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Well we’re in prep-for-drywall mode so next on the list was to demo the interior walls adjacent to the walls we’re going to drywall.

We spent saturday morning doing demo, one full truck load of plaster later and we were done. It actually went really fast and wasn’t too messy since it wasn’t plaster and lathe but rather plaster on rockboard.

Then there was some support work that needed to be done in the exposed areas. Ryan went to work on that. We are almost ready for drywall now!

Ryan built this wall around the backside of the diningroom builtins:

Before:

After:

We spent this weekend with some electrical projects. Mostly testing out the wiring that has been done for a while to make sure it was done right.

The first project we did was to install the patch panel that I built in the basement. Then we ran the rest of the cable and ethernet drops to both the tv room and the gym. This actually went pretty quickly with 2 people working on it and I can’t wait for the rest of my patch panel supplies to arrive so I can start putting the wires in for good.

Then it was on to real electrical stuff:
First we we had to wire the feeds into the Circuit Breaker box, this went pretty smoothly and the 3 new feeds were in.
Then I came the trickier part: actually turning on the feeds to test them, there was some prep work first to be done and each circuit was different:
– The outlet circuit in the tv room was tested and worked – I wired a single outlet so we had one in that room and the rest were disconnected after testing.
– The porch outlet circuit – which consists of a single outlet on the porch (which we need for xmas lights) – and then a wire that will lead to a second outlet at some point I currently wired as a light in the back of the basement since we don’t have one there.
– The tv room light circuit – this one was tricky, I wired up light bulbs to each location and then wired in the switches which will have to come back out now to drywall but I wanted them for testing. Then i turned it on and everything worked well except for the 3-way center light that will be a fan and light. I didn’t actually wire this correctly and I’m not worried about it because there was no insulation near by to worry about cut wires or anything.

While I did this Ryan started framing in a section of the tv room that was previously not square. The built-in from the diningroom was going to cause us problems so we decided to build a wall behind it to drywall against. We lose a few inches of space but gain a nice square corner. Unfortunately we ran out of wood so this project is not yet complete 🙂

In progress wall:

Sunday we made a trip to Lowes to get a programmable thermostat which I later installed (hopefully to save a bit on oil this winter). Then I spent time researching the problem I’m having with my car (ignition control module we think). I ordered the parts I need for that repair. Honestly I don’t know where the rest of the weekend went! I know I spent a couple hours doing some cooking and baking for a work holiday event but it sure seems like a short day!

We spent Saturday working on my car (by we I mean, Ryan, my Uncle and I, hey I changed my oil!). My car now has brand spanking new brakes and rotors, a flushed out heater core (I swear heat was blowing out!) however it now sputters. So new sparkplugs are on order and we’re currently not driving my car 🙂

Anyhoo. We spent the rest of the weekend on the house. I finished the electrical for the tvroom lights (recessed and others). We ran speaker wire for the 4 back speakers in the tv room. We pulled up the oak flooring in the tvroom so it can be replaced with maple (it was running the wrong direction too). Ryan framed out the wall in front of what used to be a chimney. I made the board for the patch panel in the basement (cutting lots of holes).

Where we’re at now:
– Ceilings are completely prepped for drywall at this point.
– TVRoom: 3 of the 4 walls are ready for drywall
– Need to demo the 4th wall before drywall and run some last wiring (cable drops and outlets on 4th wall) [cable drops done on 12/5, demo done 12/12]
– Gym: 2 of the 4 walls are ready for drywall
– Need to install speaker wire and outlets on 1 of the walls [done]
– Need to install 2 cable drops [done 12/5]
– Need to demo the last wall before drywall [done 12/12]
– Bathroom: Has some work left – can be drywalled just about if we didn’t put up the rockboard entirely
– Need to caulk plumbing [done]
– Need to run electrical (except for ceiling fan which is wired) [done]
– Need to insulate walls (for sound) once other sides are drywalled

Pretty exciting! I got info on the drywall (priced it out and figured out lead time). I’ll order that next week as well as all the other supplies on the list of drywalling “stuff” 🙂

And the prepping for drywall continues…

Saturday Ryan screwed down all the firring strips in the tv room (ceiling), then we installed all the recessed light canisters and the fan/light box in there. I also got the back row of recessed lights wired. They have push in connectors which are much faster than wire nuts. I also found some time to move my scrapbooking crafts from my sewing room to the guest room and get that room setup so now it’s a combo guestroom/craftroom. My sewing room with be for just sewing (also has a futon and a tv/dvd player so Ryan can visit me in there) 🙂

Sunday Ryan finished the firring strips in the bathroom’s ceiling (he had to put up the metal ones) while I moved all the loose/extra wood we had upstairs down to the basement for storage. Then I set up some new shelves in the upstairs diningroom and moved all our china and kitchen items that were stored in the real diningroom up to the shelves. This is preparation for demo of the interior walls, the less stuff that’s downstairs, the less that can get dusty from plaster 🙂

I love halloween and now we get to share it with lots of little trick-or-treaters! Halloween was so WARM! Windy but warm.

