#22 - Let's Get the Show (Sheetrock) On the Road (Walls!)!
We went to Pennsylvania last week to celebrate Thanksgiving with Matt's family. It's always nice to step away from the daily grind. It was a quick trip--we were gone Wed-Sun, but we were able to see a lot of people and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
The Monday before Thanksgiving, the contractor we met during the foundation phase, who has been helping us network with other people, came to the house with a drywaller. There must be some other name for this job. Is it actually drywaller? Drywall hanger? Contractor? Wall Installer? InstWaller (that one was for you, Dad.)? I could google it, but then I'd have to delete this whole paragraph. The Drywall Guy (hereafter known as TDG) was here the Monday before Thanksgiving. On Tuesday night, in the midst of our flurry of activity known as planning for a family road trip, Matt received a quote via email from the contractor and TDG. He responded to the quote saying that we would like to hire TDG, and that was that.
We went to bed around 11, and got up around 4:00 a.m. Jesus take the wheel. I am a morning person, but I absolutely hate 4:00 a.m. (Come to think of it, I also hate 4:00 p.m.) When the kids were little, I didn't mind middle of the night feedings UNLESS they were in the 4:00 hour. There was something about the 4:00 hour that ruined everything. It was too far into the sleeping hours to have anything good left to look forward too, and I could never fall back asleep easily. I felt too rushed! "I gotta get back to sleep right this second or I'll never ever ever sleep again this is my last chance!" Too much pressure. And it was far enough away from regular morning hours that getting up and staying up made the days way too long and it's too hard to maintain one's sanity for that many daytime hours in a row.
But, 4:00, the Wed. morning before Thanksgiving came around andwe rolled out Matt dragged me out of bed. We woke up the kids, packed up our toiletries and got on the road by 4:45.
Around noon, I thought to myself, "Well, I've done almost everything else to keep myself occupied. I And I'm out of lives on Candy Crush. How about I check Matt's email now. Maybe there's something interesting in there."
"Uh, Matt?"
"Yes, Beautiful Wife?"*
"They want to deliver drywall materials today. And hang drywall tomorrow. Is that even possible? We got an email at 6:45 this morning!"
The email from the contractor said that TDG would have materials dropped off that day (Wednesday, while we were in the car 400 miles away from our locked up house!) and start hanging the drywall Thursday (Thanksgiving!)
Holy Crimany. This is a really big problem. A) we just said yes to the quote last night, late. We weren't even expecting a reply this quickly (nothing else has been quick! It's always quick when we're out of town!) 2) We weren't home and our house was locked up and iii) It's Thanksgiving!
Matt called the contractor right away, and he was able to communicate with TDG. We had a momentary plan worked out for one of my local family members to let TDG in, but there were too many loose ends Matt needed to tie up before drywall, so we scratched that Knee-Jerk Reaction plan and held them off until this week. All's well that ends well. No harm done. Just a 45 minute window of slight panic in the car while we worked on that hiccup, which is actually just enough time to reload a few lives on Candy Crush, so win-win.
Drywall was delivered yesterday! There is a lot of drywall, and I am so glad we didn't have to carry it. I don't think I could have anyway. And even if I could have, I would've gone on strike instead. Matt also realized that it's our last BIG delivery for this project! That's a milestone! Concrete deliveries, HVAC deliveries, window deliveries, siding deliveries, lumber deliveries...drywall delivery! The rest will be just odds and ends!
We borrowed some electric heaters (thanks, Tiff!) and right now we're working on heating up the space. Thank the Lord, the weather is really nice this week, so we don't have to work against too much cold. Usually, it's really cold out there.
After work this evening, Matt went out and tied up his loose ends and we're ready to rock. He added a small upper wall to the area that will be a closet in the guest room, and he removed the hobbit door! Can you even believe it? The hobbit door is no more. We are now officially open from the kitchen to the addition and it is WEIRD. I just put a load of laundry in a few minutes ago and I felt so ... vulnerable! I've been used to having either the back door or hobbit door to my left and instead, I had a giant, cavernous, fuzzy, pink room!
