Category: Nursery

Nursery Drywall and electrical

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 side
The 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!

Drywall is here

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!

Insulation! Just in time for summer weather

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.

Spring has Sprung

Although did winter ever REALLY start this year??

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!

WINDOWS!

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 up
Aluminum 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 night
Just 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 stairs
New 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!

Nursery Design

We have finally picked out some furniture for the nursery and while we wait for the weekend (and working on the nursery) I thought I would post the furniture and layout we’re pretty much settled on…

This is the crib we finally settled on: Child Craft Logan Traditional – in Jamocha.

Problem is that the Jamocha dressers that match (and look nice) don’t get good reviews (prices are good) – but seem to be made of particle board instead of wood. So I decided to shop around and started by looking for a queen size bed we like since this room has a queen bed as well.

For the bed I really wanted something with a wood frame but no footboard (a low profile so you can sit at the end of the bed – since it takes up most of the room). Finally I found a set I really like – and again – Ryan also liked it! These are actually from Jordon’s – we’ll have to go over to the store and make sure we like them in person before we finalize but I’m happy so far!

bed $279: http://jordans.com/Beds/BC4Z80641.aspx
nightstand $129: http://jordans.com/Nightstands/BC3Z80640.aspx
tall dresser $259 : http://jordans.com/Chests/BC2Z80640.aspx
low dresser/changing table $299: http://jordans.com/Dressers/BC0Z80640.aspx

Prices are not bad either, if the quality is good – we’ll see. So then I had to figure out if we could fit it all in the nursery so I measured the nursery details and used Jordon’s room planner to see how it would work… and it fits!

Nursery design

The only issue with this is that the changing table/dresser is behind the door to the room (the other door is for the closet). So we may swap the two dressers, putting the longer one over by the windows at least until the little one is big enough that we aren’t using a dresser for changing her.

Even the chair/ottoman fit – that’s great. And I can see from this that an 8×10 rug will fit just fine (we just have to find one that’s decently priced) 🙂

I’m so excited to have this picked out. Of course we won’t buy any of it until the nursery is farther along (read: done) but soon! And the decision part is the hardest part – so happy to be done with that!

Demolition – and the nursery work begins

With only 2 months to go until the baby arrives!  Yikes (it’s actually about 10 weeks but who knows!).  We finally got a start on the nursery this weekend.  While most people just paint a nursery – we are building from scratch – per usual in this house 🙂

So this weekend it was demolition.  Unfortunately Ryan was not feeling well, and Saturday was not a good day for him.  I wake up a lot in the middle of the night and I noticed Friday night that he was not sleeping due to congestion, so by 5am I gave him some nyquil and let him sleep late – it definitely helped.

Since we had prepped Friday night, we were really ready to just start in on the demo and after 2 hours had the nursery ceiling done (and cleaned up) – which is really the hardest part!  Another 2 hours and we had the main exterior wall done, half of the next wall and the closet done and cleaned up.  With the light fading and no light in the room (the fan was not mounted to a box so I think the wires came a bit loose – will rectify that this week but we’ll be running new wiring anyway).

So here’s where we were starting Sunday morning:

Ceiling done - and yes it was filled with insulation - uck!
Another ceiling shot
Outside wall finished!
Half of the next wall and most of the closet finished

So that brought us to Sunday, we didn’t sleep quite as late but after a day of hard work we definitely needed a bit of extra sleep.  And then we commenced the demo.  This was easier demo in one respect (most of the walls were exposed from the other side so Ryan could kick them in from the outside), but harder in others – it was this hard cement board which is super heavy and hard to get off, so when we didn’t have access to the backside it was extra work compared to plaster and lathe.

Cleanup consisted of throwing all wood/lathe out the window, the all chunks of plaster board out as well.  We ended up with a truck load full of plaster and a huge pile (probably 2 truck loads) of wood/lathe to bring to the dump.  The rest of the plaster (and insulation) we bagged up and Ryan lugged down the back stairs to pile up for future dump runs.

The view of the nursery from the top of the stairs 🙂
And the view from our bedroom - no more walls 🙂
Our wood pile
And my dump load for today

With that done I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up – vacuum, clean out vacuum, vacuum more etc.  The dust was minimal since the plaster board does not generate as much as plaster and lathe and we did all the plaster/lathe while the walls were still up.  But I still had to vacuum a few times and probably a good mopping is in order out in our hallway.  Still by dinner time the house felt clean enough to relax!

Of course I still have to vacuum the ceiling and chunks of insulation that did not come down – some evening(s) this week after I get a light in that room again, I’ll get to that.  But this is great progress.  So what’s left…

  1. Cleanup (vacuum ceiling, take down nails etc.)
  2. Take down the siding (aluminum and wood)
  3. Prep for windows
  4. Install windows (3) – including the one at the top of the stairs
  5. Some minor framing to make sure we have nailers in the corners, close up the extra doorway etc.
  6. Run electrical throughout nursery (main light, closet light and outlet circuit)
  7. INSULATION (spray foam so we need to hire someone), then insulate the ceiling with bats ourselves probably
  8. Drywall
  9. Finish drywall (tape/spackle/sand)
  10. Install all trim
  11. Paint paint and more paint
  12. Re-finish the floors

Hmmm… I’d like to get up to number 10 before the baby comes – doable? yes/no?  yikes!