My what a big Moose you have...

Momma and I stopped by a going out of business sale and I found a leftover Christmas inflatable.

The box says its a moose, but the boys tell me its Rudolph. SWMBO tells me the hallway is not the place to inflate it.

Can you spot the confused dog?

I think the tackiness should blend nicely with our other Christmas inflatables - like Yoda and our Christmas Penguin.

A tale of two lists.

Back in our 14 for 2014 post I made a list of "to-finish" items. Its a great thing to have, and working through it has brought me great relief. A lot of the items on that list were actually little nagging things that could be completed fairly quickly, but there were also some items that are going to have to wait for summer.

From that list we have gotten new towel bars, a marshmallow crossbow and  new kitchen knobs already. Thats pretty fantastic for me. my schedule would have been filled with TV and Cheetos if it weren't for that list.

Goal 3 on my list was "build stuff" and I didn't put a list there because, well, I don't know what I want to build, but I think I really should have made up a list for that as well. There are a few projects that have jumped up since SWMBO and I have been talking about the 14 for 2014, and I thought maybe this post could become a second running update of stuff to build. Here goes...

1. Bathroom Mirror and cupholder - I know this is on the 'finish stuff' list, but it really shouldn't be since it isn't even started.
2. Bathroom storage crates - SWMBO has wanted some simple Milk-crate looking storage shelves in the bathroom for a while. I should probably get busy making them.
3. Basement storage shelves and screw holder thinggy - since we tore out the wall due to water seepage, the opportunity has come up to build a couple shelf units to store our paint and my fasteners a little better down there.
4. Toy room storage unit - while we were talking about he shelves in the utility room, SWMBO pointed out to me that big toys like firetrucks and Octopods need homes in the toy room (today they are lined up on the wall).
5. Master bedroom reading wall. I mentioned this briefly to SWMBO about a year ago, but never made any progress. I'd like to find a way to integrate the headboard into it. 
6. Garage workbench - another item that I printed off plans for a while ago, but never got close to building.
7. Wooden toys for the boys. My grandfather gave me some wooden toys when I was small, and I loved them, it would be nice to pass this forward to my kids. Maybe a train or some cars. I dunno. Definately not another crossbow. Its fun, but I have welts, and the dog is getting fat.

I'm sure SWMBO will add to the list. She has a way of seeing opportunities that I miss, and a lot of her project ideas are much more artsy than my functional ones.  If I were to complete a project a month (I won't) I would have enough there already to keep me going until July - thats not bad for 5 minutes of brainstorming, is it!?!

One fun Sick Day.

Buddy spent last night hanging over the toilet, so today I am home with him. We started cleaning up the basement, but then I got sidetracked by another project that I had started a while ago.

On Woodworking for Mere Mortals there was a project that caught my eye back before Christmas - a Marshmallow Crossbow. Chuck and I started making a pair of them (one to give away, and one for our house) over the break, and then I got hung up with other stuff, and the crossbow sat.

Well, today we finished putting it together, and guess who is quality testing...

Sacrebleu!

If you read my last post, you may have noted that it ended with reference to trouble in paradise. Luckily our problems are minor and life goes on but still, a french cuss is appropriate here.

Back around Christmas our area was hit with an ice storm. The ice build up was as much as half an inch thick, and we are still cleaning up the effects of the storm. Wires dangle from power poles here and there, and tree limbs are still scattered. The cleanup has been slow because after the ice storm, we got a deep freeze so that whatever fell on the ground has been locked into the ice with no hope of breaking free.

We lost a couple small branches from the tree in front of the house, but beyond that we really weren't affected by the storm. Until Saturday evening.

On Friday the deep freeze finally broke up enough for the ice to start melting. The radio was cackling out warnings about flooded creeks and avoiding ponds and rivers, and we went merrily on with life, completing projects around the house.

On Saturday, it was downright balmy at 6°C and overcast with light rain. I used the good weather to install the 20 amp circuit in the garage and putter about out there.

In January, you don't give much thought to your air conditioner. Its sitting in the back yard under a cover, and won't do much of anything until sometime in May when the cover comes off, and then in July we may turn it on.

Our AC unit was replaced last summer, concurrent with the pool renos. The installer drilled a 2" diameter chase through the foundation wall and fed the pipes and wires into the utility room down there. He sealed the hole by plugging it with silicon. Somehow the rain and meltwater found a way to get in through that core drill.

