Today Was A Muddy Day

After adding a couple of pieces of wood at the top of each slop to fill in the gap by the ceiling, I got down to applying the tap and slapping on the MUD. Yes I sad slapping it on, as this is the first coat and there are a couple of areas that required more mud than others to full the void, I wasn't too worried about being smooth. Once I sand everything down I can apply a second coat that will be more like a finished look, but not yet.

Not much to look at but if you move down to a couple of previous posts and then move up you can see the transformation of how the space has come along.

A Dry Day

Yes the humidity was down, but this isn't what I was suggesting in the title. I should have said "A "Drywall Day", because I got the drywall up in our new setting area. Tomorrow I'll but up the corner bead, tape and start putting the mud to it. Lots and lots of mud, and sanding. Oh joy.

It is once again looking like a room.

A Good Day's Work

Now I'm ready for drywall. In my last post I mentioned I thought I would have to build up the strapping around the window close to an inch because of the original window frame. Well as I started today I only used ½ inch beside the window frame and was planing to hand plan the frame down to the thickness I needed to keep it smooth, after the drywall went up. I also just built it up a bit more in spots to keep it flush, at least as flush as I can make it with existing structure. The reason I didn't have to build it up as much as I thought was because I'll just cut away the frame that is too high and not worry about how it looks, because I still have to replace the trim around the new window that is inside the old frame. And the face trim will be 4 inches and cover the old frame all together, much less to worry about now.

Most of this strapping is 2 - 4 inches wide. I wanted a large surface to screw the drywall too. The bottom is 6 inches, perfect for securing our 8 inch baseboards too.

Not allot of wall space for insulation, only 4 inch thick walls. There still is the ¾ inch Styrofoam on the outside. And this room wasn't cold last winter, and as you saw previously there wasn't much insulation in the walls then, so now it will be much better.

I haven't felt a draft in the house yet and adding the vapor barrier only helps.

A Smoth Transition

It was expected that I would have to put up some strapping to align the old drywall with the new as there was a little difference between them once the old plaster came down. One side require a full inch of build up and the other a ½ inch. This is because the east wall has two layers of drywall on it. Why, I don't know but it's there. I used old strapping that came down from the downstairs bathroom ceiling. Once the 3 inch spikes were pulled out and the 1½ drywall screws came out I had useful wood again. And I use the old plywood they had on the floor in the living room for the other wall. Now a challenge will come when I tackle the south wall with the window. If I recall correctly there may be 1½ inches to build up. Not too bad as it's a small wall.

The east side, it don't have to be perfect, I just need a good surface to attach the drywall to.

The west wall, all the strapping on both side are screwed into the studs for better support. You may notice the one line of strapping is offset, that is because the stud is a little offset and I wanted the strapping secured.

Let There Be Light

After running the power from the outlet in the dressing room to the new outlet I got a chance to see where the wires ran, giving me an opportunity to run the wire through the attic from the east side to the west side and have both lights work off one switch Which is what ReBecca wanted from the start.

This room faces south and this is the west wall. I was going to put a plug on this side but it wouldn't line up with the light because the plug on the other side of the wall was in the way, and I wanted them to be at the same height.

The east side, new plug, switch and light.

This will look a lot better once I get the dry wall back up. I have to build it up about an inch with strapping to make it work, which I will.

More Prep Work

Today I laid three sheets of ¼ inch meranti plywood to clean up the floor so while still working on the walls everything won't fall through the sub floor to the front entrance. It make working a bit easier. I also started to position the lights ReBecca wants for this space and a plug. It took a while to fish the line to a plug in the dressing room but with a little persistence and effort the wires are laid and I'll be ale to put the temp fitting in next.

One picture today, but it has everything in it. The plywood I laid, and the openings in the lath for the lights and plug. The plug will go on the left side of the room. It was going on the right side but where we want the light to go would put the plug out of alignment to the light because of the stud location and the plug position on the other side of the wall. So I can make it work on the left side instead. As long as we get a plug it will be just fine.

Laying The Sub Floor

Finally at a point where we can start to put things together, I put down the ¾ inch plywood sub floor over the existing ¾ pine sub sub floor. We knew it wasn't straight and when walking on the planks you really don't give it much thought, but when you put down plywood and walk around you and tell there are a few spots not quite level. It is a century plus old home so not everything will be perfect.

Looking into the dining room from the kitchen, a little work was needed to make it feel level in some spots.

The kitchen from the dining room. There was a spot in the kitchen over a main support beam that was a little bowed, I had to remove the sub sub planks and replace them with wood that didn't have a very large crown in it, causing large bump in the floor.

The Last Demo - DONE

This is the last room we planned on taking apart. As I said "planned" on, I never know what the wish list will bring, how long it will take me to do it and what I have to put off to get it done. The only bit of insulation that was under the laths was blown in stuff, a little messy but it came out well. I filled in some of the gaps to the outside and the attic with spray foam and after pulling up the floor I used some of the top boards, replacing the ones that were cut out for the plumbing. It is nice and solid now. Next step, install lights and a plug, then insulate and drywall.

Here it is, this gives us another 5 x 7 foot space upstairs.

What's All The Buzz About

Still pulling down plaster and now the lath to see what's behind for insulation. And I didn't find any, insulation that is, there was an old bee's hive behind the laths.

