Corner Beads

July 29, 2006
We mix up more thinset and put down the final pieces of Denshield in the kitchen. We then tape up all the seams on the floors and on the wall near the tub.

We lay down a few bathroom floor tiles to decide on their direction. We will wait until next weekend when all the plaster work is complete before installing them.

Michael installs all the corner beads and is ready to start the plaster work tomorrow.

Night Shift

July 28, 2006
Once Andrew arrives home from work, we mix up another batch of thinset and finish laying the Denshield in the bathrooms.

He then takes over for the night shift and preps for some ceiling patching, and cuts the kitchen Denshield floor base. Following that, he mixes up another batch of thinset to patch the seams in the upstairs bathroom tile-base. According to the installation directions for the Denshield, you are required to patch the seams with some thinset, then add a layer of mesh and finish off with another layer of thinset.

All in all, it was a great tag-team day with a lot of work done!

Day Shift

July 28, 2006
Deb takes the afternoon off work for the day shift. She clears the main floor of tiles, tools and other materials to allow a clear path for the mudder/taper to get around. The bathroom tiles are moved up into the laundry room, the kitchen tiles are moved into the sunroom, and all the tools/materials are now dispersed in the basement.

The rest of the day is spent trying to prep the large holes for plastering, bringing in more denshield for the kitchen floor base, and cleaning up.

Tile Prep

July 24-27th
After cutting the denseshield tile base to fit in the bathrooms we mix up our first batch of thinset. The paddle and drill method works perfectly now that we actually have a drill that fits the bit. Andrew has mastered the mixing process to avoid splashing. It's very much like mixing up a bucket of grey cake batter. We spread the thinset down with a 1/4" notched trowel and lay the denshield on top. We then screw in the boards into place.

Michael (the plaster mudder/taper) comes by to assess the job. He tells us that it will be a lot of work, as in addition to all the new drywall mudding/taping, there is a lot of patch-work repair.

He suggests we fill a few existing holes with wood and drywall in prep for the plaster patching. He will start this weekend and will hopefully be complete by the long weekend so we can prime and paint.

Drywall Done

July 23, 2006
We finish the drywall on the small dining room wall.

We then insulate the pipes in the kitchen bulkhead to minimize the noise of water flow, and then finish up our last section of drywalling.

We speak with our neighbour Manuel (who is a contractor) regarding getting in his plaster guy. We schedule something for the upcoming week.

Drywall done!

Dry Wall Countdown

July 22, 2006
Andrew preps the small dining room wall to be drywalled, and then drywalls the hole from one of the bathroom fan installations. Deb drywalls the living room beam.

Marty, Judi, Madeline and Emily stop by. After a much-needed break, we put up the drywall on the dining room small wall. Tomorrow we'll finish off that wall and drywall the kitchen bulkhead.

Dry Wallin' and Framin'

July 16-21st
With the exception of tasks when more than two hands are required, Andrew has been framing the kitchen walls and bulkhead, while Deb drywalls the remaining ceiling and wall areas. It's been a very efficient process over the last week as we have almost doubled our productivity!

On a couple occassions we went for a late night swim at a nearby outdoor public pool. It was a welcomed refreshing treat after a hard day's work, especially since they stay open until midnight on sweltering hot days.

We hope to get all of the drywall up by the end of this weekend, and schedule the plaster (mudder/taper) guy in for a couple days next week.

Shim Shim Shaaaroooo

July 15, 2006
In order to match the existing plaster ceiling height, we will need to add shims at least 3/4 of an inch thick. Marty cuts us some particle board shims and we are ready to go. We install these over the joists and add lath to areas that are less thick. We are now ready to drywall the ceiling tomorrow.

We shake up a couple of cans of Great Stuff foam insulation and spray in the gaps between the styrofoam. We are careful not to spray in too much as the foam expansion is quite substantial.

Ducting Done

July 14, 2006
Andrew takes the day off work. He installs all the duct-work in the kitchen to supply the main floor bathroom. He then starts to frame the kitchen-dining room wall. Everything looks great and we can now build the bulkhead to finish off all the kitchen prep until the taper/mudder comes in.






