West Window

I am so excited about doing the west side window.It is reall hard to see the rough sheetrock edge around the window. On the right is the tape I used to finish off the edges. Cool tape. I just fold it in half and the metal (grey) makes the corners strong. I have to put another layer of joint compound on it. Looking good!!!!

Kate

Let the Sun Shine, Let the Sun Shine In

We got the first shelves up. I decided to paint the shelves (right) because I want this room to look really good. The pale blue on the walls makes the room very bright. I think I am going to get light blue porch paint for the floors. We will start putting things on the shelves as soon as the boards dry-Sunday. Also on Sunday, I plan to tape and bed the window on the left (not in the picture). Monday we are going to get more shelves to put up on the right back wall. I am so excited that things are staring to come together. Of course every thing is contingent on 50 or above temp and NO rain.

Merry Christmas

Kate

www.Katescats.com

Rained on my Parade

It has been about 4 weeks we have not been able to work on/in the workroom due to cold and rain. I feel frozen in place. Everything we were planning to do to make the house we live in more livable is contingent on the workroom being finished-or at least to the point we could put the shelves up and move some stuff out there. I feel much better now. Let the good weather come back.
Kate

Delayed on Account of Rain

It has rained 2 or 3 weeks here and we can not work on the workroom. So, I decided to start a project in my house. I am scraping the popcorn off the ceiling in my front entry-oh my goodness, what a mess. I plan to paint the sky and clouds on the front entry ceiling and the front porch ceiling. I had to stop this week, because I am going out of town and did not want to be tired out. I will finish up the popcorn removal next week. My husband is working on the workroom again. Today he Kilz the ceiling. Thursday he will sand the ruff spots and re-Kilz. Then he will paint the ceiling. At that point we can call his brother to hook up the electricity. The following pictures are the front hall to this point. My darling husband offered to clean the floor-so there will be no mess till next week.

Kate

One More Task Completed

Doug and I finished taping and bedding the whole room today. Now all Doug has to do is sand and we will put the finishing coat of joint compound, then sand, put a coat of kilz and lastly a coat of paint. We are finishing the ceiling first, so we can get the electricity hooked up.

It is like a dream-finishing something.

Kate

Still Playing in the Joint Compound

We got up very early and did more taping. Should be finished with the first app. next week. End coat of compound should be done in two weeks. Then primer week, then paint week. Then the electrical install. Then take all the tools and stuff from in the house out to the workroom. We are probably about 6 weeks behind. More like 2 months behind.
Kate

Good Day!!

Today we taped and bedded the workroom. Doug is getting really good at the task. I am doing the area where the ceiling meets the wall. On Thursday we are at it again. I figure one more day we will have the first coat of tap/bed done. Doug will sand. We will all bed again-Doug will sand again-then we will paint. Our contractor is coming Monday to finish the odds and ends and pick up the things that need to be returned to McCoys Lumber.

After all that is done, we will hook up the electric-then we can fill the room up-YEA!

Will post pictures when we start painting.
Kate

A Family That Compounds Together,Stays Together

I am on the left and Doug is on the right. We have started taping and floating the sheet rock. We figure three days for the first coat. We had some patching to do. I taught Doug how to tape and float, and he caught right on. So he is assigned the ceiling. Going up and down that ladder killed my knees. As you can see, I am sitting on a rolling garden thing, taping the lower parts. I also use the garden thing to lay the saltio tiles in out house. I just do not bend anymore.

Kate

Joint Compound does not Taste Good

There are a no pictures to post. Doug and I are tape and bedding our workroom. It got hot by 11a and I gave up. Also, there were some gaps in the sheetrock (1/4" or less) which messes up the tape we are using. We are using the sticky mesh tape-it is not my favorite, but it sticks to the joint. I have about 1/3rd of the ceiling done and half of one of the long wall. We called our contractor and told him he could finish up in a couple of weeks. That will give us time to finish off the inside-which includes kilz and paint. I will post a picture when it is all taped. I am teaching Doug to tape and bed. He is use to using 4 foot wrenches-he is having a hard time grasping the fine art of taping. He is really good at jointing the screw heads and patching the cracks. I must be more patient with him. I will try and teach him again tomorrow-wine anyone.
Kate

Almost Finished

Well, this is the next to last day we will have workmen working on the building. The tall guy in the wet gray shirt is my husband, Doug; the guy with the bandana on his head is Ron (he mostly hung the sheet rock) and the guy in the navy blue shirt is John (he is an electrician and helped with the sheet rock). Doug helped with the sheet rock too. We were all helping. They came at 7:45a and left at 4:30p-it was 103F. We all were covered in sweat-I stink and need to go take a shower and wash my hair.

