You Can't Build A Brick House Without Bricks

Turns out, we are fresh out of rollers and brushes. No painting last night. Instead, Mike cleaned up the entire drywall mess - vacuumed the bathroom and the living room, and cleaned up all his tools from inside the bathroom.

We'll be ready to go for tonight!

Me Time

On Monday, Mike sanded the bathroom. On Tuesday, Mike sanded the bathroom again. And now it's time for me... to paint! Yes, I just said paint, or, technically, prime. Tonight I shall be priming! And I couldn't be more ecstatic.

Come to think of it, I hope I have at least one roller and a brush kicking around. I feel like it's been forever since I did any painting and I have no clue what we have in stock anymore.

I already have the colors picked out for Mike to pick up on Friday. A dark teal for the ceiling and a near-white (tinge of mint) for the walls. If I'm painting color by Saturday night, I will be one super psyched lady!

Mike will have to do some caulking around the top of the shower where they just couldn't squeeze any drywall compound in. It's that tight. After the paint is complete, the shower head can be installed along with the glass enclosure. (Which was of course, removed for drywalling.) A little baseboard trim to do, then the vanity can go in and the sink plumbing hooked up. Oh, and of course the lights, recessed trim, fan trim, and mirror can go up too.

Amazing how fast stuff can happen once a stubborn roof leak is fixed!

Meanwhile, before that...

I completely forgot about madness Sunday! Wow. Yes, last Sunday there was actually too much happening. Even for me! Our carpenter was over first thing in the morning to finish up the shingling up on the tippidy top of the house where Mike dared not go, ladder or no. Later on that morning, our chimney sweep (do we not have a friend for everything?) came by to clean our blocked chimney.

I don't think I've even mentioned that in the midst of all the craziness we've been going through, Mike awoke in the middle of one night a few weeks ago to a house filled with smoke! There was no chimney fire, thankfully, but it was definitely plugged up. And there was Mike in the middle of the night with a bunch of box fans, opening up all the windows and airing out the entire house.

It took weeks for the smell to dissipate. The basement still stinks.

So, enter the chimney sweep. After much cleaning, the chimney was clear again. While he was here, the guys checked the stove and tried to run it again. Our sweep confirmed - it does not run hot enough. And he couldn't give us any solutions on what to do. A few things to try perhaps, but we all pretty much agreed that the stove is too old and inefficient.

New wood stove. Add that to the shopping list. Luckily, there appear to be some tax credits available if we were to purchase a new, highly efficient wood stove. Not a bad idea. How much does it cost to fill an oil tank now-a-days? For the price of two fills, I bet we'd have the price of a new stove right there. But we'll have to shop around, see what's what. To the list it goes!

After those two guys finished up, it was yard cleanup time. Mike brought home the blower the night previous, and, after moving a buncha logs out of the back yard, blew the entire thing thoroughly. Looks great! No more sticks, less leaves, and no logs.

I took Zaida in the stroller with a bag (I had the bag, not her) and picked up all the trash I could find. (Being on a relatively busy road plus track pickup Tuesday, we get a fair share of garbage on the lawn.) After Mike was done out back, he and Mikey cleaned up all the construction/shingle debris from just outside the downstairs bathroom. I had no clue it had been such a mess over there! Glad that's taken care of, pre-bday party.

And thus concluded the busiest Sunday ever - I won't even mention the fact that I was pumping out 30 handmade bday invitations and that there was a salamander loose in the kitchen. Just that kindofa day.

Dry Room - Drywall

The shingling did the trick - the bathroom is living high and dry after at least two rain storms. (At long last.) Notice how we waited for a couple rainy days before we re-started the drywall? We were itching to do it, but knew better this time around. Thankfully, there was no need to worry after all.

So last weekend, Mike really set about finishing the job. He hung the remaining drywall, put in the over-the-shower light, and cut a hole for the sink drain plumbing. This week has been all about the taping and mudding. Mike roughed in all the seams and our neighbor will be over tonight for the next step, which is... I dunno. I'm not sure if we're at pea coat stage yet. You'd think I'd know the drill by now.