Saturday Ryan spent the day firring out the wall between the bathroom and tv room so it’s ready for drywall. He also screwed in all the firring strips in the gym’s ceiling so it’s ready for drywall. While he did that I spent the day priming the insides of the windows (sashes and windows themselves). I had to take advantage of the warm weather since the windows needed to stay out over night.

We had to take a break from 6-8 to hand out candy and handed out the last pieces we had just before 8pm! We got a ton of trick-or-treaters and there were some adorable costumes! We sat on the porch and read so it was a relaxing evening.

Sunday Ryan had to work (he did squeeze in some tree pruning though and we finally attached the window sill extension he made a while back) so I continued with the painting, got a coat of primer on the window casings and sills (outside), they came pre-primed but after filling nail holes and some sanding i decided they needed another coat of primer so I did that. Then I did some caulking along the siding where it needed it (until it was too dark to continue). I ended the evening by doing a coat of paint (yea first coat of actual paint) on the outside of the window sashes. They are a flax/yellow color.

Wow – the insulation is in – and it’s so much quieter in here! I’m sure it will be warmer tonight too when the temperature drops. Rather than copy pictures into the post – here’s a link to the album with the insulation pictures:
Insulation Pictures

We had the exterior wall of the tv room insulated, and under the stairs at the top – we decided not to drill holes through the plaster that would then need to be repaired, so we just had them insulate what they could reach. The stairs were just for sound anyway and they’re in a closet.

The exterior wall of the bathroom and the small part of the ceiling which is actually a roof was insulated.

The exterior wall of the gym and the small part of the ceiling which is actually a roof was also insulated. And we did the wall of the gym that is part exterior/part interior because it’s the wall to a porch which will eventually be a garage hopefully so we figured it was better to insulate it for now.

It’s so great having it done and we now have 20!!! bags of “extra” carved off insulation. We’ll probably get rid of some of them at the dump as soon as we borrow a truck 🙂

This weekend was a busy one. Insulation was scheduled for Monday so there were a lot of small tasks that needed to be completed before then.

Friday evening Ryan firred out the 2×4 by the porch door, then he demolished the ceiling in the closet so the light could be installed. After a short trip to home depot for a new semi-rigid vent for the bathroom fan Ryan proceeded to make a decorative block for the soffit (for the bathroom fan). I primed the mouldings we had on hand.
Here’s the block Ryan made:

Saturday we got an early start, we spent the morning installing mouldings – first the window of the bathroom got its moulding, then the porch door got its moulding. Aimee and Jason arrived just as I had installed the closet light.
Here’s the bathroom window with it’s moulding (and the soffit block is in):

And here’s a closeup of the moulding detail:

After another trip to home depot (needed drywall) and some lunch, Jason worked on plumbing (connecting the vents for the bathroom and running them up the exterior wall to the second story – they will later run to the attic and out the roof.
Here’s the plumbing:

Ryan installed the new semi-rigid vent for the fan and then made the extended sill for the double window and we got the drywall up covering the old door in the “gym”.
After dinner I rewired the bathroom vent/fan with a romex connector this time 🙂
Here’s the finished vent/fan:

Sunday after Aimee and Jason headed home we continued the projects, installing the first of 6 recessed lights so the wire could be run to it.

Then we ran the first ethernet/cable drop to the tv room from what will be the patch panel in the basement.

Finally we covered the tub and moved tools and everything out of the room – ready for insulation!

This weekend we went back to NY (with a stop in MA) to see family. Saturday we attended our nieces 3rd birthday party (princess themed). She was beyond adorable and loved the princess car we gave her.

We spent the rest of the weekend at my parent’s house, helping them move stuff and just visiting. It was a good weekend.

Then Ryan had Monday off since it was Columbus day weekend so I took the morning off and we worked around the house a bit. We installed the porch outlet and wired the exhaust fan in the bathroom.

Here’s the outlet:
Contrary to how it looks here, it has actually been completed, wired and closed up. I just haven’t taken a more recent picture yet.