Main Doors and Sanding - 29 & 30 March 2012

The cane bolts went in yesterday and then today, Brad drilled the holes in the concrete floor and installed the tubes that the bolts lock into. He also installed these beautiful old-looking (reproduction) latches.

Will did lots of sanding on the main floor.  He got the stairwell, the whole eastern side sanded, the pillars and most of the beam.

Since Will had done so much sanding, I had to start catching up by doing the priming.  I managed to do the stairwell today.

Doors, Sanding, Plumbing & Electrical - 27 & 28 March 2012

Its been quieter around the Firehouse this week, but by no means silent.  Brad has been working away steadily at finishing off the carpentry tasks. Today he was working on the main doors again to put the third set of hinges on them.  Will and I have also been working at the Firehouse, albeit much more slowly then the professionals could do.  Yesterday we did a lot of caulking upstairs and Pete Langille came by to hook up the in-floor heating and connect the work sink. Today, Will worked on sanding on the main floor epoxy patches.  He also made the work sink come back to life. I wish you could feel how great the building is now that it has this wonderful heat emanating from the floor, but I have no way of showing that.

Seth came by to finish connecting the hot water heater and to finish off a couple of other small electrical jobs.

Rocks and Main Doors - 26 March 2012

We got lots of rocks today.  Clark and Gilbert Falkenham were here with two truck loads full of great pieces of granite. Its going to allow for some excellent garden landscaping all around the Firehouse. We really enjoyed meeting Gilbert and we are so happy that he has helped us with all of these great rocks.

The rest of the day included Brad adding a third hinge to the main doors and Geneva and Agatha helping to sort wood.

Doors - 23 March 2012

Sorry to be posting this so late, but I had some difficulty getting these two pictures to load to the computer. Very strange; its usually no problem at all.  These two lovely doors were added so that the main floor bathroom has privacy and there is a door before the stairwell. Brad also did a urethaning of the stairs on Friday.  Since that time, he has done another coat of urethane and we have done quite a bit of caulking upstairs.  We've also had a load of rocks delivered for eventual landscaping.  More on that last info in a future post.

Lighting - 22 March 2012

It felt rather strange yesterday not doing anything in the Firehouse and not writing the blog.  Since the weather outside was a balmy 25 degrees Celsius, I forced myself not to do anything. I came close to doing the same thing today, but Mike Knock came over to do the electrical, so I couldn't not try to help, take pictures, ask lots of annoying questions, etc.

Mike doesn't like having his picture taken, so here is one of his back while he is working.  Hopefully, this fits with his no pictures plan.  All the lighting is done, inside and out, the boiler and hot water heater are all wired, and electric heat is taken care of upstairs.

Colin's Last Day - 20 March 2012

This has been a hard blog post to write.  I couldn't decide how to label it or what to say.  We've known for several months that Colin, the leader of our fantastic team of heritage carpenters, would be leaving for an extended trip on 21 March.  Leading up today the activity has been increasingly frenetic, as the team tried to complete all of the carpentry work to finish the Firehouse. There is nothing like a fixed deadline to make you push yourself.

But the Firehouse is not finished and I guess that has been my challenge in how to label and describe the activity.  There are still several things that Brad will come and work on and there are tasks that Will and I have taken on and with which we will continue. So, I can't say the Firehouse is finished, but I can say that Colin has taken it as far as he can and that his team, specifically Brad, will continue capably in his absence. We will miss him, but we also know he will have to come back for a final inspection and proofing of the Firehouse. We hope his trips are as wonderful as they sound.

Indeed, even with some wrapping up activities, lots was accomplished today.  Refitted windows were re-installed and beams were sanded. Peter Langille was with us for the day, so all of the plumbing was installed and hooked up.  The Town of Lunenburg crew came by and gave us water.

Plumbing, Pillars and More - 19 March 2012

Peter Langille spent the day with us today and installed a water tank, in-floor heating boiler, bathtub, sink and the plumbing for another sink and two toilets.  While he was doing that windows were being re-trimmed, primed and painted, doors were being hung, pillars were being chamferred (I have to check the spelling on that. Its a nice edge, but I'm not sure if I have the word right), and landings were being laid.  Lots of work.  Thank goodness Brad had spent some time yesterday laying the rest of the stairs and kick plates; it allowed for a lot of things to make progress today.

