Thursday, February 14th, 2008
To run the wiring for the dishwasher, I had to cut a piece of sheetrock out of the wall below the breaker box. I did this to get my drill down at the bottom of the wall so I could drill a hole for the wire. I was really trying to avoid this, but I couldn’t figure out any better way to do it. Somehow, I am sure people out there have a nifty little system of running wires through houses. After all, how the heck do they run the wires for home security systems?
Anyway, I cut out a clean piece. It wasn’t hard to cut a matching piece to put back in the hole. When I first started cutting, I figured I could just cut the piece of wall out and then return that same piece back in the wall. Due to the screws holding the wall in place, I was unable to do that. Oh well.
Today, I decided to patch the wall back up and get it ready for paint. I took a few very, very exciting pictures to illustrate how I did this.
This is the “before” photo. As you can clearly see, I did a marvelous job at cutting the new piece of sheetrock.
Since I didn’t have my 4″ putty knife handy (it was in the basement), I decided to go ahead with my 1 1/2″ inch one. This proved to be a bit more difficult getting the joint compound on the wall. I am used to a “smear” here and a “smoosh” there, but this kind of just made a mess. Basically, the trick is to get enough joint compound on the wall and for it to remain wet enough for the tape to adhere to. I had to put on a little extra to get this job done.
Once all the joint compound was on the wall, I finished adhering the rest of the tape to it. When I was putting up the tape, I made sure to press extra hard on it with the putty knife to squeeze all the additional joint compound out from behind the tape.
Finally, I added some joint compound on top of the tape and smoothed it out with my big 10″ putty knife. I love using this towards the end because it does such a great job cleaning up the mess I made earlier. All I have to do now is wait for it to dry and then add another coat. Then I sand and paint. Word up.
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Monday, December 17th, 2007
When I was applying the drywall tape for the kitchen, I noticed some bubbles forming under the tape in some spots. I was getting all mad because I thought this was going to make the entire project look bad. After the tape dried, I forgot all about the bubbles.
When I was painting the kitchen the other day, I noticed one or two areas of the tape where bubbles were forming, I guess due to the moisture of the paint. The spots were hidden pretty well, so I didn’t really care. I guess the paper tape was getting wet and expanding.
Last night, I was telling Laura how well the color paint hides anything and everything on these walls. I looked up to the spot where one bubble was pretty large and noticed that it didn’t exist anymore. I was so happy. I think the tape dried out and tightened back up.
What’s the moral of this story? If you get some bubbles in your drywall tape when you are taping or painting, don’t freak out. They will disappear after everything dries.
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Thursday, December 13th, 2007
I am all about getting the good stuff these days. I don’t know anyone who can dispute the fact that working with quality tools is better than working with cheap ones. Tool manufacturers do a very good job of making “good” tools feel really nice in your hands. There is a big difference.
Yesterday, I took a trip to Lowe’s to get a few things. I wanted to get a chalk snapper (You know…it looks like a tape measure. You pull the string out of the thing and snap the line of chalk) and two garbage cans. I need the chalk snapper for the floor of the kitchen. I have to make lines to help me screw the subfloor down to the joists. Whenever doing a floor over, this is a good idea. I needed the garbage cans because I have a bit of a mess outside. I already have four full garbage cans outside under the porch and one inside the porch. I have to get the sheetrock off the driveway, so I bought two more. By the way, I filled those two and need about two more. I’m not going to get them though.
So I wandered into Lowe’s. I began searching for the chalk snapper and happened to pass by some face filters. I picked up a nice 3M Dual Cartridge Respirator Assembly and held onto it. I needed this for the sanding of the sheetrock, among other things. My old one leaked. I found this out during the previous day’s sanding. I like these better than the little white ones because they stay on my big head better. Also, I used to wear them when I worked at a bodyshop back in the day. They do a nice job filtering particles.
As I continued my search for the chalk snapper, I passed by some razor blades for my Stanley razor knife. I remembered that I just dulled out the last one on the sheetrock. I picked up a ten pack and held onto them. Then, I saw some screw bits. I picked up the 25 piece Dewalt bit set. I thought of how nice it would be to toss the two bits that I keep switching back and fourth in my screw gun now. It’s like they are going to heal themselves or something. I held onto them.
