Third Coat Done

You got to love work and sitter schedules that let you come home and do some project work in the afternoons.  I finished up the third coat pretty quickly today.  There is still paint left, which will be good for any touch up that might need to happen.

Tonight, we will take some take some measurements for carpet.  Right now, the plan is to head over to Lincoln late Friday afternoon to pick up a door, trim, and look at carpet.  Hopefully, we can grab some samples.  Saturday, some portion of us will head back over and pick up the carpet.  Problem somewhere in between all of that, we will pick up trim paint too.  I'd like to paint the window trim before the carpet goes down.  I plan on laying the carpet then installing the trim, which I'll paint beforehand and just touch up the nail holes, etc.

Sunday afternoon, Ken and I plan on hooking up the new electric and laying the carpet.  That will give us about one week to get everything moved in and arranged before the first visitors.

This is a First

I just finished applying the second coat of paint to the new guestroom.  The color is growing on me.  Christi and I came down after work to check it out and to see if we need to change it.  It's kind of funny that she thought it would be lighter and I thought it would be darker.

Anyway, it looks like for the first time ever, I will be applying a third coat of paint.  I'll have to wait until it dries to see if it "really" needs it, but I don't think that will matter as I have an unopened gallon of paint.  We went to Walmart tonight to pick it up because I thought I'd end up needed a third to a half of it.  Guess, I was wrong as the 3/4 of the remaining 2nd gallon was enough.  It kind of makes sense since not as much is sucked up on the second coat.  At this point, what's another hour and a half of painting.

How's the color?

Right now, I cannot truly answer the question of how's the color.  When I went to bed last night, it was a little darker than the what it looked like in/on the can; however, I really didn't look this morning before I left the house.  I walked in there, but don't remember a thing.  Cooper decided to wake up at 4 this morning because all of his pacis had fallen out of the crib.  After a while, I went down to retrieve them for him and jumped up wanting to come sleep in our bed.  I told him "no," and he preceded to fuss for a bit.

About the time he calmed down, I started hearing a beep and was afraid it was coming from his room, which would equal not going back to sleep for any of us.  Fortunately, it was the carbon monoxide detector in the basement; don't worry, it was just the warning that the batteries are starting to die.  Unfortunately, he heard me (I think) and started to fuss again.  So, let's just say that it is a good thing I don't have an 8 o'clock class this semester since I got up at 7:50.

A college student is at the house watching the kids so Christi can catch up and get ahead on some of her stuff.  She forgot to look at it this morning too.  So, tonight will bring a trip to Walmart regardless of what we decide about the color.  If we change it, I need different paint; if we keep it, I need more paint for two coats.  This might end up being a third coater, but only time will tell.  The saga continues, but at least the end is in sight.

hmmm

I was with Christi when she looked at the last post with the colors.  I don't remember her exact words now, but they were something to the effect of, "Boy, that's light.  I thought the same thing at Walmart."  I really didn't notice when I scanned them, but upon open the cans, the color does appear lighter than what the samples showed.  It could be a lighting thing.

Nevertheless, the first coat of paint is on the walls.  Although, it could very well be that I just put a third coat of primer up and it was simply labeled paint.  It was pretty light in color going on...reminds of me of some of the 1960 era Mustangs that were baby blueish.  It appeared to be drying a little darker than the swipe on the can; I guess time will tell.  I'm going to stay up just a little longer to see if it gets any darker.  Tomorrow, we'll evaluate and decide if we need to change colors for it to be a little darker.

By the way, I am a painting genius.  No tape!  No drop cloth!  Yep, I'm good...it also helps when there is no flooring to covering or trim to be concerned with at this time.   But the way I'm telling it is I'm good.

Colors

The blue color will be the wall color and the trim will be the brown one.  The actual samples look a little different that the scanned images, but it gives you an idea of what to expect.

I picked up the last gallon of drywall primer Walmart had; it has a different number for the white color, but it should make too much of a difference as the walls will receive multiple coats.  Plus, it looks like they are changing things up with Colorplace brand paint, so it may actually be the same, but I didn't take time to compare them.  If all goes as planned, the primer will be dry and ready for some color later this evening.  Now, if I can only find that camera.