Now, all that is left is the finishing up work-puting in the attic fan and a/c, and triming finishing the porch. Doug and I are going to tape and float the sheetrock-s...l...o...w...l...y. We will have to get up really early in the morning and can only work a couple of hours. I think we will start Thurs. or Fri. After the taping is done we will have the electricity connected and turned on. I think we will make the Sept. 1 deadline for finishing.

Kate

Back Patio Finished-Yea!!!!

We have finally finished our back patio extention. We were going to make it twice as wide, but my hubby changed his mind-thank goodness. I think it looks great. The bricks on the left are antique bricks that came from my hubby's late brother's place. Tomorrow we will move the table over. One project down and ???? to go.

He Changed His Mind-YEA!!

Well, instead of having 5 rows in the patio extension, my husband decide to just do the two we have completed. As soon as he has the frame up around the cement stepping stones I will post a photo. Hopefully the drywall will be up Monday in the workroom. I also must add, my body is screaming with exhaustion. I shoveled wet cement into a form all morning-I am pooped.
Kate

The Back Patio Extention

Well, technically, this has nothing to do with the workroom-but it is a major undertaking. We are extending the back patio 10 ft. We are using a cement form and filling it with concrete. It is fun. It is alot like working with clay. We have finished the first row and have four more rows to go. There is a small gap at the back of the extension and we are putting bricks in there. The bricks are important to my husband. He got the antique brick from his now deceased brother. We used alot on the patio extension on the other side, but could not get enough for this project. On of the problems is getting supplies-weight and $$$. So we will work as we get enough supplies together to make another row. We also live 30 miles from town and we are not going to make extra trips to town with the price of gas.

Monday, I think we are going to sheet rock the inside of the workroom. Can't wait.

Kate

Fun With the Ditch Witch

Well, the workroom is ruff wired and ready for the sheetrock. We are going to sheetrock after the 4th of July weekend. The pictures are of me (in purple), my husband (in grey) and my brother-in-law (in stripes) working the Ditch Witch. That machine works great. Digging the hole for the electric line was easy-filling the hole back up was hard. We did all this Tuesday and today I was pooped. I could hardly get started.

Kate

Surprise!!!!!

Well, today was the day we were going to rest and take it easy, then go into town about 3p. Well......at 8a my husband bolted out of bed saying s_ _ t. I thought the noise was the A/C, but ta-da it was the roofer and his air nailer. I could not go back to sleep and I feel terrible. The point of the story is be prepared for your work pros to show up at any time. My sympathies to those that are doing a large remodels-you need Prozac.
Kate

Day of Quiet

Well, here is the workroom. I need to take another picture because the roof has been felted and the stairs have been added. I have GREAT sympathy for people who are doing new building and remodels. I just want you all to know it is very stressful. Friday was great because I worked with the contractor. We have a great working relationship-we bounce ideas off each other and come up with great solutions. There is about $2,ooo more to spend. So we are going s...l....o....w....l....y, so we can accumulate the $$$. I have stopped buying mini stuff on Ebay and Etsy-boo hoo-for a while to spend that $$$ on the workshop. I figure we will be moving stuff in some time in August. We are always looking for sales and bargins. The windows were the greatest deal. My husband wants us to put up the sheetrock. I truely don't think I have the physical strength to do the ceiling part-we will see. Maybe my husband will change his mind if I whine enough. I am good at whining. Really, overall, this has been a great experience. The key is to get a great contractor-and I have.

Kate

Day Two

Well, it is day two. In the center picture they are bracing and squaring up the building. The picture on the left, they are wrapping membrane. The picture on the right, they are putting up the siding. It got too dark to get an end of day picture. I will post tomorrow. Tomorrow, the contractor is coming to do odds and ends and the roofer is coming to felt. We are having the shingles delivered tomorrow. It is all too exciting.

Kate

Day One

These are all pictures of the first workday. The man on the Harley

is my contractor. Can't wait to see how much gets finished tomorrow.

Kate

It Was a Big Truck

This is a picture of my husband sitting on the middle pile of lumber. He practically had to cut down our ash tree to get the fork lift in the back yard.

This is a picture of the contractor, my husband and the fork lift driver. The fork lift driver knew his business. On the right is the flat bed with the fork lift on the back. What an experience. I hope they get started on the room tomorrow.

Running Out of Room

Well, we are beginning gathering stuff for building the outside workroom. I am beside myself with excitement. I hope Steve can start Friday-it probably will not take he and his crew long to finish.

The windows were a DEAL-the three narrow ones were $900 windows we got for $250 at Window World-in their BACK ROOM. The square window we got at Lowe's for $50-reg. $233 (which we are putting in the kitchen). The attic fan and A/C were 10% off and had no tax on them. The paint had a $5 rebate, each can. Every penney counts.

Steve, the builder, is coming Tuesday or Wednsday to get all the details and collect our first installment. He is a fine Christian man doing the Lord's work. We feel so blessed to have him working for us. We have changed the interior design alot since we first talked to him.