Round Two - Part Two

It only took just over 5½ hours to put on the second coat of mud in the dining room, hallway and living room, not bad actually and I don't feel too bad, I'll wait until tomorrow to call it though. You may be able to see some of the work today in these pictures, because some of the mud is still wet and you can see how the seams are getting wider as I flair out the edges. I didn't add comments under the pictures, I figure you can figure out what is what by now.

Round Two

Yesterday was a day for sanding and not worth taking a picture or two, too dusty. Today I put on the second coat in the kitchen. It took a little longer because I wanted the corners cleaner and overall smother to reduce the sanding time. To took about 4 hours and tomorrow I'll get the rest done. Here are couple of pictures of the second coat, not that you can seem much difference between coats.

A Quick Job

Today was going to be a rest day, but I had one more little job to do. I forgot to replace the edging on a beam that crosses the hallway. There was a rounded edge piece installed and we want clean, crisp lines so out with the round and in with the square. It didn't take long and the mud is on, so I'll just have to wait another day to start sanding. I'd rather do it all in one day rather than a bit at a time. Here are a couple of shots of today's quick job, not much to see, and now for a rest (½) day.

Looking from the addition doorway.

Nice clean lines.

First Layer Is On

Today we finished putting on the mud, as expected it took a while, but it up. We tried to keep it thin, some areas will require some build up and I'm afraid I got a little over zealous in some spots and it may not be dry tomorrow. If not I get a rest day, and will need it.

The dining room's east wall, doorway to the front entrance.

Looking into the kitchen, the ceiling doesn't
have that bow in it anymore.

Around the front door.

Looking into the living room from the dining room doorway.

Looking back out.

Above the TV.

Not as many joints on this ceiling as the kitchen.

Repairs finally under way from an old re-wiring job.

A New Time Line

When we pulled up the floors upstairs you may recall we found a paper dated 8 January, 1898, and under the floors in the living room, dated in the early 40's, as well under the vinyl in the dining room, dated between  1938 - 45. Well we thought we'd add to the time line, we put in the walls a paper dated 20 November 2012 and a five dollar bill. Lets hope it stays there for a long, long time.

Here is the paper and money, in a sealed bag.

Into the wall it goes, drywall back up, taped and mud is on.

Tape and Mud

I got the seams taped this morning and only got the mud up in the kitchen, and that part took a mere 2½ hours. Lots of seams and a few areas that will require a little build up, but once it done it will be fantastic. Tomorrow I should be able to get the mud up in the living room, hallway and dining room.

Lots of mud which means lots of sanding.

I didn't put it on too heavy so the sanding shouldn't take too long.

Starting to look like a room again.

It's The Little Things

Over the past couple of days I have been taking care of the little things that needed to be done before I start taping and mudding tomorrow. Some of those jobs took more than I expected and others were just plain time consuming. It seamed like I didn't get anything done at the end of the day but looking back they were busy. Yesterday I put up the last bit of drywall that caps off the opening between the kitchen and dining room. I then put up corner bead, that metal corner protection piece, I had 9 to install. Six around the opening at the kitchen, two by the cellar door, and one by the front door. I also cut away the old window frames that extend out past the drywall in the bedrooms. I need it to be flush with the walls, so we can install our 4 inch trim later. Today I cut back the last one and moved two light switches by about 2½ inches, to make room for the door trim later on. While all this was going on today our neighbour dropped off a load of manure for ReBecca's (our) garden, to give it nutrients for next year. A trade off for some gravel they need, a good trade in deed. Today ReBecca and I dug up two trees and put them in pots by the front door for Christmas, (pictures later on).

Looking into the dining room, opening finished off.

Looking back into the kitchen.

The cellar door.

You my be able to see the little piece in the corner.

The lights switch in my office moved over.

The light switch in the spare room moved.

Feeding the garden.