Monday's Accomplishment

Monday evening's goals were accomplished...for the most part.  The walls have primer on them, but I'm going to do a second coat of primer this afternoon because it didn't cover as well as I would like.  One wall basically is already second coated because I went back over it instead of pouring paint back into the can last night.  There will be no pictures of this part because, now, I don't know where I put the camera.  Hopefully, it's just upstairs somewhere.

Right now, I'm thinking I'll skip out on the last hour of my office hours for the day, pick up another gallon of primer, and head home to prime.  I hope they have some as this weekend we picked up the last two gallons.  I'll need to read the directions, but it is entirely possible that color could start appearing on the walls tonight.  Christi and Cal may go pick that up while Coop and I are at 'nastics (for those that don't speak Coop-ese, that gymnastics), and if the primer is dry enough, I'll start painting tonight.

This Week's (Hopeful) Schedule

Of course, all of this is somewhat dependent on what I get done at the office today and other days, and how the kids are at night, but this is what we are shooting for this week:

Monday - finishing sanding, mainly around outlets that needed more mud; start priming (hopeful to complete it!)
Tuesday - kids at sitter until 5, so I can get a few extra hours in the afternoon.  Finishing priming if necessary; 1st coat of paint; It is possible that I could finish the first coat, do the kid stuff (gymnastics, etc.) and apply the second coat late that night (or I could just watch TV)
Wednesday - finishing painting if necessary
Thursday - dinner with the board (why me!); project wise--not sure yet
Friday & Saturday - not sure yet

Later in the weekend or this weekend will include a trip or two to Lincoln.  We need to pick up the door, which will need to be painted, as well as flooring.  As of right now, we have not completely decided on flooring.  Originally, we were going to use some really cool concrete floor stain.  However, this past week, we started talking carpet, after Ken and Sarah picked up theirs.  It has the padding attached, doesn't need to be stretched, and goes down with carpet tape.  This wasn't in our original plan because of cost, but we may be changing our mind for two reasons: 1) time (and little prep); with the stain, besides the application time, there is the drying time, etc.; and 2) we are not exactly sure yet, but preliminary numbers are looking like the carpet is not going to be a whole lot more expensive than the floor stain.

Keep your fingers crossed; hopefully, by the time the weekend is over, we can basically scratch this project, save a few minor things done later (i.e., sound barrier, drop ceiling), of the list.  The only down side I see in finishing this project is that we will need to come up with another reason for our messy house....suggestions?

Prime Time

Looks like we are getting closer folks.

Saturday, I installed the window trim and did a little sanding.  This afternoon I caulked and did a little more sanding.  I had to mud a couple of places too.  I haven't checked on them since finishing, but will sand them tomorrow evening and start priming barring any unforeseen circumstances.

I could probably start tonight, but considering I have some work for work to finish before my first class Monday, I thought I'd better do that instead.  Which means I should probably not be posting an update right now too, huh?

It looks like we have chosen colors.  In independent testing, Christi and I had the same choices out of the samples she picked.  I'll try to get those scanned in a few days so you can see what to expect.  The pictures I keep promising are coming too; I have misplaced the card reader (which isn't hard to do right now around here).  Once I locate it, I'll post some new pics and play catch up.

Back to work on my real job.  I'll try to update Monday between classes to let you know what the plans for the week are looking like.  Until next time....

Getting Closer

Wednesday night, I finished sanding and even wore a mask this time.  The result was much better for me.

Thursday afternoon, I started the (hopefully) final coat of mud.  I wasn't able to finish in time to go get the kids, so I got back to it after they went to bed.  I used a different type of mud this time, which seemed to be a little easier to work with...or I'm finally getting the hang of it.

With a little luck, it will all dry pretty quickly and the next round of sanding can be knocked out pretty fast. I'm still hoping to be able to prime Sunday evening.

Christi hasn't been down since the mudding started, but she will soon to pick colors.

Hopefully, in the next few days, there will be lots of good news to report.

