window trim done

Window trim and outlet covers done. Jamie helped holding the pieces tonight and it made all the difference. Still need to finish some floor trim, and then we just have a little painting left.

Almost there!

Girls Room Progress

Sashes done.

Most of the trim is done, but I screwed up one of the door peices and had to pick up a replacement today. Hopeing to be down this week.

Room Updates

Playing a supporting role as Jamie leads the painting effort.

Mud and Tape

Going up fast

Thanksgiving Update

This week ...

- Finished the sashes
- Primed the sashes
- Moved one of the windows a bit so that the sill would fit correctly. This involved getting out on the roof and cutting/re-caulking the outside window/flashing boundary
- Went to Home depot yesterday and cut all the trim for the room (which is a lot)
- Pre-filled the wall ceiling gaps ahead of Dave and Ken coming tomorrow so that the tape will sit right. I though this would take maybe an hour, it took two and a half.
- Prepped the room for mud and tape.
- Jamie finished priming the head and baseboards and sanded the girls bed frames.

Still hoping to have the girls room together by Christmas.

Thanksgiving was good, Jamie's turkey might have been the best yet and we trekked to Aunt Karen's on a dark and dreary night for another nice meal.

Last soccer weekend this week. I need the break, I haven't slept in in 3 weeks. It was bitterly cold, and Ian was already sick so I brought him home in the middle of the last game.

A G.I. bug and head cold have been circulating the house, I managed to catch both this weekend.

Soccer Etc

Soccer destroyed the weekend. I finished the second of the sills tonight. next up the sashes. Jamie is making good progress staining Ian's furniture.

There is no secret message in the wall, but there is a picture of the family :)

Ian's Room

This week

Small stuff

* Worked on prepping the windows
* Picked up the sashes and sills at H.D.
* Did a lead test (negative) for the section of the window that will need to be sanded.
* Jamie has started staining Ian's stuff
* Picked up a pair of antique bed frames for the girls we found on Craig's list for $80. These will need to be sanded.
* Talked to Dave about the finishing work. Looks like its going to be the Monday following the break.

We should actually be able to finish the girls room by Christmas break.

Weekend update

Not much to report for the weekend. Cut up the rest of the scrap, but it will take a bit of time to get rid of it. Called Dave, him and Ken are busy, he's going to get back to me about when they can do the room. In the mean time there is the trim and windows to work on.

Jamie's been talking to the girls about colors. Pink and purple are Anna and Erin's choices. Neither wants more than one color though.

Day 7

Done the walls.

The rewire took forever including an unnecessary trip to Home Depot. It turned out fine though. There was 1 circuit passing through, the "home run" as JA described it also being passed through to somewhere else, and 3 switches. In all 7 wires coming in, so 21 wires to connect there, plus the 3 for each of the switches for a total of 30 connections.

It was nice not to have to ground the (plastic) box.

The 2 pieces of drywall around the 3 gang switch box, and the receptacle took until late afternoon.

The remaining drywall was a pain because the final wall was really un-square. I botched the first piece but salvaged the effort by re-cutting the top and settling for a large gap at the bottom (will be under the trim anyway). The final piece is cut but not placed. I gave the kids the weekend to think of something they might want to put in the wall as a secret message to someone in the distant future.

Tomorrow is Ian's soccer tournament, I have to up at 6. Ugh.

Day 6

Finished on schedule today, 3 walls are done. Starting tomorrow with the rewiring of the 3 gang box which I expect to be pretty involved. I won't finish the 4th wall tomorrow, but maybe by Sunday.

The angles on the second wall were a bit beyond my skills, but it turned out ok. The 3rd wall has some gaps where the wall didn't separate cleanly from the ceiling but I think tape will fix it up. I find myself placing much hope in tape.

I'm glad this week is almost over.

Day 5

Just drywalling. Not much else to say. The corner was a pain in the ass. The upstairs is definitely warmer. The real test will be winter though.

Jamie and I carried up 5 more pieces which gives me enough to finish two more walls. That's the goal for tomorrow.

I did spend some nice time with the kids today, Jamie had a training class for the Brownies. Erin and I played hide and seek, Ian and I finished the Battleship game we started last week, and Anna and I played "Stuffed Animal Wars".

