Thursday night, Sarah and I set out to tape and do the first round of mudding.
Using the mix-it-yourself mud wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. The bag only gives directions/amounts for the entire bag. We mixed half an 18 pound bag (weighed with a bathroom scale!). A full bag calls for 10-12 pints of water, so I mixed in about 5 pints, let it soak in for a minute, mixed with my drill for about a minute and a half or two, and the consistency seemed fine to me. We were good to go.
First, I went around and filled gaps or missing areas of drywall around the windows, particularly from the removal of drywall around the old window. You'll remember for a long time, I wasn't sure how to finish around the old window, let alone the new one. After filling in the holes, I stapled vinyl corner bead around the windows, and mudded around them.
Like most of the kitchen, this is a new experience. Hope this turns out alright.
Not bad for the first coat (in my opinion).
Sarah went around mudding over screws, and filling in any gaps between panels. Then she went around and taped the seams. We used yellow self-adhesive fiberglass mesh tape because my dad recommended it. Seems to work great, mud gets into the mesh, and because it's yellow, you can easily see if you have enough mud on it or not.
I mudded the ceiling gaps and screws. I then used 2 pieces of inside corner bead (metal backed paper) before finally running out of mud. I expected to have mud leftover, go figure. Still need to tape some seams and mud over them, along with the other 3 pieces of inside corner bead. That will be for another day. Saturday, actually.
I called and scheduled the insulation inspection for Friday. The inspector called me and said he'd be there at 1:30, which he was. Looked at it for a few minutes, told me I needed to plug the holes I drilled in the top plate for wiring, to prevent the spread of fire. Passed me anyway, and at this point I'm down to 2 inspections, both final, and both able to be done at "any" time. Meaning, none of my inspections are preventing us from doing any and all further work necessary to finishing the kitchen.
With that, Saturday morning, my father-in-law Kevin came over and we finished measuring, cutting, and hanging drywall on the walls. It's finally resembling a room again!
A ceiling! And WALLS!
The last 2 inspections we have are final electrical, and final building. Final electrical is to confirm that all the outlets and switches are hooked up correctly. Final building is in my case, from what I gather, where they confirm that all the other inspections were approved, and that the building smoke detectors are installed correctly. For other, larger permits, they would check to make sure handrails and banisters were correct for your steps, etc.
Before I start taping and mudding and finishing the drywall, I decided to finish all of my electrical work, just to make sure that all of my wiring is indeed correct. Were something to be wrong, I'm still at the stage where I could take out (a ton of) screws and access the wiring. I'm happy to say as of Monday night, all outlets and switches, and the new recessed light over the sink is installed, tested, and working.
Also, since opening the wall in the kitchen exposed the tub valve, I installed an access panel for any future maintenance needs.
Open, with the adhesive clamped for a good hold.
It will be mostly behind the stove, and a few inches behind a new cabinet. It's just a single cabinet on the end, so future removal shouldn't be too much of a chore.
I finished installing drywall around the new window. I'm semi-sort-of winging it here, but it makes sense to me, so I'm just going with it. I've got my corner bead left to install, and all the mudding, but I think the window should turn out well.
I call this composition "Taped wall, phone, and cat on a chair."
There's the south wall, and it's taped and ready for mud. Most of the rest of the drywall wasn't put up as carefully, and there are 1/4" or so gaps between panels that I need to fill with mud first, before taping. That will have to happen as-we-go. Tonight (Thursday night) is mudding night. Scary mudding night, because for the first coat, I'm using the recommended setting-type compound (mix it yourself) rather than the premixed in a bucket, which I am using for the other coats. I bought the 210 minute stuff, so we'll see how it goes!
With the insulation in, I could now get the vapor barrier on the wall. I think 4mil plastic sheeting is allowed, but I went with the 6mil. Thicker, and because of that, I think was easier to install than the 4mil would have been. Sunday afternoon, my good friend Doctor Rob came over to help me get it cut and stapled into place. Wasn't too difficult, just bulky, trying to move around a room with an 8'x20' plastic sheet. We got it stapled up in place, cut around the outlets and windows, and sealed the holes with red sheathing tape.