Boy, that’s weird, where the heck are those chalk snappers? Oh well, moving on. Geeesh, I wish I didn’t see the screw gun battery replacements. I thought back to the day before…me running back and fourth, between the basement and the kitchen to replace the battery in the cordless screw gun. Remember I just got this screw gun about a year ago? Yeah, that’s the last time I buy anything other than DeWalt, Makita, Bosch or Milwaukee. As I said above, I am into the good stuff, especially when it comes to tools. In this case, since the gun is so new, I picked up a FireStorm Two 18-Volt Extended Run Time Battery pack. Just one thing, remember that these are meant for home use. Contractor use is not covered under the warranty. One DeWalt battery is twice the cost of two of these. Say anything about quality? I held onto them.
This trip was getting expensive. I only came here for a few things and haven’t found either of them yet. I swung around the corner and there they were…the chalk snappers. There were a few of them there, but I got the best one. It’s called the Stanley FatMax Chalk Reel Kit With Blue Chalk.
A funny thing happened on the way to Lowe’s. I called my friend, Craig and told him that I was getting a chalk snapper. He said, “Oh good. Just remember to get a good one.” I told him, “Well, the most expensive one is around $12, so ok.” I thought that was amusing. I picked it up and held onto it.
Onto the garbage cans. I took a look outside to only learn the garbage cans were inside. I walked back in and found the correct aisle. I went to the cheap section and grabbed two black garbage cans and their lids. Over and out.
I stumbled to the register and paid for all the stuff I just had to have. Can I ever get out of that store without leaving with a bunch of stuff I didn’t know I needed? Does this happen to everyone when they are initially stocking their tool collections? Perhaps it’s just me.
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Thursday, December 13th, 2007
I finished up the sanding of the joint compound last night. Two nights ago, I used the power sander…the little palm one. That was great to do the first major sand with. Then, I reapplied the joint compound and sanded by hand. Overall, everything came out pretty nicely.
I was excited to get some paint on the walls. Paint means the major dust of the project is gone. I put up plastic in the doorways to keep the majority of dust from the rest of the house. Also, I used my new safety goggles and the new respirator I bought yesterday. I must remind you that one of my least favorite activities with remodeling is sanding joint compound. I really hate it. There is such a temptation to just paint over the compound before it’s sanded. I didn’t do that and things are really smooth.
We (I mean “I” - Laura was a little shocked) went with a light gray/blue color for the paint. This was a little bit of a surprise. It looked different on the one and a half inch by two inch tab from the paint store. It is growing on us. I think, with the light colored floor and dark cabinets, things will look great.
I didn’t sand and paint the spots where cabinets would be. I bought one gallon of paint, so this worked out nicely. Any spot that I don’t have to sand is a good spot. Also, apparently, I used an overhead projector marker to mark the areas that needed to be cut for an outlet or a switch. Let’s just say that I have put about eight coats of paint on those marker lines to only see the green of the marker bleed right through. Don’t use an overhead projector marker to mark sheetrock.
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Saturday, December 8th, 2007
I set a goal for myself today…to finish the kitchen. That didn’t happen. It almost did. All I have to do now is to sand the joint compound, reapply and then sand again. Then, I paint…and all done for me. Well, I still have to do some prep work for the floor, but that’s fun.
I have amassed some tips for drywalling. These are from my brother, Jeff and my neighbor, Tim. There are only three…
1. Mark the ceiling and floor where the studs are. This will help when it comes time to screw.
2. Hang the drywall vertically. This will help not have “mounds,” since you will be butting the beveled edges together.
3. Start in the middle of the wall. This helps the cut edges stay in the corners.
See, that helped me in my drywalling endeavor, and I have never even done this stuff before. I am a little proud of myself for kicking ass today.
So, do you remember those before photos? Well, I have some “in the middle photos” for you now.
This was today after Paul came over to pick up the cabinets. I had to single-handedly unhook the sink piping and cut apart the wood underneath. That was a real pain. Then, I had to cut the counter top and unscrew them (from being screwed together). Then, I had to unscrew them from the floor. I am not sure why they screwed to the floor. Did these people think the cabinets where going somewhere? Maybe that’s the norm. Anyway, I finally got everything away from the wall so I could work. I finished taking down all the sheetrock and was ready to put it back up.
For the rest of the afternoon, I hung sheetrock and taped. I really like taping and am glad I got the five gallon bucket of joint compound. I fly through the stuff and it’s nice not to have to worry about running out.
So as I said above, all I have to do is finish up the walls and paint. Then, prep the floor for the tile guy and my job is done. All Laura and I have to do at that point is to wait for the kitchen guys to show up with the cabinets (in a very messy house).
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Friday, December 7th, 2007
Today, after I brought the cat to the vet, I ran down to Lowe’s for a few things. I had to get some outlets, switches and face plates. I also had to get some joint compound. When I was leaving, it started to snow. For a while, it was coming down pretty good.