Before

After

Plus, with our son's 4th birthday just around the corner, we started cleaning up the outside. Mikey and I began over the weekend, picking up sticks around the yard and putting them in the wheel barrow. Last night, Mike brought home a chipper and took care of the big stuff. (No chipper availability over the weekend, those things are renting out like crazy right now!)

This weekend, Mike is hoping to get a blower to really clean things up out there. I put another bug in his bonnet today about ordering more blue stone for our side driveway. We got the stone for it last year... but didn't order quite enough to complete the job. We need just a big more to round the corner near the back garage addition.

And I think that will be more than enough to keep us busy inside and out for the next week or so...

Hello March, Goodbye Leak?

Hey, we finally happened upon a weekend without a snow storm... Imagine that, right?! If you're in New England, you know exactly what I'm talking about. February = pure torture. And March hasn't been much better.

Obviously, I've been lacking here on the updates. The last two months, weather plus work plus illness plus events and activities, plus the hustle and bustle of every day life... It gets to ya after a while and your blog suffers the consequences.

I'm going to try and remember all that's transpired... bear with me.

When we last left, the house had been buried in Blizzard Nemo, halting all progress in the bathroom due to a leak in the roof. Subsequent weekends brought snow storm after snow storm... with a rain storm stuck in there too, preventing any work to be done on the exterior.... preventing drywall work to be done on the interior. Frustrating to say the least.

But while we were waiting for the weather, Mike was able to put together the shower enclosure. Sounds fun and easy, doesn't it? It was a nightmare of epic proportions.

First, Mike attached the left side wall. A little bit hard to wrangle.. but not a huge deal. He attached and caulked it in. The trouble came when he went to attach the right side wall. It wouldn't fit. It wouldn't fit by a margin of under an inch. There was a beam in the ceiling in the way. There was no way around it but to cut the beam... and the only way to cut the beam was to remove the left wall. The left wall that had already been screwed and caulked in.

So Mike removed the left wall and cleaned up best he could. Even after the beam was cut, the right wall fought hard. The walls and floor were neither level, straight, or plumb, so to get the two sides level and matched was near impossible. But after a lot of cussing and pushing and shoving and shimming, was able to get both walls in and caulked down

The following weekend, another winter storm meant time to install the glass. After his fiasco with the two walls, Mike was not looking forward to doing the glass. But, he started patiently, putting the glass enclosure walls together outside the bathroom first. No problemo.

Unfortunately, once he brought them into the bathroom - big problemo. Since the floors, walls, everything was so incredibly askew, neither of the glass enclosure walls would fit. There was a HUGE gap at the bottom that just couldn't be overcome. The shower base was just too crooked due to the floor. Mike and I sat down and discussed out options.

1. Was dismissed immediately - jacking up the bathroom floor from beneath to level it. This would cause severe and dire implications in the adjacent kitchen... the adjacent kitchen we just finished re-doing exactly a year ago. Walls would crack, cabinets might fall, the countertops might separate. No way. Not an option.

2. Remove everything - the shower walls and base - and attempt to level the base by pouring a foundation of concrete. But this would un-do all that work that had already been done. All that pain in the butt work. And there was no guarantee of success.

3. Shim the shower doors using Azek and caulking. (Yes, Azek. Why not? It would be completely water proof and we could cut it to shape. You couldn't do it with regular wood.) The difficulty here was the nature of the cut. It would be a difficult cut and when all was said and done, it might look stupid.

Be that as it may, option 3 had the least risk, and we went with it. Mike went to the HD, bought a couple of Azek boards in a light grey color, returned home, and began to cut. Several difficult hours later, and the glass enclosure was up, screwed in, and completely shimmed. It didn't look half bad either, almost as if the Azek was supposed to be there - like some sort of trim.

So far so good, although we'll see how things go when we actually begin using the shower.

Then, at long last, SUN on a Sunday. I remember the day well, it was Sunday March 3rd. I had already planned a day of hair coloring with my girl friend and her four kids, with her husband planning to hang with mine. But that morning, our carpenter and our neighbor (yes, they're related to each other, Uncle and Nephew) came over, inspired by the sun and ready to work.

