Sept 24 2022

This post is about setting up the shop..

OK… The time has come to do some work . It’s a mess. I can’t find most of my tools.  In my other post the  garage was dry walled and painted.  Now the heater is installed so we are good to go.

The heater is nicely tucked up in the corner.  So now I know where I can install shelves and hang stuff.  It’s time to organize and unpack. One of the things to do was install a shelve between the two upper cupboards.

Yes very good storage for stuff I don’t need every day.  But it can’t be heavy because I need to lift it up there.  Oh yes I’ve been busy..

I’ve built a new work bench.  and look it’s messy already.  The drill press and the vice (under blue towel) are mounted.  And it’s painted too !

And more shelves and… I bought a 42 inch wide steel cabinet for my paints and whatever else I decide to put in there.  All of this should take the pressure off the big shelves.

Important News:

I have sold the Kubota BX tractor.  It will be gone from the garage later today and that will give me tons more room.

Bye Bye to a good friend.  But there is no more work for you..  I have a paved driveway and a new electric snow blower.  It’s all part of the plan to lighten the load.  And now … Say good bye to the two ATV’s and the Honda scooter..  wow got my space back !  However took the funds and bought and good ATV ..Newer… almost no work needed.  2013 Polaris.

I’m using the lift table again..

Sept 1 2022

Time to do some yard cleanup and make some changes.

During the move I had taken down the fence between the garage and the house.  This made it easier to get stuff into the back of the house and put the outdoor stuff close to where it will stay.  With intentions of turning the space between the garage and house into a parking area.  Parking on the street for three vehicles is all we have right now so this will give us more parking. Always better to have the vehicles off the road.

This area !  It’s 16 ft wide .. and I’m moving the fence back 8 ft into the yard.  This is what I’m currently working on..   One of the first jobs that we got done is the garden shed.

Tucked it nicely into the corner.  This strip will be gravel and a place to park the utility trailer. The problem here was the ground level.  It was up to and covering the vinyl siding.  That’s just inviting problems for the garage .  Notice the gas line on the far right. With the test gauge still there… it’s for the garage heater soon to be done.  But wait ! Before the gas line could be done under the deck needed to be cleaned up. The gas meter is there.

Cleaning up under the deck… What a mess !  Make way for the gas line to the garage . You can see the trench in the above photo.  It’s all done now and a load of gravel spread.  All done by hand.. no room for the tractor.

Great place to NEATLY store stuff like the kayaks.  This fence between the house and the neighbors needed to be replaced .  One post and most of the wood pickets were rotten. Now that’s done back to the the BIG job…  And this is how far I’ve got… to the end of August.  I have the new fence posts in the ground and the forms around them for a 16 inch wall. By digging down I was able to level the parking pad 16 ft out towards the street.  That’s a big level parking pad.

Here’s the concrete work all done.  A nice large step at the gate.  Plus a concrete apron for the double gate opening to the parking pad beside the garage.

Here’s a different view of the parking pad..  And shows better how I came 8 ft into the yard.  I have the metal for the fence now and I replaced the fence section on the north side of the deck.

Just over 5 ft high and never needs painting.  Just need a bit more gravel inside the fence and we are done. Back to the parking pad…

I’m working on getting the slope to the sidewalk just right.  The whole thing is 20 ft wide .. so it’s a double wide parking area.  With a path from the stairs.  I believe that pile is the last of the dirt and sod getting hauled away.  And after some tweaking I got the slope good.

Time for a truck load of the road mix.. And to spread it evenly..

Poof done !  Now we are looking at this and thinking the sand and gravel is kinda ..  dirty.  So we called the pavers.  And that means My part is done.  So I started on the fence.

And here we have most of it done …just the double gate needs to be built,  But I’ll wait till the pavement is done.   They came the next day.. and in 5 hrs we had a very nice new driveway.

The crew had only a little prep work to do cause I had done most of it.  The transition and slope is prefect.  We’ll give it a few days to set up before parking on it.  Meanwhile I have two more gates to build.

And there we have it.  The best gates I’ve made yet.  Six feet high and very little gaps.  They open out so I can better access the back yard.  And with that we are done .. The cats can use the yard and be safe.  Next is cleaning up and organizing the garage. Which has it’s own post…   Work on the garage

The Garage

July 19 2022

Week three … the work continues :

But now I have help!  Brother in law is here from Winnipeg to give a hand.  I’m now done most of the painting.  Now we have some work to do that having help with it is great.  Starting with the half wall in the kitchen.

This change needs to be done before the painter comes next week to paint the living room and kitchen.  Adding 1 ft to the half wall is needed to have power outlets and back splash for the new lower cabinets that are happening here.  So this was #1 on the list.

Week 4..  home stretch..   All the painting is done except for the computer room.

The plumbers have been and that work is done. New water conditioner, new sink and a new outside faucet.  The yard shed is up and the garage is done …

There’s a lot more in there now..  So Brother in law is heading home and I can handle the last of the yard stuff.  Movers are coming in six days.

Update : Mid August…  Been so busy ..no time for updates.  We are moved in and mostly set up.  The garage is full.. as expected.  But it all fits.

The poor garage had to swallow up the contents of the sea can, barn and the garage from Pinter dr…  plus the two atvs and the Kubota BX..  it’s all in there now. In the house the furniture is all in place in the different rooms.

