So a long while ago I mentioned having a problem with the ceiling fan installation in the tvroom. It’s a 3-way circuit using this fancy Lutron Maestro Fan/Light combo switch with an accessory switch and fan canopy. I had successfully installed one in the gym (not a 3-way though) so when the tvroom one didn’t work I didn’t know where it went wrong (the 3-way wiring, the canopy wiring or if a module was bad by chance).
When Dad was out the first time in March we started looking at it and I decided to look up a wiring diagram to compare my wiring to. The second time he came out I had verified the wiring should work and we took it all apart and put in regular 3-way switches – and yes it did work. Okay, so that was correct.
After he left I took apart the gym fan so I could look at the wiring of the canopy module – to verify I did it correctly on the new one – unfortunately – they were also identical 🙁 So we hooked it back up and same behavior – the module won’t initialize correctly. AND to make matters worse – I put the gym fan back together but forgot to secure the wires back in and so they are clicking against the moving parts – so I have to take this apart again – major FAIL – ugg!
Next on the list is to get a hold of a new module and try it out – one piece at a time to see if I can identify what the problem is. Home depot tonight or tomorrow to see if they have modules. If they don’t have what I want, I need to order one for the nursery anyhow so I can do that and try it out – if my module is bad I can contact Lutron probably about it.
For now the fan remains as it ever was – an eye sore in the tv room … soon though – at least I know I wired it correctly now 🙂
Well as expected, Ryan got busy at work and Tuesday night I was exhausted when i got home so I pretty much fell asleep on the couch then moved to bed at the more appropriate time of 9pm 🙂
But Wednesday I worked from home which meant I had a ton more energy in the evening (although i worked until 7:30). So I decided to get the corners hit with the first coat and then I got a second coat on the seams (wall seams – not ceiling). The ceiling is certainly lagging behind but I can’t really do that although I’m tempted to try the upper corners if I can manage it – I’m not sure I can move the scaffolding when I’m on it though so this might be something Ryan and I do together maybe friday night.
First coat on the corners, second coat on the wall seams.The other wall..
And of course I’m ambitious and hoping that since I’m working from home Friday I can get another coat on the corners and then later that night maybe Ryan and I can get some of the upper areas spackled. We are almost out of joint compound though so a trip to home depot is necessary!
And day actually. At lunch time I got a first coat on the wall seams and a third coat of spackle on the lower half of the screws throughout the nursery. That was the extent of my lunch time energy but luckily Ryan was able to get home at a normal hour (normal for the rest of the world, early for him), and after going for a run he got a coat on the ceiling seams and the screws on the top half of the wall and ceiling.
So technically the screws have 3 coats (just need to check to see if any need more). I think tonight he wants to do half of the upper corners and maybe another coat on the seams? Then tomorrow we can do the regular corners (I can do one side at lunch time and he can do the other side after work).
We’ll see how it goes, so far so good, he’s hoping to have it sanded and primed this weekend if he doesn’t get a new project at work that means he has to start working late. I tried to take a picture this morning of the progress but my phone didn’t like it – it gets screwy sometimes. So no picture unfortunately 🙁
Ryan was busy Friday night getting more prep work done on the nursery, working around the huge sheets of drywall that were off to one side he drilled some holes for electrical (to run the light circuit) and screwed in almost all the firring strips on the ceiling (the ones he could get to). Then he added some framing to the corner that was missing any nailers.
Mom and Dad showed up Friday night so we could get a nice early start on Saturday. There were 2 items to do first, finish up the electrical and move the drywall so everything could be accessed. Once the electrical was all wired they were able to start on the drywall – ceiling first.
The ceiling up
The ceiling was just about finished (the last piece was up but not screwed in) by lunch time (1pm). That’s some great progress.
Then they did the exterior wall (that got rid of 2 of the 14′ x 54″ pieces of drywall.
Exterior wall getting screwed in.
Unfortunately I don’t have any more progress pictures after this but they were able to finish up the drywall (of the room, not the closet) entirely by dinner time.
