Author: Rae

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Feline Intelligence

I wish I’d been able to capture on video what just happened because no one is going to believe me.

For some time now, I’ve occasionally caught the tap in the dressing room leaking. One morning, I was woken up by the water pump jack-hammering away telling me that a tank that had been half-full the night before was now suspiciously empty (actually only a third full). I thought it was time to change the washer or even replace the whole faucet.

This leaking has occasionally coincided with my catching Neelix in the sink with his mouth open to catch the drips of water that is colder and fresher than what’s in his bowl.

After this began to happen more and more often, I put two and two together. The tap isn’t faulty. Neelix is nudging it open. Remember that it’s a single, lift-up faucet:

Tonight, I noticed him jump onto the vanity and decided to watch. Sure enough, he nudged the the tap open with his little noggin’ and then sat there drinking his fill!

So, replacing the faucet in the dressing room to a cat-proof model needs to be added to my to-do list. *sighs*

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Lots o’ Snow

This morning, I was awoken by a very vocal Neelix, which could only mean one thing:

We’re going to start climbing above freezing this afternoon, so it’s going to turn soupy very fast, meaning I can expect a huge flow from my gutters. There’s a package at the post office for me and I hope it’s my Eternabond because I’m going to need it!

I’ve conceded that I won’t be able to get the loft done till next week. *sighs*

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Reinforcements

This morning’s project was to reinforce the interior of the C in the over cab bunk floor to give me something into I could screw the flooring:

showing the difference between the edge of the floor and the top of the padding

showing the difference between the edge of the floor and the top of the padding

had to remove the ladder supports; the only way to get up there safely now is to climb up via the captain's chair!

had to remove the ladder supports; the only way to get up there safely now is to climb up via the captain’s chair!

before, with the padding; it's about a 1/4" taller than the floor would be

before, with the padding; it’s about a 1/4″ taller than the floor would be

No More Nails

No More Nails

now the floor can be screwed into solid wood that won't split, unlike the edge of thin plywood

now the floor can be screwed into solid wood that won’t split, unlike the edge of thin plywood

This would have been a teeny job with a powered saw, but took seemingly forever with a handsaw. I’m reluctant to spend the money on a new jigsaw when I’m so near the end of my renos and may never have use for one again.

Next, I’m going up into the loft to clean up a bit, finish the insulation, and get proper dimensions. Time is running out this week to get that plywood bought!

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Brief Refrigeration and Loft Considerations

We went below zero last night and are staying there until Tuesday. The forecast for the rest of the week is completely upwards with nights above zero starting on the 23rd. Let’s see if that lasts!

The Eternabond hasn’t arrived yet and it’s too cold to apply it anyway, so I’m pretty much on hold in the loft. It was super damp in there this morning with the windows covered in condensation, but five minutes with the dehumidifier solved that. I’ll have to keep leaving it on 24/7.

It snowed lightly today, so going out for plywood was out of the question (remember, I have a hatchback so I have to carry big things on the roof!). I continued work on the insulation. The styrofoam panels I have are too thick, so I have to halve them, a surprisingly tough job.

Instead of sleeping, I’ve been lying awake at night thinking about the next steps in this project. One thing that bugs me is that there aren’t many places into which I could secure the new flooring:

Everything in blue is thin paneling over insulation over thin paneling over insulation over fiberglass. That’s it! The red lines are where I have something structural into which to screw. I’ll come back to the green marks.

So, obviously, the flooring can’t be in too many pieces if I want any sort of structural integrity at all. The best thing would be to bring in one piece, but I really don’t think that would be manageable. I also won’t have anything to cut it with once I get here if I try to bring it home in one piece and concede that I need two. It’s going to have to come home in two pieces.

The green marks indicate where there is padding around the interior of the C. This padding is about a half inch taller than the floor, so I need to remove to be able to install the floor flat. I will replace the padding with some 1 1/2″ or so thick wood I found in the basement (a real Ali Baba’s cave, it seems). This will give me some additional place for screwing in the flooring so that both sections can get a bit of extra support along the interior side of the C. I’ll make sure to take pictures when I get to this point!

That leaves the sides. Intellectually I know that if the manufacturer didn’t feel the flooring needed any additional support on the sides, it mustn’t have needed it, but I’m still getting the willies since all the weight in the loft is right smack in the middle. I might get thicker plywood after all! 😀