So after reading and researching about our floor some more online, there was another option for our floor strength dilemma... It involved gluing and fastening a 2x4 to the bottom of the floor joists in question to make a shape like this: ┴ . I'm not sure if that character came through properly, but basically think of the floor joist cross-section looking like an upside down "T". This method apparently strengthens a joist by a factor of 250%! It's cheap and relatively easy to do and the only drawback is you loose 1.5" of headroom in the (eventual) ceiling.
Now, I wouldn't normally take any "Joe's" word for it, but this information comes from a retired structural engineer based out of Toronto... so that's on pretty good account that this information is fairly accurate. And it makes total sense if you think about. We just can't really quantify the 250% strengthening claim... Much cheaper and MUCH easier than "sistering" the joists which only doubles the strength.
So that was my project this weekend. Twelve 12ft 2x4's glued and screwed to the bottom of the floor joists. The glue was really powerful smelling stuff, so we slept at Marn's parents Saturday night as Marn couldn't handle it, and was worried about it harming the baby.
First impressions on Sunday? It worked, at least somewhat, as I didn't notice the "bouncing" from Echo as he trotted by. I didn't give it a good bounce test as I want the glue to fully bond which takes about 48 hours. Unfortunately, there's no real way to test out the new strength of the floor now, other than impressions and feeling.... the test will be after we lay tile down - will it crack after some time, or not? I guess we'll see! Hopefully this wasn't a big waste of time!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Echo's Behaviour
Echo's behaviour lately has been.... well, lets say "less than desirable"!
He's becoming more and more brazen with his destruction, and if it keeps up, we'll have no choice but to set up his crate again somewhere. I thought about the basement in the past, but since he won't go hear the basement, that might not work. I don't want to fight with him to go down there day after day.
What has he eaten lately?
- Marnie's leather shoe - unrepairable.
- my slip on rubber garden sandals - into literally 100's of pieces.
- my winter boots - ate almost through the toe on one of them.
- another leather shoe of Marnie's, but not destroyed.
- paper and magazines, as per usual.
- a red marker getting ink all over the carpet.
- pens.
- a(nother) screw driver handle left on a counter.
Some of this is undeniably our fault because we haven't been exercising him as much as he needs. Who wants to go out in this ridiculous weather (32 cm's in 1 day!)? But it's something more than that. 2 weekends ago, I took him to the dog park on both Saturday and Sunday, for about an hour each. Normally this is enough to conk him out for a good 2 days. On that Monday he returned to his destructive self. So in that case, it wasn't because he had pent-up energy - he got tons of exercise just the day before!
I'm starting to think that it's separation anxiety. He seems to do it during the first hour that we're gone - I'm only guessing that because I've left things out as a test while shoveling or knowing that I would be gone for only a short time, and he got into the stuff he shouldn't have. I even gave him a toy stuffed with treats during that test (that particular time was only 15 minutes) and he decided to leave the toy and go after the paper that was accessible, but not blatantly in front of him - so he's intentionally sniffing stuff out.
Very, very frustrating!! I think we're going to have to start doing basic training with him again in hopes that this new-found destructive phase passes, and before he decides that the couches would be tons of fun to "de-stuff"!
He's becoming more and more brazen with his destruction, and if it keeps up, we'll have no choice but to set up his crate again somewhere. I thought about the basement in the past, but since he won't go hear the basement, that might not work. I don't want to fight with him to go down there day after day.
What has he eaten lately?
- Marnie's leather shoe - unrepairable.
- my slip on rubber garden sandals - into literally 100's of pieces.
- my winter boots - ate almost through the toe on one of them.
- another leather shoe of Marnie's, but not destroyed.
- paper and magazines, as per usual.
- a red marker getting ink all over the carpet.
- pens.
- a(nother) screw driver handle left on a counter.
Some of this is undeniably our fault because we haven't been exercising him as much as he needs. Who wants to go out in this ridiculous weather (32 cm's in 1 day!)? But it's something more than that. 2 weekends ago, I took him to the dog park on both Saturday and Sunday, for about an hour each. Normally this is enough to conk him out for a good 2 days. On that Monday he returned to his destructive self. So in that case, it wasn't because he had pent-up energy - he got tons of exercise just the day before!
I'm starting to think that it's separation anxiety. He seems to do it during the first hour that we're gone - I'm only guessing that because I've left things out as a test while shoveling or knowing that I would be gone for only a short time, and he got into the stuff he shouldn't have. I even gave him a toy stuffed with treats during that test (that particular time was only 15 minutes) and he decided to leave the toy and go after the paper that was accessible, but not blatantly in front of him - so he's intentionally sniffing stuff out.
Very, very frustrating!! I think we're going to have to start doing basic training with him again in hopes that this new-found destructive phase passes, and before he decides that the couches would be tons of fun to "de-stuff"!
Floor Headaches
Well, after a LOT of research online and talking to people in tile shops and on "pro tiling" forums, it appears that our kitchen floor can't technically support tile or stone because of how it was made. Which means, that if we went ahead and laid tile down, it would surely fail (crack, or come up) because there's too much "give" in the floor. You would know what we're talking about if you've been in the kitchen and felt the bouncing while Echo trots by....
We will either have to beef up the floor joists in the basement (if they had just put in 2x10's instead of 2x8's, we'd be fine!) >:( , or add some other kind of support beam in the basement to shorten the span between the joists by a few feet. The first option would be easier for me to do, the second, I'm not so sure about - sounds like more of a professional needs to be brought in. That option also wouldn't affect the "living space" down there assuming that the support posts could be on the outer walls of the space instead of right in the middle, and a bulkhead would hide the beam anyway.
