I heart Freecycle!

It doesn't look like much, but this is actually around 70 98 (I counted while taking them out of the poor car) free bricks I can use for landscaping.  I can go back later in the week to get a few more, and some rocks the original homeowners want to get rid of as well.  The car was a bit loaded down at this point, so I decided to make more than one trip :)

There are 2 more large gardens the homeowners want to get rid of (complete with edging bricks), so those will be up for grabs as well, eventually.  Hell, given the wife has two small children and is expecting the third, soon, I might just offer to dig them out for her - once this heat breaks!  It took more than 45 minutes to load the car (really - these suckers are HEAVY, and I had to cart them from their backyard to my car, parked on the road), and I was literally DRENCHED with sweat when I was done.  It. Is. Hot.

But back to Freecycle.  You all know about Freecycle, right?  The site where people post unwanted items, for free, or post wanted items, to see if anyone has it to give away.  Did you note that this is all free?  As in no cost?  Gratis?  Free?

But the "free" isn't the best part of Freecycle.  The best part?  Keeping perfectly good items out of the landfill, and giving them to people who can actually use them.  Getting rid of your junk, and knowing someone else is finding it treasure.

Really - go sign up for your local one now.  They are all on yahoo groups (I think) - just google "Freecycle" plus the name of your city, and it should pop up.  I'll wait.  Go.  GO NOW!  Really.  Just do it.

Are you back?  Did you sign up?   Good!

In all seriousness, Freecycle has to be one of the BEST things on the web.  I joined the four local ones here about 2 years ago, and I admit - 99.9999% of the stuff posted is either stuff I'm not interested in, or stuff that is taken by the time I read about it (I get the daily digest, instead of individual posts, which means fewer e-mails, but more time lapsed between posts and my reading them, which means many things are already given away, but that's okay). 

To date, I've given away a lot of the extra flooring that was stored here when I bought the house (and no, I didn't want to keep it and try to re-use it - none of it was enough to do any one area, and I don't want either laminate or parquet anyhow), and I've received an "antique" dining room table plus six chairs - all solid wood, and while it needs to be refinished, it was free.  (And I'm thinking of getting it painted a glossy black, which I think will go really well with the almost-lime-green colour I'm painting the kitchen and dining room, but I haven't told anyone that yet, because people will think I'm nuts.  Maybe.  Still deciding on the black.  Pretty set on the green though.  Maybe.)

Anyhow...

The bricks.  I'm telling you, these are heavy-duty bricks.  While I'm not the strongest person I know, I'm also not a 98-pound weakling, and I could only tote four of these at a time (partly because of the weight, partly because bricks are somewhat awkward to carry).   The lovely neighbour came out to help, once she saw what I was doing, and brought over a dolly to help.

We broke the dolly.  Sorry, lovely neighbour :(

So now, I have 98 bricks to use around the place.  Stay tuned for future projects.....

Of fall and foam

Three things have recently made me realize that summer is indeed over.

Orion is back in the night sky.

The leaves are turning colours.

And these are back on store shelves:



It's odd - I'm not a big candy eater (Chocolate, yes, but chocolate isn't candy, it's a food group). But candy corn gets me every fall.

Since I've finally succumbed to the idea that fall is here, I really can't ignore the fact that winter is soon to follow. Last winter was COLD. Not outside, but inside - that's what you get when you live in an under-insulated house (or uninsulated) in Canada. But this year...

FOAM!! I got foam! Not the entire house, but at least the crawl space is finally done. I initially contracted the job out last November! But spray foam is applied with equipment that uses electricity, and a small wet crawlspace and electricity don't mix, so it had to wait until the crawl space dried out - which it should have done this summer. Except...

This summer was insanely wet. We finally got a run of dry weather, I repaired the cracks in the foundation, and wonder upon wonder, the company that was applying the foam was able to fit me in soon after I called to make the apointment and the weather stayed dry!!!

Why am I so happy? Well, all the plumbing is in the crawl space. Which means the crawl space needs to stay heated all winter. Which means a great deal of heat (and my $$) went into the crawl space last year. By simply insulating this area, I can reduce the amount of heat I divert to the crawl space, and either reduce my heating costs, or keep the house warmer this winter. One of these weekends, I also need to get my tallest, skinniest nephew over here with my dad to put plastic down under the crawl space as well - that should help keep the house drier (well, as dry as you can get when living within sight of one of largest lakes in the world).

