Insulating the closet, bedroom and den

Around the first week of March, we decided to start in the closet, bedroom, den area.  Dave finished the wiring in those three rooms.  The closet is back where you see the four light bulbs hanging down. 

 Then the two of us worked together and got the insulation hung in about 2-3 days. You'll notice he is wearing a hat and coat.  It was cold up there when we were working on those rooms. 

 This is our bedroom, the closet is through the door below. 

 The reason we hung insulation on the interior walls in the bedroom is for sound, more than anything else. You don't usually hang insulation on interior walls.  Above where it is going every other direction is because it was easier to hang that way due to the outlets and wiring.  You would not do that on an exterior wall, such as below.

 Above still the bedroom.  We are going to have sconce lights on the sides of the window in the bedroom.

 

And this is the den.  The insulation is hung and we put osb on the wall where the fireplace will go.  Osb is wood chips glued together.  We hang it on the wall when we feel like we might need something a bit sturdier than just studs.  For example, we are probably going to have a mantle on this wall and a tv.  It's easier to hang those items with osb as a backing, then we will not be limited to where a stud is located. 

 I have some catching up to do on this blog, but this is enough for today!

Cindy

Electrical, tub surround, and Man vs. yard tools!

 I haven't been blogging much lately, even though we have been working on the house, because seriously, how many pictures of wire can one person see?  

These plans make absolutely no sense to me...

all I know is when Dave says...where do you want outlets,

 I have to think through every little thing I might be doing, where I might put furniture,

 where a door might go, what way it swings open, where might I want a tv, a lamp, a table, a couch, a chair, a ceiling fan, an overhead light, do I want certain outlets switched (turn off and on with a switch) how many lights in a closet,

 do I want sconce lights, do I want a drywall, bead board, car siding....you get the idea.  Then he runs wire, and we change our minds!

 We've taken to drawing things on the floor, like which way the door will swing open, and where to put outlets and tv's and such, because after we discuss it for what seems like the tenth time, we can't remember what we decided!

 And because wiring and plumbing has to be run in the walls on the main level, to the upstairs bathroom and bedrooms, we had to go buy a tub and toilet for the upstairs bathroom.  So, the other day Dave was just going to stop and get a tub.  He didn't think I'd care what he came home with, since it was for upstairs but then I explained otherwise.

 The tub surround comes in three pieces, the tub is in one piece.  The boxes they came in were huge.  We decided to open the boxes, unpack the Styrofoam, and take the panels and tub out piece by piece, because we had to carry it all through the garage, the mudroom, the foyer, and up these stairs.  If we left it all in the box, I would never have been able to help carry it.  It was just too heavy.

We got the tub upstairs - no easy task.

 

 We also got the two panels up the stairs.  Then when we took this one out of the box

we noticed this crack.  Which will probably get worse with time, not to mention it wasn't cheap.  So, at 3:00 am this morning, when I looked over at Dave and asked him what he was thinking about, he said, "I'm wondering if we are going to have to carry all of those tub pieces back downstairs and pack them all back up, or if I can just return the one panel."  

I'm wondering.....

do they have quality control inspectors anymore?  This was KOHLER brand by the way.  You know what...I'm going to start saying it like it is.  I'm tired of these companies providing cheap crap at expensive prices.  Maybe someone from their company should have to come and pick it up!

 

OK, I'll get off that rant.  I have a funny story to tell you.  

When we were walking through the breezeway I commented, "that's dangerous."  It was a scythe on the floor, with the sharp part pointing up.  Then I commented on where my bike was and how I didn't appreciate it.  Well, it set Dave off!  And I started to yell back, but then I just didn't say a word.  He's tired.  He's working too much.  He knows it.  So I'm on one side of the door, that will not open all the way because of this mess (which the scythe was in)

 