Let me just tell you, that the timing couldn't be any better for that plywood door to be kicked to the curb. (The plywood wall is still standing there for the time being.) When we first moved into this house, that back door had no window. (It was also a hollow core bedroom door being used as an exterior door, painted dark teal and locked only by a latch closure. What in the world?) The front door had no window. And our house was DARK. It didn't take long for us to realize that we needed to trade out our windowless doors with something that would let some sunshine into our dungeon. Adding doors with windows changed the entire atmosphere of the house, and I have loved my windows ever since.
So, it was a step backward when framing began and Matt made that hobbit door. I mean, the hobbit door itself is a work of art! But, the dark plywood has been quietly lurking in the corner, mostly minding its own business, but the past couple of weeks, I has started taunting me. The darkness has been really bothering me. It feels a little lame-o to put that in writing, but it's true. I personally function best at sunny and 72 degrees (a gentle breeze is ideal, but not required), so the darkness and the cold have been working my nerves and I walk around here with frozen toes and a frozen nose and unable to move my arms above the elbows, and a little irritable because I'm living in dark and after all that, I still have to figure out what to cook for dinner.
Not only is the plywood door nagging me, but we also lost the view from one of our bedroom windows. Since it's connected to the addition now, I've kept those blinds closed this entire time in order to avoid any unfortunate situations that could occur when you don't know who might show up at any given moment. And then Sunday night, Matt had to remove the window and cover the opening with plywood to prepare for drywall! Agh! PLYWOOD OVERLOAD! I can't handle it anymore!
That cold draft from the addition, the lurking plywood, the time change and the gross plywood wall in our bedroom have tipped me over the edge and I am SO ready for drywall install!
They might even be here tomorrow!
I'll keep you posted.
Any questions?
__________________________________________________________________________
*The details are fuzzy. He probably just said, "What?"
The Monday before Thanksgiving, the contractor we met during the foundation phase, who has been helping us network with other people, came to the house with a drywaller. There must be some other name for this job. Is it actually drywaller? Drywall hanger? Contractor? Wall Installer? InstWaller (that one was for you, Dad.)? I could google it, but then I'd have to delete this whole paragraph. The Drywall Guy (hereafter known as TDG) was here the Monday before Thanksgiving. On Tuesday night, in the midst of our flurry of activity known as planning for a family road trip, Matt received a quote via email from the contractor and TDG. He responded to the quote saying that we would like to hire TDG, and that was that.
But, 4:00, the Wed. morning before Thanksgiving came around and
Around noon, I thought to myself, "Well, I've done almost everything else to keep myself occupied. I And I'm out of lives on Candy Crush. How about I check Matt's email now. Maybe there's something interesting in there."
"Uh, Matt?"
"Yes, Beautiful Wife?"*
"They want to deliver drywall materials today. And hang drywall tomorrow. Is that even possible? We got an email at 6:45 this morning!"
The email from the contractor said that TDG would have materials dropped off that day (Wednesday, while we were in the car 400 miles away from our locked up house!) and start hanging the drywall Thursday (Thanksgiving!)
Holy Crimany. This is a really big problem. A) we just said yes to the quote last night, late. We weren't even expecting a reply this quickly (nothing else has been quick! It's always quick when we're out of town!) 2) We weren't home and our house was locked up and iii) It's Thanksgiving!
Matt called the contractor right away, and he was able to communicate with TDG. We had a momentary plan worked out for one of my local family members to let TDG in, but there were too many loose ends Matt needed to tie up before drywall, so we scratched that Knee-Jerk Reaction plan and held them off until this week. All's well that ends well. No harm done. Just a 45 minute window of slight panic in the car while we worked on that hiccup, which is actually just enough time to reload a few lives on Candy Crush, so win-win.
