July 2014 Sheetrocking

Has it really been almost 4 months since I last wrote?  Perhaps I need to change my middle name to "inconsistent" or "procrastinator".  Might be safer if I just don't commit to a next posting timeframe.

OK on to what has been going on here.  It was kinda fun looking back at the pictures from early July to see where we were then verses where we are now.  Wow!  What a difference.  

Beginning the sheet rocking process

Finished walls. Almost looks like a house that someone lives in

Of course, it took a lot to get to this point.  Lots and lots of sheetrock, mud, dust, sweat and even a few tears but only one slammed door.   Almost the entire month of July was spent sheet rocking.  We started in the office since there was only one wall to do.

Eventually this will be our office but it was Matt's bedroom this past summer

Then the tools, ladders, mess and all the workers (Mark, Tim, Matt and me) moved to the library and living room on the main level.

Front wall done and west wall started.  These sheets were 54" wide so it went faster but they were really HEAVY.

Mark and Matt hanging in the Living Room.

Few more sheets and Living Room was done. 

Many people thought we were nuts for hanging the sheetrock ourselves instead of hiring someone to do it.  But it really is a satisfying job especially when the going rate for tradespeople seems to be $1000 per day.  We saved a lot! (Money that is but certainly not time :-))

Next up was tackling the basement.  Every square inch (even the ceiling) needed sheetrock as there was none remaining due to all the water damage.  

We started with the ceiling (the area that is pink)

Two passes done, one to go

The ceiling was slow because there were 10 lights to cut out.

The sheetrock lift made the job much easier as there is no way we could have held it up there correctly

Final strip is all that is left then on to the walls

The walls are done top to bottom.  

It was a bit of a pain working in the area because there were piles of sheetrock on the floor and against multiple walls and we kept having to move them.  But each sheet hung was one less that might be in the way later. 

Most home improvement jobs that Mark and Tim complete are done better/faster with beer (or so they think)

All finished in the family room.  Lots left to finish the bathroom and hallway.

Once the family room was done, the efforts shifted to Matt's new bedroom.

First the ceiling

Then the walls

And the ledge

All that is left is the closet

Basement all finished (looking into Matt's new Bedroom)

One room left in the lower level-- the bathroom.  I think this area may have taken just as long as the whole family room.  The room is pretty small with a section of the ceiling that is lower which made getting the lift in there and moved around quite trying. 

Mark left a surprise in the wall for the next homeowner to find.

The newspaper and change is boxed into this corner of the bathroom (those pipes are coming out of the bathtub)

It was a bit tricky taking pictures in such a small space as well.  The picture below shows part of the tub surround which was done in Durrock (cement board that is mold resistant) and part of the wall getting done in sheetrock. 

Measuring and cutting for the bathroom

One final piece and the basement sheetrocking job is done

Once the basement was done we moved to the kitchen and then the Master Bedroom. Part of the kitchen ceiling was replaced as we removed soffits and had to fix some of the ceiling joists.  

Sheetrock lift in action helping us get the ceiling sheet rocked

We put a shorter row of sheetrock at the top and the bottom of the kitchen so that we would be able to hide the seams behind the upper cabinets and lower cabinets.  This makes mudding and taping much easier as those seams don't have to be perfect.

Two courses done, one to go

Working on the last section

Once the kitchen was complete, the end was really in site.  All that was left was to replace the ceiling and 2 walls in the master bedroom. 

Getting started.  All the yellow will be covered up

Ceiling is patched.  No more insulation floating through the house

East Wall complete

South wall done

No more sinks INSIDE the bedroom. Pipes are removed and the wall is re-sheetrocked

I must have been too busy helping put the sheetrock up here so I didn't get any "in progress" pictures.

Now the "satisfying" part is all done and the messy step starts.  The walls are all sealed up but before we can paint (I can't wait to get rid of the salmon colored walls) we have to have all the seams and screw holes (many hundreds of them) taped, mudded and sanded.  This step is the complete opposite of satisfying and we want no part of it.  We completed sheet rocking July 26th, just in time to go to White Lake, NY for vacation.  The plan was to have "the Mitchell boys" do all the taping and mudding while we were gone.  I was imagining how great it would be to come home from vacation to find all the work done and the mess all cleaned up.  

Tune in to my next post to see how it turned out.