Friday, August 1, 2025

Better walls for old, Misfits

I discovered in the course of Wednesday's work the reason the outer wall broke through so easily.

What we had, reading inside to out was: sheetrock, insulation batts, vapor barrier, stucco. Notice what's missing? Original builders cutting serious corners here 

What we have now is: sheetrock, insulation batts, plywood sheathing, vapor barrier, then stucco to come. 

I could have had more damage to the car, less to the house, if it had been complete. It's very typical that what you do to a development house is going to be better than the original materials. In this case actually better construction.

Then I got an idea. This base cabinet I used for baking sheets had to come out to repair the wall. Here's the space 


And the cabinet. Instead of reinstalling it I think contractor friend Mike can work with me on a better use. The cabinet has a useless shelf in the back where you can't reach anything. I can just not reinstall it and we can see. The flooring will be in there and the wall painted.  So there's no mad rush.

Thursday Misfits had to work differently. But I did get the bag and ice returns out for pickup while I had access to the freezer where I store them week to week.

I hoped the driver would find his bag among all the stuff that joined it.

I started an allergic reaction to the spackling in the kitchen, so in addition to the eye drops and nose drops, seasonal repertoire, I added an allergy pill. The I went upstairs to read, and woke two hours later to find the Misfits box had been delivered and kindly brought into the house.

So I figured out an alternate way of washing the fruit without access to the kitchen, and drying them.

The other grocery items are in the living room for now. I managed to get the yogurt and tofu into the fridge.

And Thursday the effects of the moving stuff and climbing started to decrease. Because I couldn't get out to walk, I'd kind of seized up, stiff and aching. I did a balance vid with April and Aiko, then ibuprofen and ice.  That worked.

The reduction in humidity helped, too. My hair loves humidity, bones not so enthusiastic. 

Not a great heat reduction, but I did get an early walk.

And the coreopsis is doing fine, considering she's a random seed result. The lacy foliage is from her.


The leafy foliage is honesty, possibly. Not a successful year up to now. Neighbors already have dried seedpods which I'd like to swipe but it's in their front yard, hmm.

The afternoon's rain saved my watering. Also put pressure on the contractors to finish the outer wall.

This is a good time to make cordage, the ambient air not too dry.  I did get the materials from the kitchen where I left them.

Happy day everyone. That supposedly non drowsy pill has left me very relaxed or maybe I'm just tired.  Either way I'm going to have a bowl of cereal and blueberries, easiest lunch prep on a building site.

My eldest brother was a bricklayer in his yoof and, in winter, lunch was the regular sandwich, but toasted, over an open fire on the site, on a shovel!  

Except the time he took the wrong bag and found he was facing the stale crusts my mom had saved for the greengrocer's horse. Late forties, a lot of horse-drawn food deliveries, no gasoline for trucks. His pals on the site were asking him what he'd done to annoy his mom.

Take the right lunch, you'll be glad 



And to everyone's surprise suddenly it's August. Well I've had better months of July, so it's okay.


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37 comments:

  1. What a good idea to get rid of a useless cupboard.
    A builder or developer cutting corners during construction? I've never heard of such a thing!

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    1. Yeah, surprising really. They probably saved a lot of $$ on plywood sheathing

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  2. I have never thought to toast a sandwich on a shovel over a fire. Brilliant brother!

    Glad you loosened up a bit, and the nap just might have a bit to do with all the hecticness (hecticity?) of the last few days.

    It's shocking that your house lacked sheathing. That is seriously poor construction. At least your kitchen wall will be properly constructed now.

    Your temperatures, though still warm, are becoming compatible with human life again. Good for you for getting out to take advantage of the early morning. The coreopsis is one of my favorite flowers - so cheerful.

    Chris from Boise

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    1. That shovel idea was the way to get a hot lunch in winter, no fast food carts then. There have been a couple of other places on the development where a car went through an outer wall. Now we know why it was easy.
      So much cooler today, window open overnight, ahh.

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  3. That layer of plywood will add significantly to insulation too. We have just been doing that calculation for building - softwood is R1.1 per 10mm (average). What on earth was the original stucco stuck to? Good that you have been able to escape the allergens a bit. i hope their effect ceases once it dries.

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    1. The stucco is applied to a heavy mesh backing, which will stand up, but it's better with the plywood. I was thinking insulation, too.

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  4. Does that mean the horse got your brother's more delicious lunch?