Busy day? Understatement of the year. But somehow, it all worked out. The guys started by ripping down all the old siding and shingles beneath. Then, they took out the upstairs window.

Once Upon a Window
Once upon a time, years ago, we installed new windows throughout the house. Some time after, we lifted the house (yes, lifted the entire house) in order to put in a basement. (Replacing the rocks and dirt the house had previously sat on.) Needless to say, the lifting and putting down of the house left many things askew - including one of our bedroom windows upstairs.

Years went by and we involved ourselves on many another project, leaving the window askew. But once we started this bathroom remodel, we discovered that water was leaking in through this window, running down, and leaking into the bathroom below.

So, (and forgive me if I've written this before) Mike took the window out and re-installed it straight and level. The only problem? The bathroom still leaked. This time, our carpenter was taking now chances. He advised re-installing the window yet again in addition to removing and replacing the old siding. The theory was that water was entering through the poor-condition siding and, still, possibly the window.

It was a little funny. I was in the middle of getting my hair colored in the kitchen when I went upstairs for something and discovered the bedroom door closed. I opened it and to my surprise, the window was out. I leaned outside and called to the guys who were standing below, "Again?" Mike replied, "Yep. And guess what we found under the siding?"

Stink bugs! I hate stink bugs, but every year they seem to get into our bedroom. I've found them on the windows, the curtains, the walls, and even IN MY BED. Like, under the covers and I get into bed and feel one on my skin... Worst nightmare come true...

Hopefully, replacing the siding and re-re-installing the window will prevent those guys from coming in too.

By the end of that Sunday, the old siding had been replaced with new plywood and TyVek. The window was back in correctly and trimmed with ice and water. My hair was black and pink. The kids had a great time together destroying the living room and Mikey's room. (Toy explosion.) And everyone enjoyed meatballs from the crock pot at the end of a long day. Delish.

Mike and I were so excited to have the outside waterproofed at long last. Mike set to work back in the interior of the bathroom, hanging insulation and drywall, about one sheet per day.

Then, we had another rain storm. And I'm walking past the bathroom when I hear water. My heart sank as I turned on the light and found a small puddle on the floor. Mike was ready to blow a gasket. But the wind outside was howling. "Maybe some of the TyVek blew off," he suggested. And sure enough, as he crawled outside the upstairs window, (this was around 9pm mind you) he found the spot where it was likely leaking.

This is one of those homeowner moments - it's after 9pm at night and you're out on the roof in a howling wind and rain storm with a piece of ice and water, a staple gun, and a heat gun trying to fix a leak before it wrecks all your insulation and drywall.

Luckily, Mike's efforts were not in vain. The leak seemed to be fixed again. This time though, he was not as enthusiastic about completing the insulation and drywall. He decided to wait until the exterior had been re-shingled and totally water tight.

This brings us up to the present day. And yes, Mother Nature dropped another 6-9" on us just last night. But with temps up to 40 and rising, plus plentiful sunshine, we're optimistic that this Sunday may just be the day to finish all that.

I'm itching to finish this bathroom and move on to exterior-related spring projects!

Floors, Pipes, and Blizzards

Hola, blog-readers! Lots of excitement round here... so much so in fact that I haven't even had time to type out two sentences about it.

Two weeks ago now, we completed flooring and plumbing in the bathroom.  (Well...Save for one mysterious disappearing valve that we cannot for the life of us locate...) On that particular Sunday, we were at the home depot once again for supplies - the sink and shower fixtures, plumbing parts, etc. And I really wanted to get the flooring taken care of.

Even though we're not a fan of it, we went to check out the stick-on flooring. (This bathroom is only semi-permanent after all.) And wow! Cheap cheap cheap! $30 for a box of 12x12 stick on tiles that would cover nearly the entire bathroom floor. (Compare this to a good quality 12x12 tile at over $5 a tile!) We bought two boxes to have plenty - plus plenty of extra.

