Today, Liz and I decided to focus our efforts on clearing up some room in the basement. While we’ve been working a lot on installing drywall in the second floor hallway, our main goal has really been to use up the existing materials we have stored (and scattered) around the house.
Quite the transformation from when we first saw it.
Mentioning it here because an issue like this might have derailed us for a significant time, a year or so ago. But on encountering it, we evaluated the situation, made a few measurements, did a cut, and proceeded along with the install.
Big day for us today, continuing our work in the hallway with the (very heavy) soundproof drywall. We made good progress a few days ago, and were looking to continuing working with the material today. The big challenge: getting it lifted up another 4′.
The thing of this is: I’d only ever tried installing this with Bob. The drywall is thick (5/8″), comprised of two pieces glued together. And the kicker? The thing is heavy. Like heav-y.
Back when I was helping Bob install this in the master bedroom, I struggled a lot just moving boards around. And had trouble lifting up the boards onto horses.
Adding in the insulation to the lower half. Mostly an easy process, but one thing to note about the soundproof insulation: it doesn’t separate/split well. This was a bit of a challenge, when trying to install it around conduit and outlets.
If you futz too much with it, the insulation tends to crumble like week-old cake.
Saturday was a house day for us, with our focus being on the upstairs hallway. We’ve made some progress during the week, and even got a bit of drywall on the ceiling. But today was a day to continue that work, and to start prepping the walls a bit more.
It’s kind of a two-fold strategy: aim to stop working at 5PM, and shift gears to work on the house instead. It somewhat ensure we don’t overwork at our jobs, while at the same time prioritize our own house work. Any progress is still progress.
Scored the plaster with a razor, and was able to demo out a small little area. Found the space between two studs, and easily removed the lathe with a multitool. Broke out the sawzall to get through the siding.
It’s been a long while since I was up here. I had a bit of nostalgia, remembering all the work involved in getting that space cleaned up. And how good it felt, to get new insulation put in.
With us in the last week of our time off from work, Liz and I have set out some house tasks to complete. Work was particularly busy for the both of us, in the last months of this year… and we’re trying to get back into a rhythm of working on the house, consistently, again.
Also – you can’t hear it, but I assure you there are sea shanties playing in the background.
Liz spent a lot of time today, cleaning up hardware pieces. Using a newer approach, I think, of soaking things in vinegar and then using an SOS pad.
Liz has been at work, stripping paint off the vintage kitchen door we got, earlier this year. I stopped down in the basement to check out some of her progress.
Having finished up her hall window work, Liz has started tackling the restoration work on the vintage door we picked up, earlier this year.