When we noticed the growing puddle on the basement floor, I tore away drywall and insulation to discover the source of the water. I don't really like the way that room was dry-walled, so the tear-out wasn't much of a heartbreak. Soggy insulation is no fun though. Also the carpet scraps on the floor down there may be junk. Alas.

For a quick stop to the water, I plugged the hole with rags, and then we set mopping up as much of the mess as possible. Then I sat down to watch the Habs win the hockey game while I gave the situation some thought.

On Sunday, after the rain had stopped and things had had a chance to dry out a little, I bombed the hole with spray foam. I know it's not a waterproofing compound, but for the time being it will hold things at bay. No new water has come in. In the spring, I think I'll be removing the silicon plug that the installer put in, and making a sheetmetal cover that I can seal to the house.

 In the meantime, this it the mess I have to clean up... So much for getting ahead on stuff!

20 Amps for the Garage tools.

Getting things functional out in the garage is a big step towards our 14 for 2014 goals. I have to get the garage functional in order to meet a third of the goals listed there, and in order to get the garage functional, I have to get some stronger circuitry out there.

For as long as we've lived here, the garage has shared a single 15 amp circuit with all our outdoor lighting, the basement, and the pool shed. It is a badly overloaded circuit. If I am working in the garage and the pool pump kicks in, the lights go out, and I find myself standing in the dark next to a saw blade spinning away. In order to reset the breaker, I have to run through the house and down to the basement to the breaker panel. SWMBO has had it "up to here" with vacuuming my trail of wood shavings and dirt between the garage and breaker panel.

Inconvenience aside, running a wood-shop off a single outlet has meant a snake's honeymoon of extension cords crawling across the garage. They seem to be everywhere. Somehow cord management is beyond me, and so I have extension cords looping around ankles, snagged on equipment, trapped under boxes, and just generally in the way every time I turn around. Its time to try something different.

Garage Pony Panel with new (legit) 20 Amp Circuit and
older not-to-code pigtail tablesaw connection

So last summer we hired in an electrician to install a new breaker panel, and to put a pony panel in the garage. Since then I've been meaning to get around to running circuits off the pony panel. The pony panel has a 30 amp breaker for the table saw already, but nothing else. Last weekend I started installing a 20 amp circuit to power the rest of the garage, and yesterday I wrapped it up. Its still a mess out there, but at least its a well-powered mess.

Where the breaker used to pop with great regularity, and the bandsaw would barely start on the 15 amp circuit, the 20 amp seems to hold its own. I think it will make a big difference.

According to the electrical code, you are allowed up to 10 outlets on a 20 amp circuit. In order to be safe, I ran 4 duplex receptacles for a total of 8 outlets. I also ran everything in 3/4" PVC conduit, surface mounted in the garage. I went with surface mounting so that if I ever feel the need to add to the circuit or to run additional wires through the conduit, everything would be easily accessible. I don't see that happening any time soon, but you never know.

"Car-side" outlet

The layout of the electric is pretty simple. On the 'car side' I put in 1 outlet for a welder or battery charger or block heater. I purposely put it near the front of the garage so it would also reach the driveway easily. On the shop side of the garage I put in 3 outlets spaced 5-10 feet apart. Initial testing looks like all the shop tools can now reach an outlet without extension cords, but i may still need cords if I need to move tools around to work on larger pieces.

"tool side" outlets. Its a wee bit cramped

The only thing left to be done with regards to electricity out there now is to replace the fluorescent light that probably used to work with something more functional. Likely a pair of bare bulbs on pull chains. Right now I am working with the lights on the garage door openers and they are adequate, but I think I can do better. I seem to remember hearing something back in the day about fluorescent lights flickering in phase with equipment and making it look like a blade wasn't turning or something. Anyone able to confirm this as a safety issue?

Dead fluorescent fixture.

While I was patting myself on the back and feeling good about getting something off the 'projects completed' list, SWMBO came running in to tell me we had water in the basement. Ugh. One step forward, one step back. Time to tackle a new problem.

Basement Planning, The bathroom.

OK so this has been the week of thinking about the basement. We spend a lot of time down there so I want to be sure we get it right, but I also know that once we get started it will be a lot of work to implement all these ideas.

The very first priority down there will be the bathroom. If nothing else happens in the basement the bathroom must. So right now that bathroom's space is our junk closet:

And converting a junk closet into a bathroom is not as simple as you might think. Luckily, there is a water supply to the existing bar, so we have nearby plumbing that we can run to sinks and toilets, etc. The wall bump out next to the bar (behind the minifridge) also has a drain stack and clean out in it, which would indicate that there is a good drain line right next to our future bathroom. Since it is also right next to the power panel, a dedicated GFCI circuit to the bathroom will not be difficult to install.

