Speaking of which, I changed the bottom bracket, removing the one from Excel Sports with the ceramic bearings installed. They are toast -- you can feel the grinding and the side-to-side play is noticeable as you look down at the large chainring if you're standing going up a hill. It moves so much from side-to-side that the chain hits the front derailleur. I will have to followup with Excel -- I got 5000 miles out of the bottom bracket but should probably get more.
I said no mortar -- but the prior day I had gone ahead and mortared most of the closet and perimeter tiles in the bedroom.
So ... what else did I do ... ???
-- prepped the plywood floor (cutting 1/8" grooves) for the rest of the floor except the games room which is piled high with stuff
-- final sanding the bathroom -- I've concluded that drywall finishing is my all-time least favorite activity
-- final sanding drywall bottom of stairs
-- paint (prime) bathroom and bottom of stairs
-- cut Ditra for bathroom floor
-- insulate hot and cold water pipes ... where did this one come from ? I had purchased pipe wrap that has been hanging around my work room since last fall and got a bunch installed
-- general cleanup and organizing
-- planning for tile installation
I'm left with the closet area underneath the stairs and the closet in the bedroom as areas that still need drywall finishing and priming. I'll have to get all this done before the rest of the tiles arrive so that I can concentrate on laying tiles (or perhaps I should save these items so that I can get a break from tiling ??).
The last one -- planning -- sounds easier than it is. I spent an hour or so trying to find the best starting place for the 20x20 tiles that will cover the rest of the floor. With multiple walls and doorways, there is an optimum place to start that won't leave me cutting 1" tiles along a major wall. I'm still not sure that I've found the right starting point -- the bedroom doorway could end up with 1" tiles and I have to ensure that I am hitting the stairwell posts in such a way that I can actually cut the tiles to fit. The other consideration is that I have to have a row of tiles hitting the entranceway to the games room in such a way that I can put an expansion joint there (and then find caulking to match the grout, but that's another issue).
The tiles are supposed to be in Toronto on the 11th -- Wednesday -- coming from Calgary. Once I know that the tiles are in Toronto, I can go ahead and start laying Ditra -- I don't want to do that until I'm sure that I will have tiles to lay.
Back to the bedroom -- I have 8 more tiles that I could mortar in place at this point and 3 tiles (the doorway) that I cannot -- I'm going to leave those until I start laying the 20x20's because those tiles are thicker and I'll want to put just a little bit more mortar underneath so that their heights match. I also have grouting to do in that room ... perhaps on Monday I'll start that process.
The other issue that I have run into is the door for the wine cellar. It is an insulated outside door with an aluminum threshold. It's been installed for close to a year now and the flooring, including the tiles, will be slightly higher than the start of the aluminum threshold. I'm not sure how to finish it off once the tiles are in place -- probably cut it and craft a wooden threshold piece to cover the aluminum that is higher than the tiles ... hmmm ... bit of bad planning that. It's flexible, bends as you step on it, so I cannot simply grout up to and over it since the grout would crack.
We should see Udo this week -- hopefully -- to finish the stairs (staining that is) after which I can install the pickets and shoe rails that Sandy will have all ready stained. She gave the laundry room bench its final coat of varathane last night, so it will be ensconced in its place in the laundry room today.
I got a call from Home Depot yesterday -- my closet pieces are in so I'll be able to tackle that this week. Sandy is going into Sudbury on Tuesday to get Abby groomed ... prettied up ... and will visit Home Depot to pick this up. She can also pick up some more mortar from the tile place ... which reminds me of this joke sent by Sheryl about a Barrie Ontario Home Depot customer ... supposedly the person in the picture below is trying to carry 3,000 pounds of material (he also has 10 bags of concrete @ 80 pounds each in the back seat). Both back tires exploded, the wheels bent and the rear shocks were driven through the floorboard. The police stopped him from cutting the twine holding the load on the roof (he probably would have killed himself, which definitely would have supported Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest).
What else ? -- Sandy and Kylie arrived about 7pm from Philadelphia on Saturday night. They had stopped in Parry Sound for Swiss Chalet -- Sandy's favorite. Sandy reported heavier than usual traffic the entire way -- enough to speed up the traffic flow but not heavy enough to grind to a halt. It would have been much slower had she waited until Sunday to return. Apparently there was a 2-3 hour backup at the border going back in the U.S. but going into Canada was not a problem.
One of Kylie's first priorities was getting out in the kayak, which she was able to do given their early arrival. Her friend Lauren, the Mathews' granddaughter, arrives on the 10th, Tuesday, for a few days, and they will both be out in the kayaks. Stef called to say that Lauren (Kylie's sister) wanted to talk to Kylie ... what a hoot (Lauren is 4). Lauren was crying and carrying on when Kylie was leaving so maybe this will help.
Progress ... I have three weeks before people start arriving and 4 weeks until the family reunion. It will go quickly.
I heard from Dave Lowry on Saturday, just as I had to leave for Mass, so I'll have to call him back and catch up. Dave built and managed the building of our "northern home" -- obviously leaving some project work for me so that I wouldn't get bored in retirement. Dave is starting to use a computer and was showing some potential clients my website from the cottage build and also found my blog ... I told Dave that I would update the cottage build part of the website with some of the subsequent pictures of the completed work including the deck -- those pictures are filed under 2006.
I think that's it for now. Time for breakfast for Abby and me.
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