Praise God! The Drywall Is Done And Approved

While Laurie was staying up in Payson this past week, she got a call from our electrician Craig just checking in with us.  Come to find out he was in-between jobs and could use some work.  We still had a couple of leftover projects that he could do for us, so he came over Friday and put in the special arc fault breakers into our electrical panel.  Home Depot was out of stock of these last year when he was finishing up, so we had to wait for a later date.  He had some more time before he had to take off, so we had him install the new door to Matt's room.  I have now installed three doors in the house and do not enjoy it at all, come to find out neither does Craig.  But since Craig was willing, I was happy to let him do it.  It took him almost as much time as it took me, but I had a helper and he did not and his seem to fit better.

Guest door installed by Craig - works great!

Craig originally was going to put up our double-doors to the den, but found that the external measurement of the frame was shorter than the opening by almost two inches.  This meant a lot of space to shim up.  He recommended adding another one inch board on each side to fill the gap.  We had some of these boards on hand for the outside door trim, so cut a couple on Saturday morning and put them up.  There is definitely a lot less space to shim now.  We also found that we should wait to put up any more doors until after the drywall taping and texturing as that will be less to pre-tape before the work.  So doors are on hold for now.

Extra door jamb board

Opening made smaller by two inches

We spent the balance of the day installing the rest of the drywall in the den.  This was the west wall with the closet and the two short walls in the alcove (used to be the room entrance).  We had to trim around the closet opening and the overlap to the north wall.  The last part was to add the closet door entry trim.  We used a ceiling piece of drywall for the top of the opening as we needed to reduce the height a little for the future bi-fold doors.  This completed almost six months of weekend drywalling; however, we were not quite finished.

Opening cut out for closet

Last large wall of drywall

The small alcove (old entrance to room)

Last screw put in on regular drywall

Matt worked all week on another chair similar to the one he made me for Father's Day.  This one would be for Laurie's birthday and would give us matching deck chairs.  He finished the chair this weekend.

Matching chairs made by Matt

On Sunday, we started patching the bigger holes in the ceiling and bathrooms.  We knew the taping guy would do it, but we had time and we hoped it would reduce the cost we would have to pay.  We also started the drywall strips around the window frames.  We got most of the strips up before I left for the Valley and then Matt and Laurie finished up that night.

Patch for old stove vent hole More patches in master bathroom. . . . . . and another one Patch for old wall heater in guest bath One window completed with trim drywall Craig came over again Monday morning to finish all the coax cable connections. Though we will not be having cable for awhile, it still needed to be done.  He also had time to finish putting in the plumbing vents through the roof for the laundry room and master bath.  It was found in the original inspection that these vent tubes terminated in the attic and needed to be finished. I am not real comfortable putting holes in the roof, so was happy Craig could do this job. New vent for master bathroom We had our drywall inspection Monday morning and passed - Yeah! - so we are on to the next phase: taping & texturing. Laurie is starting back to work in a couple of weeks, so we have decided to have someone else do the drywall taping and texturing for us.  We thought we would have more time on our original work permit for the house, but found they would only extend it another six months.  There would be no way with Laurie working full time that we would complete the work needed to satisfy the new permit deadline and we do not want to pay to extend it.  Our friend Craig knows a guy who does great work and talked to him about us.  He was going to stop by and see Laurie before she left for the Valley on Wednesday, but she and Matt decided to leave Monday because Matt's job ended earlier than planned and we had a last minute family get-together Monday night.  So Craig brought this guy over that evening to check out the job and then locked up the house and called us later with the information.  It is more than we originally thought it would be, but cheaper than a regular drywall company would charge (we found out later with another quote).  Plus, we like Craig and his work, so we like that Craig is recommending this guy to us.  Hopefully we can have them start this work right after Labor Day weekend. Stats: 2 Home Depot trips; 3 Walmart trips Remodeling expense 8/8-8/15: $388 Remodeling expense to date: $31,182

Happy Belated One Year Anniversary!

