Demo Day

Today Alyssa kept hearing Chip Gain's (from HGTV's Fixer Upper) voice in her head, excitedly proclaiming "It's Demo Day!"  Today Justin and Keefe took down the lower playroom ceiling (which oddly was plaster on top of drywall), the lower ceiling framing, and the old plaster and lath ceiling.  In between the ceilings was a layer of insulation we had blown in.  They also took off the walls and and the hallway ceiling.  The girls didn't like the reciprocating saw.

Breaking Through

Today the construction broke through into our house.  In order to determine the exact height of the ceiling in the addition, they needed to tear down a section of the existing ceiling, which is lower than original ceiling.  They also cut openings in the exterior wall in both rooms match that ceiling height and connect the framing.  They also built temporary walls to support the ceiling so that they can cut through the exterior framing to build the new support beams.  In short, our house is now very dusty and drafty.

Here you can see the old plaster and lath ceiling.

A few of the outside from this morning.

A Hole in the Ceiling

Yesterday morning the plumber (Pete) came out to look at the leak.  He couldn't find it, but suggested that we make an exploratory hole in the dining room ceiling. Ugh.  We were so proud of our fancy, sound insulated ceiling.  It doesn't seem that long ago that we were there, with our rented drywall lifter, attaching the drywall to the insulating clips. We were reluctant to make a big mess in our living room right now.

When Colin returned from his doctor's appointment, he had another look and found the leak on the cold water supply line.  The plumber came back out again but said that he couldn't solder the copper pipe in such a confined space.  Fair enough.  So today Colin cut into our beautiful ceiling.  I was hoping we could delay taking down the ceiling, but the drywall below the tub was disgusting.  It's going to have to come down sooner than later.  There was still more water sitting up there too.

Colin found the hole in the cold supply line right before it bends upwards.  The water was spraying horizontally.  The plumber was off today getting new glasses, so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

After cutting away a section of the ceiling directly below the box around the bathroom drain, Colin found the hole in the cold water supply line.  Thank goodness we shut the water off while we were gone.  The drywall we have taken down is disgusting and damp.  The drywall still up there is probably a mold factory.

A Waterfall

We have been enjoying eating dinner outside on the back porch, but last night we had dinner inside, at the dining room table.  After dinner, Colin noticed a large paint blister on the ceiling.  It was pretty late, so we moved the dining room table, chairs, and mahogany sideboard as a precaution and went to bed.  This morning we poked a hole in the paint to let it drain out.  We have a leak somewhere.  We tightened the tub drain when we did the ceiling ten plus years ago, so at first we went with that hypothesis.  We were literally leaving for England at noon today, so we thought, not a problem, no one is going to be taking a shower or bath in the tub.  Since we are going to be gone so long, Colin decided to poke a hole in the drywall.  So sad.  We worked hard on installing that ceiling.  Anyway, when he did, it was a waterfall of water.

We were still going on the assumption that it was the drain, but just as we were leaving, I went to get a toiletry out of the cupboard behind the shower and I could hear a hissing noise.  Maybe it is a supply line.  We decided to shut off the water to the whole house (the valves to the upstairs don't seem to be working), put down some plastic sheeting and buckets and hope for the best.

Stairway Ceiling

This weekend, Colin started to install the stairway ceiling.  We used the same material as in Alistair's room.  The different sloped sections make it a bit tricky to cut the wood.  The new ceiling looks great, and we are glad that we don't have to look at the ugly plywood anymore

Little Helper

When Alistair heard that Colin was going to hand drywall today, Alistair wanted to help.  We're not sure he knew what drywall was, but he was more enthusiastic than Colin was to hang the drywall.  We were on the phone with Grandad when Colin needed help with the first sheet.  (Lucky Grandad was able to hear the whole thing.)  Alyssa screwed in the first couple of screws, and then Alistair wanted to help.  He put the screws on the magnetic tip of the screwdriver and wanted to help Colin drive them in.

Later in the afternoon, Alyssa sneaked up to help Colin with the sheet at the top of the stairs.  (We have been looking at that exposed lathe for literally several years.  After we tore down the ceilling, we realized we had a leak in the roof, so there was no point putting up new drywall that was going to get wet.  It is good to see it finally covered up.)  After Colin drove in the first coupld of screws, we here this little "I want to help," as Alistair climbed the stairs.  He passed Colin screws.

While Colin was working hard hanging drywall, Alyssa and Alistair were decorating Valentine's Day cookies (see our other blog).  As it was getting dark, Alyssa and Alistair went upstair to let Colin know there was extra frosting that would be a yummy dip for pretzel rods.  Alistair wanted to help again.  As we tried to get him back downstairs, he replied, "I'm busy now.  I'm cleaning up this big mess you made."

Mudding

Yesterday the gang was back to start on taping and mudding the upstairs.  (Alistair was excited to see Chris, Brian, and Dennis and to give Conrad a dog biscuit.)  Above is the bathroom.  You can see the two circles for the scones that will be on either side of the vanity mirror.

Above and below are photos of the master bedroom.  You can see in the photo above where the old kitchen cabinets and the two recessed lights were .  Below you can see the old wall around the laundry room and square where the light fixture was.

Below is the new family room that used to be the living room.

Side Porch Ceiling

When we first bought the house, the side porch had this horrible silver foam panels on the ceiling, almost like a dropped ceiling. They reminded me of the silver insulation foam you would attached to you loom looper oven mits. They were so ugly. Today Chris and Dennis installed the new ceiling on the side porch. Much better. It is the same ceiling as the back porch and works nicely with the siding.