So far so good. The site is well suited to the use.

Putting in a basement bathroom will require a few steps that are fairly intense.Our ten-step bathroom looks like:

1. Demo stage - remove existing drywall and framing wherever necessary
2. Remove concrete floor in bathroom area and expose existing plumbing
3. Run drain pipes back to stack drain.
4. Replace concrete floor - depress floor in shower area to form natural shower pan. Unless we put in a tub. Then we just pour concrete back to level)
5. Establish ventilation runs for bathroom fan/vent.
6. Frame new walls, run plumbing, run electric.
7. Drywall living room/bar side of walls
8. Drywall/tile bathroom walls and floors
9. Build vanity cabinets
10. Install fixtures

The challenges we have with this space as a bathroom are that the location is pretty inflexible since it is locked in by a foundation abutment on the bar side, and the power panel on the living room side. Basically, we have the space we have, but no more. This means we must build cabinetry since the concrete abutment will get in the way of whatever we could buy to put in there. The vanity will not be a rectangle. That will also mean custom or site-built counter tops.

I started drawing a floorplan for this space in ACAD. My ACAD skills are pretty good for line drawing and whatnot. Then I tried to recreate the space in Sketchup to get a 3D feel for the room. The feel I got is cramped, which is likely about right for a bathroom stuffed into a closet. The nice thing about sketchup is that I was able (after only 1 night of use!) to get a decent 3D drawing of the space. I may post that sketch here but its pretty rudimentary. I'd like to take some time to really learn how to make sketchup sing - it looks like it has some good features. I think I'll still use ACAD for material quantities and 2D work though.

Here is as far as I've gotten with sketchup - bear in mind, one day of experience with the software...

For finishes in the bathroom I am opting for tile over softer surfaces, and I can't really say why. I Hate (with a capital H) tiling. But despite the small size of the room I see marble-grey tiles and white floors. Which goes with nothing that I've envisioned for the rest of the basement. I also see a lot of mirrored surfaces in there. In such a small room, big tiles and loads of light will be critical. Mirrors and bright tiles can accomplish that well. Maybe instead of white floors, I could go with something dark, and tie the floors to the bar area. Hmmm.

An example:

Source: http://www.aliexpress.com

Another item that we have gone back and forth on with this bathroom is what the door should look like. We've considered a pocket door since space is very tight, but I think we can do better with an outswing standard door. The reason for this is that a pocket door would result in a weak wall, and being that all the walls here will be tiled, I don't really want any flex behind the tiles. I am sure I could come up with a home-brewed pocket door built into a 2X2 frame that would be as strong as a pre-made setup from Home Depot, but that would be time consuming and expensive. And the last set of pocket doors I bought, I was really disappointed in. So I like the pocket door idea, I just don't like the materials and strength of what's available today.

Another challenge for me is that I keep flipping between a shower stall and a tub. A tub is nice because, well, its a tub. But a shower I can put the dog in and wash her down, and we already have 2 tubs. I don't think we need a third. I think at least 1 walk-in shower would be a good thing. but then a tub could come with jets and be therapeutic or whatever. But a shower I have to put up Kerdi membrane or a tile bed for and then do more tiling. Did I mention I hate tiling? In case I didn't, I Hate tiling. The plunk-n-play of a tub is really appealing.

Another take on marble and mirrors with a shower stall:

Source here

I am wondering if we go with a lot of dark wood in the bar/living room area, maybe I can get away with building the vanity out of a similar wood for this bathroom. Then I might be able to incorporate some marble into the bar design to pull the two rooms together into one. I really don't know what all this will look like, but it really doesn't matter at this point because I have so much other stuff to wrap up before I can even get close to starting this. The closet doors for the boys room are still in the basement, 2 years after this post!!

I think I'll try a concrete countertop in the bathroom as my learning grounds before I attempt the bar. If it turns out poorly in here, I can close the door. And a counter in a spare bathroom doesn't need to be fancy, so its a good learning spot. We'll see where that leads us! I really like these slot-drain, step-down designs, but I am sure they are waaaay beyond a first attempt.

From ColoradoConcreteCountertops

As I said in a previous post, I already have a sink and toilet for this space, but they were salvaged from other spots where we've made improvements. I'm not really attached to the sink, but if I can incorporate it into a concrete counter, why not. If it won't work, then its hasta la bye-bye sinky, and I'll work with something else. Casting a sink into the countertop may be a little ambitious for a first go at this stuff, so I'll have to figure out an attachment system.

