December 18, 2011

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I’m just going to start calling the new project house in Pikesville “Pikesville”.  It makes for shorter post headings.
 
Last time we checked in over at Pikesville, I was just showing off some early demo pictures.  After doing nothing for just short of a month, we’ve had a busy couple of weeks over there.  I’ve been working longer days at the office so that I can get an extra day off each week and spend it trying to accomplish things there.  My big focus this week was roughing in the electrical for the kitchen and the utility room; the two rooms I gutted earlier. 

Before we get into the tangled web of wire, I'll jump in with a disclaimer/warning.  I’m not a licensed electrician.  I spent a number of years of my time in the Navy doing a lot of very dangerous electrical work on large scale systems, and received training and certification to do those things.  So, while I’m not fully up to speed on all the in’s and out’s of the residential electric code, I do keep abreast of it as much as I can.   And I will have a licensed electrician take a look at my work before I put up the sheetrock.

One of the first things I did was go around and mark the points where power came into the kitchen from the panel.  To do this, I used a no contact voltage tester, like this one.
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These things are pretty great.  I had to buy a new one, though, because my last one started turning off sporadically, and through a series of unfortunate coincidences, I ended up with a blown breaker and a nervous twitch.  Use rubber-handled tools.
Now that I knew where power came into the kitchen, I used a marker and some tape and labeled the hot end of the cable with the circuit number that it corresponded to.  During this process, I went to use the bathroom and found that it was without power.  This wasn't too surprising, considering the age of the house.  I decided to pull the kitchen and utility room out of the existing circuits in the house.  To do that, I  needed to add some junction boxes on either end of the kitchen and run some new wire through the kitchen ceiling from box to box.  Here’s the one I put in on the far end.
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When I ripped down the old sheetrock on this wall, I found that the contractor who had renovated the bathroom 5yrs ago had buried a box.  See that black metal strap crossing over a patch in the wall?  That’s where it was.  This is a big no-no.  Don’t bury boxes.  I decided to put the new junction box where I did so that I could remove that buried box at the same time.  So this new box contains the power feed for the bathroom, which used to power half the outlets in the kitchen AND the bathroom. 

Here’s the junction box on the entrance half of the kitchen.
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Kind of a crappy picture.  It was a crappy job, too.  The box was already in place, so I had to keep using it.  This picture was taken from the kitchen looking up into the rafters.  In order to work on this box, I had to crawl along the eves of the house, accessed from upstairs.  It was cramped and uncomfortable.  If you’ve ever done something like this, the first question you are probably asking is “how many times did you have to get out and back in?”  Well, I forgot a tool I needed twice, and I dropped a tool once.  I also wanted to be really sure I had the right hot wire to feed the bathroom with, so I got out and triple-checked that.  So 4 times crawling in and out.  [sigh]. 

Now that I had isolated the kitchen from the rest of the house’s power, I pulled out all the old outlets and wire runs.  It’s a nice moment when you look into the room and have a clean slate to start on.  But slates aren't meant to stay clean, so I went around and put in the new boxes for the receptacles and switches that will be going in.  This takes a lot of foresight.  You need boxes at certain heights for certain things (like a microwave/range hood, oven, etc), so you have to know where your cabinets and appliances are going to be.  This is one of those times where I stand there staring at things for a long time, thinking and rethinking to make sure I get all the details right.  I’m sure I’ll forget something, but at least it won’t be a serious thing. 

Once all the boxes were in, I ran the cable to each box and switch.  Nothing is hot at this point; I’m just setting up the cable runs.  This requires a paddle bit and a strong drill to put holes through the studs.  Next up is the can lights.  I used the same cans I used when I did my own kitchen lights almost two years ago(!!) with my dad. 
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That’s me 30lbs heavier and with (sadly) noticeably darker hair.  Come on, now.  I’m too young to be saying that. 

Quick aside: if you ever EVER gut a room, take pictures of the walls!  There will come a day when you need to know where a wire comes from/goes to, and you will be thankful you have those pictures.