.....and suddenly I hear....crash-clank-clank-blam-boom-psshhh-clank-clank....then the door opens, but not all the way.  These tools are behind a door.  The door quickly closes and I hear....clank-clank-crash-blam-bloom-clank-clank....again the door opens, but not all the way.  Peeps, I'm just standing there listening on the other side of the door while he fights yard tools.  After the third fight, he finally got the door to open wide enough.  And here's the thing.  He worked 10 1/2 hours yesterday, he was tired, and it's about 15 degrees up there.  So we are all bundled up in our winter coats, hats, and gloves trying to move the tub, only to find out after packing the last piece, it was broken.  But today, every time I think about all the noise coming from behind the door, I want to laugh!!!  And laugh!!!  And laugh!! I'm laughing about it now.  I wish I could have seen him!  I really think it would be something funny for a movie.  I'm visualizing arms flying and tools getting in a worse tangle.

Anyway, while he was at work today, I went upstairs and straightened it all up.  I'm not going to say anything.  I'll see if he notices.  (How many rakes and shovels does a two person household need anyway?) 

Cindy

This is a bummer...

 We've been shoveling a place so we can get out of our 'studio' apartment, every time it snows.

 And apparently....

 all of this snow was too heavy for our patio.

 The other day I was sitting at the table, on my computer, and I heard the oddest noise....

 Twas the patio, cracking in half.

 Dave said, "well you like the Tuscan look, you got it."

 

I said, "Bummer"

Cindy

Working on framing....still

We've been working on the house on days that it isn't freezing upstairs, which isn't much!  But Dave did get all of the supports (collar ties?)finished as you can see in this pic.

 And yesterday he asked me to help.  First I handed stuff up to him from the main level, so he could store it in the attic rafters for now.  Stuff like nice wood and extra siding and such.  So in a few years when I'm wondering, "now what did we do with that extra siding?"  tell me, it's in the attic!

 He also got this walkway thingy done.  See that thick wood bolted down to the rafters.  It's to walk on when the attic is finished and full of insulation.  He had me walking across this stuff yesterday to help him with another project.  I stayed on the wide OSB boards!  I was afraid to walk on that skinny wood with nothing but open rafters below me!  Can you see the bolts with washers screwed into the ends of the wood.

 There was about a dozen or so of them that needed done. 

 I did them! 

 He walks around up there like he's walking on the ground.  Not me.

Here's a good picture of the attic above the kitchen area.  This will just be used for storage, but if someone ever wanted to build a bunch of bedrooms upstairs they could sure do it!  You can also see where he got the support finished on the right side, to match the left side.

 Here is an example of what I was doing.  See how the framing is pulling apart?  Below pics.  There are only a couple of nails holding these pieces together.

 So my job is to put bolts with washers on each piece that is pulling away from each other, so they will snug up against each other and be stronger.  We need strong framing with the wind we get up here and we need good support with all of the heavy snow we got this year.

We have also been checking into getting a pole barn built.  We need a place to store a tractor, a lawn mower, beekeeping equipment, and an extra vehicle.  We do have a two car garage, but it's full of all of the aforementioned, plus a truck. 

Cindy

It's a long drop...

See this beam...

The other day when I went upstairs, to the attic, to see what Dave was working on....this is what I saw.  He is walking on this beam

 to get to these pieces of OSB that he laid out for a platform...

 to climb up this ladder....

 to put these boards across the top of the attic/ceiling, which are for support...

 which a framer friend of ours said should have been done when the house was built.

 He uses the green tall ladder on the right to hold up the boards, while he screws them into the frame.  I wish I had not gone upstairs to see what he was up to.  It's a long drop.  I worry.

 

He then moves the pieces of osb to walk on, to get to his next destination.

 While I'm showing you things that should have been done....
 (As close as I can get, because I am not walking that plank!)  See those supports (pieces of wood slanting to the left attached to a beam that goes across the top of the attic ceiling)

 See them in this picture below?  No?  That's because there aren't any.  No supports....at all...on that side of the attic, above my kitchen.

 

 Did I mention it's a long drop?

Oh, and did you notice he is wearing, coat, hat, boots, gloves?  It's very cold in this part of the house.

Cindy