<EDIT> Apparently we are old-school in our thinking - this article on Houzz shows that nearly everything we are considering appeals to the 55+ demographic.

The Basement Ceiling

Its ceiling right? Or is it cieling? That's one of those words I have to think about every time I type it. There are no red squiggles under ceiling, so it must be right.

In any case, building on yesterday's post about the basement... One of my aggravations down there is that the drywall ceiling has sagged consistently to show exactly the outline of every sheet of drywall. I sit in my recliner and stare at the ceiling instead of watching hockey. Not only are the Leafs that bad, but the ceiling is a consistent annoyance.

It makes me cringe.

I wonder if the installer didn't use enough screws in the centre of the sheets. Maybe there is a lot of moisture that the sheets have absorbed and now the screws have let go and its only a matter of time until the whole thing comes down. Maybe nothing at all is wrong. Those waves drive me nuts.

I have always held that basements should have accessible ways to reach the utilities run in their ceilings. Whether that is by not having anything on the ceiling (exposed construction) or removable panels (drop ceiling) or sacrificial, replaceable coverings (wood or even flat drywall) I am not picky, but I don't want drywall with a stipple finish that I can't re-create after digging around in there to add a branch circuit or repair a leaky water line.

For reasons I don't understand, someone who owned this house before me saw things differently.

So going with the options above, here are some ideas of what the basement ceiling could end up looking like. I have a full 8ft height down there so any of these are do-able...

Coffered sections with drop ceiling panels:

I like this look a lot. Especially for in the bar area. A trick is that you can use laminate flooring in place of real wood to make the ceiling panels. Then you get real wood for the chases to hold everything in place. It looks rich, but the build isn't so bad as it might be. It can be tricky matching a stain on real wood to a print on the laminate, but if you embrace the suck and paint the frame a solid colour (White?) you can maintain the effect with the mismatch.

The exposed construction idea is least appealing to me, but here is how it looks:

Basically, you eliminate the ceiling altogether and just paint everything up there white. A couple days with a sprayer and the bulk of the work is done, but then its a lifetime of touching up all the crooks and nannies you missed. The look is really industrial to me, and not as warm as some of the other finishes. Also dust would collect on EVERYTHING up there. The appeal of this idea is that for access, you can't get much better. And the space still looks finished. Sortof. In our basement there are a lot of heating ducts that could be painted a contrasting colour for some effect, but really I think I'll just shelve this idea for now and move along to something else.

Wood ceilings look really good. In our last house we had pine paneling on the whole main floor ceiling and I L-O-V-E - loved it. It looked like this:

OK, well, you can sortof see it since that photo was of our brag wall at the old house (complete with drywall patches), but the natural pine ceiling was fantastic. Except for the cobwebs and the fact that you couldn't reach out from the loft above to dust it off. 

Maybe paint the planks for a look like this:

I wonder how that combo of coffered sections with the pine between would turn out given the 8ft ceiling height. Maybe a sort of cottagy-wainscot feel to it, or maybe a cramped hobbit-hole. Hmmm. I'm really up in the air on how this element will come together. 

<EDIT> I have to add in this beadboard ceiling that I just found. I like it a lot too - looks fancy without a lot of depth, and its clean and bright...

Here's another I found, incorporates wood, but with drywall panels.

<END EDIT>

Sometimes I feel like just a plain acoustic tile formed to look like a tin ceiling is all we need. Fast, simple, painless, but not so much style. Armstrong makes these:

How hard can that be to install? Swear for a week while I set up a steel grid and then just pop 'em in.

My biggest challenge with design down there is seeing the whole picture without just accepting what we already have. After all, what we have is functional. Maybe not ideal, but definitely functional.

I've started sketching the room, but just from a fixtures placement viewpoint. I don't know that I can really incorporate finishes and textures into a drawing. The engineer in me wants to take over the process and go with what fits and what's cost effective, and in design decisions, that rarely works out to create the most fulfilling room.

At ceiling height there will be at least one transverse bulkhead in the room, so that means I have the opportunity to use ceilings to define space. Maybe go with a different finish over the bar versus over the living space. Or maybe the same finish applied with different textures or colours. I'm not sure. Need to think about this some more.

One thing for sure... there will be no mirrored ceilings. No guarantees on disco balls just yet.