My Nose Still Feels Funny

After last night's post was done, I realized I didn't explain the funny nose part in the title.  You are really supposed to wear a mask when sanding drywall.  Well, as you can imagine, I did not.  I looked around the garage, but had apparently used them all a while back.  It was too late to head out for some new ones and I want to get this project done, so I forged on without one.  I tried to use a bandana to help keep dust out of my nose, but that didn't work as well as I had hoped.  Needless to say, my nose still feels funny today and I have a little bit of a headache...presumably from the dust.  This afternoon/evening will include a trip to the store for tonight's escapades.

Oh, Tuesday and My Nose Feels Funny

Tuesday's been pretty good.

I decided earlier in the day to not attempt to fix the water leak during the 3 -5 period and wait until after gymnastics.  I'm not really sure I remember (or even knew) how to sweat the copper lines properly.  If I ran into a problem, we'd be without water for several hours.  So, I chose to wait and have Ken come help.

When Ken gets here, I pull copper pipe out of the garage and says, "Oh, you MEAN the water line."  We started checking things and it confused him that the copper was linking, unless there was a coupler we couldn't see.  The leak appeared to be hidden between the bottom of the cabinet and the floor.  He started checking around and seems to think it is from the sprayer.  We have hard water which sometimes clogs up the sprayer (and shower heads and makes the toilets hard to clean and...well, you get the picture).  When the sprayer gets clogged just right, it doesn't release all the way and dribbles a little.  It looks like water is running down the hose onto the pipes and leaking down.  We've basically laid it over into the sink and are going to keep a watch on it.  Christi did the dishes and I haven't noticed any leaks.  Needless to say, I felt like an idiot.  Ken kept reassuring me that I wasn't, that it looked like a pipe was leaking, and the only way he knew to look for that was that it happened to him before.  Looks like the next trip to Lincoln we'll be picking a new and better sprayer.  (Yes, we can get them in town, but they aren't very good and don't last too long.)

Ken also looked at my drywall work and said it was looking good and gave a few suggestions.  I spent about 1 1/2 hours sanding tonight.  Wednesday, I'll start again.  I'm thinking I have about another 2 hours of sanding to go.  The new corner pieces still aren't dry enough to work on either.

The current goal is to finish sanding Wednesday night, apply the fourth, and hopefully, finally coat of mud (except maybe the corner pieces) Thursday afternoon, and do the final sanding Friday or Saturday (or Sunday), depending on dry time.  I'll also head over to Ken's later in the week and probably Saturday to help him some with his projects.  If we're lucking, I hope to prime the walls Sunday or Monday.  Guess we need to get busy on picking out some colors, huh?

More Corner Pieces and Mud

I got back to work tonight.  Christi is feeling somewhat better and plans on going to work tomorrow.

Last night, I realized that I might need to put up some more corner pieces.  I texted Ken about it and he said it would look better.  I'm not really sure why I keep forgetting about those pesky corner pieces.  These were for the "midget door" giving access to the furnace.  This is a small, old door that is currently attached to the music room that will soon have a new home.  I guess the music room will be getting a real door too.  I'm not really sure why the midget door is there and its actually kind of funny.

Anyway, all the corner pieces in the new guestroom are installed and mudded.  I also put a third coat of mud on most of the wall.  I need to sand and trim the mud around the other corner pieces so I can smooth out the new mud.

Tonight I was thinking (I know dangerous) and remember a few weeks ago.  While helping Ken install some drywall in his house, he said, don't worry mud covers a multitude of sins.  Tonight, I could help but wonder what will cover my mud sins.  For someone who doesn't have a clue what he's doing, I don't think it looks too bad.

I have also come up with a name for the new guestroom...more on that another time.

Sunday night, I thought I discovered the source of the water leak.  This afternoon, I checked more into it and found out I was wrong.  It appeared to be the drain pipe; however, the rag I wrapped around it was dry this afternoon.  After further inquiry and testing, I discovered it is the water line to the kitchen sink.  It looks like the actual leak is between the floor of the cabinet and the floor.  We have a temporary solution in place...we're not using the kitchen sink right now.  Tuesday, I'll cut out a section of the pipe and put a new section in.  I haven't decided yet if I'll do it tomorrow afternoon while the kids are at the sitter or wait until a little later so Ken can come over and make sure I don't screw anything up.  Either way, it probably needs to be fixed Tuesday or we'll have to wash dishes in the tub.

