This time I've remembered to put the text at the top, so you get an explanation first. Don't expect pictures of the exterior, that would make life too easy for some people. The main room is a combined lounge, dining room, kitchen set-up, which is due to have its carpet replaced with hardwood, (bizarrely imported from Europe!), and we await a delivery from Sears to replace all the white goods with stainless steel equivalents. The kitchen is also due a visit from the wrecking bar, in an attempt to drag a vaguely 1970s style into the 21st century, and to use as much wood as possible in this land of forests, to replace the "recycled weetabix with a picture of a tree stuck to it" (copyright Tony Waldron). You may notice that the exterior photos have a white tinge to them - contrary to popular belief it does occasionally snow in BC, but no-one expected the 200+mm we've had in the last couple of days. As usual I'm writing this on the fly, and have just noticed that the photos do not reflect the actual size. What you see in the first two shots is an area the same as the ground floor of Campbell Road, it will probably be more obvious as we add furniture. The tramway stop is genuinly within 200m. of the front door, but unfortunately only runs on summer weekends summer.

After a couple of days work, and a visit from 1-800 GOT JUNK there now seems to be more space, and I've learnt about electrical installations, and wood-framed construction. More walls have still to meet their fate before I'm finished, and a new wall has to be constructed, but Cathy is already working on the cleared main area with filler and paint roller. Power tool replacement has started with my personal favorite, the angle grinder, and a new discovery, a sort of miniature circular saw, with a selection of 85mm. blades, which is proving invaluable for exploratory work, as it can be set just to cut to the depth of plasterboard, and happily used one handed.

I've somehow managed to move seamlessly from phase 1 (destruction) to phase 2 (construction), although a chance encounter with a local craftsman will lead to a change of timescale, as we may now move various internal walls sooner rather than later, as, being a man after my own heart, he's prepared to moonlight for me at weekends. No new photos, as levelling the floor, and finishing drywall, are not photogenic, and neither is the collection of cardboard boxes from recent deliveries. I'm also having to adapt to local building practices. The battery nail gun is a great toy, but I remain unconvinced by the prescence of two phases on double mains sockets, apart from the fact that it makes my importation of 110/240 transformers somewhat redundant. The room definitions have also been changed, utility room = paint and tool store, walk-in closet = timber store, and bedroom 2 = goods inward.

Back to phase 1. Today's total losses were 1 door and about 18 feet of wall. The fridge is being reccessed back into the utility room, which in its turn has been knocked through into the walk-in closet, whose door is to be walled over. The end result will be 1 decent size room out of two small ones, and space freed up in the kitchen I've now learnt how to demolish Canadian walls, (the tools needed are a stanley knife, drywall saw, big hammer, and selection of prybars and wrecking bars), and have to discover how to build framing, as Bill wishes to start work on Saturday, when he promises to teach me dry-walling. Sadly the two saw horses that the building contractors had left on the patio were taken away today, and short of time to make my own from the newly created stock of timber that used to be the walls, I was forced to go and buy two.

Started on the framing today, which went very well in the first two areas, but on reaching the last, and needless to say most complicated, area I observed the existing structure moving as I attempted to extend it. Investigation revealed a seriously bodged earlier job, where the drywall appeared to be supporting the framing, rather than the conventional opposite. This led to a delay while more demolition happened, and a rethink of the framing in that area, so tommorrow is going to be a race between me and the drywall expert to see if I can keep ahead of him, with the handicap that I'm having to rewire sections, and re-run the dryer extract at the same time. Today's big success was the discovery of the local builders merchants only a 5 minute bus ride away, which unsurprisingly seems to stock everything I will need, at good prices, and a delivery service that saw the drywall and mud at our front door less than 5 hours after I'd left their yard.

The first wall is back up, thanks to the drywall guy, and I managed to keep ahead in the framing race, as he is extremely concientious with preparation, (and because I'm recycling old timber there are some variations in thickness of the framing). The connections for the washer and dryer are all back in place, in fact everything planned for today has actually happened. Its also raining again so there's little incentive to do anything outside.

No photos again, I refuse to waste electrons on pictures of walls, however work progresses well. To save money, (it costs more to dispose of gypsum/plasterboard than it does to buy it), we're burying the old board between the new boards. Ok here where you don't need the insulation, but it may rattle during earthquakes. Kitchen demolition re-commenced, with the discovery that the original plumbing was done by an idiot, who fed all services through the woodwork of the cabinets, rather than around, so I have to dismantle by sawing the cabs from around the pipes! On a side note all of the construction cranes around here are now beautifully illuminated for Christmas, (pics if I get chance), and CTV run a competition for best lights on the block, which will become a challenge for 2007. Second side note, those who know me will understand, I'm shooting all the indoor pics available light, so the quality is not the best, but the atmosphere is.

A quiet day on site, as I had to do the shopping run, and sort out paperwork, however I did sort through the woodpile in preparation for the next junk run, and the stove and extractor are in place. There was also a bout of measurement following the decision to put in an extra door to better isolate the bedroom area from the rest of the house, and I created a sort of schedule for the rest of the project.

Walling is progressing at a steady pace, while I concentrate on tidying various silly details, like the gaps in the floor where walls used to be. A quantity of timber, and the tools required to modify it with minimal effort have been purchased, the junk removal people have given me back working space, and after I've finished replacing a stud that upsets my waller (I'll admit it is warped in three different planes) its off to Ikea to buy a kitchen. This will finally let me remove the last remnants of the old one. The utility room is not fully finished, but the washer and dryer are installed and working.





the view from the front room
the main room
and same an hour later

the local public transport
front room cleared
and the kitchen almost dissappeared

dfi, a fridge recess starts to appear
and the wall between utility and closet has gone
a better view of the holes

the same from a different direction
framing starts to appear
and voila, a wall

framing completed on the fridge alcove
at last, appliances appear in place
and the washer and dryer are actually working



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