These can lights are crazy-easy to install and hook up.  They have nice and easy push-in connectors in them, and they come with nails and adjustable rails to fit nice and snug between the ceiling joists.  Once they were in, I was pretty much done with the basic rough-in.  The outlets above the countertop are all 20-amp, per code.  The microwave/range hood has it’s own 20-amp feed, and the lights, dishwasher, and garbage disposal have a 15-amp feed.  I ran these to the breaker panel and tried to put in my new breakers, but they didn’t fit.  
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My thumb is covering most of it, but there is a notch in this breaker.  Old Cutler-Hammer panels have this dumb rejection bar to prevent you from using breakers that don’t have this notch.  They don’t make breakers like this anymore, though.  [sigh]. Cutler-Hammer recommends removing the rejection bar, which is held in with one-way screws and requires taking out the main breaker to get to.  I haven’t done that, yet.  In the mean time, I’ve..ahem.. borrowed some non-essential circuits (no more outside lighting or upstairs outlets) in order to get my lights working.
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Hooray!  I love this part.  New lights are so crisp and change the whole feel of a project when it’s been so dark and depressing for so long.  It’s the first new thing.  In that picture, you can see some of the other new stuff.. the two white(14/2) leads under the window are the dishwasher and disposal.. the white line going into the box to the right of the window is for the switch for the disposal.  That circle thing is an old vent!  It will be coming out soon.

Now that I had most of the rough-in done for the kitchen, it was on to the utility room.
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There’s going to be base cabinets and counter top along this back wall of the utility room, so I’ve got some countertop-depth outlets in for that.  The lighting in here is also can lights, but the ceiling isn’t deep enough for normal cans.  Instead I got these new LED lights.
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These things are pretty sweet.  They can be used for retrofitting; they’ll fit right inside an existing can light.  You can also put them in a standard J-box (a round 4” ceiling box), either new-work or old-work.  I put 4 new-work boxes in the ceiling and put one of these lights on each one.  Super bright and crisp!

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What a mess!  That new framing, there, is because we are vaulting the ceiling.  The utility room was an addition, so you can see the old roof right there.  Neat, huh.

That’s it for now.  This week I’m meeting with the electrician to review my work, and also to get him to help me remove the restriction bar in this box (link is where I learned about what to do) so that I can add the new circuits I need.

So.. anything I might be missing?  Any electrical stories of your own?  Let me know below!  I’ve got a new comment system and I’m anxious to see how it goes over.

PS.. If you’re waiting for the reveal of the flooring project, I’m still working on that.  I’ve been trying to get some particular pictures to show my mistakes, but it’s always dark when I try to get them.  Stupid short days of winter!
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November 29, 2011

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Be sure to check out the previous parts of this series:
Part I: Demo
Part II: More Demo
Part III: Repairing Subfloor
Part IV: Installing

Ok.  Wow.  Time to sand.

First… happy belated Thanksgiving!  This post was half-written when I left for some quality family time in Chicago over the holiday. 

I found this article online about how to sand the floor.  It recommended that I start at a higher grit like 80, and sand diagonally across the floor.  This is to ensure that the floor is evenly sanded across the lateral seams.  That seemed odd to me, as I’d never sand like that on furniture.  But ok, I’ll take the pro’s advice.

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You can see in that picture that I’ve completed my diagonal sanding and have started the with-the-grain sanding.  I’ve moved to 100 grit sand paper, now.  It looks to me, as I’m sanding, that my diagonal lines are being sanded away as I go deeper into the wood.

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In that picture, you can’t even see any lines any more.    “Victory!”, I say to myself.   As we’ll learn later… this didn’t end up as the victory I thought it would.

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Dani takes a moment to both take a picture of the sanded floor and show off her new boots.  I don’t know what it is with women and boots these last few winters.  They’re not even boots!  They’re shoes with more space for frilly things. 

So after a lot of vacuuming, sweeping, and gentle mopping, I was ready for the finishing process.  We opted not to stain the floors.  We really liked the color of the wood in it’s natural state.  We also opted to go the environmentally friendly route and used a water-based system.  Minwax seemed to have a good system, and so I went with that.  It was not inexpensive.  Compared to the cost of the normal oil-based stuff, the water-based system is easily double.  But, I could put another coat on 2 hrs after the first coat, it cleans up with water, and my house didn’t smell for 3 weeks afterwards.  With the oil-based stuff, you’re supposed to sleep somewhere else for 3 days.  That’s crazy!  Who would want those chemicals seeping into their home? 

