Shed Build Diary - 7

I managed to install 90% of the rafters all by myself as Dad is still in the East end. I used joist hangers that are not supposed to be used for rafters, however the price difference of CAD 7.00 per hanger justifies it's use.

Simpson 'Strong Tie' Hurricane Ties used at the front of the shed.

Joist hangers used at the wall end.

Dealmonger - Malibu Deck Lighting

This morning saw me back at the Brampton ReStore in an attempt to score a window for the south wall of the shed. I did not find the window, but instead scored 9 of the above Low Voltage Deck Lights for the princely sum of CAD 1.00 each. That means that I got the 9 units for CAD 9.13, which is less than the pre tax price of CAD 12.98 per unit at the 'Depot'!!

Me Happy!!!

Shed Build Diary - 6

No pics. I had the entire work area covered in Tarpaulin as there was rain on the weekend. On Saturday Dad and I got in a good deal of work, building the South wall and bracing the structure. Got the wood for the rafters and I intend to start construction later in the day.

Day & Mum are at A. Joy's place for the week and Savio has already found a place to stay. So I'm all alone this week. Let's see what I get done.

On another note - download Praan by Gary Schyman and sung by Palbasha Siddique. It's from www.wherethehellismatt.com. Good listen. Strange Motive.

Get on the GO

Last Thursday I took the Girls to the CNE (Seperate post on that) and we took the GO Train in. It was an amazingly smooth ride. It's a pity that ridership numbers (and the CN) do not justify or allow for all day services. We had to take the GO bus back in to Brampton and was stuck on the 427 for 45 minutes on account of construction. However the sheer luxury of the seats more than made up for the delay.

The LINK - GTAA Terminal Train

This morning Dad & I got to joy-ride (yes. You heard that right) on the LINK, Toronto Pearson Airport's Terminal Train. While waiting for Savio, we decided - what the heck - to go for a ride. The train is not technically a train, but a Cable Car!! It contains no propulsion unit but instead is moved by a cable from station to station. If you look closely you can see the return cable running within the framework. Very interesting!! It is made by the Doppelmayr Cable Car Company from whose site the pictures above have been culled.
A very nice ride!!!!

Shed Build Diary - 5

Finally managed to get some work done today in between entertaining Dagmar, Maya & Gang and collecting Savio from the airport. The front wall has been framed and the window installed just to see how it looks. Me thinks it looks fine. I could've done with more space... but then again... how much land does one man need??????

A Shout Out for my Mother

While most of my posts feature my father helping me build schtuff, It would be thoughtless of me not to mention my mother who by ensuring that there is food on the table for lunch and dinner, has enabled me to complete my projects by due date. Alas I do not have pictures of Mum and A. Ayn at full tilt in the Chutney Factory that was my kitchen last Saturday. Pity.

Here is Mum in the gardens of Casa Loma

Shed Build Diary - 4

This is the door that I picked up from the Brampton Re-Store. I could've got a steel door, but I need to make adjustments to the height of the door and this could be cut easily. Besides I liked the fact that the door is Oak. Dad will sand and varnish the door and it should look great in contrast to the white shed.

Shed Build Diary - 3

The floor in place. We used 5/8" Spruce Exterior Grade Plywood, No Nails adhesive and 97, 1" screws to lay the floor. This is to ensure that the floor will not squeak for many years to come.

Word of Advice. When getting anything cut at the Home Depot, be sure to measure before and after the cut. The kid there screwed up one entire board because he did not know how to accommodate for the Kerf. So I had to get another board and got the cuts for free as well.

Shed Build Diary - 2

We built the base using pressure treated wood on the sides and standard SPF (Spruce/Pine/Fir) studs as the floor joists. I used Simpson 'Strong Tie' Joist Hangers for added strength. We then lifted the entire unit from the Deck where we built it, to it's intended location and then used concrete screws to fasten it to the wall at the rear and the floor at the front.

Shed Build Diary - 1

Finally started work on the Shed. Dad and I moved the old shed off the foundation and to the side. We had initially decided to build up the existing base with more concrete, but on closer inspection found out that we would need multiple bags just to get it on level. We decided to go with a wooden base instead.

Prisoner - Denzil Francis D'Souza

And finally pictures of Dad as P.O.W. going about his daily chores breaking bricks..........


Happy prisoners have a better chance of parole!!!

And are even permitted to have visitors!!!

And for the record we have a video of the prisoner going about his daily duties.....

Garage Sale Loot - Saturday the 9th of August

Wow we really trawled Brampton this morning. Got some great packs of Black & White pictures of Canadian soldiers as well as the Scottish and Welsh countryside. From the same sale I got a Honeywell programmable thermostat, a scouts compass for Layla and a vintage cookie cookbook.