This is the set up for the family room.  Still a bit of work to do.  And the office has been wired and painted .  New shelves and the fiber now comes in here.

Still needs the drop ceiling done. And it’s getting a new window.  A work in progress.  but not the living room all done except a few pictures.

Notice the one foot rise in the wall.  Hard to tell it wasn’t always like that.  Yes you are seeing a lot of the same color paint..  We bought too much so I was using it in the office too.  And that turned out great.  Our computer desk that we have had for ever fits.  Nice to have high speed internet and TV again.

July 2 2022

We are just a little crazy. !

Since we are so good at moving …let’s try it one more time.  One LAST time.  However this is a good move… let me explain.  This spring we listed the house for sale.. So with all the reno’s we did and the market improving …why not see what happens.  Well nothing happened for two months ! Then on the last day of the listing along comes an offer and it’s a good offer… Darn we were all set to stay.  During that two months we were searching all the possible homes available. Some sold before we could make an offer. And lot’s of them were a not for us.. (rightfully fussy). But now we have a sale on ours.. The pressure is on.  So then we started looking at homes that didn’t tick all the boxes but most. And everything needed to be considered.  And this one was the best deal !

Say Hello to 35 Park Place ..

You know the saying: Location Location..  This is it for Drumheller.  Even last year when we were looking and not really familiar with the neighborhoods This was the part of town that we were drawn to. It’s called Midland and it’s on the north west side of town.  On the road to the Museum.  And that road can be busy during summer.. But not by trucks just the tourists.  This house is away from that road and on a dead end drive.  Yup I’m holding on to the quiet that I like.  Also it’s on the edge of the Midland Provincial Park, which is the home of the Royal Tyrell Museum.  AND we will now benefit from full city services, like paved roads and Fiber internet and tv..  Yes this is a smaller lot. Just a regular size, but it’s all done for us and with a fully fenced back yard.

Two decks …one is all screened in…

We like !  But let’s talk about what’s not seen in these photos.. just a peek on the right side of the house photo.  This !

Wow !  26 x 24  insulated ( soon to be finished and heated ) GARAGE.  Oh baby … I’ll make good use of this.  Would be better if it was attached to the house…but we couldn’t have everything.  The house has some interesting things..  Like the sunken living room.

Different yes..  Very much the same size as our current home. Three bedrooms , two bathrooms.  The basement has a big utility room, a family room and a nice room for computers and hobbies.  All needing no renovations just a little paint and we want to remove the only carpet in the house in the family room.  We also want to eventually change out the wood fireplace for a gas one.  SO what makes this move worth it.  I’ll share the list;

# 1  Less property to look after..  I’m selling the riding mover for a electric one.

# 2  A big heated garage for me..

# 3  House has a newer high efficient furnace AND central AC.

# 4  The wiring and plumbing is great no changes needed

# 5  Telus Pure Fiber is in the house.

# 6  The Kitchen is good and we are only adding one extra cabinet plus some new appliances.

#7  The three bedrooms are bigger and we can use all three.

#8  Storage ! this house has way more.. There is a 4 ft high crawl space under the living room..  tons of room .

That’s enough reasons for us..  We are looking forward to this move.. One other thing that makes this good for us is the deal we made to purchase the house.  The renter would be moving out at the end of June..  Our date for the actual purchase is Aug 8 th.  I’m writing this at the first part of July..  In a few days we have the keys to the house and as part of the agreement will have from now ( one month ahead) to clean , paint, finish the garage, change the floor in the family room. We are having a water conditioner installed.  Set up the new garden shed.  AND move some of our things in as there is room..  All before the movers do the furniture on Aug 6 th.  That’s a huge advantage for us..  All this will mean we are settled in quickly.  Soon we will be very busy..  But I’ll try to take the time to continue this post..

Ok ..,.It’s the 8th of July and we are in the house it’s ours to do the fixing up needed.  We have a month before moving day.  So every morning we head to 35 park pl to do our list of things.  And it’s a long list.  Today the crew came and started dry walling the garage.  The plumber came to access what needs to be done.  And our cabinet guy came to measure for the new cabinet for the kitchen.

This wall which is currently doing nothing to help the kitchen will be put to work.  Six feet of lower cabinets will be here.  Providing lots of additional storage and counter top space.  I will be raising the wall a foot so there can be power outlets and stuff won’t fall off the back of the counter.

And of coarse finishing the garage speaks for it’s self..  Wait till you see it done.  Then I can start moving my shop stuff in.

This is one of the spare rooms upstairs. We are re painting all the upstairs except the two bathrooms.  This room will be two tone gray .. the blue is too much.  The other spare room will be a neutral taupe paint.  Interesting checker plate wall paper.  The family room in the basement is getting some love too..  We don’t want carpet so we removed it and put it in the crawl space.  New laminate flooring for that room and some paint.  We are now a week into the work and there is lots of progress.  The room pictured above is now finished.

Looks great..  As well I finished the second spare bedroom which had green painted walls.  It looked like this..

But no more..

The color is called “latte”  don’t know who’s latte..  but it’s very neutral.  The family room got a coat of paint today as well. But something went wrong with the paint and it changed color as I progressed.  I’ll repaint and then take a photo.

But let’s start a new page for this story..

  Week 3 page 2 work