Sunday they drywalled what they could of the closet (using scraps) but we need to get another piece of drywall to really finish it. Then started taping and continuing electrical (hooking it up in the attic to the existing circuit it used to be hooked up to for now – later we’ll put in a subpanel in the attic). While tape/spackle dried, electrical was done, then more taping, then more electrical and finally the last upper corners were taped and Mom and Dad headed home.
So the nursery is really coming along – Ryan feels ambitious and hopes to get the spackling all finished in the next 2 weeks, maybe even walls sanded and primed before easter – we’ll see how it goes (mostly based on his work load).
Anyway – some pictures!
Ceiling view (from the closet)The view from the closet sideThe closet - partially drywalled - we're actually going to do cedar walls in here like our master closet i believe.From the doorway - the right hand wall (there used to be a door there - too many doors in this house!)And the other side (view from the doorway) - of the windows.
So that’s 2 coats on the screw holes, and just taped on all the seams.
What’s left?
Running the cable/ethernet drops (2) to the interior walls
Closet drywall and cedar
Spackling
Sanding walls
Priming (then touchups)
Putting the door frames back in
Trim – windows, door, crown molding, baseboards
Priming/Painting trim, Painting ceiling and walls
Refinish floor (includes patching the spot where the radiator was)
Can we be done before baby ? 🙂 We’ll see how long she stays in!
In baby news – all is still well there – the braxton hicks contractions have continued but nothing like last thursday thank goodness. I still get bouts where they are 5 minutes apart but they don’t stay that way for more than an hour. Plus i’ve been assured that even though the contractions are so often and consistent, they don’t actually mean I’ll even go ‘early’ – she could still come late even, all it means is I’ll be even more uncomfortable as I get closer to the due date because I’ll get bigger and more uncomfortable PLUS still be having contractions. Really looking forward to month 9 🙂 *sarcasm*.
But baby has a room that looks like a room now, even if it’s not finished so I’m excited!
Nice and early so Ryan could help unload it before he went in to work even! The drywall for the nursery was boomed through the upstairs window and is now sitting mostly in the nursery. It’s going to be very interesting maneuvering these large sheets around this weekend. Luckily we can do most of what’s left of prep work easily with the drywall off to the side it is. Just the closet is blocked right now – unfortunately, that’s where I put the window sashes to keep them safe (duh moment for me) and so the window will have just a screen for the day/night 🙂 Thank goodness it’s another warm day!
Speaking of warm, the A/C went in our bedroom last night because I was dying (I don’t know how people who are pregnant in summer do it!). Yesterday was a tough day with a lot of braxton hicks contractions (every 5 minutes), I ended up over at the hospital to get tested to make sure they were just false labor (they are) but they’re STILL coming every 5 minutes this morning. The doctor ordered me to take the day off and do nothing – not sure what to do though, not working stresses me out when I have work I could be doing and that can’t be good. So i’m confined to bed for the day with lots of water and hopefully the contractions slow down?? I have no problem sleeping through them at least so I got a good night’s sleep for a change. I guess the contractions are fine since they aren’t bringing on labor – but they are darn annoying!
Well spring is most certainly in the air (let’s hope there aren’t any future frosts waiting to kill the plants that have sprouted early now!).
And success – my tulip (and other) bulbs are popping up! Besides the crocus’ which I planted throughout the yard, I planted the larger bulbs in 3 locations – my rose garden (in front), and 2 spots at the front of the house. They’re popping up in all 3 spots! I’m very excited to see these comes to life in the next few weeks!
Bulbs popping up!
And with spring we get closer and closer to the arrival of our little one! 6 weeks to go (or there abouts):
34 weeks along!
Of course she was scaring me this morning (that she would come sooner than 6 weeks from now), my braxton hicks contractions were not only stronger than usual, I usually don’t get so many in the morning (usually at night) – not sure what was going on but they have finally calmed down thank goodness!
It is crazy warm out today! But just in case it gets cold again – we now have insulation in the nursery and master bathroom as well as along the sill plate in the basement 🙂 It was great getting work done on the house while I got to stay at my desk and get regular work done. When they do a good job I like hiring people and this place did a much better job than what we’ve had done before.