July 13, 2006
We put up another piece of drywall in the kitchen. Andrew starts on the ductwork to the second floor bathrooms and Deb blocks off one of the vents on the mainfloor with drywall and foil tape to prevent airflow in that area. This will hopefully enhance the floor to other ducts.

We then head to Home Depot to grab another round of supplies.

Kitchen Wall

July 10, 2006
We start to lay the first pieces of drywall on the outside kitchen wall. We try and use up some of our smaller pieces since we have to cut around all the sink plumbing. It's a good start, but we will only be able to finish up the top portion once the ducting to the second floor bathrooms is complete, and we can frame the ceiling bulkhead.

Deb tests the new kitchen sink waterpipes and accidentally sprays Andrew in the face. He survives!

Kitchen Ceiling

July 9, 2006
Marsha helps with cutting the remainder of the styrofoam insulation. She does a stellar job leaving little room for any cold air entry.

Amy assists with the last portion of the kitchen ceiling drywall. We then lay the first piece of 4'x10' drywall on the newly insulated outside wall.

After the helpers leave, we clean up all the tools for easy access of ladders during drywalling.













July 8, 2006
We begin the day by framing the last portion of the outside wall for insulation. Jon comes by in the afternoon to lend a much needed (and much appreciated) helping hand with drywalling the kitchen ceiling. We soon realize that not even the ceiling is even in some places, and with a little wood shaving we get most of the drywall up. It's a tough process requiring a lot of muscle time and patience.

We tackle a little but learn a lot

July 5, 2006
We cut to size and install the duct output in the half-wall near the front door. We then continue drywalling that section, only to realize the wall is not level. Luckily the problem is a result of only one piece being out of place. We take off the drywall, reposition everything and we're rolling. As Deb screws the drywall into place she accidently goes through one of the electrical wires. The wires still function, and no electrical shocks were had!

Drywall Day 2

July 3, 2006
We install all the backerboard around the tub area. Andrew's parent's come by to help out. Marsha goes straight to work putting together the second bathroom vaniety. Fred finishes the kitchen insulation and vapour barrier. We then all have some fun trying to level out some uneven floor boards in the bathrooms. We mix up some thinset and spread it in patches so our floor backerboard installation will be on a level surface.













July 2, 2006
We start putting up the drywall in the large bathroom and prep to install the backerboard (Denshield) around the tub. It's a slow process since most of the walls/floors are uneven.

Just when we think we are done taking down the plaster, we realize we need to remove more from behind the tub to lay the backerboard correctly. Andrew tackles that job. It's another lesson learned in how to do things correctly.

Cindi helps out by glueing on some more styrofoam insulation on the main floor wall, nails in some 1x2" boards and then helps with some drywalling by the front door half-wall.

Marsha puts together the first bathroom vanity cabinet and masters the process for round two tomorrow.


Our cat Lilu roams outside and plops herself in a chair on a neighbours front porch. She's making lots of friends!

Drywall Day1

July 1, 2006
Since we're rookies, it took us almost the entire day to put up all the green drywall in the small bathroom. Let's just say that we're going to have to get a master plasterer/mudder in to finish the job! Thank goodness for James' (our plumber) drywall drill.

Amy came by for a bit and cut a few bottom pieces of styrofoam to insulate the main floor outside wall.

Insulation

June 25, 2006
Andrew works to frame and insulate the outside bathroom wall, while Deb insulates and puts up the vapour barrier in the kitchen.

June 24, 2006
Chantal comes by to help out and glues the foam insulation on the main floor in place. Andrew continues to work out the ducting issues. We continue framing the walls in prep for the drywall and backerboard in the bathrooms.

Roofers

June 22 & 23rd
The roofers arrive unexpectedly to start on the roof. Lucky for us they pushed a job and squeezed us in. It's great timing as the insurance company's cut-off of getting the roof repaired was on June 23rd. It was a messy job, but they removed all the shingles and installed new ones throughout the entire roof. They also replaced some rotting wood over top of the front porch.