We Have Heat!

The Osterman Propane guy came out today and the heat is now on and working. He was a colorful fellow with stories of how he spent his life thinking that he hated homemade mac & cheese until finally trying it as an older chap and finding out it was actually really good. He also gave me a little history lesson on Ireland and the origins of the term Black Irish. I don't know if it's true or not, but it made for some interesting conversation.

I've got the first coat of joint compound in the gaps around the outlets that needed it. Unfortunately I'm caught in a struggle between math homework and just wanting to finish this renovation once and for all.

Plight of the Fremen

This is what drywall sanding makes Paul look like:

I know it seems like it's taking us forever, because it is. Painting the bedroom made me realize just how noticeable all those little imperfections are once it's all a field of solid color. So we're going back over every inch of wall and smoothing everything out as much as possible. It is by far the suckiest part of the job. By Far. I can't wait to be done with the dust and on to the paint. Really.

ready for paint!

So I decided to use the materials at hand and thanks to the help of my brand new brother-in-law we got the drywall up on the ceiling last Friday and my friend Steve came to pick up a couple of the leftover sheetrock pieces on Saturday. I spent the weekend making my seams and corners as perfectly smooth as possible and yesterday I picked up the paint for the bedroom and diningroom. I haven't actually gotten started yet though because my math homework was and still is calling to me. Also calling to me are some unresolved work issues that I need to transfer to less fortunate coworkers before I leave for good.

I know I haven't had pictures in a while, but joint compound really isn't that pretty to look at. I promise there will be pictures again soon.

to beadboard or not to beadboard...

Well yesterday Paul and I finished the last of the carpentry and drywall on the walls of the bedroom and started taping and mudding.

We have 8 sheets of drywall leftover. I estimate it would take 5 sheets to cover the ceiling. The ceiling is only 7 feet high, thus imperfections will be obvious. For this reason I had wanted to cover the ceiling with beadboard. I had also wanted to use the bead board because it is much lighter than drywall, thus easier to hang. But when we went to look at the beadboard selection at Home Despot, we couldn't decide which one we wanted. Now in the fresh light of morning I'm wondering if we should just use up the drywall that we already have rather than buying more of a whole new material and try to make the joints as smooth as possible. The little voice (yankee thrift?) at the back of my head is telling me it's the smart move. The muscles in my neck and shoulders want to be wasteful and get lighter stuff.

Opinons?

In the bedroom...

All that's left is the rough-in for the door and a few pieces of drywall. The ceiling will be beadboard.

Connect the Dots

So it's been a while, and I don't have new pictures of the renovation to share. There has been progress. We've done the joint compound and smoothed it over with a damp mop. It's actually pretty amazing how much the sponge mop acts like an eraser or a sanding block to remove the excess joint compound. It's almost finished, but there are still a few places around light fixtures and heating vents that need attention.

I've already bought the paint for the kitchen. It's Rapture by Glidden. Yes, it's really that red. The chosen color for the diningroom is Magic Spell by Behr, but when I looked at the paint chip it looked far more gray than I remembered so I didn't buy it yet. I thought I'd give the paint chip one more viewing in the room first.

So why haven't I been blogging?

1. I sprained/strained my wrist doing the joint compound and wanted to rest it for reason number 2.


2. My first Grad class in Applied Math, which lead to reason number 3.


3. An unplanned calculus review, because I couldn't seem to get the derivatives right. I forgot all about the product rule and quotient rule.


4. I celebrated turning 3-cubed years old (after a shock to find out that I've been thinking I was already 27, and then realizing that I was only 26!)


5. My sister is getting married and I spent 2 days trying on bridesmaid dresses to find a style that I could live with in a color that I could live with, and then trying on shoes to go with the dress.

Do I really need more reasons?

Drywall, Gypsum, Sheetrock

After a full weekend of hanging drywall, we're almost finished with the 2 front rooms. All that's left is 4 pieces in the kitchen. Once that is finished, we'll start doing the joint compound.

A Patchwork Ceiling

Last night, Paul and I got one sheet of drywall up and then decided halfway through positioning the second sheet that it was really a 3 person job. My brother was kind enough to come over and lend both his hands. Hopefully he doesn't have a concussion from when the drywall hit him on the forehead. Also, no matter how careful you are with these things, you will measure wrong (even twice!) and you will get smutz in your eyes. In fact the exhaust from the drill will blow it there at high speeds.

Thank you Jimmy!







And I got to see My String Bean, and her puppy Rocco who did his best to behave despite the very unhappy kitties who didn't want to share their home with him.

48 sheets of drywall in my diningroom

This past Saturday I rented a van, went to Home Depot and spent about 2 hours waiting for them to bring a forklift around to get my drywall down from the stack. Then my poor dad and Paul loaded them into the house. I'm still prepping the walls but I can't wait for the stack to get smaller as the drywall goes up.