Laurie is staying in Payson again this next week and so thought it might be easier if I write the blog for this weekend.  Actually, though the blog was Laurie's original idea based on a friend's suggestion, we have been writing the blog together.  Over the last year, the major writing of the blog has flip-flopped between the two of us, though we have written the blog from her point of view.

It has almost been a month since we have been back at the house in Payson.  Since our last posting, I went on a business trip to San Jose, we took a week vacation in Sedona and spent a weekend traveling to Flagstaff and across Route 66 to Kingman for a diner trip with our MR KLUD friends that we found in a recent Phoenix Magazine.  It was a lot of good food and a great time with our friends, plus we got to see parts of AZ we have never been to before.  Matt stayed at the house in Payson as he is still working at his summer job and we left our dog, Zena, with him during our travels.

The one year anniversary of the purchase of our Payson house has come and gone and we were not even there to celebrate.  We closed on July 22, 2010 and we started de-construction on July 25.  We have done a lot of work over the past year and have learned a lot.  We have made more trips to Home Depot and Wal-Mart than we have possibly made in our lifetime prior to this past year.  It has been a year of frustrations, surprises, joy and excitement in seeing our house become what we had envisioned when we bought it.  I can honestly say from my point of view that there have been a few times when I thought we bit off more than we could chew and wished for it to go away, but overall it has been worth all the work and trouble (though I will still be happy to have it done).

After all our trips, Laurie was able to catch a ride with her dad to get to the Payson house on Wednesday night to relieve our son from our crazy dog.  There were quite a few storms in Payson during our absence and she does not handle them well.  She has adopted a new behavior of climbing into the bathtub to hide from the storms.  I left work early on Friday in hopes of getting a jumpstart on the last few pieces of drywall.  However, when I arrived Laurie was not feeling well, so we just spent a relaxing afternoon at the house.

After Laurie made us all pancakes on Saturday (this has become somewhat of a new Payson house tradition), we started on the drywall in the den.  We actually got a later start than planned as the electric skillet started to smoke really badly and filled the house and my lungs.  I was coughing for quite awhile and even had to go outside to breath.  Matt also had some problems with the smoke, but it did not affect Laurie.  After doing a thorough cleaning on it, we tried it again and it immediately started smoking.  Looks like maybe the non-stick surface is going bad as the smoke has a chemical smell to it.  Apparently a new skillet is in order.

Since the den has been our main storage room for many of our future project purchases, we had to do some moving of boxes and doors before we started the drywalling.  We were able to do the wall with the double doors and started the north wall which backs up to the laundry room when I realized I had to do something with the dryer vent in this wall.  The current vent is one of those accordion tubes shoved through a hole in the floor.  Once the drywall is up on this wall it will be very difficult to put in a new vent.  So off to Home Depot we went to find a solution for a new vent.  I did not have many options as it has to make an immediate 90 degree turn from the drywall opening through the floor within a 3 1/2 inch wallspace.  I found a vent tube used for connecting the dryer to the wall vent in a tight space and then connected a extender tube to it through the floor.  I also bought a special connector that is used to connect the dryer vent to the wall opening.  Though it was still a tight fit through the floor, this solution seems to work well.  I will still need to extend the vent under the house to an outside vent, but that will be a later project since it will be awhile until we will need a dryer in the house.  We were now able to install the bottom piece of drywall on that wall.  We also thought now would be a good time to cut out the window in this room - the last window in the house that was still covered with drywall.  That definitely provided a lot more light in the room.

East wall of the den completed

The north den wall

Dryer vent opening in laundry room

Last window to be uncovered

Our plan was to drywall the wall with the closet door next, but we realized we had to do some work on the closet door opening.  We want to install bi-fold doors on this closet instead of standard sliding closet doors to have more access to the space (Laurie hopes to turn the area into a sewing center).  The bi-fold doors require a somewhat precise opening size and we had to measure to see if we needed to make any modifications as we did with the laundry room opening.  We found that all we had to do was remove the drywall and paneling on the opening studs.  We decided to wait on putting the drywall up, but I was able to remove the existing drywall pieces from the opening while Laurie started prepping drywall for the laundry room wall.