If all continues to be good this week and no crazy nights need to do work for work, I should be able to get things finished up and start priming/painting by the end of the weekend.

No (Project) Work Weekend

The weekend has come and gone and the basement project looks pretty much the same as it did Thursday evening.  Don't worry, it will still be completed by the time is has to be done, but some of the other smaller projects will have to wait.

Christi is still sick and hasn't seen a whole lot of improvement over the weekend.  Because of some of the side effects, she is only taking some of her meds at night.  She's going to call Monday to see if there is something else she can take.

The kids and I have had a pretty good weekend fill with multiple trips to Walmart and the Yorkfest parade on Saturday.  I have a few pictures of them at the parade that I will get up in the next few days.

Christi is upstairs working on her homework that is due by midnight; hopefully, she can stay awake long enough to finish it.  I am downstairs about to work on the test for my first class tomorrow.  I started hearing a drop while doing this update.  I really should take a picture of how I'm set up right now because I'm sure its pretty funny looking but the camera is upstairs.  I thought I may have knocked something off/over and it was dripping...which if you saw the set up you could see why I thought that was a possibility.  Well, that isn't the case and apparently I have a slow drip from a pipe.  I've isolated the general area but nothing else yet.  It's going to be real interesting trying to get in a position to look since you can barely get in the room as it is.  It appears that it is relatively recent, plus, I didn't hear it the other night when I was down here.  For now, I'm going to do my test, then try to find the source of the drip.

Odds are I won't be able to fix it tonight, but I will do what I can to minimize it for the time being.  What was looking to be an earlier night is slowly turning otherwise.  I guess it is a good thing that I wasn't able to get away to the office to take care of the test earlier this weekend.  Guess I better get to work.

No Work Tonight

Christi isn't really any better today and in some ways felt worst.  I decided not to do any work so I can get in bed at a decent time to get up with the kids in the morning and let her sleep in.  It kind of works out well as I just check the corner pieces and there are a few areas where the mud is not completely dry.  Either I put it on too thick to begin with or it needed a lot to do the first coat right.  If you're keeping score, I'm going with the latter.  If you're not keeping score, I'm still going with the latter.

Saturday will include a trip downtown with the kids for the Yorkfest parade.  After that, who knows what the day will have in store.  Hopefully, it will work out to get a little more done.

Now, it's on to a little TV, then bed.

Sanding Started

Did I make a mess this afternoon or what?  I came home a littler early today and started sanding.  I got most of it done before I need to shower and do a few small things before picking up the kids.  The corner pieces are not yet dry, so they'll still need a second coat of mud then sanding.  I hopefully can get the second coat on Friday evening and put the third coat on what has already been sanded.

My mudding job isn't quite as bad as I thought it was but my skills still have a long way to go.  I still have the screw holes to finish up too, which I'll probably work on tomorrow night.  Depending on how things go, I might be able to finish up with this part by Monday or Tuesday...we'll see.

I guess I could really do some of these things now, but I don't want to change, get all dirty, clean up tools, clean up myself, etc. again.

Christi hasn't been feeling for about a week now and we were thinking it was allergies.  That's a plausible theory for this time of year.  She went to the doctor today.  I don't know that he gave her a real diagnosis, but she's has a lot of little things going on for which she received a plethora of medicine.  She did mention an ear infection as well as the other stuff.  She actually came home early today because of some of the side effects.  The kids were pretty good this evening letting her rest on the couch.  So, I guess some of what I can get done in the next few days depends on she's feeling.

Hopefully, before the weekend is over, we will get around to picking colors for the walls and floor and figure out how we are going to refinish some furniture that will go in the new room.

The Art of Lying

Some people equate lawyers with liars (and other bad things...like the preacher this weekend who said to me, "Oh, you're one of those weasels."  And, yes, I politely told him how wrong he was and that criminals had rights too...And, yes, Christi has already gotten onto me for that, so you don't have to too.)  Anyway, if you see my mud job, just lie about and tell me how great it is.  Don't worry that because of teaching criminal justice I have done some studying on the subject and how to detect it; I'll give you some pointers beforehand if you need them.

