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

Quite A Busy Weekend

We arrived Friday afternoon about 1:00, had lunch, unpacked and got started on the “small” project for the weekend.  We put in the linen closet ceiling and walls that I painted last week.  I ended up putting in most of the screws since Mike couldn’t fit inside the closet.  I don’t have the strength to shove in the screws so Mike helped push from the hall side of the opening while I held the drill.  After that we completed the section of drywall inside the pantry that we didn’t get finished last weekend.  We had to cut an opening for the A/C ductwork.  Since we couldn’t put the duct through the opening, we cut out a U shape and added a small piece of drywall underneath.  Mike also added a 2x4 to the corner of the pantry so he could finish putting in the final screws in the inside corner.  Matt finished sanding Mike’s Father’s day present and we added a new cushion we got at Kohl’s and moved it to the front porch for Mike’s morning reading time.

Linen closet installed.  Needs more paint and shelves.

Last panel installed in the pantry.

New cushion for Mike's chair

Group shot with Mike in new chair

Saturday morning I remembered I needed to cut and put up insulation in the hall before we could drywall.  This took a few hours (messy stuff requiring “special” clothes) so Mike used the time to take out the guest bathroom medicine cabinet as we wanted to make sure the new one fit before we covered the back with drywall.  He also took down the guest bath mirror to attempt patching a hole left by an outlet that was moved in the re-wiring process.  He got the patch in but it still needs taping and texture.  We found that the new mirror is smaller than the old one so I will need to cover the teal paint that was hiding behind the old mirror (which means the whole bathroom is going to need to be painted now).  He then removed the wood cabinet door and frame in the master bathroom to see if there was any work that needed to be done from the back (hall) side.  After putting up the insulation, we went to Home Depot to pick up the new medicine cabinet and some temporary window shades for the front window for privacy (that’s where I sit to use my computer and it feels creepy at night knowing anyone walking or driving by can see me) and the side windows to block the hot morning sun.  When we got back, we hung the drywall on the north side of the long hallway.  For the first piece we used a full 12’ board.  We were able to get the drywall lift in the hallway by putting one of the tripod legs through the den wall.  Since the only cutouts were for the bathroom door and the doorbell wiring, we thought this would be a fairly easy install which it was except for the notch we had to cut out (after the fact) to accommodate the drywall around the top part of the master bedroom door.  The next piece was a small one and only required one cutout for the a/c wiring, but the ceiling was sloped at this end of the hallway and the bottom of the drywall had to be trimmed (again, after it was up) about 1/4” to make a straight edge for the bottom piece.  The third piece was short and had no cutouts and went up quickly which was nice because the last piece was a trial!  The wall and both sides were sloped so we cut the bottom on the diagonal and trimmed the sides after it was up.  We had to make a large cutout for the A/C vent and cut an opening for an electrical box – never a fun task and made more difficult by the fact that we didn’t have a good side to measure from.  Luckily the A/C vent had a large lip so we didn’t have to be extremely accurate.  When we took off the vent cover we found that it was only being held on by three of six screws and the filter was filthy so Matt and I headed to Home Depot to get more screws and a package of filters.  Too bad that I ended up grabbing the wrong screws so Mike put the cover back on with just the three original ones.  While we were out, we tracked down the ice cream truck which we had missed when it came down our street earlier.  Matt and I each got a crunch bar ice cream and we sent it back to our street for Mike. Finally Matt and I moved the short pile of drywall onto the larger one so we now have moving around space in our family room – Yeah!!

Added insulation to some walls for sound deadening

Guest bath mirror and cabinet removed - nice blue color

Cabinet removed from master bath - will be drywalled

Using the lift in a tight space

North wall in hallway completed

New temporary shades added for privacy from passerbys

On Sunday, even though this was supposed to be his “resting” day, Mike decided to install our new pantry door knob and family room ceiling fan.  He thought they would be easy projects, but, of course, there were complications.  He had to adjust the pantry door because it wasn’t closing properly and he discovered that the ceiling fan was going to hang too low with the included 4” downrod.  I could’ve sworn we took that into account when we bought the fan, but maybe it was one of the OTHER several ceiling fans I purchased and returned over the past few months :). We headed out to Home Depot to see if they stocked shorter downrods.  They didn’t (although you can purchase one online), but their electrical guy said you could cut the rod with a reciprocating saw and drill new holes (we did get the A/C vent screws while we were there and Zena got to ride in the jeep so it wasn’t a wasted trip).  Of course it wasn’t that easy and the holes ended up a bit skewed and the shortness of the downrod made the install difficult, but Mike was able to get it done (he always does) and our new ceiling fan is bea-u-ti-ful! 

