bathroom support/cold storage - part 2

jambaloney here!!

as always, a great sky pic for helga ;-)

and a picture of my third hand @ framboise manor..

back to the cold storage/bathroom support chore - need boards and a jack...

 

first off - jack up the bathroom floor a bit..

lay in abeam on a concrete tile and repeat...

make sure they are level of course ;-)

next step a cross beam - this is for cold storage AND support.. actually, all of this is

i am using pretty crappy/used boards for the next part

an angle grinder gets rid of old nails faster than prying them out:

i used 3 old 2x4s to make studs/beams from the front to the dirt

and then covered those with old tongue and groove... some came from cleaning out the foundation (see previous post)

the end result supports the bathroom floor AND provides a nice cold store shelf into the dirt. The basement is usually 3-5 degrees  C from october to april which is great - right now we are eating 4 month old potatoes (note the cardboard boxes with old towels on them) and they are firm as can be... the bins i use on the ground to keep the moisture from seeping in... i'll make wood boxes one day.

after sliding the boxes in place, i put the water bottles with berkey-filtered water in place...

and staple a sheet up to keep the light out! rough, but functional..down tools!

it was winter when i did this....so here is an appropriate pic..

and for all our american friends, the grand river bald eagle!!!

cheers all - spring is FINALLY here!!!

sooo many tears....and also for Boston.

i feel for all of the families and everyone who is affected by the Boston Marathon bombing that recently occurred. i have many tears. many, many tears.

and you should know that my province, Nova Scotia, and Boston have a very close history. You may not know that during the Halifax explosion of 1917, that the city of Boston were the first responders and saved sooo many Nova Scotian lives. Boston has always been a true friend to us and that is why we send a Nova Scotian Christmas tree to the city of Boston for over 100 years. Boston and Nova Scotia have an incredible history that most people, both Canadian and American know nothing about.

i cry for Boston...i cry for everyone, everywhere, who has been affected by this terrible tragedy.

but i cry harder for a Canadian folk singer who just passed. her name is Rita MacNeil. she was from Big Pond, Cape Breton Island. my island. she was not beautiful but beautiful was her spirit and her voice. she represented what my island...and the people of my island... are all about. she was a lovely human being. you can learn more about her here.

she was a heroe. and many of us cape bretoners are hurt. please pray for all of the Bostonians, their friends and families and everyone else who has been impacted by the horrible events that happened at the Boston Marathon.

but please also pray for all of us Cape Bretoners....whose hearts are heavy. we have lost an angel. an angel that we loved so much.

this is one of the songs that she is most famous for. she sings it with the backing of "The Men of the Deeps", which is a male chorus of coal miners here in Cape Breton. the song, which she wrote, is about working in the coal mine.

my father was a coal miner and could never hear this song without crying. i could never hear this song without crying. at most of our community dances this song is played. and everyone cries.

please listen to the song. Rita MacNeil, although loved by Canadians, Brits and Australians was never properly famous. she should have been. but she wasn't.

she will be sorely missed by her beloved island....which is my beloved island. please, listen to her song. check out some of her other songs on youtube - she made 24 albums!!!! and read her wikipedia page.

she is a beloved angel of this isle....and we are hurting from the loss of her. our island will recover...but we will never forget.

Rita...you were one in a million...and an angel to many. i know that you are in the arms of my Lord and Saviour...where you belong. thank you for everything.

bathroom support/cold storage - part 1

jambaloney here!

i did this project a couple of months ago - good winter project!

helga:  this is grand river, on the way to st peter's

our bathroom is halfway between the old cottage and the new cottage (Framboise Manor is about 700 square feet, but made up of a tiny cottage with another tiny cottage tacked on)... the back half of the bathroom "sticks out" into the basement....

there is no "bottom up" support  -  it just hangs there and, yes, the back part of the bathroom is sagging downwards... you can see our current cold store - those are potatoes in the cardboard boxes with towels over them. the basement is about 3 deg C - perfect for cold storage... the arrangement leaves a bit to be desired..

so, 2 mints in one - i bought these slabs for support in the basement a while ago - this is the first step

the next step is to buttress these railway ties that hold up the whole floor in the older cottage on a couple of phone poles... it works, but help is needed, just not today...

i cleared out all the stuff in the cold storage area

you can see the uneven crawl space - a nightmare to insulate and get under...

vapor barrier and pipes and wires... and spiders ;-))

along the NE wall  is wiring for the hot tub and the heater in the bathroom... plus boards that were used to pour the foundation that were never removed - a real moisture and rot magnet - they have to go pronto!!

SPECIAL ADDED BONUS!!!!! there is concrete that never set and seeped out where the boards were - foundation alert!!

another looksee..

 NEVER let this happen to you - rotten boards out!!

well, i'll use a couple for the cold store - the dry bits anyway..

emergency repair -  i filled in the gap with rocks and gravel..

- and then buttressed it with more gravel - it hasn't collapsed yet  and this will keep it from doing so until i can fix it properly...it the foundation starts to sag now, it will bite down on stone instead of air.

 looks better now!

there is a lot of extra gravel - i need it for the basement steps so out it goes!!!

special added bonus #2 - i did more work on the steps into the basement!!!

back to the cold storage - i cut out a square area  in the crawl space

and lined it with gravel!!

stay tuned for part 2 - night everyone!

and cheers as always!

(Edited by Rip Van Winkle (also known as kymber) - jeez louise - has it really been a month since i posted anything?!?!?! i think it has just been a long, long march and i have just been waiting to get my seeds started. jambaloney built us a new seed starting tray as we haven't been able to get the greenhouse built yet. we'll still be on schedule...especially once the greenhouse is built! i can't wait for the rest of the snow to melt - it's been a tiny bit depressing this last few weeks. but spring is coming - i can smell it!!!! i'll do a post in the next day or two....ya know, the usual sky pics for Helga and the girls and food pics and cat pics for Winston and of course....seed pics!!!!! xox to all of you!)

hand tool restoration - part 4

jambaloney here!


hey helga - here is another sky pic for you!!!

here is the final tool post... this is what the mitre box for the saw in the first post looked like before vinegar..

it was pretty rusty and one of the pistons for the saw was rusted in place ..

here it is after the first vinager bath..

pretty ugly and dripping rust flakes...

 as i planned on putting it back in the bath, i took it outside for cleaning #1...

snow  is an excellent abrasive ;-)

 look at the rust!!!

 i had to get that stuck piston out without damage... the mitre box is useless without it - so using a  blow torch...

wd-40 and a bolt to hammer it out - mission accomplished!!!

 nice clouds!!

after another vinager bath, some progress is being made!!

and the bolts were loose enough that i could remove the plates..

 to soak separately a third time...

 back in they go with the last of the tools...

a hand auger and bits, a punch, crimper, chisel...

here are the plates all clean and oiled...

 and the last of the tools!!!

i cleaned the frame for the mitre box, but i haven't  haven't put it back together yet. i plan on a post about sharpening saws and will include a pic of the final product then.


the sun sets on the hand tool restoration posts, hope you enjoyed!!

cheers all!