After a bit of cleaning, we got to sticking. And in less than two hours we went from subfloor to finished floor. Can't get that with tile either.

Flooring by the Shower

In Process of Flooring

This is how it will look when finished!

Of course, less then three weeks later and already a couple of the tiles are un-sticking themselves from the subfloor. But we don't even care. Slap some glue on the corner and stick something heavy on it... It doesn't have to last forever.

The next day, Mike was onto the plumbing...

Sink Plumbing - Note missing valve on the left hand side there.

Shower plumbing

Mike also completed as much drywall and insulation as he could considering that we still have a leak in the roof. As you can see, one side of the room and ceiling are all set... the rest, not so much.

  

The entire plumbing job was a royal pain and we had to lose an outlet in the kitchen to fit the shower pipes in there. (Kitchen is right on the other side of that 2x4 you see under the shower mixing valve.... there was an outlet right there.)

But the job was finally done - no leaks - all good. Then we got hit by Blizzard Nemo and were buried under 2-4' of snow. The blizzard hit us last Friday, we lost power Friday night, and didn't get it restored until late Monday night. Needless to say, there was nothing done last weekend... except for a heck of a lot of snow moving, skid steere rigging, snowmobile breaking, generator moving, couch sleeping, wood stove loading.... You get the idea.

And to make matters worse, all this snow is going to severely delay the leak-fixing that we had planned for upcoming weekends. A lot of the bathroom side of the house needs to be re-shingled in order to fix that leak. And we can't move forward with any more insulation/drywall until the leak is fixed. So as you can imagine, we're quickly going to run into a stopping point.

This weekend we may be able to get the shower enclosure up and another few bits of drywall....

Hanging In There

This will go down on record as possibly the craziest and most uncomfortable week ever. Lack of kitchen, yeah, I can deal with that. Been there, done that, know the drill. But not with all this!

Monday: Mike finished hanging all the drywall. Two or our neighbors came over and did some taping that night.

Tuesday: I had my ultrasound and found out, It's a Girl! (The pre-anticipation and post-mental overload have left me in a state of numbness all week.) Tuesday night, the neighbors were back for more taping and mudding.

Wednesday: Was a day of rest for the guys, but I still had to do a bunch of driving in terrible weather, which is always stressful.

Thursday: Cabinet arrival day! I rushed home around 12:30 to meet the delivery dudes... who delivered an incredible amount of boxes, filling the entire mudroom and living room. (As if they weren't already stuffed enough.) I opened one of the boxes after the left... the cabinets are even more beautiful then I had envisioned. And then I rushed back to work only to just barely sit down at my desk when - RING RING! Mikey's school. He was sick with the stomach flu. I had to get back in the car and go all the way back past home to pick him up and then back home... and try to take care of him in a living room full of boxes!

I was exhausted by 6pm, which was the exact time the neighbors knocked on the door. They did the pea coat and sanding with Mike Thursday night. Once that dried, it would be ready for primer and paint.

Mike cleaned up after they left and we both collapsed into bed around 10.... at which time, Mikey threw up again... in bed.... soaking everything. He had to sleep with us. (And we do not sleep well with him - he kicks and punches and rolls around like a mad man.)

He did not throw up again, but Mike and I were still exhausted when we woke up Friday morning.

Friday: Mike stayed home with Mikey, as he could not go back to school within 48hrs of the bug. Our neighbor had the day off too and the two of them primed... and then painted the kitchen. I was in disbelief when I got the pictures via text. I didn't think we'd have enough wall paint... and I was pretty sure the small remainder of the ceiling paint was unusable.

Meanwhile, I tried to coordinate cabinet installation for this upcoming Monday, (what with the amazing progress) but the production crew was unavailable. We'll have to shoot for (haha) Monday the 12th. Hopefully at least we'll be able to move the boxes into the kitchen until then. The stove and the dishwasher are both hooked up. The biggest pain now is all the boxes.

Jumping in the Kitchen Headfirst

As name implies – there’s no going back. We’re kitchen committed now. Mike… my poor guy. He’s going to need a serious break after all this.

