Tags
country, farm, Historic, House, interior, Ontario, PEC, Prince Edward County, renovation, Restoration, Rural
Work outside continues this week. Dual propane tanks were installed near the drive shed, which meant a 100-foot trench needed to be dug to lay the gas line. It may not be as deep as the water line from the well, but the disturbance to the tree roots had us worried. The large maple to the right near the road is half dead and rotting from the inside out. It will have to be cut back (or cut down) in the near future. The black walnut to the left matches a tree on the east side of the house, and we weren’t sure if the yellow leaves were due to broken roots or the incessant drought.
R and I wanted to keep the propane tanks as far away from the house as possible – they’re obvious eyesores. KA set them on a base of crushed gravel and we hope to build a wood screen around them at some point.
Despite our best efforts to keep the exterior connections below the foundation line, the line installers didn’t appear to get the memo. I’m not sure if they added the vertical extension for safety reasons or not, but I won’t be too happy to see the big plastic cover attached to the brick wall.
Inside, KA has focused efforts on the bathrooms. The rectified white subway tiles require a very fine grout line (usually less than 1/8″) and to be set with perfectly level surfaces. Because the tiles don’t have a ‘pillow’ edge, they’re much less forgiving if their edges aren’t lined up. The precision required to install them means better results are achieved if a single person undertakes the full installation. KA has burned a lot of hours doing this all himself.
Now that the master ensuite shower is fully tiled, the acute angle of the ceiling has me worried for installation of the shower head. Because the bathroom ceiling abuts the eave, we tried to avoid installing lights or pipes through the attic space to maintain a good insulation seal. There might be some problems that result from that reigning decision, especially with our exposed shower manifold.
The ensuite is so tight for space we had a hard time finding room for the air conditioning vent. With no room for a full storage cabinet, the vent had to share space with a recess built into short length of wall between the toilet and tub.
Now that the tub fixtures are connected to the water system, the kitchen ceiling can be completed. A stringer molding will need to be installed around the perimeter of the ceiling to help disguise any contraction of the wood. A quarter-inch of space has been left to allow the wood some room for expansion, which is necessary given the 20-foot span of the room.
The one-inch difference between the floor heights in the front and back halves of the house have always bothered me, but there’s evidence to suggest they’ve always been like that. A massive central beam runs the width of the house, from which secondary beams run north-south like ribs to the outer walls to support the front and back floors. Photographs of the old back floor suggest there’s always been a difference, but it’s a small triumph to see the threshold pieces go in – milled from bits of floorboard salvages from the back room.