Door knob added to pantry to complete the door

New and bigger ceiling fan for living room

Matt got off work at noon and we headed to the local theater to see Cars 2.  Very cute and the movie was packed with lots of little kids.  Afterwards we hit Scoops for ice cream – also packed with little kids.  When we got back Mike decided he REALLY needed to get the medicine cabinet installed in the guest bathroom (not sure why because only Matt is using it right now) and that also turned into a bigger than expected project.  The old medicine cabinet was rounded – the new one is square and just a tad bigger so he had to use the multi-tool to trim down the drywall and old paneling and knock around the 2x4 supports that framed up the hole.  He also put the old mirror back up temporarily so Matt can see to shave.

New medicine cabinet for guest bath

Mike headed back to the valley around 6pm. I’m going to stay up here for the next two weeks to avoid the heat and get some painting (and thrift store shopping) done.  Next weekend is a long one.  Mike will be back up Thursday afternoon and stay through Monday night.  We have friends coming Sunday afternoon for a bar-b-que so we will be trying to get our house a little more presentable.

Stats: 3 Home Depot trips; 3 Walmart trips
Remodeling expense 6/20-6/26: $57
Remodeling expense to date: $30,611

Lovin’ the Payson Weather!

I stayed in Payson this past week because we had 4 large rolls of insulation being delivered to the house on Monday and I’m so glad I did as the weather was really nice (compared to the heat wave going on in the Valley right now).

While I was there I: Put together a Home Depot bid (our 2nd) and we were able to save about $400 off the regular prices of the materials we needed to purchase; Painted the inside of the linen closet (originally a teal color) and the hardiboard pieces that will make up the sides and ceiling of the restructured linen closet; Moved all the drywall we’d stored in the pantry out to the family room to get ready to drywall the pantry this weekend; and Cut and put up insulation in the wall between the pantry and the hall bathroom (this is where all the plumbing is and there are some gaps around the pipes going under the house).

Wall in future linen closet painted

Linen closet panels all painted

My other big project this week was cleaning out a used refrigerator.  Last week I had mentioned to my dad that we wanted to get a larger refrigerator and two days later they got a call from a friend saying she had one to sell.  It is old, but works great and my dad delivered it on Wednesday.  I pulled everything apart and gave it all a good scrubbing (even the grill on the bottom) and it is good as new.

Much bigger than the one we were using.

We started drywalling the pantry Friday afternoon and finished up Saturday.  Matt was working for my dad so it was just Mike and I.  We were able to get the lift inside the pantry and the walls were small so it wasn’t too difficult.  We decided to leave an opening for an access panel where all the plumbing connections are and we weren’t able to finish the piece that will go around the A/C ductwork.  There was only one doorway, but the walls were all a little skewed which made the measuring tricky and there were several outlet/access boxes for the cable and alarm wiring, along with the outlets for the soft water loop in one of the last pieces we put up and I just couldn’t get consistent measurements (I think I was just exhausted).  Luckily Matt was home and came out and helped out and we were able to get it the piece cut out.  The next issue was to turn off the water so we could remove the loop connection while we put on the drywall.  This went well until we found that one of the brass connectors on the loop connection had a small crack in it and was leaking water after we got everything back together. Mike had to shut off the water again and run to Home Depot for a new loop hose.  This fixed the leak and we had water to the house again.

Cables are for Internet/TV and Alarm system. This is the loop for the future water softener.

Plumbing access - a door will be added after texture is done 

Mike’s small project for this week was helping me organize the kitchen.  We moved all the cold/frozen food to the new refrigerator and rearranged all the cabinets.  We also brought in one of the tall cabinets we had saved for our future garage and put it in the pantry to store food.  I was able to get all the small appliances in the existing shelving/cabinets so now we have a lot more counter space.  Still rough, but sooo much better!

The kitchen is a lot less cluttered with more open counter space

Newly arranged kitchen with new fridge (new to us).

Old kitchen pantry cabinet we can use for now.

We finally turned on the A/C this weekend.  It took a while to kick in which gave us a little scare, but it finally came on and works like a charm.  Don’t think we’ll use it a lot, but it sure is nice when you’re stuffed in a little room doing physical labor.

Mike had a nice relaxing Father’s Day.  We saw Green Lantern at the local theater and had a nice home cooked meal.  Matt made Mike a chair to sit in on the front porch, but it still needed to be sanded and stained so hopefully he will get to use it next weekend.

Father's Day chair Matt made Mike from an old woodworking furniture book we had.

Stats: 7 Home Depot trips; 1 Walmart trip
Remodeling expense 6/13-6/19: $2,655
Remodeling expense to date: $30,554