From another sale I got a Yoke (the kind that hitches bullocks to a cart) and from another I got a Bessey Table vice.

Not to shabby for a morning at the sales.

Sounds from the Road - Part Zwei

Saturday morning sees Dad & myself at the bank to withraw cash for the Garage Sales and what do I find lying on the grass in the parking lot of the bank. A retro Telefunken TR 606 receiver. I did not expect it to work but saw me using the case as a computer case for the Media Server that I have planned to build for the longest time. Unfortunately!!!!!! (or fortunately) it works!!! And well. Oh well. Back to driving the roads with eyes peeled.

Here it is hooked up to my Acoustic Energy's and my Creative MP3 player, looking cool and sounding so good.

And it even has a Midrange control that you do not ever see on modern receivers.

The Tuner section is sort of spinning freely and needs looking at. Otherwise!!!!????

LCBO & Beer Store

Dad & I at the Beer Store this evening with Avi documenting the visit.
A Bud (or two) for you.

It's Canadian!!!!!

Kingfisher!!! Albeit, brewed in the U.K.

Bacardi. Made in Brampton!!! Just down the road from us.....

And finally. WildAss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds from the Road

So my neighbors (2 houses down) set this out on the sidewalk a day before collection and I wheeled all 30+ kilos of it home. I thought that I could reuse the unit as a subwoofer enclosure that would sit beneath the basement stairs and fire into the room from between the treads. The dust cap appeared torn, but that was not a concern as I would be replacing the bass driver.


That was the plan until I unscrewed the rear on the enclosure to find that the bass driver is a JBL unit.........And then I connected it to the amp and it plays astonishingly well!!!!! The midrange driver is shot on account of it being connected directly to the connector plate with no crossover to filter out the low frequencies.

Did I mention that I love this country???????

Cooking Al Fresco!!!

Dad and I just completed what, to me, is the perfect complement to the BBQ. An outdoor kitchen table. Made from Pressure Treated 2x4's, Fence Boards as the work surface and trellis for the door inserts, we completed the table in our target time of one week. A SS sink from Ikea's AS-IS and a faucet from ReStore Brampton complete the table. Mum has already been putting it to good use, slicing apples and other fruit that seem to follow her home from her walks. The doors serve to hold and hide the recycle bins and the girls' various outdoor toys.

Gate Complete

The gate has just been completed late this evening with the assistance of my father. This is a picture of the fence and gate when we took possession of the house.

This is the gate now. Painting is still balance and will be done once the Pressure Treated wood has dried completely.

Go Fly a Kite

And yesterday...... I flew a kite for the first time in my life.... Hey what was I to do??? Let the girls know that their father is unable to do something??????? So we flew the kites and kept them aloft for a lonnnnng time. After which the girls found mock fishing in the "river" to be more fun than the kites.

Thanks Avi and Eva for gifting the girls the kites. Much Love!

Going Commando

Meanwhile Dinesh, my bestest brother ever, got me two more of the Commando anthologies. Commandos are still a great read even after all these years.......

Thanks Bro.

Artemis Fowl - The Time Paradox

Just one day more.......... Be still, my beating heart

From the Mouths of Babes Part V or History Rewroted

So we were driving to see 'Iron Man' (or Istriwallah as they say in India) when Layla mentions Mary Magdalene.
Intrigued, I prodded for more information "What do you know of Mary Magdalene"
Layla: "She's that old girl from the Bible. She discovered a fossil"
Me: "A fossil?"
Layla: "Yes, a fossil of a dinosaur"
Me: "A dinosaur"
Layla: "It was a Fish Lizard type dinosaur"
Layla: "Oh Yes. It was called a Thesaurus!!"

You have been informed. Make the necessary changes in your history books.

May the Fourth be with you!

Wow. It has been long since I last posted. Spring hit us by surprise and sometime in there we had a brief preview of Summer as well. But that is behind us as the temperatures plummeted again reminding us that it is well and truly spring.
This sort of upset my DIY/Reno clock as my mind shifted to outdoor projects. Lynda wants the flower beds in a perfect line. I want a brand new utility shed. She wants the foot of the garden tended to. I want to build a brand new outdoor kitchen in time for summer grilling. She wants the deck area revamped. I want a new recycling centre to keep the blue bins hidden & I want to raise the height of the rear gate and fence.
So much to do with so little time. The girls needed the cycles maintained and I did that. Now they want to cycle to school!!!
Where do I begin?
May the Fourth be with Me!!!

