Renovation flurry!

Today was the big day in the basement. I rented the jack-hammer, we got everything out of the way, and the first piece of cement was chipped out.

We had covered everything in the basement, and closed off the upstairs. Good thing we did. There was so much dust that when I blew my nose it came out grey-black. Yuck

After an afternoon of trading off on the hammer, and carting cement out of the basement, we were down to the dirt. Rob, one of my room-mates, plumbed in the sewer pipes. He roughed in the pipes for a shower, sink and toilet. All in all, the whole process took us about 8 hours. We still have to fill in the trench, and pour the cement back on top.

After that, it's over to the office to move the water meter against the wall, and then putting up the frame for the walls. I'm contemplating getting a contractor to come in and do the walls, electrical, and gyp rock. Rob and I will finish the plumbing.

It's starting to look more like a new bathroom, and less like a good intention!

Work, work, work...

I have had a wonderful few days!

First, I pretty much completed my Christmas shopping, with only a few bruises. Those pads I invested in last year really paid off vs. the old ladies out there...

Second, My renovations are looking to be a lot easier than I had thought. We got a scope down the sewer line, and found it is easily accessible behind the furnace, rather than having to chop out a 20 foot section of the floor! Phew.

Thirdly, I found out today that I won a job bid at work for a permanent position. YAY! Not only that, but I'll be getting full time hours next month for 3 weeks for training. I'll be able to set aside enough money to get a new roof in the spring, and maybe be able to eat for a few more weeks!

This boost has definitely given me some of the Christmas spirit. Now, let's see if I can't stamp it out by trying to wrap all these gifts....

Happy Birthday, Dad!

It's that time of year again. Dad's birthday falls just the week before Christmas. I'm never sure what to get him. I have an idea this year, but I still have to go and get it.

Unlike my Father, I procrastinate a lot. Dad has always been about getting it done. And as we were discussing the other day while removing the wall in my basement, "If you're going to do it, do it right." On of Dad's pet peeves are people who cut corners and do things half-assed (specially in construction). Nothing ruins a project more than ripping out the crap that some idiot put in there because he was too lazy or cheap to do it correct.

Just as a side note, the walls are almost all down. We had to stop because of two things: a power outage, and lack of room to work. With four people living in the house, and all of our "stuff" (junk) being stored in the basement, we have to work around it all. So when the available work area fills with removed wall pieces and such, we have to take it out to the landfill.

Anyways, Dad's turning 67 today. I'm off to get his birthday gift, and then...perhaps I'll wait a bit to work on the basement.

Pack-rat... Begone!

It's amazing how much junk a person accumulates over time. Part of the basement renovation involves clearing out a storage closet. The closet it quite large, basically the same square footage as a small bedroom. We decided, yesterday, to sort through it all. I had it in my head that it would only take about an hour... my mistake.

We ended up throwing out 90% of the stuff that was in there. It was an entire half-ton truck full of junk that went out to the landfill. Five years in this house, and in ONE storage closet there was a half-ton truck full.

Crazy. From now on, when someone says, "Do you want this?" I'm going to think carefully before accepting. Either I need/can use it right now, or can sell it on Ebay!

The next stage is to remove the shelves, demolition the wall, and carefully remove the wall around the furnace and hot water heater. I'm guessing next weekend will be the day to layout the chalk lines for the jackhammering.

Christmas?!

Christmas is coming.

Christmas is coming?

Christmas is coming!

This weekend, I've started to clear out the junk in the storage room, in preparation of converting it to a proper office. One of the things (not junk) that I pulled out was the Christmas tree, and decorations. I believe I will take a short time out from the destruction of my basement to put up the tree and various Christmas stuff.

I generally don't get too excited about Christmas anymore. Over the past few years, I haven't had a lot of "Christmas Spirit", even on the day itself. I guess I've got a bit of Scrooge in me or something. It just doesn't fire me up like it used to. I really enjoy the family and atmosphere, but no excitement.

Winter has finally made itself known, and has set in to stay. I like winter. I like summer. Each has things about it that I enjoy. The thing I do not enjoy is the cold temperatures. The past week has been hovering around -25C with wind chills reaching -33C (that's -28F). Brr. Don't let the picture fool you. We haven't had much snow yet. Just a sprinkle so far.