Although it has been a bit of a break since my last entry it doesn't mean that work as not been happening on the "sixteen by twenty-two" job site. Just that it has been going a little slower that anticipated, But lately there has been a bit of  push - mostly because my parents are stating to drive me round the bend. Its amazing what craving your own space with drive you to do.

But I need to have my own space - seriously - and fast. And it is getting there. So far the walls are up and the plumbing and electrical have been completed - for the most part. That is to say I have juice! I had to as we had family visiting from Ontario over the holidays (Christmas) and I needed to get in there to make room for them.

So in the following pics & vids you will see the spaces taking shape

First step in this whole process was to break into the concrete of the old garage which to our surprise was not very thick - only about 2 inches if that. And not mesh which was a blessing. After getting all the plumbing hooked up to the main house infrastructure then it was time to level everything up and get it ready to lay the 2x2 insulated panels. First job was to lay the water proofing membrane. Usually this is used on the exterior of a foundation wall but I figure if it is used to wick water away from the concrete then why can it not be used to the same effect in a horizontal as opposed to a vertical manner. So down it went!

Then it was a matter of laying the panels - the primary thing was to get as much down as was needed to erect the walls that were going in. of course then there was the issue of dealing with the cat securing himself in the rolled up tube of water-proofing.

Then it was the big job - installing the 8 x 8 ft window in the living area of the unit. basically it meant removing half of the wall area at the rear of the garage, And what else does Morley want to use but the quad - that's right put a blind man on a quad and he can cause damage to just about anything, Luckily there was a row of asp trees on the edge of the property in case he lost control of the quad in his exuberance! At the end of it all I am stokes at the view I will have from this massive piece of fenestration.

One problem we did run into though was the fact that the ceiling in the garage as shifted over the past 30 years and there was a 1 1/2 inch difference from the outer edge to the centre line of the space. After several attempts to jack up the roof it to make the walls level - and needless to say a few conflicts between me and the parental unit - the decision was made to leave it as is and adjust the walls and gyproc accordingly. Jesus at 53 I am just not into the fight anymore!

Anyway now the walls are up and the plumbing and electrical are set to be placed - Episode 3!

GYPROCING AND THE LIKE!

Now that the walls are all up and the plan has been established - after many changes and alterations - I am just about ready to install all the gyproc. The old man and myself have installed as much insulation as we can muster between batts that were laying around the property and apart from the attic space - which is easily accessible - I think we have her to an acceptable level including new vapour barrier. Hell it may even be better insulated than the main house itself Dad says.

The remaining insulated tiles are laid and the locations of all the outlets and the switching have been marked. Many night I will sit out here in one of my Wassily chairs and make sure I am putting everything in as I want it to be. Little details like nib walls that though don;t line up with adjacent walls are done for a reason - like creating the starting point for high-up book shelves. And finally it looks as if the design for the kitchen units are where I want them to be. IKEA is a blessing - wish there was one nearer. For a grand I am getting pretty near a kitchen of  my dreams - well that may be an exaggeration but it is not far off. Just take a look and tell me what you think.



Now that the plaster board has all been put in place I sat down in my teenie weenie office and looking into my teenie weenie bathroom - well not so teenie really, It has a shower, a shitter and and a small sink. . . .  and a closet for my limited wardrobe. But for me it is not the bathroom that I really want. The plan was to floor it with my 12" x 18" porcelain tiles and then slate the walls of the shower but as I looked at the laminate floor I brought in from the shed to acclimatize to the space I said not - its gotta be reversed - slate on the floor and porcelain on the walls. There change approved but there is something else I want as well.

I have never like the idea of building curbs to showers. I have always like either a shower room or stepping down into the shower and up out of it. So what do I do? I build up the floor another 3 inches, Once that was done - minus the 3' x 3' area of the shower - then it was to work laying the insulating mat for the underfloor heating - something I said I would not do without, Once screed and laced it was thin-setting and placing the slate tiles on the bathroom floor. And taking the little evaluation and assessing the change of materials location I am happy with the choice.

Then it was on to re-aligning a few walls, making sure every things was securely screwed down, it was on to priming the floor in the entry hall, thinsetting and laying the full tiles in that area and then once set, myself and dad started on laying the smoke grey laminate flooring for the main living area. Now I am startign to see the finished product. Things are starting to shape up and come into place. BUT one thing is coming up that I am not looking forward to - PLASTERING. How can I get around this bloody pain in the arse job!