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.

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…

Living Room Week!

Welcome to LIVING ROOM WEEK! Probably the best week I've had in quite a while, actually. This sickness is finally leaving me, house work is being completed, and best of all, Mike and I have a special event in Boston to attend at the end of the week. Everything has been generally good.... note I'm not claiming that this is the best week ever or anything like that... but "generally good" is pretty good after a slew of "very bad," "horrible," "sick," and the ever-popular, "Uuughsph" weeks.

First lets rewind to last Sunday. Mike completed the leveling to a point of less then perfect, but more then adequate. And, I might add, no cracks in the upstairs drywall or hardwood floors. The same afternoon, I was able to get a break to remove the living room window trim and a large section of drywall that needed to be replaced.

Upon removal of said drywall piece, I was shocked to find a portion of the exterior wall that had been left uninsulated. How we managed to forget one little portion is beyond me and this was definitely contributing to the whole downstairs heat problem.

I also found some nifty souvenirs in the wall from when we originally demolished the old plaster walls that I'd completely forgotten about.

This "No Snake" sign I created to help guide and inform all the confused snakes that kept getting into the basement. (at that time a dirt crawl space)

I hoped to encourage natural snake control with this "Mongoose OK" sign... but never saw any mongooses. Both signs I left in the wall for future renovators.... funny that I got to take one last look before the wall went back up again.

On Monday, Mike cut a new sheet of drywall to replace the damaged one. Monday night, he removed the pipe - put in originally in hopes of a wood stove. (We still hope to add our wood stove someday... just a little differently.)


Also he cut a new piece of drywall to fill the void left by the pipe, insulated the wall portion that had been previously neglected, and then screwed both pieces of drywall to the wall.


On Tuesday night, Mike started on the plywood - managing to install 3 sheets. (Note that each cat couldn't resist getting his and herself into Tuesday and Wednesday's picture.)

On Wednesday our neighbors Dana and Rich came over to tag team the drywall while Mike and I were at work. Though we really just needed a couple of areas fixed, these two are perfectionists and taped up ALL the problem areas.

And that brings us up to date. Next, after the mud dries fully, the guys will return to sand and all that good stuff. Then the entire room will need to be primed and repainted. (Yes, they fixed a lot and the entire room will need to be repainted. No way around it.) At the same time, Mike can continue installing the subfloor.

Timetable? No clue. But this is a heck of a lot farther then I thought we'd be at this point. Just goes to show how much you can accomplish when you do a little every night.

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