Den closet after drywall/paneling removed

Due to the resizing of the laundry room opening a few weeks ago to accommodate bi-fold doors, we had to remove the drywall from the interior side of the wall.  We installed the new drywall on both the wall and studs for the opening, then reinstalled the electrical box and light that was on this wall. While Laurie and I worked on this, Matt took on the task of straightening one of the new studs on a wall in the den.  It had warped outward and would have caused a problem when the drywall was installed.  He was able to put some shims in the opening to straighten the stud.  Not the best solution, but due to the electrical wires in the wall, we could not put this stud in the proper way and it is needed as an endpoint for securing the drywall.

Light and drywall in laundry room

Laundry room opening completed

Light colored stud in corner with added supports

Sunday was a laid-back day, though we did install the new screen doors for our master bedroom french doors that we picked up while at Home Depot on Saturday.  This was a special order due to the size of the french doors.  The screens installed easily and now we can leave these doors open to provide more air flow in the room without all the bugs.

Screens to enjoy the cool breezes without bugs

Stats: 1 Home Depot trip; 1 Walmart trip
Remodeling expense 7/11-8/7: -$2
Remodeling expense to date: $30,694

End Of Drywall Is In Sight

I stayed up in Payson again this week.  I will be starting a new job after taking Matt back to school in August so I’m trying to get in as much time up here as I can before I lose all my “free time.”  Mike headed home Monday around 6:30pm.  We had a huge storm that night.  It seemed like it passed directly over our house because the lightning flash and thunder were right on top of each other.  Zena does NOT like storms! At one point I opened the back door just to show her that we weren’t going to die and she actually ran out into the rain (not sure what was going through her head to make her decide THAT was a good idea).  Matt and I had a hard time getting her back in the house and when we finally did, she was sopping wet.  We have tranquilizers for her, but they were in the Valley so I tried to get her to take some Benadryl (something our vet recommended), but she can be really stubborn.  She finally ended up in the hall bathroom with the light on which I think made the lightning flashes less noticeable.  Matt and I didn’t get much sleep that night so we both took naps Tuesday afternoon.

This week I did more weeding.  I know I should just saturate them with a strong weed killer, but I actually like pulling weeds.  It is kind of therapeutic and, with the rain we had, it was much easier to get out the roots on the little buggers. On Friday I cut the insulation that we’ll be putting up between the master and guest bedrooms for soundproofing; I pulled some paneling out from between the ceiling and the wall to make room for the new drywall; Matt and I cut the first two pieces of drywall that will go up in the master bedroom and we also cut and screwed in a piece of ceiling drywall to plug the hole that we are filling in the master bath where the cabinet opening used to be.  This is the 1st time I’ve actually used the drywall screwdriver.  It has a head on it that is supposed to inset the screw to the proper depth, but it took a few tries to get it right.

My first drywall patch

Mike arrived Friday afternoon and immediately started on his small project which was to put flashing around the electrical pole.  It has been raining a lot this week and he wanted to make sure water wasn’t getting between the roof shingles and the plywood roof deck as we already had seen damage from under the roof.  He had to cut the flashing because the pole is already connected to the electrical wires (the previous owner should have put the flashing in when he replaced the electrical panel, but, surprise, did not).  He was able to pull a couple of staples out from the shingles and put the flashing underneath.  Then he used the tar tape we had used for the back door threshold and sealed the cut in the flashing and the flashing around the pole.  He used some roofing patch cement we had from sealing another pipe opening in the roof to seal the rest of the flashing and tiles he had pulled up.