The laths removed from the end wall, not much in the way of insulating. I still have the two slops to do tomorrow.

On the right side was this little gem, I very happy it is unoccupied.

Quite the find, and it just fits in the wall cavity. Imagine that.

No Suprises Today

Started to remove the wall and little cupboard that was the upstairs bathroom. All is going well except for the amount of plaster and drywall I have to remove. For a small space it does have a lot of plaster. Once done it will be cleaned up and good as new, if not better.

It is starting to open up nicely, the drywall wasn't too difficult on this wall. It must have been done before the invention of drywall screws because the nails weren't a problem.

With a little persuasion from a hammer and pry bar the wall and closet came down without any complications. And no surprises this time. I did manage to save the inside of the closet as it was lined with cedar boards.

Scraping off the plaster is a dirty job, the plaster is bulky and heavy. I ran out of garbage bags so I'll finish off tomorrow. I'll need the heavy duty industrial bags. Almost done the demo work.

The Great Garden

Even though the garden was put in a little late it is starting to produce. Tonight we had a salad from ReBecca's garden. Fresh lettuce, onions, tomato's, cucumbers, radishes, fantastic.

The garden is coming along. The potato's are budding and should be producing spuds soon.

One Last Demo

I'm finally on the last demo, at least I think it's our last one. The up stairs bathroom is being taken out. This spot will be a place to bring in the morning sun and a spot for the cats to rest.

Plumbing and fixtures are out, now to get at the walls and do a little re-wiring.

The white spot in the corner by the front door was where the water ran up and the drain pipes flowed. It wasn't a very nice looking enclosure, if you go back to one of my earliest posts you can see what it looked like then.

Some Finishiing Touches

Every day we add a few more things to the bathroom, and with a bit more finishing work to be done I'll keep adding pictures as I go along until it's done.

Not much new here.

Hang a mirror under these lights and it's very bright.

A Rest Day

Today is NB Day and a rest day, so my work load should be light today. HA. I didn't do anything big or get into heavy construction. Just cleaned up some things, did a couple of little projects that needed to be done and are now out of the way.

I pulled out all the duct work in the basement, sanded and added more mud to the opening I made earlier to fix a little plumbing mix up, removed a plug and did a little rewiring, ran satellite cable, got it in place and out of the way. And one last thing cleaned up the door way I made in April between the master bedroom and the dressing room, it was not cut out properly the first time. Like I said a light days work.

This is the opening from the dressing room side, the plug is still in the way and not a very strait cut on the right.

All better now, plug removed, opened up a bit more and straitened out the right side. Ready for framing.

The Last Bit Of Flooring

Finally all the old floors are up and a hundred and some years of dirt and grit cleaned up. Soon I'll but down an additional sub floor of ¾ inch plywood. This will give it strength and stability for what ever type of final flooring ReBecca wants.

From the addition down the hall. This piece of plywood is just laid there over the old underlay they used, Tar paper.

The main entrance, I'll remove the furnace intake vent, add new floor joists and use the old boards as a sub-sub floor. This way all materials are the same and if there is any seasonal movement it will follow suit.

A Hot Flush

Well if I can't laugh at myself then who can I. I told ReBecca to not tell anyone about this I was not happy to say the least, but we learn from our mistakes and this one was not costly. With all the reworked plumbing and water lines you would think I could get it right, but I didn't. I installed the toilet, turned on the water, and everything worked great. Except for one little thing, I had the line connected to the hot water line. Not a good thing, too much condensation. Luckily I used PEX pipe and fittings, and knew exactly where they were in the wall, behind the tub. This left only one thing to do. Open the wall on the other side and change the connectors.

I knew where the lines were and how they were feed, as well I have pictures of everything to guide me in the future.

A simple mater of switching the elbow with the "T" connectors and I'm back in business. The hole is closed up and the mud is drying.

It's O'flushal

I should have said "Official" but for this room "O'flushal" works. Except for a few pieces of trim around the tub, we now have a down stairs bathroom. And the in-floor heating works. Now I can take the upstairs one out.

The door is back on, towel rack installed and a bead of caulk applied to clean up the top side of the baseboards.

New toilet, nice and high, very comfortable, and a recessed toilet paper holder.

This is a tall sink and with nice wide wings to sent things one in the morning.

The door doesn't look all that small now with the wide trim.

A Little Peak

The trim is almost finished, we have to decide how we want the trim around the tub done. Finding a commercial frame or I make one. Once that is done I can do the cupboard doors and finish the trim off. Here is what it looks like after a bit of wood fill and a fresh coat of paint.

The little bathroom window isn't so small now.

The door even looks the right size now. It started out looking a little slim.

With 8 ½ foot ceiling height, 8 inch baseboards work very well. Our own profile, even with a different twist to the quarter round. Those details will be reviled later, I have to save something for the final bathroom pictures.

Trying To Stay Dry

One of our new neighbours that has been seen running under the west side deck is trying to stay dry, under the overhang. If the wind doesn't shift he shouldn't get too wet.

They must be getting used to us, I made a lot of noise cutting trim and nailing it in, and he didn't move.

He's not impressed with the rain, his seeds are getting wet.