King stuffed monkey had to defend his castle from a dinosaur a frog and a pink dog. Luckily he's trained in Karate.

The nice day

Day 4

Finished what I thought I could for today. Put all 100 feet of R30 insulation in the crawl space and took the last wall from old rock to stapled insulation. It might be placebo effect but I feel like its warmer up there. I realized the void in the crawl space extends under the entire ceiling/floor between levels. All the heat from the first floor wouldn't make it to the second. It will now, hopefully it will help.

The crawl space job was terrible, but afterward I had a bowl of homemade chicken soup and a 60 minute IPA. It was a beautiful day, so warm it was actually hot in the crawl space. Erin and I did some swinging over lunch and we talked about the apple pie that her and mommy made.

Joel and I brought up 8 sheets of drywall tonight. All set for tomorrow.

Day 3

Fell behind today.

This morning I added two receptacles around an existing one on the first wall. Used quick connects for the first time. It hard to understand why people still use wire nuts.

After I ripped down the 3rd wall and cleaned it up. This was the worst wall so far, there was a corner strip that was brutal to remove. I was literally hanging on it at one point and it wouldn't come off. 9 bags of wall to the garage. Sadly I have to take back what I said about the insulation. In the outer walls its just a foil vapor barrier.

Only one more wall to go.

Had a nice lunch with Jamie and Erin. Erin and I made a bunch of dog bone shaped salami bits with a cookie press together. Erin calls Kit Kats "Kitty Cats".

After lunch I think I had one more small section to pull down, then I cleaned up (again) and wired another 2 receptacles on the 3rd wall.

Then insulation cutting and placing. Took a while because the cape has all the angle cuts, and of course there are the non-16 inches on center ones. Then stapling. Dinner then more stapling. I kept thinking of the Simpson's today. Knife goes in, guts come out.

Hands go it, wall comes out...

I am ready to move on to wall 4 tomorrow. Since I have to do the crawling behind the wall thing I think it will probably take me close to all day. I had hoped to be dry walling by day two.

My hands are pretty raw already, I think after tomorrow it will be easier on them though. Hoping toward the end of the week that I can ease up and spend some time with the kids. I lost an hour after dinner somehow. I was stapling and then it was 1.5 hours later.

Day 2

This was a strange day. Woke up and Jamie and Ian were already at the soccer tournament. It felt cold in the house. The heater wouldn't light, called a service place (first one to answer their phone). Our heater was shutting itself off because the heat exchange was cracked. Totaled. Its a safety shutoff that prevents dangerous stuff from happening. Water got in there this summer when the AC wasn't working. We were lucky enough to get a new one but it hurts $$$.

Made ok progress on the room. Tackled the short wall and got 1 package of insulation placed. I'll staple after the AC is run.

The 3 gang old work box will have to go. I think I knew it all along but just didn't want to think about it. Picked up a bunch more insulation at H.D. There is a little crawl space at the back of the house that I will be able to get into when the wall is down and then never again. I'm going to take the opportunity to stick R30 in there while I have the chance. Its going to suck though crawling 30 feet down to the other end of the house.

My wrists and triceps are a little sore from the drywall pulling. Back is holding up pretty well though.

Going to clean the lines in the beer miester. Ended the dry streak with a keg of 60 minute IPA. Drinking a complimentary Latitude 48 from Hatboro Beverage. Mmmm complimentary.

Pictured for fun a squirrel that massacred one of our pumpkins. Notice his orange face.

Day One of the Girls Room Re-Do

Day one is in the books. The first wall is demolished. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I've done some pretty crappy projects, so by comparison I expected worse. No bad surprises really besides all the crap the original builders stashed beneath the tub.

I did realize the light and ceiling fan box will need to be anchored because it was a old work job done with a Madison bar. Hopefully it won't be too bad to fix it up.

There is insulation in the walls too. I feel good about this even thought that was part of the reason for tearing the walls down rather than fixing them. All and all I think the labor will be less, and its nice to know Ian's room is insulated even though we didn't demolish in there.

The kids had a great time whacking the walls with hammers (even Jamie wanted to try). The picture with Anna features her new Snuggie.