Author: Rae

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Still Condensating

I didn’t run the dehumidifier last night and when I went into the loft this morning there was condensation along the metal frame and some dampness at the seam. I’m definitely not closing anything off until I get more Eternabond on the exterior! I hope the tape arrives today. We’re heading into a longish sub-zero stretch, so I wouldn’t be able to apply it. We’re hovering at zero today, which is really too cold, but with a hair dryer I’d be fine.

Even with that bit of condensation I felt okay with going ahead with some reinforcing of that corner and then I started to put in insulation. I had quite a bit left of the blue styrofoam-type from a 2008 purchase and which I’ve been telling myself for two years I should throw out. It’ll be more than enough for this project! That’s a yay for my packrat tendencies!

I’ll probably go buy the paneling and plywood tomorrow. I checked out the Home Hardware here in Osoyoos and have decided not to buy from them. They are the pits! I have sung the praises of Home Hardware across the country, but this store is just terrible. For example, they sell scraps of plywood that are priced as per their amount compared to a full sheet. So, a square that’s an eighth of a full sheet would cost an eighth of a full sheet. They didn’t have any scraps of paneling, only 8’x4′ sheets that are much too huge. I asked if it would be possible to buy a quarter of it. They said no, but that they’d be happy to cut the sheet down to a quarter and keep the other three quarters to sell as scraps. In case that’s not clear, they would make me pay full price for a sheet and then sell the other three quarters for three quarters of the price of a full sheet. That sounds like stealing to me. It’s not the money that irks me, a sheet is just $10, but the money-grubbing principle. I’ll go check out the lumber store in Oliver and see how they are. Oh, and the guy at Home Hardware who wanted to do me a favour by cutting the paneling had no idea what a straight flat, 1″, reinforcement bracket is. He took me to an aisle and showed me corner braces, saying that’s all they had. I dug around and, of course, found a bunch of flat brackets, including straight, L, and T ones. Sheesh!

As an FYI, for anyone who thinks that a handsaw is a safe tool, guess again. *Owwwwwww* 😀

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Rethinking Cat and Dog Relationships

I’m babysitting Midnight today. I put his bed and his food dish in the dressing room by the heater.

We went out for about an hour to run errands and came home to this:

Neelix very comfy in Midnight’s bed

When we came him, Midnight was soooo confused. He kept on going from the bed to me trying to figure out where he was supposed to lie down. Mr. Nee took some convincing to vacate his comfy spot!

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Dry!!!

The loft is now bone dry! WOOHOO!

*ahem*

Until I finish doing that exterior corner in Eternabond, I’m not finalizing anything inside. Instead, I’m slowly starting to acquire materials and cutting them to fit so that once I’m sure the corner is watertight, I’ll only have some gluing, stapling, screwing, and caulking to do.

The dehumidifier and heater are so efficient that I think that if I can get a coat of primer on before noon, I’d be able to put on a coat of paint before bed, saving me a day. Suddenly, there’s an end in sight. I’m thinking that this night next week I could very well be sleeping in my bed again.

In case anyone is wondering, I got ALL the black, rotted wood out. Everything else has dried to normal wood colour and is mildew-free and solid, so I have a good foundation for the repairs. I’m so excited to move forward with this!

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Better Than Two Years Ago

We hit plus seven today!!!!! It was sunny earlier, but the fog is rolling back in. No matter, I feel revitalized!

We’re heading into a subzero week, but nothing worrisome so far, with nothing lower than minus five overnight, which is what we’ve been hitting most nights. To put that into perspective, the only heat I’ve had on for several days now is the one electric heater. I set the furnace thermostat to 15 at night and 20 during the day and it doesn’t kick on. Feels nice!

Two years ago at this time, we were just starting the bitter stretch that contributed to my decision to flee Oliver, not just the RV park I was working at. So far, this winter has been fine, even with that horrible stretch in November. We’ve had some snow, but it always melts. I’m not happy with the fog and bleakness, but I can deal.

Add together the reasonably satisfactory weather, an RV park I really enjoy, and a post office staffed by cheery clerks and I’m so far not regretting my return to the Okanagan. I feel so far away from the bleak nastiness of Oliver that I could be three hours away instead of just thirty minutes away.

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Productive Forgetfulness

Last night, I didn’t feel like climbing up into the loft to turn off the dehumidifier, which keeps me up at night. So, I left it running and shut the dressing room and study doors most of the way, which did a pretty good job of blocking the noise.

Woke up this morning to realise that I’d not only left the dehumidifier running, but also left the windows up there wide open!

Well, it paid off. Last night, I was still seeing wetness along the edges of the corner and now the surface of it is dry! We finally have a beautiful sunny day, so I have the windows open and am hoping that another 24 hours of fresh air, dehumidifying, and heat will make the area workable.

Sort of related, the clear conditions give me a view to the lake from the front loft window and Neelix is sitting by it, enthralled by the ducks on the beach. Too cute!