Also, with plumbing approval, I was now allowed to get drywall on the ceiling. I've been looking forward to that ever since the ceiling was opened to the attic. We're headed for another week of 90+ temps, meaning 120-130 in the attic. My plan had been to tear out the drywall on the ceiling 8' back from the window, and install 11'x8' fresh drywall. I wanted to do this, to avoid any inconsistencies in the finish between the old and the new. That would have made a huge mess, with all the insulation coming down into the kitchen, more drywall (in perfectly good condition, mind you) to throw out, etc. In the end, I went the "lazy" route and just replaced the drywall where the soffit was removed. I figure I'm going to have to tape and mud everything anyway, I can just skim coat the existing drywall ceiling and make it match. We'll see shortly if this was a good decision, or a bad decision on my part!
Tuesday night, with the help of my lovely wife, and some T-braces for holding the drywall in place, we are back to having a ceiling! I used drywall adhesive, in addition to screws. I'm hoping for a nice, strong hold. I just need to get back up in the attic and spread insulation back over the new drywall.
With the ceiling on, I moved on to the last interior wall that I can drywall before the insulation inspection. This is the wall between the 1/2 and full bath, and the kitchen, where the stove and microwave will be located. Just one hole to cut for the microwave outlet, more drywall adhesive and screws... And that was it for Tuesday night.
With the window now installed, I took a vacation day Wednesday for the two inspections, plumbing and framing. I wanted two in one day because I don't want to have to take all day off work for a 5-10 minute inspection.
The framing inspector showed up around 11am and took a look around. He said, "You could have insulated too, and I could have done the framing and insulation inspection at the same time." Well, that's just great. When I called and spoke to the city a few weeks ago, I was told that the framing and insulation inspections have to be done at separate times. Alas, I passed the inspection, even though I was supposed to receive the plumbing inspection first. Oops. He noted on the permit, "OK to insulate after plumbing approval.", dated and initialed it, and was on his way.
So I wait the rest of the afternoon, and... no plumbing inspector. The office closes at 4, and I figured the inspectors would work until that days' inspections had been completed. 5pm, 6pm... around 7pm I finally give up hope.
At that point, I had already started insulating all of the stud cavities except for the ones where the plumbing runs through them. The only insulating I've done before were the rim joists in the basement, and I had done that with regular fiberglass insulation bats. It was a mess, a pain, and not very easy to do. I'm not sure how much of that was because I was insulating just a few inches high, 7' over my head, and how much was because of the fiberglass. All I know is that I had the entire kitchen insulated (except for the few cavities with plumbing) in just a few hours, by myself. So many of the cavities were odd size, either due to windows, or the beginning or end of a wall not lining up at 16" on center, but most of the batts I had to cut to size. My drywall T-square and a $1 serrated bread knife was all I needed. Also, because the Roxul is dense, it's easy to cut out pieces to put behind outlets, to make sure there's insulation there too.
72 cents per square foot for Roxul insulation and 6 mil plastic vapor barrier, versus 47 cents for the fiberglass equivalent with a kraft paper vapor barrier. I think the extra $30 I spent was worth it.
Starting to look like a room again!
Thursday morning, I gave the city building department a call. Explained that I had an inspection scheduled, and that nobody came. She said that in the system, it showed my plumbing inspection as approved. She asked if I was looking at the permit, and could I confirm that there was no signature on the plumbing line. I confirmed that, indeed, the line is blank because nobody showed up. I'm guessing she's thinking that I'm just the homeowner, and we hired a plumber for the work, and maybe I wasn't there, and the inspection did happen, but the plumber just didn't tell me. Nope. She put me through to the plumbing inspection supervisor. I left him a voicemail, and he called me back shortly afterwards. Again, they asked if there was a signature on the permit. Nope. He apologized, and was definitely not happy that the inspector approved something without seeing it. I can't say that I think the no-show inspector was malicious. I mean, every time I get an inspection, the inspector signs and dates the permit, and they look to make sure previous inspectors have signed and dated it too. He had to know that as soon as the next inspection happened, the previous inspector was going to go, "Uh, why didn't you get the plumbing inspected?" So, I don't know. Either way, the inspection supervisor was apologetic, and said he'd work with me to get the inspection done on my schedule, and he would inspect it himself. We came up with noon on Friday as a good time.
