my hoya (as seen in staircase photo). They weren't too happy sitting in the window ledges & I found some great heavy-duty metal hangers that would stay secured to the wall with the weight of a plant.




There are 3 along the window wall & add a bit of wildness to the place. I might have a bit of a problem with keeping them trimmed & contained within their pots. Or I might have to start a spider plant nursery...

I just need to figure out how to get that hoya plant to flower - don't want to wait 5 or 6 years!

And yes - I have plants living on top of the pellet stove! I inherited a 'cactus' garden is a huge copper pot & this is the only place large enough for it. The top of the stove doesn't heat up & we only have to fill the hopper with pellets once every 2 weeks or so. A great conversation piece!

Well, that's it for now. We are experiencing some computer issues, so instead of taking advantage of another lovely sunny day, Phil is trying to figure out how to save our files without loosing too much information.

Back to Working on the House....sort of

Well, summer has officially ended for Phil & I which means a return to 'normal' life...sort of.

Phil is back working at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre in the Public Education Department. His hours are rather random; anywhere from 7 a.m. til 9 p.m. 7 days a week. There was a large departure of his co-workers this summer as they headed off for other adventures, so he has the delightful job of training the new staff. Things should smooth out by the end of the month, but until then, Phil is almost too busy to do any work here on the house.

I've just finished working at Imperial Eagle Lodge - the guests left on the 6th & we spent a lovely 2 weeks in the hot sunshine cleaning up the lodge inside & hacking our way through different garden projects outside. I have some wonderful cuttings that will hopefully make it through the winter so that I can plant them here in the spring or next fall. I've now got lots of time to devote to the yard & some indoor projects - it's hard to focus on just one job at a time some days & now that the clouds have moved back in, the weather isn't so dreadfully hot to be out clearing away the brush. My arms & legs are pretty scratched up from earlier this month, so now I'm glad of the long pants.

What have we managed to do in the last little while? Let's see what I can find for photos.....

Our first project was the pellet stove installation. There were a few nights this summer where I could have used it!
Phil had been doing a lot of research into the installation process of the chimney - but no where in the instructions did it discuss or show diagrams of how to do it through a 'cathedral' ceiling. Not wanting to just wing it, Phil did phone the place we purchased the pipe pieces from, as well as other companies, but he was unable to receive the answers he was looking for.
So, with help from Mike, they cut the hole in the roof....


Here they boys are making the last cut into the roof & it is just moments before they realize that there is something wrong....
A piece - a very important piece - does not fit! This is the flange piece that slides under the shingles & prevents leaks....
Phil is furious!! He's on the phone right away to the pellet stove supplier & since this day was Saturday, he wanted the proper piece couriered to the ferry in Port Alberni for delivery on Tuesday. Who knew how long the good weather was going to last & we couldn't have a hole in the roof for too long....

Well, as it turns out - & this was after many phone calls & frustrating moments, the pros use the same flange for all angled roof types - they just cut it a certain way & it works. So, Phil got detailed instructions & had Mike back over for the rest of the outside chimney installation.

They were working outside on this way after it was dark. It doesn't look too pretty right now - scratched up - but we are getting some more stove paint & will have it fixed very soon.




The last bit of work that Phil had to do was install the inside chimney pieces. I wish he had Mike come back to help with this because it was a royal pain in the butt. All the pieces lock into each other & have to be caulked (glued) & then the pipe has to be a certain distance from the wall (not much mind you - only 3 inches) & the angles weren't working out for us & the pipe pieces kept coming down out of the top & I was at the end of my rope after a huge day of gardening.
Fortunately for us, the angles - although not centred in the corner fully, still worked out so that the stove faced out at a nice angle. I don't have it lit in the photo - it's a warm day - but once we get the pipe repainted & find something a little more attractive for the pellets, I'll be taking a nicer photo.
These are what the stove burns - a 'recycled' fir pellet - made from waste products or left-overs from the mills. It's a clean burn - almost 85% efficient as opposed to 25-30% efficient regular wood burning stoves. We pour a bag of pellets (a bag is about 40 lbs) into the hopper in the back of the stove, an automatic auger drops the pellets down into a little tray which are then ignited & a fan blows the heat out. There isn't too much dust or ash & since we have central vac, cleaning it up is super easy.

Now - I just have to read the instruction manual to figure it all out. We are in the process of getting 2 pallets of pellets (say that 5 times fast) delivered to Bamfield on the ferry & that's about 100 bags we have to find dry storage for. (This amount should last us 2 winters - we are saving a few bucks by getting 2 pallets)...

Our next project was one we weren't expecting to have to worry about. The back door off on the east side of the house has a nice little porch with 3 steps down. The building inspector saw it & said we had to put up a hand rail - it was either a certain distance off the ground (which we are under) or 3 steps that requires a hand rail. Darn! So Phil got some more wood & we spent the afternoon working outside getting it done.
It looks very sharp & once the plants grow up around it, no one will even know it's there - it'll be a nice little 'secret' spot....;)


While Phil was figuring out the hand rail, I was cleaning up behind the house (north side). With the damaged windows finally being removed, I could get in there & remove rocks & dig a nice shade flower bed.

This is a 30 foot flower bed...

I just planted some items in it the other day - ferns & hostas & unfortunately, I just found out that the fire poker plant I've got in there should have full sun.....Well, if it survives the winter, I'll find another spot for it out front. Right now - that bed hasn't been started. But, I've got some hollyhocks by the hand rail & hopefully they'll come back next year. It took me 3 years to figure out what they were because they just refused to bloom & no one out here has them! On the other side of the porch is an hydrangea that is the most stunning fluorescent blue....Hope it too survives the winter as the pot it's been living in for the past 4 months had no drainage holes & it was starting to rot.....I think I may have also figured out what that large leafed plant is on the corner - it might be a fig palm! Now, again, if it would only flower......

My large purchase this year was this huge composter!! I want to get going on more raised beds & possibly some sort of market garden in the next few years & having compost is so important. Most of my grass clippings I use as mulch around my berry bushes, but I'm tired of throwing all my kitchen waste into the ocean because of the constant threat of bears finding an improperly attended compost heap. (Lyme does help keep them away, but I don't want to add too much Lyme to my soils...). So, this baby - which took us quite a few hours to put together - should reduce the compost quick enough that bears won't ever be interested. I'll be putting in yard waste, kitchen scraps, sea weed during the winter & chicken/horse manure from a local lady who is giving the stuff away!! I'm going to have way too much fun in the gardens........wonder if I can make any money at it???