Anyway – here are some pictures!
Spraying...Cutting...
And the finished pictures…
Basement sill plate - although the one mistake they made is that there were 2 bays we asked them NOT to spray (i marked under with an X), because we have to still run pipes and electric for the kitchen renovation some day - all well, we'll be cutting that back out.
The master bathroom (we didn't have them do around the windows since these haven't yet been replaced).The nursery and top of stairs.The nursery including the closet.The ceiling in the front hallway (front door entrance) - this part of the ceiling is just a porch roof above so we wanted it insulated.More in the basement - the front and back didn't have actual bays to spray but he sealed up what was there.Even got into the crawl spaces - uck!
I’m not quite sure what percentage of our house is now insulated – what’s not insulated:
the kitchen
master bedroom
upstairs bathroom (the small one)
what will be the washer/dryer room (small section)
back bedroom (sewing room)
attic
Not too bad – we’re definitely more than 50% insulated, probably 65% maybe would be my guess. And I have all the windows open so the smell is already aired out (this stuff didn’t give off very much of a smell anyway compared to whatever the other people used). Oh in case anyone is interested – we went with GreenStar out of MA this time around.
Well last night when Ryan got home we moved the final items that needed moving so we’re all set for the insulation now… just waiting to see if they come today??? If I don’t hear from them by 8:30 I’m calling them, we’re not exactly on a flexible schedule (and they know that) so hopefully they show up soon!
[UPDATE] – Insulation guys are here as expected! So happy everything is on schedule!
Look at the crocus'. I'm assuming these are some of the ones I planted this fall (from mom's extra) - but we always got a few of these so it may just be the normal ones we get.These are definitely from mom's batch. Although I thought they were supposed to be green - maybe the green ones aren't up yet and we also planted yellow?
Of course Fitz has already killed a few of these 🙂 But they are sprouting up nicely in the backyard, hopefully they sprout in the front/side yards too where there’s less sun. And I’m finding ‘holes’ in the yard where i’m sure the squirrels have figured out they could find some easy food – stupid squirrels!
Anyhow. This weekend was a mixup of projects. Saturday we started with 3 runs to the dump to get rid of all the wood and start getting rid of the pile of plaster (in bags). Once that was done we worked on the nursery – finishing up any demo (all in preparation for insulation). We also had to clean up the walls of the master bathroom which is also getting insulation – and move stuff around so walls can be reached in there and in the basement.
Another project was running the vent from the downstairs bathroom so it later can be hooked up to the other bathrooms. It took some work to drill through the header with a 2″ hole (poor Ryan – the hole saw was not working at all so he did it with multiple 3/4 inch holes but got the job done). Then we pieced the PVC pipe and it’s all ready to go.
Next up we ran the outlet feed on the exterior wall, getting it secured so the insulation doesn’t push the wires out and they get cut (lesson learned from the first time).
Vent pipe connected up (where the magic vent used to be) and running up through the header.Pipe extends into the ceiling of the hallway.Outlets on exterior wall
We ended with a little more demolition and cleanup in the closet (it also has exterior walls) – so the closet is all ready for insulation as well.
Closet exterior wall.
On Sunday we did some shopping (we bought the bedroom set for the nursery! It should arrive on April 13th) – not that the nursery will be ready but I will need dressers for baby clothes so we’ll set the dressers up in the hallway outside the nursery at the very least. I’m very excited. The bedroom set was actually in the outlet section of jordon’s and that explains why it was much cheaper than their regular furniture – bonus! We also tested out sectional couches because once the tvroom is done we’ll be ordering one of those!
Once shopping was done Ryan had to get work done (he got multiple calls this weekend asking him if he could work). So while he did that I did some miscellaneous projects. First I used duct tape to seal up all the cracks/holes in the exterior wall of the nursery so the spray foam insulation doesn’t push out and affect the siding later. You can’t see the tape in the pictures probably because I used black tape.
Then I continued wiring the outlets on the second wall of the nursery. I left the third wall because we have to put a corner nailer in first. Next I finished vacuuming the ceiling of the nursery really well. And finally started the process of putting the light circuit in the nursery (we have some holes in the joists from the knob and tube that I could use). It’s not done because I need 4 holes drilled in order to finish but it’s close!