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    1. Very likely. Mom would give the bag to the greengrocer to feed when he wanted. Lucky horse.

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  5. Well, we survived July! That poor-quality original construction turned out to be a positive. I had a space like that in the kitchen and found a fun shelving unit on wheels to fit perfectly. But, with Mike, you’ll have so many better options. It will be back over 100 today. Mid-80s this earlier part of the day feels like autumn right now. SG is running errands. I’m just finishing breakfast! That lunch story of your bruvvah in his youf is comical.

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    1. What we're thinking about is slide out, because that's where I keep baking sheets, trays etc. Easier access than fumbling about a base cabinet.
      I'm wondering how much greater the impact would have been on me if the plywood had been there..

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  6. It is disgusting a builder would cut corners like that but not surprising. It must have added costs to home heating in winter. Cooling costs too. I hope that builder isn’t working today. Shameful.

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    1. It's a Texas based company which left the state years ago. Who knows what they're up to in Texas.

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  7. Glad you have workers doing a better job for you. I've seen skinny roll out carts that fit a space like that in your kitchen but I know your guy Mike has good skills to get it just right for you. It's cooler here but now our air quality is dangerous for some reason so I'm not sure I will get a walk today. :(

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    1. What I need is a slide out thing for my baking sheets and cutting boards to stand on. He'll design one like the slide out shelves he replaced my dishwasher with. Other cabinets and carts won't do what I need

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  8. I like what you said to Mitchell about a cabinet with a slide-out for baking sheets. Such a great idea! I'd love one of those.
    I'm glad your wall is going to be stronger and better at keeping the cold out.
    Our humidity is 84% this morning but hey! It's only supposed to get up to 92 so...
    It's still going to feel like hell in a jungle.

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    1. Wr finally got some relief. Wonderful cool day. The cabinet is where I've always kept baking sheets and boards, but it was awkward delving into a floor level space. I think Michael can do better for me.

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  9. It seems that it was just as well for you that the construction was not as it should have been.That's no excuse, though, for cheapskate work.

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    1. I did the equivalent of driving through a cardboard box.

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  10. This seems to be going well and quite quickly. Is all you have in that cupboard baking sheets? If you don't have another spot for them or want them back there, try one of those office mail dividers with several slots to stack them in upright and keep them together but separate.

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    1. Baking goods involve various sheets, pans, boards. I'll see what Mike has to say. I'm not sure mail dividers would work, but we'll see.

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  11. As you probably know, honesty is biennial, so it comes up one year and blooms in the next. Maybe next year will be your "successful" year? (We have several honesty plants but no blooms this year.)

    Good idea not to re-install the badly designed cabinet! Seize this opportunity to redesign your kitchen! LOL

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    1. I'd forgotten that about honesty, thank you. Mike was just here and he's already figured out a good way to go.

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  12. I was going to suggest a slide out. I have a narrow space like that and it's what I did with it. I keep cleaning supplies in it. I guess inspectors don't come around during the building process. At least it save damage to your car.

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    1. I think it's after completion that inspectors check for c of o purposes. When we replaced roofs a few years ago we found wrong materials had been used there.

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  13. You are so ingenious! With everything.

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    1. I like to see what good might just come out of a bad move

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  14. Right now it is 8 Celcius (feels like 6 according to the weather boffins) so I would be happy to take some of that heat if you have too much!

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    1. I think we used it all up. We're on the comfortably 70sf. This morning I wore a jacket to go out walking.

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  15. Progress. My wife's old bones dislike humidity too though she loves rain.

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    1. Yes, just in the last year I've noticed it.

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  16. Things are really looking good. It's 57°F here today. The wind makes it colder.

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    1. That sounds like the summer where I grew up.

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  17. I often think that kitchen designers ought to consult with actual kitchen users before they come up with useless cupboards that are totally inaccessible. We are currently awaiting delivery of a new kitchen 'island' (term used VERY loosely because all it is is a single bank of cupboard with three drawers covered by a countertop). Our current version (made from a kit by the RC 15 years ago) has been slowly disintigrating to the point where opening a drawer leaves a great deal of question as to whether it will shut again.

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    1. This cabinet was made just to fit the space, not for actual use

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  18. Useless cupboards are so annoying. Glad you can repurpose yours.

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    1. This one is a real waste of space

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    2. Also it's great to see you in here. You've been missed

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