I concede that my mudding is horrible, at least in my opinion.  I tend to get one part looking really good, then mess it up working next to it.  Hopefully it is all salvageable and you won't be able to tell when it is all finished.  This is probably the worst part of the project.  May be next time, I'll budget to pay someone to do the mudding and such.

Regardless, the corner pieces are installed and mudded.  Thursday afternoon, I'll start sanding.  There is still a chance, albeit a small one, that we will be able to start painting this weekend.  However, thinking more realistically, it will probably be mid-week or so before we are ready for painting.  That's okay, painting won't take too long to do and I kind of like doing it.  It's still looking like we should be finished by the end of the month...then on to something else.

Here are the missing pictures...

Mud Round 2

Tuesday afternoon, round 2 of the mud went up.  I can honestly say that I am awful at it.  I have no idea if its good or not; guess I'll find out when I start sanding and such.  My hope is that if its really bad, I can sand it all off and start over.

I still have to install a few corners pieces and mud them, which I'm hoping to do this evening.  Christi's sickish, so that might keep things from working out.  I think she's faking it to slow me down to only work when she can help out.  Of course, keeping up with my real job might slow me down too, especially since I don't an update instead of prepping for class right now. 

The current goal/objectives for this evening are: 1) install the corner pieces 2) mud them and 3) clean out the room so sanding can start tomorrow afternoon.  I will also be formulating a plan to trick Ken into coming over and doing all the mudding and sanding for me. 

I tried to post some pictures yesterday of my superior mudding technique and a few other things.  For some reason, this blog thing would find the pictures that I uploaded.  I'll try again later...

No Work Monday

I didn't do any work on the basement Monday, which may put us behind just a tad.  I checked the mud around 3:30 and it wasn't completely dry.  It might have been after the kids went to bed, but I didn't go back down.  I probably should have at least cleaned up the room to save time when it comes to sanding.  However, I chose the option to go to bed early. 

Today's plan is to go home after my office hours and put the second coat of mud up.  Hopefully, I can get it all done and clean up before I pick the kids of from the sitter.  If things work out, I can maybe start sanding Wednesday night.  At this point, while still possible, I'm starting to think we won't be ready to paint until sometime next week.  It kind of depends on drying time, how long sanding takes, and how many times I mess things up.

I HAVE A BLISTER!

Today was a pretty good day.  Columbus went well and we had a good time with friends.  The only downside was that Menards did not have the door we wanted in stock.  A couple of their Lincoln stores have plenty, but that wasn't exactly on the way home.  Unfortunately, it looks like a trip to Lincoln is in store later this week....but now that I think of it, I could just wait until we are ready to do the floor and pick up the door at the same time as that stuff....hmm, I may be on to something here.

The first round of mud is pretty much complete.  There is one very small place I still have to do.  It is where the door is to access the furnace area.  I just put the drywall there tonight and totally forgot about it until I started cleaning it.  It can wait and shouldn't slow us down too much.

I probably should have wore gloves as I have a blister from mudding.  I just thought my hand was hurting from the tool rubbing against it, which I guess it actually was.  Oh well!

Things are really starting to come together.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post some pictures, but for now I think its bedtime.

Productive Day and Other Stuff

Did you know Bobby Bowden is out at Florida State?  I didn't know that until Thursday night while is was being interviewed on ESPN while checking out part of the Auburn game.  I bet he would be fun to hang out with for a little while.  Speaking of Auburn, just found out last week Tommy Tuberville  is coaching at Texas Tech.  I think he got a raw deal, but nobody asked me.  I don't really follow sports that much so maybe that is why I didn't know these things; but I do know Alabama is about to beat Penn State.

Okay, back to the real blog.  Today was very productive.  After breakfast, I started finishing putting up the insulation.  It took a little longer than I had hoped due to having to cut and piece together a lot of it (i.e., around windows and other places that were shorter in height or not 16" studs.  When I was almost done with that, Ken texted to see if it was drywall day.  We hadn't talked about it, but he was game.

I made a quick trip to the hardware store to pick up some more corner pieces since I forgot about a few areas yesterday.  I made up for the miscount this time and counted to many, but I'll probably hang on to them for the next project, whatever that is.