Noon on Friday arrives, inspection supervisor calls letting me know he'll be there in a few minutes. Already better than Wednesday. 10 minutes later, he shows up, walks in, looks at it for about a minute, says it looks good. Explains to me that they're investigating the inspector for signing off on un-inspected installations. He leaves, and I'm good to insulate the rest of the wall behind the pipes!
Saturday morning, I finish installing the insulation. The denser Roxul is so much nicer to install behind the pipes than fiberglass. You're not supposed to compress fiberglass, so how you would get it to stay behind the pipes is beyond me.
A couple more cuts to fill in the rest of the space, and insulation batt installation is done! I had just enough with the 2 bags of Roxul to do the kitchen, with 1 batt and some scraps leftover. I may buy another bag to insulate the ceiling where it slopes down. I'm still making decisions on that. Next is the vapor barrier, and I'll be ready for my insulation inspection.
Done.
Bonus video! Watch with excitement as I open a bag of Roxul and watch it expand. Oooooo, aaaaah!
When I cut the hole for the window, I promptly screwed a piece of plywood over the hole. Who wants a big open hole in the side of your house? Of course, once you have the hole for the window, who wants it covered with a piece of plywood?
Thus, Monday night, I installed the window. It was a pretty straightforward process. If you'll remember my last entry, I picked up the window, and didn't see an obvious way to attach it to the rough opening. I called Rosati Windows' Install department on Monday, to get instructions. They answered the phone quickly, and the guy I talked to was really helpful, and confirmed how I thought the windows should install.
I put Tite Seal 4" self-adhesive flashing around the opening, and stuck the window in. Shim it, level it, etc. Drill a hole in the frame, but only partway, and then screw through
shims into the studs. Only on the sides and top, not the bottom. Finish
it off by plugging the holes with vinyl plugs.
For finishing the outside of the window, I had leftover foam backer rod from when I sealed a gap between the basement walls and floor. I stuck the backer rod all around the opening, and cut some PVC window trim to finish it off. I hadn't worked with the stuff before, but it cuts super easy, is water proof, doesn't rot, doesn't need painting. I drilled holes through the stucco, squirted some good quality white silicone caulk in the holes, and screwed the trim to the frame. Then, more silicone caulk around the entire trim, and done!
Our second east facing window, if you count the garage.
Now that the window is in, I can have the framing inspection, which is precisely why I took the day off today. That, and I'm having the plumbing (vent stack) inspection today, too. Two inspections, one day off, seemed a wise way to do it. Once those two inspections have passed, I can drywall the ceiling and get the attic insulation back in place, and put my Roxul insulation in the walls, and hopefully get the kitchen a little less toasty in all this heat. Once that's in, and I take, yes, another day off for the wall insulation inspection, I can put drywall on the walls and get receptacles and switches installed. Finish the drywall, paint, floor, and then it's finally to the cabinet and counter top stage!
This week was a weird, middle-of-the-week Fourth of July holiday. It was rather strange going to work Monday and Tuesday, having Wednesday off, and then going back to work Thursday and Friday. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, but I think I liked the Wednesday off thing.
Our power was restored on Monday night, thankfully. It was still crazy hot, from the mid-90s to up over 100 for a few days. I stapled plastic sheeting over the open attic to keep some of the 143 degree heat, up there and out of the kitchen. Yes, it really did get that hot up there. Wednesday, I hitched up the trailer, headed to Menard's, and finally got the drywall. Got that home, and Sarah helped me unload it into the garage. Pretty much too hot to want to do anything else.
About 700lbs of drywall. Go Saturn, go!
New Window
Thursday, I got the call from Rosati windows that our window was in! Picked it up on my lunch, and it looks good. I was hoping to look at our existing Rosati windows to figure out how to install this, but our other windows are double-hung, and this is a picture window, so they frame is constructed considerably different. I emailed our sales guy, and he suggested I call their install department for more information.
