Slow, But Steady

Progress may be a bit slow, but it's steady. The old wall dividing the old living space the back bedroom has been removed and the wires relocated to the new wall. Thank goodness the old attic access is still there, I had 17 inches of space to move the wires around to the new positions. It's amazing how big a room can be once a few 2 x 4's have been removed. The walls are now properly insulated and vapor barrier is up. There is so much stuff in this room I have to do it piece meal, once this part is done we can move everything over and finish off the other side. The drywall went up without a hitch and the tap and mud has started, Here are a few pictures of the progress so far.

Once there was a wall.

Now there isn't.

It opens it right up.

Lots of room now.

Nice and warm now. 

This will make a big difference this year.

Nothing like a bit of Sheetrock.

And more drywall.

Ceiling patch work.

The north wall.

East wall, it will be ready for cupboards.

Old attic access is now closed.

It's mudd'n time.

Lot of mud.

This will be tricky, I"m not good with ceilings.

The Last Leg

After taking down a couple of more cupboards and moving a few items, the last of the drywall is down, including the last leg in the mud room by the back door. Now we look for windows, see where the wiring may need to be relocated and we can properly insulate and vapor barrier these rooms. It's has been a while but now it will be done properly. I took 530 kgs of material to the transfer station today, that's a lot of drywall, and that means that much to go back on. OH BOY, can't wait.

The east wall in the old bedroom.

The north wall.

Amazing, no insulation.

The back door.

The last leg of drywall removal.

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.

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.

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.

And More Drywall

Seven more sheets up in the kitchen, I would have finished it but I ran out of screws. It doesn't take long to go through a 1000 screws, so I got another 1000 for tomorrow. I thought I'd take it easy the rest of the day and be a little more rested for tomorrow, when I finish the kitchen, and start the hall and living room. At least it's only the ceilings left.

The west wall, south side is were the fridge will go.

The wall on the right is were the wall oven and microwave will go
and right of the window, the north view, will be the cook top.

Left of the window will be a pantry.

One More Back Up

The kitchen ceiling is back up. It took a bit, with a couple of adjustments, not as many as the dining room but a couple were needed. As well a couple more sheets of drywall were needed, because of the section leading to the addition. All in all it went well after I took down the 5 lights, disconnected 8 plugs and 5 switches not counting the two for the cook top and wall oven, all just for the kitchen. Tomorrow the walls.

The south west corner of the kitchen, where the fridge will go.

The south east corner, where the wall oven and microwave will go.

Looking towards the bathroom and door for the addition, NE corner.

The north west corner where the pantry will go.

That's One

I decided to complete the dining room drywall work before moving onto the kitchen, that is putting up full sheets. I did it this way so I when I move tools from one room to the other I don't have to move them again to finish off the room. It takes about the same amount of time measuring, cutting and putting up smaller pieces as it does full sheets. And the little one are more of a pain to fit. I did run into one little snag today, in the dining room, when looking south the little wall on the east (right) side of the opening to the kitchen, I have the supports for the header and it looked square to the existing wall that surrounds the chimney. Well the supports are plumb but one of the older studs bowed out in the middle and I had to shave it down a bit with the reciprocating saw. Other wise the wall would have a bulge and this would not do. Here are a couple of shot of the finished dining room, note the one tool that helped make this job a hole lot easier, the drywall lift.

Looking at the south west corner.

Looking at the north east corner.

The north west corner.

My new favorite tool, at least until this job is done anyway.