First step, then, was to put a coat of Minwax Water Based Polyurethane for Floors Base Coat on. 




The base coat, according to Minwax’s website, “seals the wood grain, preventing discoloration (tannin reaction) between the wood and Minwax® Water Based Polyurethane for Floors. Many water based finishes have a high pH level that can react with bare wood causing it to discolor.”

Mmmmmmk.  Sounds good.  The stuff went on easy enough, too.  I used a lambs wool applicator on a stick.  Pretty standard.

Two hours later, it was time for the first coat of poly. 




The Water Based Minwax Polyurethane for Floors poured nice and easy, and once I had a system worked out, it went pretty quick.  I found the best way to do it was to keep a bead of poly on the floor and to work with the grain, gradually moving the bead 6 inches at a time up the grain. 

Once I had 2 coats on, I put some finishing sandpaper onto a drywall sanding pole and went around sanding for an hour.  This was the hardest part of the application process.. arms.  so.  tired.

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The sanding is to smooth out everything prior to the final coat.  I chose to do 2 more coats; I’m hoping it gives me a little more longevity. 

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After the vigorous sanding, Dani worked her butt off to sweep and mop up the mess while I rested my sanding-weary arms.

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I also took the chance to snap this picture of the state of the kitchen during all this.  Ughh.

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Well this post got a little longer than I anticipated.  I think I’ll keep you all in suspense and do The Reveal in a separate post.  So check back soon for the last post in the New Flooring series!
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November 21, 2011

If you haven’t already, check out part 1, part 2, and part 3 where I remove the old flooring, bleed from my fingers, put a toilet in the yard, and cut a hole into my house.

Installed flooring?  Yeah.  That’s what’s up. 

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After some intense cleanup, I used my new laser line draw thing to put a line all the way across the house.  The thing is, it’s really important to get this line straight.  So buy the laser.  It doesn’t hurt that it’s a laser and fun to play with.  It freaks the crap out of animals.

The first night, I only got one row of flooring in.  I really really really didn’t want to mess up that first row.  Day two got us a bit further along.

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We are watching New Girl right here.  Dani needs to ensure that Zooey and I don’t run off together.

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Always more to clean when you are doing this.  Chunks of debris under flooring leads to creaks and lumps that will drive you insane the rest of your life.  My dad will vouch for this one.

Installing the floor pieces isn’t what takes the most time.  It’s the “little” stuff that does that.  Like finding just the right piece of flooring for the spot you are in, or trimming the base around door frames and entry ways.

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The vibrating dremel tool was a huge time saver, here. 

At the end of day two, Dani and I did a lot of strolling back and forth on our 45 sq ft of installed floor.  It felt very regal.  We should have spoke with our very practiced high class English accents.  We may have waltzed.  Ok, that’s a lie.  I have no idea how to waltz; it’s been a long time since I was forced to learn during High School PE class. 

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When day 3 came along, I had some reinforcements.  Eric came down from PA to help for a day and we made a lot of progress.   I think the last time Eric showed up here at My Dad’s Shoes is when he fried a turkey and didn’t burn down the house.

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What Eric is doing, here, is using a wrench and a hammer to convince a stray nail that it wants to go the rest of the way into the floor.  We had to do a lot of this.  Being vigilant in finding the nails that stick up just a bit too much will save a lot of frustration when you find bumps in the floor.  So, yes.. progress was made with Eric’s extra set of hands.  But progress does not come without blood in this house.

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Eric stepped on a nail, and I had a Dremel tool nearly take off my finger tip.  But hey, ‘close’ only counts in golf and nuclear warfare, right?


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See that stack of short pieces against the wall?  Now is a good of time as any to say that an odd lot of flooring sucks.  But, given the amount of savings, it’s worth it.  My waste factor was higher, my frustration level was way higher, and I have a lot more seams than I’d like.  I also have a fair number of pieces of flooring installed that taper in width, but I didn’t catch it until it was too late.  But, at 1/3rd the cost, it’s still well worth it.  Buy an extra 5 to 10% waste. 

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Let me just point out to the lady readers that it’s hot when women use a tape measure.   Hot.  Dani still has a number of tricks to keep me from Zooey.  Tool-use is a strong one.

