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.