Drywall was delivered yesterday! There is a lot of drywall, and I am so glad we didn't have to carry it. I don't think I could have anyway. And even if I could have, I would've gone on strike instead. Matt also realized that it's our last BIG delivery for this project! That's a milestone! Concrete deliveries, HVAC deliveries, window deliveries, siding deliveries, lumber deliveries...drywall delivery! The rest will be just odds and ends!
 |
| Current Downstairs |
 |
| Current Upstairs |
|
| Current Upstairs - looking toward the staircase |
After work this evening, Matt went out and tied up his loose ends and we're ready to rock. He added a small upper wall to the area that will be a closet in the guest room, and he removed the hobbit door! Can you even believe it? The hobbit door is no more. We are now officially open from the kitchen to the addition and it is WEIRD. I just put a load of laundry in a few minutes ago and I felt so ... vulnerable! I've been used to having either the back door or hobbit door to my left and instead, I had a giant, cavernous, fuzzy, pink room!
 |
| Current upstairs. That alcove beside the bathroom will be a closet. Matt added that tiny wall above the opening to better define the space. |
 |
| Current upstairs closet. |
Let me just tell you, that the timing couldn't be any better for that plywood door to be kicked to the curb. (The plywood wall is still standing there for the time being.) When we first moved into this house, that back door had no window. (It was also a hollow core bedroom door being used as an exterior door, painted dark teal and locked only by a latch closure. What in the world?) The front door had no window. And our house was DARK. It didn't take long for us to realize that we needed to trade out our windowless doors with something that would let some sunshine into our dungeon. Adding doors with windows changed the entire atmosphere of the house, and I have loved my windows ever since.
 |
| Current Front door |
 |
| BEFORE: Back Door, Laundry closet |
So, it was a step backward when framing began and Matt made that hobbit door. I mean, the hobbit door itself is a work of art! But, the dark plywood has been quietly lurking in the corner, mostly minding its own business, but the past couple of weeks, I has started taunting me. The darkness has been really bothering me. It feels a little lame-o to put that in writing, but it's true. I personally function best at sunny and 72 degrees (a gentle breeze is ideal, but not required), so the darkness and the cold have been working my nerves and I walk around here with frozen toes and a frozen nose and unable to move my arms above the elbows, and a little irritable because I'm living in dark and after all that, I still have to figure out what to cook for dinner.
 | ||||||
| CURRENT - This is more about the doorway opening and less about the 1964 oven. But when you're an almond 1964 oven, it's near impossible to not steal the show! Matt removed the upper cabinet to move that entire unit out when we prepped for framing. We've been using it like that ever since. See where the plywood is? That doorway will open all the way to somewhere between the blue pot and the blender. Our kitchen is getting an overhaul after Project Cape Ranch is complete.
 |
 |
| BEFORE: The view from the front door. This might help give a reference to all of that. Or it might confuse the issue even more! See the cold air return? That wall is the side wall of our current utility room. The louvered closet is NOT a pantry (2 photos above)! It's our furnace room. When we move our utilities to the addition, that will become kitchen space, therefore some of that wall will come out and there will be a clean sight line from front door to back staircase! |
Not only is the plywood door nagging me, but we also lost the view from one of our bedroom windows. Since it's connected to the addition now, I've kept those blinds closed this entire time in order to avoid any unfortunate situations that could occur when you don't know who might show up at any given moment. And then Sunday night, Matt had to remove the window and cover the opening with plywood to prepare for drywall! Agh! PLYWOOD OVERLOAD! I can't handle it anymore!
 |
| A BEFORE picture from June. SEE THE SUN?! |
 | ||
| My camera battery died immediately after this. I'm not trying to be dramatic like an infomercial where they show the best scenario in full, delightful color and the worst scenario in fuzzy black and white.
|
That cold draft from the addition, the lurking plywood, the time change and the gross plywood wall in our bedroom have tipped me over the edge and I am SO ready for drywall install!
They might even be here tomorrow!
I'll keep you posted.
Any questions?
*The details are fuzzy. He probably just said, "What?"
Comments
Post a Comment