Ken had some issues getting lumber he needed today.  While waiting for him, I started on the drywall.   I started the first piece in the wrong corner, but that was a pretty easy fix.  I attempted to put the top piece on by myself and dropped it twice.  After the second time, I just moved on to another wall and started on the bottom piece.  I still don't know how Ken has put up so much drywall by himself...he's just crazy or more experienced and knows how to not let it slip off the wall.

Nevertheless, after about 4 hours, the room is now (virtually) drywalled and taped.  There is one little area in front of the furnace that still needs to be done.  We just forgot about it because we originally were going to cut the floor plate out where the door while be, but have decided to just leave it as is.  That will make sense once you see the door that we are using.  I'll take care of that tomorrow evening and hopefully start mudding.  There are also a couple of corner pieces that I'll probably take care of Sunday evening as well.

We still have to install the new light fixture and hook up the new power to the room.  Instead of cutting power and moving stuff around today (which would probably mean no lights in the room), we just removed the outlets and light switch from their current location and now they are laying on top of the freezer.

Here's some pics of what it is looking like.

Insulation Started

The insulation is about half complete.  The pre-cut sheets are really easy to put up.  I hope to finish it up in the morning and start hanging drywall.  I kind of want to finish the insulation tonight, but I didn't bring any scissors down with me to cut the odd pieces and I have a few other things that are a little more pressing right now, like writing a new sermon.

I'm preaching in Columbus, about an hour from us, Sunday.  I emailed a powerpoint over today and got a reply that is pretty funny.  Ken's father-in-law, Rick, now works for the college in Church Relations.  Part of his job his to visit church, preach, assist them, etc.  Well, Rick was in Columbus last month and apparently spoke on Daniel too.  It was from a different angle than mine, but after much thought, Christi and I have decided that I should come up with something different...so that is what I should be doing right now instead of update the blog.  Rick's been preaching almost as long as I've been alive, but I think I need to ask him when he wrote his sermon.  I wrote mine (except for a few modifications) in 2006 to preach in Fremont when the choir was singing there; that visit was cancelled due to bad weather.  Anyway....

Here are a few pictures from tonight.

Trip Number I've Lost Count

I think I made my 5th trip to the hardware store for this project.  It is the third for Mead, which is I where I prefer to go, and there have been two to True Value.  As I type this, I realize there were two things I forgot to pick up...so much for that list I made before I left.  Drywall, insulation, mud, and a few other things will be delivered later this afternoon.  Screws, junction box, and a few other things in my car.  Just remember another thing I forgot about.  There may be an unplanned family outing tonight.  Luckily, I think what I need can be picked up at Walmart so we don't have to rush to get to the hardware store before it closes.

I'm not really sure at this point what all I hope to get done this afternoon/evening.  For starters, I will clean up the mess downstairs to make it easier to work.  Just remembered something else I need.  After that, maybe I'll shoot to get the insulation in and see where things go from there.  Should be an exciting and fun weekend.

Inspection Complete

Chuck, the inspector, just left and all is good.  I'm not really sure what he looked at as he basically just looked where outlets were going to be and that they had wire to them.  That's all.  I don't need to call him back until it's almost done.  I take that to mean right before we start painting.  He didn't look at any old wiring or anything that we were kind of worried about.

He really only had two things to say.  One was to piggy back the wires going to the outlets.  The other was a suggestion concern the window/crawlspace to under the porch, which isn't anything major and more of a convenience thing in case we ever need to get under there.

I really want to go to the store and get insulations, other supplies, and order drywall, but I'm going to wait until Friday, because I really have a few other things I need to work on tonight...if I do anything.

If things work out like I'm hoping, I can probably have him back out near the end of next week and be painting next weekend....to be continued....

Inspection Fail

Okay, we really didn't fail the inspection; it just didn't happen today.  I called on Tuesday about setting up an inspection, which was kind of weird to me.  I expected them to say the inspector could be out around such and such time on such and such day.  The lady basically asked me when I wanted it done.  I mentioned I needed to do a few things so Wednesday would be fine, still halfway expecting a time frame.  I also told her somebody would be home all day Wednesday.  She said she'd just have Chuck call me to set up a time.