Finishing touches being made to new flashing on electric pole

Saturday we moved all the furniture out of the bedroom, except the bed which we covered with our clothes and then a tarp.  I put up the insulation while Mike trimmed the opening around the closet.  When you do a corner with drywall, one side has to extend ½ inch past the wall to cover the drywall coming from the other direction.  Originally the closet opening drywall extended past the master bedroom wall drywall so when we removed the wall drywall, the opening drywall got quite beat up.  By trimming the opening drywall down ½ inch, we got a nice edge and can now extend the bedroom wall drywall ½ inch to make a nice corner.  Next we put up all the remaining drywall in the master bedroom.  It all went very smoothly until the last piece which I cut 1 inch too short.  Note to self:  ALWAYS write down the measurements – mind is not as sharp as it once was.

Mike trimming the drywall around the closet

Added insulation for extra privacy

Finished closet wall

No more open walls in our bedroom

When we completed the room, we fixed a small piece of drywall in the hallway above the closet door.  The edge of it had cracked when we installed it and Mike wanted to investigate.  He cut out a portion of the drywall and found the studs were not even on the end so he planed down the boards and then we put up a new piece of drywall.  It looks much better.  This leaves us with just a couple of walls in the den to drywall and a small piece in the laundry room.

The top left corner  was replaced due to uneven studs

On Sunday Mike decided to do a few more small projects.  First he rehung the name sign Matt made for us for Christmas as it keeps getting off balance.  Then he decided to replace the master bedroom door.  Luckily Matt got sent home from work because of the rain so he was available to help and I went back outside to do more weeding.  This is the third door Mike has hung in the house and although this one seemed to go easier, he still hates doing it.  There is too much unevenness to the whole event.  The frame is not usually even or level and the door frame is in the same shape.  But with perseverance and Matt’s help, the door was hung and is working and looks beautiful.  They even put on the new nickel door knob.  After he was finished, we both took a break and then I went back to pulling weeds while he sprayed weed killer on all the smaller weeds that are sprouting.

New SOLID door and hardware for our bedroom

Such a filthy job, but almost complete

Stats: 1 Home Depot trip; 1 Walmart trip
Remodeling expense 7/5-7/10: $24
Remodeling expense to date: $30,696

Too Hot!

So this past week I stayed up in Payson.  Mostly because I wanted out of the heat, but it is pretty hot here and I feel guilty using the A/C (Matt doesn’t need it and says I’m a wuss if I complain).  If I were in Gilbert at least I’d have the pool (which just got converted to salt water) to cool off in.  I bought a wading pool for Zena thinking SHE might like to cool off, but it is mostly a big (dirty) water bowl that she puts her feet in, then runs around in the dirt and tracks mud all over the house.  Luckily we don’t have our flooring in yet.  I’m actually thinking the wood subfloor is the way to go when you have a lab-mix dog that loves water and dirt.  Zena was a huge help this week.  When I was weeding, she kept dropping her ball in the garbage bucket and then knocking it over to get it out.  When I was removing the laundry closet drywall, she slobbered all over her furry toys and then rolled them on the floor – right in the drywall droppings – so now her toys are caked in drywall dust.  I thought about throwing them all in the pool, but then they’d just be caked with drywall dust AND mud.  Luckily she hasn't gotten sick - yet...

Zena's blue toy. . .

and her purple one covered in dust and mud

I kept pretty busy during the week.  Did some paperwork, sprayed some weeds with a bleach/water mix which didn’t have much effect then sprayed the weeds with Round-up which also didn’t have much effect then pulled lots and lots and LOTS of weeds (still have lots to go), sprayed some spider webs with the bleach mix (had some left over and just wanted to see if it worked on bugs) then sprayed the webs with insect killer, pruned some trees, took down some drywall that was inside the laundry closet (also took down some paneling – got to use the multi-tool), removed some nails and brads and cleaned up some jagged ceiling edges, cut some drywall in preparation for the weekend projects, organized/tidied up the house which involved moving lots of drywall and boxes to the storage sheds, and, believe it or not, did some cleaning (amazing that there is actually cleaning to be done in a construction zone).  My hands are pretty scraped up, raw and sore and the rest of me just hurts!