Let’s roll the clock back to Saturday AM. My monumental task of the day is a mission of epic proportions. The entire kitchen needs to be emptied. The contents of the entire kitchen cannot be in the kitchen. Dangerous, sharp, and spillable/breakable items cannot be within the reach of our 2.9 year old. The entire house needs to be meticulously cleaned. The entire kitchen needs to be meticulously cleaned. Why? Well, here’s a portion of the big kitchen secret. It’s all being filmed.

I can’t divulge more then that at this time, but, very HGTV-like, we needed to prepare a proper “before” shot. Clean, clutter free, but still appearing as though someone really truly uses this kitchen. (Can’t clean the counters completely, can’t remove pictures from the wall or plants from the window sill.)

It took the entire day. Literally, the entire day, to do this. First, I cleaned areas not the kitchen. Bathroom, mudroom, living room. Did the dishes. Did the laundry. Made a quiche. Started marinating a pulled pork to put in the crock pot Sunday AM. (Preparing for a difficult-to-cook situation. Can you tell I’m an old pro at this??!)

Once that was accomplished, it was on to the kitchen. I started with the clutter. The stuff on the fridge, off. The pens/pencils, vitamins, and other junk on the counter, off. Then, time for the cabinets. I took a deep breath and went through them one by one, stuffing stuff wherever stuff could be stuffed. I threw out some things. I brought some other things to the basement for storage. Discovered I had at least 10 Coors Light cooler bags. (No new cooler bags this summer!) And slowly, all the cabinets were emptied.

There’s stuff on the piano. There’s stuff under the piano.There’s stuff on the wall of the mudroom where I removed Mikey’s easel and our shoes. The glasses and tupperware are in the laundry basket, in the laundry closet.

There’s stuff on top of the kegerator. 

There’s stuff on the living room shelf thing – and on top of it.

There’s stuff on top of the entertainment center. Plates and bowls are in one end table. Pans are under the couch.  

There’s stuff in and on the bar.

 

There’s fondue pots in the hallway. I felt like some sort of super-organized hoarder. Stuff, stuff, and more stuff everywhere. And yet the house was still clean.

I discovered the original yard sale price tag from when we purchased our current cabinets. $200 for the whole set w/sink. We didn’t take the sink. Either that or we took it and threw it out.

Without much time to reminisce, I continued on. Once the kitchen had been emptied, it had to be cleaned. I was exhausted, but cleaned and tidied what I could before calling it a night… because that’s what it was at that point. Night.

Sunday morning, we were all up early. After breakfast, Mike got out the buffer (yes, an automotive buffer) and cleaned the stove and all our stainless steel. (Refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher.) And if you think cleaning your stove with a buffer is crazy… well, you should see what an awesome job it does. Just put a little glass cooktop cleaner on there and have at it. (Make sure you’ve wiped the surface free of all crumbs, etc first – else you could scratch your cooktop.) Meanwhile, I tidied up more, cleaned more, vacuumed, and swiffered. 

In a groundbreaking first-time-ever event, we were finished before the film crew arrived. (Usually never finished on start time – whether it’s a party or any event.) Then, for the next hour or so we did all our “befores” and even took down a few cabinets for show. It all went surprisingly smoothly and the crew was out and on their way on time, leaving us to do the rest on our own.

Everything went very well at first. The tops all came down no probs. There was a little mildew on the upper wall by the stove. Ok. No sign for alarm yet. The bottom on one side of the stove, no probs. Sink – pain in the butt, but not really a problem. After everything was disconnected, it wouldn’t come out. We had to use a sazall to cut the countertop around it off. Dishwasher unhooked with no problem. Shelf demo was fun and exciting.

Then we got to the rest of the cabinets on the back wall, on the left side of the stove. Problem. The cabinet right next to the stove pretty much fell apart as it was taken out. As in, all the sides collapsed. Why? Water damage. Behind the damaged cabinet, more bad news. Moist and spongy drywall. (Three words you never want to hear together in the same sentence.) Behind the moist and spongy drywall, yucky insulation. More bad news. Prognosis: the ceiling is leaking down the wall. How do we know? We can see the trail of cracked paint on the ceiling and now moist & spongy drywall, yucky insulation, and a damaged cabinet on the wall. Treatment: immediate removal of grossness and immediate emergency roofing.