Just About There

We're almost ready to start with the mud. I have a couple more window to cut the old frame back to the drywall, so when we put up the trim it will be flush, I did the two in the living room today. I also spent most of the day working on one small area beside the front door. It was originally behind the bulkhead that housed the plumbing from the upstairs bathroom. It didn't need to be perfect as it was hidden but now that it's exposed I had a bit of work to make it solid. I had to put thin pieces of plywood into the wall cavity and behind the drywall by the dining room door to secure those pieces. Then some 2 x 4 's inside the wall to act as supports for the boards I installed to cover off the opening and have something to screw the drywall to. Once the inside boards were in place I had to spray foam some of the cavity as it is an outside wall and when that dried I filled the rest with insulation, taped down the vapor barrier and then put up the second boards. Then came the drywall, I also just put up two pieces that covered the floor joists by the stairs, to clean it up for now.

This may only be 8 inches wide but a lot of effort went into it.

The drywall is back up and I added a filler strip at the top of the door.

A couple of pieces to clean up the stairs a bit.

A New Look

With the drywall up it gives the hallway and living room a new look and we like it. Things are coming along, I have a few more strips of drywall to put up near the ceiling at the top of the existing drywall. We gained about 2 inches after pulling down the old ceiling and after the new one went up I still have about 1½ inches at the top of the walls to ceiling. So I cut small pieces, put them in as fillers. Much easier to tape and mud and sand and mud again in light layers, verses the alternative of waiting for an 1½ inch cavity of mud to dry.

From the front door looking in the living room.

Looking back down the hallway.

Look from the south east corner of the living room,
where my chair will be.

New Walls

From the start we wanted to close off the living room, even it was just a bit. We don't want to walk into the house and be right into the living room. First we thought about pocket doors, but with the walls being about a ½ inch narrower than normal walls that may be a problem, also the original opening was going to be 4 feet wide, a bit small. So after a while of thinking about it we came up with a 60 inch opening and we will put up sliding doors that when open, will be in the living room out of the way. And the sliders will be built in (some how).

From the dining room doorway. Drywall goes up tomorrow.

From the east window in the living room.

The Ceilings Are Done

Yesterday was a long day but the ceilings in the living room and hallway are done, and I must say the drywall lift is defiantly worth it's weight in gold. I could move the drywall around with ease and to make a little adjustment, not a problem. If I had to do it with man/woman power, well we'd still be at it.

Looking south from the addition to the front door.

Looking north from the front door.

The north end of the living room, above the TVs location.

Looking at the south east corner of the living room.

A Little Prep Work

I did a little prep work today, getting ready to put up the ceilings in hallway and living room. The old ceiling in the hallway was a bit thicker then what we are going to be putting back up, because there were two layers and when they trimmed the face of the stairwell it came to the edge of the ceiling. So the trim boards had to come down and new ones will go back up later. I also took the time to add a bit of strength to the cross supports at the head of the stairs, in case they have to cut it back a bit when we put in new stairs later. I also had to put up a new strapping in the living room as there wasn't one at the end of wall, also an edge piece to support a filler strip after the ceiling goes up. I spent some time pulling nails I forgot and cleaning up some of the edges so hopefully things will go smother tomorrow. Here a few pictures of today's adventures, and yes I know they're boring.

The new strapping is on the left and it may be hard to see
 the support piece.

The old trim was over an inch thick, I'll use this wood for anther
project later. The exposed wood are the floor joists.

You can see the new boards sistered to the cross members.

The Kitchen Makes Two

Finished the kitchen today, plugs, switches and lights back up. There is one area I didn't to because that is where the duct work will go once the chimney comes down. I may cut and put up the drywall needed for the space and only secure it with a few screws, just to hide it until we get started on that part of the project. I'll see after I do the living room and hallway ceilings. Here is a little walk around the kitchen.

Looking east at the bathroom and cellar doors, along with the oven wall.

Looking into the dining room (south), the fridge on the right.

The west and north walls, this is the pantry corner.

The north wall where the sink, cook top and dishwasher will go.

Coming from the living room towards the addition.