Beefing up the joists would consist of "sistering" each existing 2x8 with another 2x8, effectively making them "4x8's". I would probably also need to rent some sort of jack to take the bend out of the floor while doing that also. I'm leaning towards the sistering option, as it doesn't look like it'll be too hard to do (not too many wires and things in the way).
So, the options now are to go ahead with one of those options above, or scrap putting tile in altogether, and go with either Cork in the kitchen (we originally wanted that), or hardwood throughout the entire main floor. I really don't want hardwood in the kitchen, though.
As for backsplash, we *still* haven't decided on a colour, or style yet. We are leaning towards a white-ish stone subway tile (either 1x2" or 2x4"). But I'm worried that white stone will stain easily.
What to do, what to do.... I also wanted to get all of this done before September!!
We will either have to beef up the floor joists in the basement (if they had just put in 2x10's instead of 2x8's, we'd be fine!) >:( , or add some other kind of support beam in the basement to shorten the span between the joists by a few feet. The first option would be easier for me to do, the second, I'm not so sure about - sounds like more of a professional needs to be brought in. That option also wouldn't affect the "living space" down there assuming that the support posts could be on the outer walls of the space instead of right in the middle, and a bulkhead would hide the beam anyway.
Beefing up the joists would consist of "sistering" each existing 2x8 with another 2x8, effectively making them "4x8's". I would probably also need to rent some sort of jack to take the bend out of the floor while doing that also. I'm leaning towards the sistering option, as it doesn't look like it'll be too hard to do (not too many wires and things in the way).
So, the options now are to go ahead with one of those options above, or scrap putting tile in altogether, and go with either Cork in the kitchen (we originally wanted that), or hardwood throughout the entire main floor. I really don't want hardwood in the kitchen, though.
As for backsplash, we *still* haven't decided on a colour, or style yet. We are leaning towards a white-ish stone subway tile (either 1x2" or 2x4"). But I'm worried that white stone will stain easily.
What to do, what to do.... I also wanted to get all of this done before September!!
Friday, March 07, 2008
forgot to add below...
Braeden, the poor guy, after seeing his Mom crying and screaming after hearing the news got upset as well. Candace said, "it's ok, they're going to have a baby". This confused him even more and started wailing and crying away as we tried to make him understand that mom's tears were happy tears... When he finally calmed down enough to talk (barely), he cried out, "but Sadie is OUR baby! I don't want them to take her!"
aww poor guy! We're not sure he ever understood it then, but he did calm down once Candace did and she told him we're having our own baby. Not Sadie. It was cute and sad. And funny at the same time.
aww poor guy! We're not sure he ever understood it then, but he did calm down once Candace did and she told him we're having our own baby. Not Sadie. It was cute and sad. And funny at the same time.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Smile, we're having a baby!
Just in case the news hasn't reached you yet, yes, we are pregnant and expecting in September!
Much to the chagrin of Marn's mom and sister, Candace, here are a few "in the moment" shots when we broke the news to them... Enjoy! :)
Marn's parents came over to have a latte after breakfast, so we used the time to trick them into a picture with the "new lattes".
Processing....
"Whaaaa?!"
(I don't know how to type what she was screaming here)
"are you pregnant?" (she got it right away)
"laughing and crying"
"crying..."
Unfortunately, we didn't get any photo's when we broke the news to my Mom, Teresa, Branko, Tony, Lisa and the kids at our dinner table, or Dad and Barb's reaction at Breakfast the next morning.
Marn said, after Branko offered the table some wine, "I'm sorry I can't have any, I'm expecting".
Teresa (the clairvoyant one) said, "I knew it!", while Mom screamed and hugged Marn.
Dad got it almost right away when I said, "so, it looks like we'll be celebrating another birthday in September"... it took a second or two, but when it clicked, he had a big smile and looked at Marn who smiled back, to which he gave two "thumbs up" and an "alright"!
It was a fun weekend!
Much to the chagrin of Marn's mom and sister, Candace, here are a few "in the moment" shots when we broke the news to them... Enjoy! :)
Marn's parents came over to have a latte after breakfast, so we used the time to trick them into a picture with the "new lattes".
Processing....
"Whaaaa?!"
(I don't know how to type what she was screaming here)
"are you pregnant?" (she got it right away)
"laughing and crying"
"crying..."Unfortunately, we didn't get any photo's when we broke the news to my Mom, Teresa, Branko, Tony, Lisa and the kids at our dinner table, or Dad and Barb's reaction at Breakfast the next morning.
Marn said, after Branko offered the table some wine, "I'm sorry I can't have any, I'm expecting".
Teresa (the clairvoyant one) said, "I knew it!", while Mom screamed and hugged Marn.
Dad got it almost right away when I said, "so, it looks like we'll be celebrating another birthday in September"... it took a second or two, but when it clicked, he had a big smile and looked at Marn who smiled back, to which he gave two "thumbs up" and an "alright"!
It was a fun weekend!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
a bust
Turns out that the tile we wanted is special order, so on Saturday when I went to pick it up, there was nothing to be had! 2 week order time. Bummer.... The kitchen's all ready to start, though!
Anyway, we have to go back to the store another time because when I confirmed the price with the sales staff, she said that one 2x12 strip was $10.47 - excuse me?? So, 1 sq. foot would cost $63!? I think she was mistaken, but she seemed adamant that the price was correct. I thought 1 sq. foot was $10.47.... so I think we're going to go back and ask someone else what the price really is. OR, we'll have to find something else reasonably priced!
Anyway, we have to go back to the store another time because when I confirmed the price with the sales staff, she said that one 2x12 strip was $10.47 - excuse me?? So, 1 sq. foot would cost $63!? I think she was mistaken, but she seemed adamant that the price was correct. I thought 1 sq. foot was $10.47.... so I think we're going to go back and ask someone else what the price really is. OR, we'll have to find something else reasonably priced!
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