So why spray foam? And not the standard Fiberglas batting (which I will be using in the walls of the house)? The only thing you can really do with fiberglass insulation in a crawl space is insulate the "ceiling" of the space (basically the floor of the house). This is a great and much, much, much cheaper option - as long as you don't need a heated crawl space. Additionally, spray foam provides a good vapor barrier (not really critical in this application, but it will help with the dampness). But spray foam is $$$, needs to be applied by professionals ($$$$), and off-gasses (UGH! That wasn't too bad with just the crawl space, but I can't imagine living here soon after the application if I was going to get the entire house done). So, it's foam for the crawl space, Fiberglass for the walls, and probably blown-in insulation of some sort for the attic.

It's fall. But I have foam and candy corn, so life is good!

What day is it??

Yesterday was the last big day on the shed. The shingling was finished and the fascia was put up. (And taken down, and put up, and taken down...). I finally installed the door handle, and, after Dad drilled the holes, installed the dead bolt and chiseled the parts of the frame that needed it to install the plates for the handle and deadbolt. I rawk at chiseling now, if anyone needs any help.

We also made and installed the ramp. And then realized it didn't actually reach the ground. And yes, this is how most things go! But, we can keep our sense of humour, and find a lot to laugh at, which helps!



So later today, the cross ties will be put up, and the ramp fixed, then that's it!

Except organizing the inside, and painting the door, but that can wait.

The final costs all aren't in, but as an estimate, the shed, in total, will cost ~$1900, including tax.

Let's compare that to the Home Despot shed I was looking at, which was $900 plus tax ($1017 total).

That shed was 8x8, while this is 10x10 (which is an extra 36 square feet - a 50%+ increase compared to the 8x8 shed!!).

That shed didn't include the base (~$390) or roofing (~$225).

That shed wasn't sided, and needed to be painted (~$500 for siding, much less for paint, of course, but a painted shed needs much more maintenance).

I'm not sure if that kit included all nails and screws which I spent ~$175 on (some of that will be used in the house as well, but for the shed alone, the fasteners probably cost over $50).

And that shed was definitely not as well-made as this shed is.

So, the Home Despot shed would have cost in total, ~$1650 plus paint and whatever fasteners are required.

For less than $300 more, I got a better and bigger shed - completely thanks to Dad. Without him, NONE of this would have been possible!!

(and it's shed day 10, for those that are keeping track)

Home Depot is a few shingles short of a bundle

Let me tell you the story of the shingles.

Go on, get a cup of your favourite beverage. I'll wait...

Ready?

Okay, let's begin.

I bought shingles from Home Despot way back when, but didn't pick them up right away (once nice thing about HD - you can order and pay for a bunch of stuff, but take what you need, leaving the rest in the store until you need it). Those shingles were black, which is what I thought I wanted.

(Clarification - the house has relatively new siding and shingles - tan siding and brown shingles. However, neither was properly installed, and the siding has been torn up by stupid lawn mower usage, so they both will need to be replaced in a few years. So I am shingling and siding the shed in the colours the house will eventually be).

Of course, before we picked up the shingles, I changed my mind on the colour. So when we went to pick up the shingles on Sunday, I asked if I could get grey ones instead of black.

Problem one - they didn't have grey in the type of shingle I ordered.

Okay, take those shingles off the bill, and add grey ones.

Problem two - the only styles grey comes in are more expensive - $28+ dollars a bundle instead of $18+, and at 7 bundles, that's over $70 more expensive.

Okay, get me those anyways, since I really want grey, not black.

Problem three - they are in the back somewhere, and the guy can't get at them. But if we return on Tuesday, he'll have them out for us then.

Fine, we'll come back (keep in mind Home Despot is 30 minutes away, each way. So an extra trip is a big deal).

Fast forward to Tuesday. We make the drive, go in, and ask about the shingles.

Problem 4 - guy #1 isn't working, left no notes, and no one knows anything about any grey shingles.

Problem 5 - grey shingles are not a stock item. They are all special order. If I want to order some, they'll get them in, and we can make yet another trip to pick them up.

Sigh.

This is why I've re-named it Home Despot.

I decline their really nice offer (!), and drive back to town, and go to the local hardware store. The store where they know my parents by name. Where they actually have competent adults working.

Where I got the shingles I wanted, in the style I wanted, in the colour I wanted, for $21+ a bundle. And they even loaded them on the truck for us!

So, Tuesday was spent mostly running around.

On Wednesday however - the shed got shingles (except for the cap which we didn't get done)!!!