I thought I would get a picture of the front of the Lowe’s in Middletown that I always go to…
The snow got worse on my ride home. I took the opportunity to grab a nice shot on one of the back roads pretty close to the house.
I got a little further with the kitchen walls. Now I have two walls done. Well, they have the first layer of joint compound on them. They still need to be sanded and then another layer. I can’t wait to get them all done and painted.
Just a few minutes ago, I brought the floor cabinets out to the front porch for Paul to take in the morning. He wants to use them in his basement for a workshop. I then took the last wall cabinet down. Things are pretty messy upstairs right now. I brought that cabinet downstairs to use for my stuff. Now, I have a nice wall’s worth of cabinets down there, hanging from the ceiling. It’s good to keep things off the floor.
There is only one more cabinet in the kitchen and that’s the one with the sink in it. It’s a long sonofabitch, so I am not sure of my plan yet. I have to move it out to get to the wall. Maybe tomorrow, I will move it out, do the wall and then move it back.
Just for giggles, I thought I would show you the wallpaper that one of the previous owners decided to put on the walls.
Can you say, “crack head?”
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Thursday, December 6th, 2007
I didn’t know sheetrocking was so easy. Is it sheetrocking or drywalling? I am not down with the lingo. Anyway, I got one wall finished. I used the Dremel to make the cuts around the outlets and the doorway. It has this pretty cool rotating cutting tool. It goes through the drywall like a wicked hot knife through melting butter.
I screwed the sheetrock up, put some joint compound on the seams and taped it up. Then, I put a thin layer of joint compound over the tape. I hope that’s how you do it. I read up and that’s what people are saying.
One unexpected little task I had to complete was to move an outlet so it would be accessible from the counter top and not from behind a huge pantry. That was easy enough.
Here are some photos…
I have an appointment at the kitchen place at 4PM to pick out the counter tops and hardware. I also assume I will be giving them a check. When I get back, I am going to put up the other wall. Basically, I can have half of the kitchen drywalled today. Not bad for a web guy.
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Thursday, December 6th, 2007
I got a call pretty early this morning from the lumber place. They told me they were about to leave for my sheetrock delivery. Man, I still had my coffee in my hand.
I got ready and waited for the guy to come. A few minutes later, he was backing into the driveway with my twelve sheets of sheetrock. I helped him take the stuff off the truck and stack it on some leftover lumber from the porch that I laid on the driveway. Tim, next door, was kind enough to give me a hand bringing it inside. Actually, this was the first time Tim has seen the inside of our empire.
I had to keep the doors open so Tim and I could bring the sheetrock inside. For safety reasons, I put the dog in the computer room and the cats in the bedroom. I put Red in the bathroom because I didn’t want her to pee anywhere. After Tim and I were done, I went into the bedroom to get the cats. Of course, Michael was sitting on top of the bed looking at me. You can’t scare that cat. He would walk into a volcano if given the chance. I went to look for Simon and Flipperhumanbodyman, but couldn’t find them. Then, I looked behind my trunk. There they were…
What wimps.
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Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
Well, this has just turned into a happy little project.
I was all excited about my new belt sander and how I was going to show everyone in the world how I can make gold out of coal. Well, I ran into a little unexpected snag.
This morning’s task was to sand one part of the wall that goes along the hallway. I was going to sand it, put a skim coat of joint compound on it, sand it, skim coat it, sand it and then paint it. I was hoping to have a photo for tomorrow’s post. Well, tomorrow’s post will have a photo, but not of my handiwork.
This is how nicely I sanded the wall this morning. It’s nice, right? I did a great job. I ran that brand new belt sander all over the place and made things nice and smooth. It was like a baby’s bottom. With the utmost confidence, I put a nice thin layer of joint compound on the wall. It came out really nice.
I did that and then walked into the other room to get some work done. I was going to start sanding in a while, after it all dried. At this point, I think I had a little macho in my walk (I can get like that). After a little while, I came back in to look at the wall. I noticed that many parts of the paper underneath (I think the wallpaper) were bubbling. The moisture of the joint compound had made the wallpaper wet and separate from whatever it was holding onto. I thought to myself that it would dry and stretch back out, which it probably would. Then, I thought of myself not sleeping because I would know that I did a crappy job.
To make a long story short, I have a delivery of twelve sheets of half inch sheetrock coming tomorrow. I am taking the whole room apart and putting it back together the right way. I should’ve done that from the beginning, but then what fun would I have had?
It I ever become a politician, my first order of business is going to be outlawing wallpaper.
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