Thinking Out Loud

Naturally, the main floor needed to be renovated.

Not as extensive as the 2nd story, but you have to start somewhere… Read the rest of this entry »

Bandit was a little concerned that there was no longer a bathroom floor.  However, it did make it easier to check on the status of his food dish, because you could see into the kitchen without too much effort.

The joists for the bathroom floor had been either removed or damaged by whoever had renovated before us.  It’s surprising that the whole thing didn’t end up in the kitchen since there was actually very little holding it up.

This was just the first of many surprises.  Obviously, there was a lot of work done (before I owned the house) that was a little bit on the “what the #@%* were the thinking?” side.

No matter – we can fix it all with nothing but time and money, right? Read the rest of this entry »

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We removed a lot of material from the foundation, and never found the energy to clean it up. Read the rest of this entry »

Yeah – it’s just cement. Read the rest of this entry »

Still working on the foundation along the south wall, we decided we needed to repair all of the concrete above the second basement.  That concrete seemed in good condition. Read the rest of this entry »

Not happy with simply destroying the top floor, we proceeded to the basement.

The foundation on the south side of the house had been falling in for a couple of years. We found there there was actually two (maybe three) basement walls.  In any event, the wall supporting the side of the house needed to be repaired. Read the rest of this entry »

We decided it was finally time to begin work on the renovations on the little shack on 3rd Ave.

Of course, the first item on the list was to get rid of the old lathe and plaster on the second floor.

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I’ve never been to the mountains in the winter time, so while I was in Calgary, a trip to Banff was nothing less than a necessity. It was a great day – the temperature was around 14°, hardly a cloud in the sky, and a slight breeze to remind you that it was winter in the mountains.

It goes without saying, that skiing was not on the agenda. Photography (or something like it) was the focus. Maybe there would even be a bear or two this time around. Read the rest of this entry »

Just a few photos of Amy, Bert and Jack…

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