Living on Lucky Street: August 2006

Upstairs Hall

My upstairs hall was a booger of a job, but Dad and Ken managed to get the drywall up in place with the drywall jack, a scaffolding on the stairs, and a lot of grunt work by Ken. Whew! It looks great, and I can't wait to finish the upstairs now!

After the ceiling was on, Dad and I finished the end wall closest to the back of the house. The front wall will have to wait because we have to replace those windows.

Mom took some pictures of my living room and stairwell downstairs so we could see the full effect of the changes to this point. It feels so much more finished! I can't wait for paint and furniture!

Labels: drywall, hallway, Uncle Ken, upstairs

Moving On Up....Upstairs, That Is.

My uncle Ken came to help on my house on Tuesday this week, and he and my dad put up the drywall on the most difficult wall in the house--the main wall of the stairwell/upstairs hallway. They used a ladder to make a platform to stand on, and worked very hard to get the drywall behind the railing upstairs. Success! It's amazing what a difference closing that wall in makes to the completed look of the living room! Tomorrow, Uncle Ken is coming back, and he and Dad will install the ceiling and other three walls in the hallway upstairs. That means that I can put plastic over the window at the top of the stairs, hang doors in the hall, and keep the heat downstairs by installing a ceiling fan above the stairway.

The next day, Mom and Dad installed the wall on the lower half of the stairwell. There were several angled cuts they had to make, but it now looks perfectly aligned. Hooray!

Mom and Dad also cleaned out the living room, and then she mopped the floors. That's amazing too. More drywall mud has been put on the walls as well, and we're almost ready to paint!

I feel bad that I haven't been able to help work on this stuff this week, though I know since I've been back at work that there's no way I could have. The guilt is irrational, but I feel it anyway. Still, I love what's been done, and I really appreciate all their efforts.

Starting on the details

We got the first batch of stripped woodwork back from the sheltered workshop. We sent the French doors that go in the dining room, some of the doorway molding, and some plinth blocks.

The French doors were put in place, and I'm sooo very excited to have them back! All of this woodwork will be painted white eventually. I'm so very happy about this! We sent more off, and I can't wait to see it when it's done.

Dad also bought a new router and router table so he can make moldings to replace wherever we need it. Hooray! It works wonderfully, and he's going to get some new cutters for it so he can create a variety of looks.