Well, he called on Wednesday like he was supposed to...right in the middle of class.  His message was simple: I'll try back later.  By later, apparently he meant another day.  I had already decided that if he called during my later afternoon class, I'd just answer it and give the class bonus points for violating the no cell phone during class policy.

Hopefully things will work out to get the inspection done Thursday.  Today's call and last week's call regarding permit questions came around the same time.  So, I'll be ready Thursday for it.  Hopefully, he won't decide to call during my 8:30 class...but it's co-taught, so as long as I'm not talking, I may just walk out and answer.

Drywall Up, Taped, and Mud Round I

According to the title of this post, that's something to get excited about.  But don't get too excited for us yet, that's what happened at Ken's house yesterday.  I went over to help work on the bedroom which is really starting to come together.

As far as our house goes, we've decided to leave the current wiring as is for a few reasons, but mainly is that we'd be without a light in that room for a while.  This afternoon, I'll head home a little before I pick up the kids and finish the last part of running wire.  Hopefully, that will be as simple as it looks.  Its basically tacking down the wire that I already put in the storage room, which will take a little bit because I'll have to move a bunch of stuff, and running wire for the new light fixture.

I'll call today in hopes of getting an inspection Wednesday.  If that works out and all is good, I should be able to start putting up drywall Thursday or Friday.

Cooper Wants To Work

I'm not sure he really knows what is going on, but Cooper wants to work. Over the past few days, he has asked when Ken and I were going to work. Last night and this
morning, everything he can get his hands on becomes a hammer and everything else something that need to be banged with a hammer.

Sunday Evening Update

I may try to put a few more pictures up from different angles, so you can get a better feel for what's going on with the room.

For the most part, all the new wiring is in place.  The wire running through the storage room still needs to be tacked in place.  That may need to wait until the kids are up (or at least not when they are down for the night), plus I'll have to move a lot of stuff out the way to be able to get it in place.  Who knows, I may try to do some of that tonight or I may not.

We picked up a new fixture earlier today during our Walmart outing.  It's nothing fancy, but better than the light bulb hanging by wires that is in there currently.

I think all that is left is to "clean up" some of the existing wiring and add the new fixture before we call for the first inspection.  Hopefully, we can get that all done in time to have the inspection mid-week.  From there, assuming all is well, I'll put in the insulation later in the week and be hanging drywall by the weekend.

Framed

Ken and I spent most of Saturday framing.  Framing around the furnace presented a little of a challenge, but it all worked out.  The pocket door frame is installed and part of the new wiring is in place.  Hopefully, this afternoon or early evening, I'll be able finish running wire.

Saturday also brought trip 3 to the hardware store and a trip to Walmart.  Five pounds of screws wasn't enough.  Unfortunately, we ran out after Mead (the hardware store) closed.  I tried True Value but they didn't have the screws I need.  I did get a breaker and a few other electrical supplies there.  (I try not to shop at True Value because it's generally overpriced, at least in our small town).  Luckily, Walmart came through with some screws that would work.  We'll probably go back to Walmart today to get a few more outlet boxes and hopeful new lighting.

I Scared Daddy

The noise kept Cooper and Calleigh up a little later tonight.  I went to check on them at one point, okay, I really went up to get the camera, but to check on them sounds better.  Cooper said he was scared and Christi asked me to bring him down so he could see what was going on.

Work Has Started

We got started this evening a little later than planned for a variety of reasons, but at least we started.  The kids also got to stay up later because of all the noise.

We replaced an existing floor plate that had rotted.  I hadn't pulled down the wall because we didn't realize it was that bad.  We only had to replace one stud on that wall so that was a plus.  That was all the real work we got done tonight.  Ken and I spent some time trying to figure out how to frame around duct work and the furnace.  It looks like we've got it figured out and will look better and be easier than what we had originally planned.

According to Ken, these are the Cadillac of screws.  Who knew?

Ken does have me a little scared about the inspection now.  He made a few statements about how it hoped the inspector doesn't look at the old wiring, etc.  Hopefully, it will not be a problem, but right now, I'm wishing we didn't get the permit.  Oh well, we'll deal with it if it becomes an issue.