Mike took Friday off and left early on Thursday to give us a good head start on the weekend projects.  Our plan was to get all the remaining drywall up in the Family Room, Kitchen/Dining and Hall.  Matt and I had the 1st piece all ready to go and even up on the lift. Mike had to plane down some of the new studs that had twisted – what a mess – sawdust everywhere.  We were able to get one wall completed and it went up fairly smoothly – only one doorway (which I had marked ahead of time), 2 light switches and 2 outlets.  The only issue was getting the sloped edges even so we cut the drywall longer than needed, flushed one side up against the door opening and cut the other side after it was up.  This worked really well and we’ll do that for all the outside corner edges from now on.

Ready and waiting for Mike to arrive

Trimming down the uneven boards - sawdust flying

Completed pantry

On Friday we tackled the last remaining walls in the kitchen and family room.  The cutouts weren’t too bad and since they were all outside corners we were able to trim the edges once they were up, but there were a lot of areas that needed to be planed which was time consuming and messy!  With all the drywall up in the family room and kitchen, it is much easier to visualize how the house is going to look and I’m really lovin’ it.  Even though it is small, it is open and efficient which makes it seem much larger.

More uneven boards in the kitchen

Finished wall in dining room

Showing completed kitchen wall and pantry

Getting a better idea as to how the house will look with completed walls

Saturday, after our traditional pancake breakfast, Mike completed his “small” project which was to frame up the laundry closet.  We purchased bi-fold doors that require a certain opening which, of course, is smaller than the current closet doorway.  This went pretty smoothly until Mike realized that the 48” width needed to be 1” larger to leave room for the drywall allowance.  Luckily he remembered this before we put up the drywall on this wall and he had used screws, so all he had to do was remove the screws and move the 2x4 he’d just put in.  After the opening was framed up, we were able to install the drywall on this last remaining hall wall.  There was only one light switch and no outlets; one doorway, which we cut ahead of time; and the laundry closet opening which we trimmed with the dremel after installation.  Thankfully we were able to use the lift for the largest piece by putting one of the tripod legs in the bathroom. The other upper piece was small enough to manage without the lift, although Matt did emerge from his bedroom for a few minutes to give us a hand.  Since it was a fairly easy drywalling day, I decided to do some weeding, spray about 10 ant hills in our front yard, trim the monster hedge and even gave the two baby monster hedges their 1st haircut.  Mike framed up the large opening in the master bath - previously a cabinet - that he will be patching (future “small” project). The temperature had cooled off quite a bit due to an approaching afternoon storm, so Matt took the opportunity to use our new weedeater on the front yard. 

Framing to make opening for future bi-fold doors

Barely fits in hallway

Hallway is complete

Hedges with the new "haircuts"

Framing for drywall patch in master bathroom

Matt taking advantage of cooler weather to cut grass

There was an arts & crafts show in Pine this weekend so we headed up there Sunday morning. We had breakfast at the Early-bird Café (good food) and did some shopping.  Besides getting some stuff at the arts and crafts tables, we stopped at the thrift store that was next to the fair.  We had decided to get a vacuum for the house that would hopefully do a better job than our shop-vac (which is on its last legs from all the drywall dust).  We found a Kenmore vacuum cleaner for $10 which worked perfectly on our wood subfloors and allowed us to better clean the house for our first get-together.  In the early afternoon, some good friends came up from the Valley for a bar-b-que and games (dominoes, washers & peep shooting) and one couple even camped out in our den (the other couple opted for the long drive home at 10:30pm – sorry Richard & Kristin for keeping you so late).

Rearranged den for visitors

Makeshift door for visitor privacy

BBQ full of burgers and sweet corn

Our MR KLUD group

Doug getting ready for bed

Monday was a really laid back day.  Our guests took us out to breakfast (tried a new restaurant – the 260 Café which we will be visiting again a lot) and then they headed up to the rim to do some campground surveying while we enjoyed a relaxing day of reading and sleeping. 

Even though it was a hot one – we had a really terrific weekend of work, shopping, good food, good friends and relaxation.

Stats: 6 Home Depot trips; 2 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 6/27-7/4: $61
Remodeling expense to date: $30,672