Cracks in ceiling paint - mildew on upper part of wall

Potion of no drywall = bad. See that blackness on the insulation?

First, of course, we finished removing the cabinets and countertop and hauled them all away. Then, we ripped out the entire kitchen back wall. Drywall and insulation. Mike examined the sill and the studs for water damage and luckily, everything looked good. He spent the rest of the afternoon on wiring, since the new layout moves the stove over and incorporates a microwave on top. (A couple outlets needed to be moved… and we had an extra wire in there already, having planned for possible future stove-vent wiring. Smart, huh?) I spent the rest of my afternoon doing what else – cleaning up.

Hope future generations appreciate my insanity

So, changes in the wiring + no outlets in stock = no stove. Smart again with the dinner in the crock pot! The refridge is of course on its own breaker, no problems there. We did however have insulation in stock, extra from the basement bathroom. Most of that went up Sunday night before we called it quits.

We also put a call into our roofer/builder, Timmy. He did our entire other roof – everything but the kitchen, which we held off on at that time. He also did much of the finish work on our farmer’s porch. And let me say, he’s a great resource for questions or advice in either of those fields. Bruins fan – great guy. Another asset to the neighborhood. Anyhoo, Mike briefed him on the situation and they agreed that a rubber roof was the only way to go on a poorly sloped roof like our kitchen’s. Problem – you can’t rubber roof in temps under 50 degrees. But, and this is good prep for a new rubber roof anyway, he advised us to ice & water the entire thing. That should hold us off until spring.

Now, it’s the end of Sunday night. There’s stuff everywhere. There’s tools and building materials everywhere. The stove is off. The drywall is down and insulation is up. The truck is full of demo. In prep for the new kitchen, we had not planned on replacing any drywall. We had only planned for fixing cracks along the adjacent wall and re-painting. (No paint behind old cabinets.) We had certainly not planned on a new roof! The wiring, we knew about, and that was relatively easy. There are two pipes for the upstairs heat that need to be re-routed that we had forgotten about. Kitchen sink plumbing can come after the fact, thank god.

And the new cabinets are coming – this Thursday! Gulp. Everything must be completed by this weekend.

I Like to Tape It, Tape It, Mud It, Mud It

As promised, all the taping was completed on Tuesday night. I could hardly believe it. The guys worked from 6:30pm – 8:30pm and finished all the taping.

Wednesday, Mike picked up some corner beads and masking tape on his way home. Then, from about 6:30pm – 8:00pm, he and our neighbor finished installing and mudding all the corners. And, they did all the mudding and whatnot around the tub/shower. (That’s what the masking tape was for.)

I could hardly believe it. It’s looking awesome. Incredibly awesome. Incredibly fast. (This is what happens when you work with a professional.)

The two of them will be back at it tonight and probably Friday night. And that’s it. Paint-ready.

Full Speed Ahead

On most of these holiday Mondays, I feel like I’m the only one working. Yup, no three day weekend this Presidents Day. But while I was sitting at my desk, Mike continued to make progress at home, hanging more drywall. He even did some mudding in the closet.

He asked me to pickup some drywall tape on the way home, which I did. And when I arrived, I was surprised to find our neighbor pulling in almost right behind me. The two of them did some taping in the closet and then Mike continued on by himself for the rest of the evening.

I joined him after Mikey’s bedtime and we finished hanging the drywall. 100% complete.

Our neighbor will be over again tonight after work… He thinks he can have the entire room taped within an evening. A couple more days of mudding and sanding after that and we could be painting by this weekend. This, I did not expect. And I doubt we’ll have time to be painting this weekend, but you never know. Saturday night is a possibility…

It's Not Easy Being Green Drywall

The madness of the next four weeks began on Saturday, and I don’t expect it to slow down until at least 3/11. Saturday morning the electrician arrived and completed all our wiring in under an hour and a half. The recesssed lights, the outlets, the switches – everything – all set.