You can kind of see the outlet circuit (just have to nail the wires down) and the box for the light.And the nice clean ceiling and fan box (ignore the existing light bulb - that will be removed once the new circuit is hooked up).
Of course Ryan reminded me that we need to run cable/ethernet to this room still – luckily it’s on interior walls. And so I started mapping that out. I’ll need more holes drilled (there will be 2 drops in this room) but hopefully some night this week (tonight?) I can get started on those. I also need to wire the closet light (need holes drilled) and the smoke detector.
The one big project that’s left is screwing in all the firring strips in the ceiling – with ryan’s work load this won’t happen until the weekend. Probably while Dad and I finish up electrical, Ryan will do that. Then we’ll do the drywall!
Insulation comes on Wednesday! We have 2 large things to move out of the way and a radiator to move. Other than that we’re all ready to go!
Going into this weekend I was a little concerned with how much prep work we had to do before putting in the new windows but of course Ryan and my Dad surprised me and got it all done!
First – up went the scaffolding and then down came the aluminum siding which Dad cut and bundled into neat bundles which will be easy to recycle (much better than our previous method of just piling it up) 🙂
Scaffolding upAluminum siding down (around windows)
We finally got to see what they did to side the peaks we have – we were crossing our fingers for shingles – and YUP – shingles – they look awesome and they’re in really good shape so we can just clean them up and paint them when we put on the new siding below them! Yeah!
Shingles! And yes we are missing a piece of glass in that attic window 🙂 It's on the todo list.
Next the wood siding had to come down and the old windows had to come out. They actually did the 2 nursery windows on saturday and saved the top of the stairs window for sunday to remove.
Just finishing up Saturday nightJust before they put up the second piece of plywood
Next up was resizing the windows because we bought smaller windows so we could raise them up to make them a bit safer for the little one on the way. These are in her room (and the top of the stairs) so safer is smarter 🙂 By Saturday night the two nursery windows were reframed and covered in plywood for the night.
What did I do while the guys did all that work? I took nails out of the walls and cleaned up (constantly), plus I piled all the wood up that got thrown down and tried to keep nails out of the driveway.
Sunday Ryan finished taking off the rest of the cedar siding and took out the third window then Dad put in the new framing.
Third window almost ready (top of stairs).
The tar paper started going up and the windows started going in (the windows themselves go really fast once all the prep is done so I didn’t get a lot of in progress pictures!
First window in!
And here’s what we look like this morning…
From the outside - ready for new siding this summer 🙂New window at the top of the stairsNew windows in the nursery!!!!
Once the windows were in there was a lot of cleanup and Dad started getting more insulation out of the ceiling of the nursery. Ryan drilled the holes for the outlet circuit on the exterior wall (so we can install that next weekend) and I removed the old knob and tube wiring (which was still live of course and sitting loose/cut in the ceiling). So that’s now removed (except for the main light which isn’t knob and tube and will get removed once we put in a new light) 🙂
Look how clean that ceiling is (and it's not quite done - still a little vacuuming to do)
Things are right on track! With insulation coming on March 21st and Dad coming out to drywall the weekend after it’s a busy 3 weekends but the plan for next weekend is:
Install corner nailers (at least in the exterior walls, all if time permits)
Run the outlet circuit (at least in the exterior walls, whole thing time permitting)
Run the vent pipe on the exterior wall into and across the ceiling so later it can be met up with the upstairs bathroom vent
Clean up closet (nails to remove, vacuum)
Clean up basement (they’re insulating the sill plate) so they can reach sill plate all around
Clean up ‘guest room/master bath’ (so they can insulate)
Time permitting I’d like to get as much of the electrical run as possible (it’s just a simple light circuit, a smoke detector and the outlet circuit in that room). I will do what I can during the week nights as well so that it doesn’t all fall on the weekend (I can start cleaning up the basement for example). I’m so excited about the progress that was made this past weekend. Soon we’ll have drywall up again and be working on the finishing details – FUN!
