Except the airline would probably lose his shoes along the way, leaving the lights to go out after just a couple of days...
I got the rest of my second wall pulled down. Now I just need to figure a way to extrapolate from the bit I rebuilt to make sure the other part is aligned with it. Then I can get busy rebuilding the other part. It's surprisingly easy to get studs into place once the top and bottom bars are installed and aligned.
We are done and done only have one house to care for and maintain now. man’s, thanks be to God, we paid it off yesterday from the proceeds of the sale. and in the move I found four brand new pairs of dress shoes in the box!!
Four new pairs of shoes? I got to that bit planning to ask whether you were going to buy some new shoes to celebrate....
I got some debris cleared out, a couple of slightly overlong floor studs pruned back and a floor bar screwed to the floor. This will form the other half of the wall I started to build and, as best as I can tell, is aligned with the first half. Hopefully I won't get most of the way through building only to find something isn't straight. But if it is hopefully I can fix it just by moving the floor or ceiling bar rather than having to dismantle the entire thing.
I took a day off from the wall yesterday, and resumed work today. It was surprisingly easy to get everything sorted out. I got a section of ceiling joist trimmed to make it level (there were two joined together, for some reason, and they weren't quite level with each other), then got a top bar screwed into place so I had a standard point of reference to measure against, and then got busy cutting studs. Four studs, a cross bar to make an arch, and five shorter studs to run between the cross bar and the ceiling. It feels good to finally make some real progress in that space.
.... and this evening was when I remembered I still need to shim out the door frame in that room. I could have done it before calling it a day after the wall. Never mind, it will give me something to look forward to tomorrow I guess....
Nesting continues. The never ending parade of boxes. But hey, who's complaining? Room in the garage now for both cars, no free-range boxes roaming around the house... Now for painting upstairs and getting that all set up. At least all the stuff for up there is already up there.
No free range boxes? What about free range shoes? Did they all get rounded up? Rather you than me. Of all the jobs I've done on my house I think I hated painting the most. I'd rather be grinding concrete walls level or pulling down lath and plaster than painting.
All shoes have been corralled and assigned to their designated quarters, including the shoes discovered in the move. Painting? Nah, no biggie. A skill/trade I learned in high school at the side of my general contractor/grandfather, a skill that essentially paid a lot of my undergraduate and graduate school, and has served me will in the eleven houses we have owned/lived in over the years along with the 50+ rental houses we once owned (but no longer own, thanks be to God!).
Perusing threads elsewhere, in anticipation of involvement. Discussions (though few) seem to get far, far away. As does the online realm in general. Wake myself up!
Until the next pair emerges from the shadows..... (cue spooky music) I've taught myself virtually everything I've learned to do regarding fixing up the house, albeit with some pointers from friends in various trades. I still rate painting as the job I like less than all others. That said I have yet to attempt hanging and finishing drywall, so there could be a close battle for that title.[/QUOTE]
I paid someone to do the first (and so far only) piece of drywalling work. I'm thinking I'll probably do the same for the next few pieces of work too. I don't feel like trying to lift 80lb sheets to screw them onto a ceiling that's 9 feet up.
Not a lot of work done today, mostly clearing up some general debris and getting the door frame shimmed out. Maybe tomorrow I can move some surplus wood, shift my miter saw out of the way (maybe even back into the basement) and then move some other stuff around so I can get at the rest of the walls to shim them ready for soundproofing and drywalling. I'll also need to cut some material to stuff the window wells - they get a combination of rockwool for thermal and sound insulation, insulation panels and as much wood as I can fit in, to carry an extra layer of soundproofing.
Making a start on moving things around so I can get at the rest of the walls and windows in the room downstairs. I got a load of nails pulled from trim I took off and want to keep to reuse, a few stacks of the trim moved to the next room along, and a few other bits sorted out along the way. Not sure if it's premature to move the miter saw back downstairs but I will want it moved back a room. With a lot of the salvaged wood moved I'll have more space for it there. It's good to have it on hand - it gets really tedious having to keep going down to the basement if all I want to do is progressively prune the slimmest shaving off the end of a piece of wood to get it to fit tightly before testing it against the space.
Just when I thought it was safe..... my insulation panel doesn't quite sit flush with the wall studs in the one section I have yet to finish. I hadn't done it for a while because I was spraying insulating foam into a window well, because the window well was recessed behind a wall stud. Now I've been able to move the remaining stack of panels I could trim away the surplus so that was smooth, trim the panel to fit it and find.... it doesn't quite sit flat. "What's that", I hear the crowd ask. "Does that mean you get to do some more grinding?". Yes, sadly it does. So I kitted out in safety glasses, respirator and bandana to keep the crud out of what remains of my hair. Now the bottom panel sits about as flush as it's ever likely to fit. I hope I don't need to grind the upper part of the wall. It's bad enough doing it anyway but doing it from a ladder really isn't a lot of fun. And then there's the cleanup of the fine gray dust that settles pretty much everywhere. Still, always onwards ever onwards. Once the last panel is trimmed and I've cut something suitable for the small space above the top panel I can fill the window well and shim out the walls. It's good to be feeling positive about the project again. *** In unrelated news, Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. It seems very strange to have a king. The queen lived for 96 years and reigned for 70 of them.
Adding part-time county to the employment list. Mostly sitting in my vehicle, with laptop & wifi hotspot. Music library also, of course. Oh! The humanity.