Sunday was outrageously insane. Immediately following breakfast, Mike called over our drywall’n neighbor to help him measure and determine the right amount of drywall sheets. Before 10am, the whole family was packed in the truck for the weekly trip to our favorite orange-themed home improvement warehouse.

This, we have down to a science.

Upon entry, we split up – Mike with the big cart, heading for drywall, and Mikey and I in the racecar cart headed towards electrical. While Mike got the drywall, screws, mud, and insulation, Mikey and I made a return, picked up plastic sheeting, a 2’ closet light, and a pancake box for the vanity light. We were even lucky enough to score a free two-person plastic kids sled at customer service. (I guess they don’t expect to sell them this winter.)

We all met back up at the register, having coordinated our shopping list across the store via our cell phones. Immediately I asked, “Where’s the drywall?” There was none on the cart. Then I saw the forklift… with half a pallet – 20 sheets of the mold resistant green stuff. Boy, did that add up. 20 sheets plus 2 buckets of mud plus 3 packs of R15 plus drywall screws, plus all the stuff in our racecar cart. To the tune of over $500.

Didn’t matter – we were on an orange-plastic funded mission. And we loaded up everything and headed for home. Our neighbor pulled in to our driveway right after we arrived. He and Mike unloaded a few things and got right to work.

The first challenge was the vent for the fan. Mike had the distinct pleasure of drilling through over 10” of solid PT to get a hole from the inside of the basement to the outside, at the bottom of the porch. (Think a thick sill plus thick farmer’s porch construction.) His hole saw couldn’t even make it all the way from one side. He had to go outside and drill from the opposite direction.

 By the time that was done, two of our other neighbors arrived and helped bring down all the drywall. Then, they took a break to walk around and mark the property borders using all their resources – online maps, printed maps, a super long tape measure, and a can of orange marker paint. Then they made some clams casino. Then, I was sent on a beer run.

(You keeping up with all this?) Just a day in the life here in this neighborhood.

They all headed back downstairs after “lunch,” built a small soffet over the sink area to hide a pipe that just couldn’t have gone anywhere else, and then cut and hung all the ceiling drywall. All the neighbors left after the ceiling was up, but Mike and I pressed on.

I finished the insulation as Mike continued to hang drywall. He and I both put up the plastic sheeting over the insulation, an extra moisture barrier layer, and then Mike went back to hanging.

After Mikey and I had dinner, and after Mikey was in bed, Mike was still hanging. I rejoined him to clean up and we called it a night with over 75% of the room finished.

Next step, of course, da mud. But that may have to wait. Next Saturday begins kitchen demo madness. I have to first empty everything from all the cabinets and prepare the room for demo. Sunday, demo.

For the week following, we’ll be in a rush to finish the drywall, paint, and small amount of electrical in prep for the arrival of the new cabinets.

Dam It Jim I'm an Editor, Not An Electrician

Mike did not call our electrician last week as promised. Over the week, he’s been installing boxes and doing some initial wiring… and had somehow by Sunday he had convinced himself that he could do it all by himself. All by himself with a little help from the internet. I said nothing until he started asking me questions about GFI’s. Me?

If it’s come down to I’m-The-Most-Knowledgeable-Person-In-The-Room about electrical… well, I think it’s time to call in a professional. Mike actually agreed. He made the call and scheduled for next weekend. (Almost too easy.)

And me? I’ve got to call on cabinet delivery dates as soon as I remember to grab the number. I’m thinking electrical this weekend – kitchen demo next weekend. That would leave us 1-2 weeks to do drywall and all other previously listed changes. Speaking of drywall, we’ll be ready for that downstairs too once the electrical is complete.

HOLY CRAP THIS IS ALL COMING TOGETHER! My Bday’s March 9^th… I think I’m going to have a party.

Style of Cabinets - Color Isn't Very Accurate Here

Color is More Accurate Here, A Little Lighter - Swatch is Countertop