What I did at my house today...

[Gothichome]

Well, this past weekend I finally got my bank work finished for this year. Still have 4 ton of gas ion left over for the next phase two. Got a little more front door work done and spent a day at a antiques fair with upper management.

[phil]

Still have 4 ton of gas ion left over for the next phase two.

Are you building a particle accelerator in your basement or ?

Im happy because I finally got my 88 volvo started. The fuel pump had packed it in so it had a lack of fuel pressure. It has a little pump in the gas tank so it had just enough pressure to want to fire but not enough to run. I swapped pumps and Vroom.. I was fighting with why it wouldn't start for at least 3 years and bought two more parts cars in the process. now I can tidy things up and have it at the ready. likely the cause was rust or dirt in the tank that got into the pump and seized it. during troubleshooting I had hooked up the cables backwards and blew a computer board. then it wouldn't fire. after I swapped the board it fired but still would not start. after that I was sure it was some strange electrical issue. I might buy a spare and a filter to replace as a unit. the sedans have plastic tanks, Im not sure if the wagon does. I can probably add a clear filter before the pump to see if it gets dirty and run it for a while to see what happens. I already replaced the pump some years ago for reliability. finally I can stop scratching my head. what a relief. I didn't want to just junk the car because I had previously done good maintenance and kept it up, and the wagons are handy for hauling stuff.

[Gothichome]

Phill, well I thought I would build one for fun.

[phil]

we had a little laneway house just a few houses away. it was originally the mail distribution center at the turn of the century. Just a teeny house , very cute building. It got gutted by fire last night. They put it out but the heritage building is obviously ruined. They had lots of firemen and hoses on it very quickly and the huge fir trees that tower the place didn't catch. The fire went right through the roof. I was surprised just how much water and foam they had to apply to get the thing out.
Sad to see that little piece of history near me go. it'll get rubbed out to build a 5 story apartment building and I think they already had a plan in the works. I met the guy living in there a while ago, hoping he is ok. he had a bunch of cars, a motor home and stuff all crammed tight nearby. we had a good chat about fixing cars and he was just a retired mechanic keeping his hands wet working on the odd project and renting this little tiny house. I hope he's ok.

[Gothichome]

Phill, never nice to see some ones home burn to the ground, even worse if there is a fatality. Unless the owners are ready to build their high density building the lot most probably will sit empty.

[phil]

the property contains a nice old house a building divided into businesses. It reminds me of "sanfred and sons" he never sells much , I tried buying and selling and his prices were as if maybe it's a front or something. does house wrecking, but I dont think he has much ambition. there are other businesses an old chinese cafe a hair salon a vape shop etc. it'll all get torn down and made new. most is old and only 1 story. they surrounded the house with a fence and have a 24 hour security guard. I suspect that's insurance money at work. It'll be interesting to see what happens. sometimes it takes a few years for developers to get plans together and get permits. in the meantime it's pretty much a holding property. the trend seems towards big 5 story wood framed buildings with business at ground level and lots of rental apartments. The developers buy build flip and move on continuously. Covid didn't seem to slow them much. land values didn't really change.

I think the guy that was living there also owns a huge motorhome on the same site so he has a roof over his head. I haven't seen him and I dont know if there was anyone hurt in the fire. i don't think so. if I see the guy about Ill see what I can do to help. I got the feeling he might have been in hospital prior to the fire or maybe just away. I think he was a cancer survivor and I dont know more about his health but I saw an ambulance there a few months ago and not a lot of action since so he might have other issues. they pulled the meter off the house so he probably doesn't have power for his motor home. it might have a generator. the whole setup looked seedy but I think he was just living and making do in the city without a lot of money. I think it was one of the earliest laneway houses, they are the trend in some areas but that little house is a hundred years old at least. shame to see it go like that. the motorhome was less than a foot from another building. I had considered calling the fire department as it looked like it could be an access issue if they did have a fire, but thought about it and decided it wasnt' bothering me and why cause a fuss if it was just about a property that will get developed soon anyway.
as it played out the building that burned did have access and the rest is still what it is. everything else is residential nice houses any rough ones get bought up and torn down for the land. they are always rebuilt to the maximum for the lot size.

[Gothichome]

What I did this weekend. Took Friday off for my annual, cholesterols and blood pressure good, I will survive another year, upper management can not count on the insurance pay out this year.
The weather was fantastic, 25c to the good on Friday so I got the painting on the front door project finished. Yesterday I installed the antique Eastlake hardware we purchased ten years ago, looks good. Scraped some paint off of dozen shelves today.
What I still need to get done over the week. Restore the last set of hinges for the front door and install, mount our new leaded glass panels, and finally install the new bronze weather stripping.
Let’s hope the weather holds out.

[awomanwithahammer]

Ron, I can't wait to see your finished and installed front door. It's going to be spectacular!

[phil]

yesterday a friend gave me quite a load ( about 900 sq ft) of fir flooring. It's used and was sanded before. no nails but of course some nail holes. lengths range from about 8 to 16 foot or so.
My plan is to trim off the tongue and groove, put one side over the jointer and then run it through my thickness planer to even it all up to a consistent thickness and width. Then run the edges over a router or maybe the molding head on my tablesaw and cut a new tongue and groove in. then use it all for wainscotting around my living room. Up to about eye level with a shelf on top.
Its a lot of cutting , lots of dust.
it's about 3 1/4" now. all edge grain old growth fir. no knots. The wood is pretty suitable but it is a lot of work cutting it down. I think the wainscot should be strips of whatever width is left, with a bevel near each T and G joint.
I'm unsure of the width to aim for. some of the nails will take up a lot of it if I try to trim them right out.
Is there a common or standard width for wainscotting?
I guess I can glue it to the walls over the drywall with nails where the studs are. the baseboards need to be thicker so I dont bury them and I have them stripped but not finished except the longest one which was one 19 foot plank.

I think it will make the house look older and more original. when I stripped the walls I found a scratch coat of plaster up to eye level so I'm trying to reproduce what I thought was there. I want to add a shelf at about 17" down from the ceiling and about 8-10" wide. then I can use it as a radio display. I have a lot of wood and bakelite table radios so it will provide some display space. If I have enough strips I can use some for the shelf.

I'm pondering over the idea of splitting them all so they could be thin, like about 1/4" and Id' get double the yield. Maybe I could do a lap joint with a bevel near the edges rather than a T and G if it's only 1/4" thick. Usually I think most wainscot is about 3/8" or 1/2", but it's really just the face you see.

Phil

[GinaC]

Today I put in my new storm door. It's not completely done yet because I need to get a longer strike plate, but it stays closed.

It is a custom ProVia door and has a lifetime warranty on the door and handleset finishes.