So Friday night, still hot, I decided to finally do the big scary part. The cutting of the 2 1/2 sq ft hole in our stucco wall. From the inside, I drilled holes at all 4 corners with a masonry bit, so I could see where I needed to cut. I then used a straight edge and pen to mark between the holes. Kind of like those Lowe's commercials where you draw something and it happens. Except there's a lot more work between drawing on the walls and having it actually happen.
Window goes here.
I put a masonry blade in my circular saw, set it for about 1/4" deep, and started cutting. Safety glasses and a dust mask were definitely required. It made a terrible, terrible mess. Outside, thankfully. And it was loud. Once I did the first pass on all four sides, I set it to cut a little deeper, and made another pass. Kept repeating until the sparks fly, literally, from the masonry blade cutting through the metal stucco lath. Eventually, I cut through the fiberboard sheathing, and I knew I was almost there. The circular saw doesn't cut all the way to the edges, so I needed to chisel a bit, and snip some of the lath as well. And finally, out came the 2 1/2 sq foot chunk of fiberboard and stucco. 1/2" thick fiberboard, 1/2" thick stucco. Weighs 16lb, but it sure feels heavier than that. That puts stucco and fiberboard at about 6.5 lbs per square foot, making stucco houses... really heavy.
I set the window in place, temporarily, to see what it would look like. Quite nice. We're happy with the non-opening picture window decision, rather than a sliding window, or hopper, or whatever else. The frame is only 1 1/2" thick, as opposed to the 3-4" for an opening window. I'll be installing the window and trim soon.
Trim will cover up my shoddy workmanship. :)
Drywall Starting!
Saturday, I got to work on what little bit of drywall I can do right now, because of inspections that are still needed. That would be the south wall, where the new cabinets and counter tops are going. I opened that wall up because of wiring that had to be moved and added.
Before.
I trimmed back the existing drywall to a uniform shape, and half the width of the stud, so I could have a place to fasten the new drywall. I also had a chance to use a tool that I bought back in the late 90s, my trusty Dremel tool. Didn't know when I bought it back then to trim the bodies of my RC cars, that I'd be using it to cut holes in drywall for outlets. Then, I got a chance to use the drywall screw gun my dad let me borrow. I'm pretty sure if I ever have to install drywall again, I will be buying one. It has an adjustable clutch, and you can set it so that when the screw is just deep enough to be below the surface and dimple the paper, the clutch releases and it spins free. It makes screwing drywall down foolproof, and I'm really looking forward to it for the ceiling drywall.
After!
Next drywall step is to tape and mud. That section will be a good test for me, because all the joints will be hidden behind cabinets and tile. I also patched a small section in the mud room, and a former cable TV outlet box that the previous owners installed in a weird place.
This weekend was a big one for me, if not in the work that was done, but in how I feel after. I finally feel like we've turned a corner, and actual progress is being made.
Bonus Cat Pictures!
Box for my drywall sanding dust vacuum. More on that once I start sanding!
Charlie on my Workmate.
Contemplating whether or not she can get out the hole for the new window.
This past weekend, I anticipated shuffling some stuff around in the garage so I could get my trailer out (it conveniently folds up for storage) to run to Menards to pickup some drywall, since they were having a 10% off sale.
I did get my trailer out alright, but it wasn't for drywall.
About 5pm on Friday, June 29th, a huge storm rolled into Central Ohio, with gusts measured at 80-85mph. Right up until around 5pm, we had a 45' tall pine tree in our front yard. Shortly after 5pm, we had a 45' long pine tree in our front yard. See what I did there?
The first video below is when I was at work, right at 5pm. The storm was so intense I sat in the parking lot for 10 minutes waiting for it to die down. Second video is me trying to get home, and finding the road blocked by someone else's tree. Third and final video is me taking another route to to get home, and seeing our fallen tree for the first time. Sarah had called me to warn me, so that's why I don't sound surprised.
The landscaping blocks are where the roots tossed them
Somewhere under there, is a tiny, sad little birch tree.
Tree!