'Achtung!', 'Gott in Himmel!', 'Donner und Blitzen!' - 'Die! Englischer Schweinhund'

While trolling Amazon, I had come across "The Dirty Dozen" way back in 2006. Thinking it to be just a reissued anthology of old comics, I gave it a pass. Until I chanced upon the book itself in Chapters up on Bovaird Drive.

Seeing, as they say is believing.

The book itself is simply amazing. At 25% larger than the original comics and at 700+ pages, it was a must have. Especially for those who spent most of their childhood into the teens watching the Pommies, Yanks and Ozzies trash Jerry!

The book is categorised as a paperback, but truly is constructed like a hardcover. The entire book is section bound. That obviates pages deciding to detach themselves from the book. Best of all.... It's printed and bound in India!

As I was already picking up 'Airman', I passed on the two issues that Chapters had in the stores at a discounted price. However having received the all clear from Lynda, I was there in a flash and so starts a collection..........

Airman

Just bought the new Eoin Colfer book titled 'Airman'. A really great read!! Finished it in a day!! This is the first time that I have seen a trailer for book on "You Tube".

Poetry in Blumotion

I discovered that the hinges on the IKEA kitchen units were actually 'Julius Blum' and googled the options available for the same. Found out that I could put dampers on them to slow down the motion of the door when slammed. The Depot wanted CAD 7.00 per piece. After a little homework, I found out that Lee Valley was selling the very same units for half the price. Avi was kind enough to pick them up for me from Lee Valley en route to Eva's place and this is how they function. Please note that the lady in the video does not stay with us or ever visited our house!!!! This video was culled from the Internet

Project Pantry

This is what we were faced with when we took possession of the house in September. I was quick to remove the door leading to the basement (what we now refer to as the lower level!) and in the bargain exposed the very exposed pantry. The first thing that I had to get rid of was the very nasty looking 'Faux Grain' plywood. This left us with walls covered in a very strange shade of peach!!

This is what we lived with for a few months. The shelves are visible from the kitchen and essentially became a dumping ground.

This is what it looks like after a very long weekend of cutting and being covered in sawdust!! Basically these are three IKEA AKURUM High Cabinets that were 15 inches wide x 12 inches deep and 80 inches in height. I had to cut the depth of the carcasses to 7 and a quarter inches including the shelves. Lynda assisted with the long cuts and I do not think she really enjoyed being covered in dust.

It's a big difference from what we had before and is more pleasing on the eyes. Also visible is a pendant lamp that we got from the local salvation army store at a throwaway price. It was brand new - in the box!!!!!!!

Bookcase - Complete!!

The bookcase is finally complete and I loaded it up with all my comics, CD's, LP's etc. The outermost units have their top halves covered by doors. The main reason for this is that the right hand doors are covering the Main Fuse Panel of the house. The left hand side had to be covered to maintain symmetry. Anyways it's a good thing as I needed the space to tuck away all of my spare PC gear.


This is what the inside of the Right Hand unit looks like with it's doors wide open. The cover for the fuse panel is off and has been sprayed white to minimise the impact that the grey colour would have had. I will be putting in shelves to make use of all of the available space.

This is a cut out I made in order to turn off the main breaker; when and if required.

Just an image showing the various cuts that I had to make to accommodate the varying profile of the fuse box and it's support.

Zero Bubble

'Zero Bubble' is a Maritime Term used specifically by the US Navy when describing a level state or calling for a submarine to be levelled out.

My bookshelves are now at Zero Bubble!!!

An amazing feat if I may say so myself; given that the floor is completely whack and that I am dealing with five individual units.


Now to screw them all together and do the final fixing!!!

It's been a great day so far, even though I've had to spend an hour and a half digging a path out of the snow for the car and having to take care of an unwell Aaliyah.

We're getting there baby!!!

Wasted Week (So Far)

The week so far has been a blur. We actually did get so much done over the weekend. We painted the walls of Lynda's studio pure white as well as all of the silly brown shelves. For a touch of whimsy, I got the 'Esquire' to hop over to IKEA and get me the 'Dignitet' curtain wire. This creates a sort of a cocoon for Lynda and can be drawn back completely when required without the hardware being overwhelming.

We also painted the beadboard white and it looks great. The fireplace has also gone completely white.

The bookcases have their new hardboard backs in place and the last one is assembled with the cutouts drawn out. I could not do the cutting with the jigsaw on account of it being too late in the night. Hop over to the Depot 2morrow for a half back and then work towards getting the last unit in place. If I can get the units bayed and affixed to the wall, Lynda will get the stuff off the ground and on the shelves.