Mark is going back to school tomorrow after what, for us, was a very productive break.  Thanks for your help, Mark, and we hope to see you again soon.

I'm quite proud of this bathtub.  Having found it on Kijiji and had it sitting in the backyard for several months, it is now sporting six coats of paint and looking quite spiffy.

Stairwell & Epoxy - 16 March 2012

Work today was mainly on the stairwell.  It has baseboard all the way up (and down, of course), trim on the top of the baseboard about half the way, a newel post at the upper landing, and stairs down to the upper landing.

Mark has gained lots of experience this week.  Today, I suspect he got his fill of epoxy.  I think he has gained the sobriquet "Epoxy Man".

Stairwell, Bath, Beam and Posts - 15 March 2012

This post actually refers to last evening starting at 10 pm when Dennis and Mark finished fire practice and came over to this Firehouse to prime and paint the stairwell.  Six hours later they were done and we were into the ides of March.  There was no snow at 430 when they left, but by 930 when I dragged myself out of bed, still bleary eyed there was a whole lot of very wet, packing snow on the ground.

The snow didn't get in the way of progress, it just made for slippery walking between the Firehouse and the Floral Cottage.  Will put up the bathroom light and fixed the heater on the wall, after Mike Knock had connected it to the electricity.  Brad hooked up one of the stairwell lights on Mike's behalf. I learned how to do caulking in the bathroom upstairs and continued with priming all of the upstairs trim.  Colin, Brad and Mark have done a bang-up job of covering the posts on the main floor and boxing the beam. They also added the trim around the windows in the stairwell.

Trim - 14 March 2012

The wainscotting, chair rail, and baseboards on the main floor are all done.  It pops!  I like the clean lines and fresh look of it, especially with the "thousand islands" paint on the walls above the white wainscotting.  A lot of organizing and cleaning out of supplies and tools also occurred. The guys have started boxing in the main beam and the pillars, too. Now, at the end of the day, Mark and Dennis are painting the stairwell.

Trim - 13 March 2012

Things are moving quickly.  Curved trim around the main doors - done.  Plugs, switches and lights upstairs - done. Trim around windows and doors on the main floor - done. Wainscotting the main floor - done.  Sanding the stairwell - done. Whew! These guys are moving and shaking. Its been a busy, but very productive day.

Trim - 10, 11 & 12 March 2012

I don't usually post blogs on the weekends, because our fine team of heritage carpenters doesn't work weekends and deserves some well earned down-time.  This past weekend was an exception; I still didn't blog, but the guys did lots of work, and Will and I chipped in, too. Brad continued to work on mudding the stairwell, while Colin made lots of the final trim pieces that will be used to finish off the main floor.  All the nail holes upstairs had a good sanding to remove any excess epoxy.

This weekend work allowed the full complement of Colin, Brad and Mark to hit the ground running and finish off door casings on the main floor and get a good start on the wainscotting.  Mark and I also did lots of priming for other trim pieces that will go in various places over the next several days.

Trim - 9 March 2012

Lots of trim being worked on today, as well as mudding on the stairwell.  This next week is going to be a big one for work on the Firehouse.  We are getting close and so, in the next week, all the trim will be finished, the wainscotting will be done on the main floor, the stair treads, backs and railing will be done, main door pins and latches will be added and the beam and pillars will be covered.  That's the plan, but hoo boy, its a big one.  Wish us luck.

Painting and Storming - 8 March 2012

How appropriate for International Women's Day to be joined by two excellent women and to be able to work together to accomplish a task.  Katja, Micheline and I painted the main floor today and it looks wonderful, in my humble opinion.

While the painting was going on Colin and Brad were installing the majority of the storm windows on the Firehouse.  They couldn't have picked a better day as it was sunny and 12 degrees.  Well, a bit less wind would have helped for carrying large windows, but they managed with no problems.

This afternoon, Mark Feener came over with the old 1930 Dodge Brothers hose wagon from the Lunenburg Fire Department.  The first antique truck at the Firehouse.  How nice!

Sanding, Trimming and Painting - 7 March 2012

Brad finished off all of the sanding today and then he and Colin continued work on the trim upstairs.  It is almost done.  We also had some extra help today with Mark and Dennis priming the main floor and painting the ceiling.  It allowed me to keep painting trim pieces inside.

We're not used to seeing the Firehouse all lit up at night, but the lights are necessary to be able to complete the priming.  It looks great - inside and out.