Paul on a bike, except when I'm working on the new house...

TOmorrow I turn 50, urk, but today, got a whole lot done, cleaned up after cutting the old kitchen flooring into 54" pieces to put onto the bathroom wall as wainscoting, I only needed about 60 pieces, I think I have about 70.  Nasty work was using a wire brush to clean the tongue an groove on each piece, still need to run it all through the planer for a clean surface to apply stain/sealer. Installed a solar powered fan for the bathroom, so it should suck all day long. Yes that little hole is for the fan, still need to finish the 'box' under this thing, then install the vent cover.  Need to install it flush with where the metal I'll put in the ceiling and insulation, so it will have to extend down a little. THen I bought the durrock for the bathroom floor, and insulation for the ceiling. And as I was drinking my morning tea I noticed how one of the front yard lizards was using the post the mailbox is on for shade and as a hunting perch....so cute.  THis one ...

But, it wasn't, cut, re-measure, cut it shorter, cut this, adjust that, square that, again! However, it's tighter than the kitchen window, sealed, and screwed. I really like the 'low-e' glass, I could really tell the difference when the window was in place, it lets the light in, but it will I hope keep the cooling bills low.  Nice and solid, with only a few minutes of screaming at the bad measurements... Another piece of hardi-backer siding below should finish the trim, and I didn't want to waste good siding on a window on the back of the house.

I sure picked the toughest one to install, the kitchen window was skinnier and taller than the one I picked to replace it.  I had to install floor to ceiling studs, jack studs, replace the sill plate, and rob some siding off that playhouse to plug up the hole below the window. Still have to do the header and side trim, but I need cement board for that.  This is where we are today, siding in place, just bought some finish screws to afix the siding.  Had to wait until dark to take a pic of the window and get the flash to work.  This is where I was yesterday. See Dwain, the window opens and closes, unlike the other windows I have, which if I opened them, they would probably fall apart.

How I loathe plumbing fittings, it's either inside outside measures and for some reason they don't want to make it easy. I needed to find a way to go from the old cast iron to new pvc, cutting out the old piece of lead that's smooshed due to the floor not being solid or level. But I think I have what I need to connect the toilet, which is an important part of the bathroom. But tomorrow I should be able to cut the first piece of subfloor for the bathroom, and with some luck maybe the second one too... Here's some pics of half the floor insulated, glue and tape after I get the subfloor piece cut right. After I get the subfloor piece in I an put the wall back in, with this thing called a "header", it's been tough teaching the house what those things are.... Subfloor part one in place, and some pics of the tape an glue...  That's the tape.  Hope the glue dries by tonight  This is where the Red Hen is....  That's stone spray foa...

But I still got up and got some work done, the two final windows I need for the house had arrived, not that you could tell from HD's website. Then I noticed that a pile of yardwaste had grown on the street near my house, so I added to it, and cut the tree that had wire in the bottom of it flat on top and added three rocks, see I can still do art when I have so much else to do.  There was some guy out from the city cutting trees that I think might have been in the road or something, nice that someone else comes out to cut that. But here's the pics of the subfloor all installed an such...forgot to bring the camera to the library yesterday.  Looking toward the new tv side of the great room.  To the kitchenette side of the great room. And the look through the front door, there's subfloor in there, soon to be some floor, but first new doors and windows.

Still waiting, and hoping that ACE will come through sometime soon. So I worked on the skirt on the left side of the house, used hardibacker cement board, just cut it in half, this was the easy side since it's all about 18", the other sides I'll have to use the boards the 3' way instead of the 5' way. This is the pile of old plywood, or as I call it, tomorrow's garbage to get rid of.    I got as far as that back corner  The windows are really in need, but I have a bit to do before I start replacing them.  But I am thinking I can start buying them.  Got a $150 freebie for signing up for a chase card, thank you for the free window chase.  I stacked up the old bricks that were being used as pylons under the house along the side. And here's the view from the front.

Ordered batts of insulation from ACE a few weeks ago, still waiting. But while I wait I've got the room as ready as it can be with all the stuff I have to move around to do anything.  Insulation rests on the home wrap, yet still allows any moisture to hopefully leave. Tomorrow I'll work on the skirting outside, metal on the back, and cement board on the rest, try to seal it up as best as possible, so that the vent tube I'll install in the closet will remove as much as possible.