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Speaking of things worth their cost; this is one epic beer.  I wish I had an opportunity to get more of them before they vanished for the season.

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A couple more hours of work after this last shot and we had our new floor completely installed.  This is still no where near the end of this project.  More to come!
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November 19, 2011

I mentioned in part 2 of this project that I found a lot of floor rot surrounding the toilet in the bathroom when I removed the contractor grade tile and the 2 layers of linoleum underneath it.
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The linoleum is still in the room in that picture, but the rot is already evident.  The tears.  You can't see my face because I'm hiding the tears.

Time for some repair. Another opportunity to use my sweet new circular saw.  Wood runs in fear.  So do the dogs.

Up first; cut a huge hole in the floor into the basement.  When you cut a whole into your house that opens up one floor to another, it’s a bit… disconcerting.  There is suppose to be a floor there.  Not a hole.  It really messes with your perception of how a house works.

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Now that I have the floor open, I need to put in a new sister joist against that back wall so that I have something solid to anchor the new subfloor to.

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I picked up a 2x6 and some 3/4” plywood from Home Depot and cut them to fit.

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Lets.. umm.. let's not talk about those random screws, there.  Look, the angles of approach were pretty limited and the smell isn't pleasant.  Moving on.
With the new sister joist in place, I ripped the plywood that I had cut to size in half, and then used my dremel tool to cut a half-circle in each one of the halves.  After that, I simply put the halves in place and screwed them home.

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There are some things I didn’t do correctly, here.  It would have been smarter to raise the toilet flange at this point.  However, that sucker is solid and it isn’t budging.  I would’ve had to replace the whole drain line to do it correctly, and I didn’t have the time, patience, or desire to do so.  Instead, I’ll use a spacer when I go to install the toilet. 

But I’m happy with the end result, and now I can carry on to the next step… hardwood installation!
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November 17, 2011

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I know it’s been a while since I wrote on the flooring project.  It has been incredibly time-consuming, I’ll tell you that.  It’s the sort of project that you can’t ignore.  When I come home from work and find couches stacked on top of more couches in my kitchen, it’s a not-so-gentle reminder to get off my ass.  Which, ironically, I couldn’t have been on in the first place since all the couches are stacked in the kitchen

When last I spoke of it, I had really just started on ripping out the old floor.  Well, I did a lot more of that, and true to form, there was a fair amount of bleeding and yelling and wall damage.

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I used a digging bar to get these sheets of laminate and backer board up.  It worked wonders.  The bar is very heavy.  I had some sore man-boobs.

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This is another great example of when to wear gloves.  The nails on the bottom of these sheets put a few holes in my fingers.  I was wearing gloves until I ripped a few glove-tips off on nails, and then discarded them.  I ended up duck-taping over the ripped fingers and putting them back on, because I can only be stupid for so long.  Speaking of stupid.. I’m wearing flip-flops.  This is actually a step up from where I started; which was barefoot.  I’m a no-shoes-on-in-house guy, and it took a little time for my mind to transition from “you’re in the house” to “you’re in a construction zone”.

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Here you can see where the dividing wall was when the house was built.  The wooden floor used to be the dining room, and where there is no wooden floor, there was an extra layer of old-school linoleum, because it was the original kitchen.  We’re talking like three kitchen-additions ago, here. 

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Apparently I neglected to take (or can’t find) pictures of the stripped-bare floor.  This one is off of my phone.  You get the idea.  I had to take all the radiator covers off to get at the flooring underneath them.  Now the whole subfloor is exposed, though.  It’s tongue-and-groove 3/4” planks.  I went around and pounded in some nails that had wiggled their way loose over the last 75 yrs.  Overall, the floor was in good shape.  Except for the bathroom.

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Yeah, that’s floor rot.  All around the toilet.  It was an unwelcome discovery after removing the toilet, sink, and all the contractor-grade tile.  I could push my hammer right through the wood.  I’ll probably do a brief post later on how I fixed that.

At this point, I’ve got all 800-some-odd sq ft of old flooring ripped out and piled in front of the front door, including carpeting, padding, the original hardwood, and two layers of laminate.   Most of it is still there.  Along with a toilet.  [sigh].  I’m that guy, now.

Next up; prepping for and doing the install!
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