Sarah had just arrived home from work when the storm started, and she was watching out the front window when the tree slowly just started to go over. As sort of a back story, it has been a particularly hot and dry May and June. It was quite dry all around the roots, and our dried out clay soil just couldn't hold on. It ripped roots up a good 8-10 feet from the base of the tree. God was really watching out for us, because it fell to the south/south east. If it had fallen to the west, it would have hit the neighbors house. To the southwest, it would have hit their car. To the north, it would have hit our fence, the northeast, would have hit Sarah's car. When it fell, it even avoided blocking the street. It did manage to fall on the birch tree the city planted a year or two ago, but after cutting the pine tree up, it seems to have popped back up, and will hopefully live. We were never terribly fond of the pine tree, and were always concerned during storms. We didn't want it, but we were also too cheap to cut it down. So God intervened and brought it down for us. :)
This being Ohio, and AEP being... AEP, we were out of power. This is the 3rd extended (multi-day) power outage we've had since we bought the house 5 years ago. I think the previous longest was 6 or 7 days. So far, it has been 3 days, and they're estimating it will be another 5-6 days. We got power back Monday, July 2nd, around 8pm. I'm not complaining about the length of time it takes to get power back up, as I know they are working very hard to get power restored for everyone. Considering on average we're without power for several days at a time every 2 years, I'm just wishing they would be a little more pro-active in keeping trees away from power lines.
Thankfully, my friend Phil, who had loaned us the generator a few weeks ago, hadn't yet picked it up, and didn't lose power at his house. He came over Friday night with a chainsaw, and we, along with my neighbor Jed, proceeded to cut and pile the branches in the front yard. Once we had just a trunk, we cut started cutting that up into semi-manageable pieces as well. By 10pm Friday night, we had a large stack of branches and only about 4-6' of the stump sticking out of the ground.
Not a tiny tree. Photo credit: Jed
The pile of branches as they lay Saturday morning.
Saturday morning, Sarah helped me get the garage cleared out and the trailer down, and we started loading it up to take it to Kurtz Bros., our local yard waste drop off location. Traffic was terrible. Traffic signals out everywhere, and around 20% of the people in Columbus apparently don't understand the whole "treat it as a four way stop" thing. Lots of fender benders, lots of inconsiderate drivers. Kurtz Bros. closes at 3pm on Saturday, but I figured they'd stay open late, considering the volume of traffic. Nope! 3pm and they were gone. We got 4 loads dumped, and a 5th load on the trailer.
What was left after Saturday's work.
Sunday after church, (a big thanks to Ross for covering for me on slides for 2nd service) we dumped the already-loaded 5th load, and took a 6th and 7th load. Kurtz Bros. was supposed to be open from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, but it looks like nobody was there, and it was just a free-for-all of dumped branches and stumps. I wasn't going to drop off there, but called Ohio Mulch, another yard waste drop off location, to see if they were open, and they said they were now charging $12 a load (it's supposed to be free, since they turn it into mulch and sell it). So, I joined the fracas and dumped the yard waste with everyone else. I'm thinking whoever opened up Kurtz Bros. Monday wasn't too pleased when they came in.
So, 7 loads. My first trip, they weighed the load and it was 360 pounds. That was branches only, and a small load, since I didn't want to overload my 5x8 trailer. The power went out at Kurtz Bros. after my first load, so I couldn't keep track of the total weight. The 2nd-7th loads had trunk pieces and more branches, and were probably 500-600 pounds each, so I'm guessing the tree weighed close to 2 tons.
The most fun part of all? It was in the mid 90s all weekend, and our 5-day forecast looks to be 97, 97, 97, 99, 95. We've been sleeping in the basement, since it stays nice and cool down there. I'm enjoying getting to use my oil lantern, but sleeping on couch cushions on the floor has gotten old, very quickly.
So to recap the weekend: No power, no AC. Our kitchen is in our living room, and our bedroom is in our basement, along with our future kitchen, and remnants of the old kitchen. Never did get the drywall, and Menards sale ended yesterday. Pooh.
The stump may just wait until after the kitchen is done.