The Pre-Game Meal

Nine people can seem like 47 when there are 5 kids involved.  Parts of the evening were wild but we had some fun.  I meant to take some pictures of us eating, but kind of forgot until dessert time.  We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn on the cob, chocolate caramel pie, and chess bars. It was all pretty good.  Christi and I generally don't like meatloaf, but this recipe is really good.  If you are interested search meatloaf throwdown on food network.  Make the following adjustments: one pound ground beef and one pound ground pork instead of 2 pounds of ground beef; use a mixture of ketchup and barbecue sauce to top it off instead of just ketchup (we used 1/2 cup of each this time, but I think in past it was maybe a 1/4 cup of each).

Trip 2 and Today's the Day

Just made the second trip to the hardware store and we haven't even started the project yet.  I see at least 2 more trips to the local store.  Today, I picked up screws, outlets, outlet covers, and 12-2 wire.  Tomorrow may bring another trip because I didn't know what kind of breaker I needed.  This home improvement stuff is difficult.  There will still be a trip for insulation.  Hopefully, I'll be in a position to get drywall the same day as I get the insulation which will cut down on the trips.  I also hope that I pretty much have everything we need to cut down on those "oh yeah, I should've gotten..." trips.

I'm not sure if the local stores carry some of the exciting products we plan on using, so we may be taking a trip to the big city for those supplies.  I'll give more details on that as we figure everything out.

Ken and family are coming over for supper this evening and the plan is to start laying out some floor plates tonight.  On a side note, our friends like being "paid/bribed" in food, so that works out well for us.  There are still a few small things to move out of the room, but for the most part it is ready to go.

Depending on when, and what, we get done tonight, I'll try to post some picutres.

Calleigh's Loving It

It looks like Cal has adjusted to her new room nicely.  She has slept wonderfully in there the past week and a half.  We still have stuff to move out and the like, but at least the major stuff is out of the way and out of the floor.  We haven't talked about it lately, but hopefully in mid-October, we will move her back upstairs for a few nights and paint her room all girly.  Of course, that's assuming we get the bigger project done down in the basement.  (Don't worry, Coop's room will be getting a makeover soon too!)

Here's some pictures of her from one morning last week.  Enjoy.

Permit Is Here

The building permit arrived today; several days later than what they said, but at least it is here.  I know getting the permits was the right thing to do, but now I'm wishing I didn't bother with them.  The permits are going to slow down the work.  I can do the framing and electrical, but cannot put installation or drywall up until the framing and electrical are inspected.  I'm thinking (or maybe just hoping) that we can get the framing and electrical done Saturday.  I don't think that is unreasonable as it's not a big area, pretty square and open.  There is a little area that will require some thinking (as in the "we'll figure out as we go" kind) that will slow us down a bit but hopefully not too much.  The original idea was to be able to get a lot done with the three day weekend, but it looks like "the man" as put a halt to that.

Hopefully, we can get enough done to get an inspection Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.  If that works out, I'll probably insulate Wednesday night and start hanging drywall Thursday afternoon (got to love that professor schedule right now, huh?).  At this point, I'm thinking the only other slow down will be with the mudding, taping, sanding fun stuff.

Also, in the negative column for permitting, is that it will probably just raise my taxes.  From talking to other people, the inspections they have weren't really much.  I understand the rationale by the permits and inspections, but right now I have decided I don't like them for this particular project.

It also looks like my deadline has moved up a week or so.  Oh well, in the words of a former Nebraskan, we'll "git-r-done!"

Hopefully, started this weekend you'll get to start seeing pictures of progress instead of me just rambling.

Making a Mess

Apparently this project involves making a mess.  Sure, I expected to make a mess when construction actually started, but not necessarily before then.  However, I surely have made a few messes.

What little room that was left in the third bay of the garage is full of stuff from the basement.  And now, my room is a mess.  I have filled with boxes and other things that need to be gone through to determine if they should stay or go; and if they stay, where should they go.  I have filled it with chairs and items that were in Calleigh's new room.  With about 3/4 of the room full, it's a little hard to do anything down here.  Although it is filling up, I can still kind of play music and do work in the room.  The most difficult part is watching TV because the view from the futon to the TV is pretty much blocked except from one little corner.