A ‘MUDDY’ MESS, but lots of progress!

In two weeks a lot has happened. At last elements are being added that bring the project closer to their end result. Final tweaks to the plumbing and electrical systems were made before the sheetrock would seal those systems into the walls. Before sheetrocking, both Don and Corey spent hours adding shims to wall studs, to make the walls ‘flat’ and to compensate for the difference between the thickness of the sheet rock and the old lath and plaster. This will allow for better cabinet installation, and make the door and window trim be flush to the walls. Interestingly, some of the shimming was done with cardboard strips made for the purpose; others were cut from scraps of wood.

Next, Corey installed insulation in the exterior walls. Don added more insulation around the sewer pipe next to the peninsula, to quiet the flushing sounds in the sewer pipe that runs next to the seating area.

Don is always busy after the crews leave.

Insulation in the exterior kitchen wall

Next, the sheetrock crew took over. First piles of materials and equipment were delivered. Then, the sheetrock was installed by the ‘hanger’ team of two men. Amazingly they did it all in one day; kitchen, part of dining room and entry hall, closet in bedroom, and the full new main floor bath! The next day a new worker came and cleaned up the area. Later another two man team came and did the initial taping and ‘mudding.’ When they left we set up fans to help dry the ‘mud.’ They skipped a day to let the mud fully dry, and then came back again and did a second pass. More fans running day and night to let it all dry.

They will be back another day to do the final sanding – uggh, the DUSTiest part of this project!. Yet another worker will be here later to texture the patched areas in the dining room ceiling, and some wall areas needing matching texture to the old plaster walls. The kitchen and bathroom, since they are all new sheet rock, will not be textured.

The complexity of the electrical and plumbing, some of which took lots of effort to work out, and which occupied us for weeks is now hidden behind the walls. We have taken lots of photos, so if walls are ever opened up again, there will be no surprises. Now all we see are switches and outlets. Here are some pictures of that work.

Materials delivered, ready to start hangin'

Sheetrock hung

Here’s the peninsula area and the hall to the front door.  You can see signs of the funny old angled hall.

View from the kitchen to the garage

The new closet in the main floor bedroom. We think this is the way it was when the house was built.

Back wall of bathroom; sink and medicine cabinet on right, and shelves above the toilet on the left.

Right wall of bath—shelves to be, and shower.

Another significant thing was getting our heating system back on line. It’s been getting pretty cool at night. The furnace was shut down and the thermostat removed when the initial demolition was done, as the thermostat was in a wall that went away. Don was able to fish the thermostat wires through an old wall and installed the thermostat along the side of the stairs. This was a chance to test out the new duct work that feeds heat upstairs, as the old duct went away with the same wall that had the thermostat. The new duct took some trickery to snake around both in the basement ceiling, and in the wall and ceiling of the new kitchen peninsula area. Here are some pictures of this work
 

Here’s the ducting that was done in the basement ceiling.

We are lucky its been a warm fall. Finally the thermostat is in its new home.

Susan, the cabinet person, came along with Corey, to take final ‘field’ measurements for the cabinets, and to discuss details, to get the cabinet order rolling. This is the biggest expenditure of the project next to the labor (think 5-digit $$), so attention to detail is warranted here. Don returned to Pacific Cabinetry (in Vancouver) yesterday, to work out some details on the two custom cabinets they will build (for the old pantry cupboard, and for the old phone nook). We will presumably meet with Susan early next week to officially place the order and pay a deposit

Mud, mud, everywhere. Next, a clean-up and then the underlayment for the floor. Hopefully that will be an end to this very messy phase.

Whew!  Guess that’s enough to report on for now.