9.30.2017

My mom and I headed back to Ohio this morning. It's been a good trip so far - we're staying in Erie PA tonight before heading the rest of the way tomorrow. 

Jim got a crazy amount of work done today. He worked in the stairwell for the half the day.  He first started with insulation. He did as much as he could on the back side of the stairwell. Whatever else needing to be done has to wait until the utilities are bought in.

He next moved to the rafters to finish the baffles on the front side.  He used the foam board he just picked up.

The front side rafters are all baffled now.  Ready for insulation.

After finishing the baffling, he decided to work drywall in the kitchen.  The upper ceiling level is now done.

He spent the rest of the afternoon starting on some of the kitchen walls.  He had to convert the screws in all the outlet boxes first.

High 56/Low 33

9.29.2017

 

Jim worked on stairwell insulation again this morning.  He got the corner done on top of the landing as well as extending below.

 

He also had to put up more nailers for use when attaching drywall.

He headed out to Drywall Center at lunch because he was out of spray adhesive as well as rigid foam board.  While he was there, he picked up another 2 bundles of soundproofing insulation.

Back in the apartment, he continued on ceiling drywall.  He got the smaller section against the side walls done and then got this more complicated piece up in place.



Beginning to fasten...

Cutting out the fan box...

 

All done!

 

 

Jim knocked off a little early and we all took a drive up to Lake George.  What a gorgeous area!  We drove around part of the lake, heading into Bolton Landings, which is another cute little town on the lake.  It was lots of fun to see - there were some amazing homes on the lake too!

 

High 61/Low 44 - after a few days of sweltering, we actually turned the heat on today!

 

9.28.2017

What a difference a day makes - today was in the upper 60s and the low is supposed to be in the 30s!  Over a 20 degree difference from yesterday and even more for the overnight temps.  It was a beautiful fall day.

 

My mom and I went to Saratoga Springs this morning and wandered through some of the cool shops they have.  I failed to take pictures but we had a good time!

 

Meanwhile, Jim was very busy at the property.  He did a ton of insulation work - including the tops of the walls of the stairwell landing and making more insulation baffles in the rafters.

 

He also got another piece of fascia board up - the last trim boards we have until he can pick up some more to finish this area.



Also outside, we set up another scaffolding tower so that Jim can work on installing the soffit and fascia boards in this area.

 

Then it was drywall time and time to tackle one of the most difficult pieces of kitchen ceiling drywall.  This piece had to have 2 light boxes and the vent ductwork cut out.  Here Jim is marking all the locations...

 



Using his compass to mark the ductwork location. 

This circle needs to be extremely precise because the drywall has to be able to fit over the ductwork in order to lie flat on the ceiling so he can fasten it.

The holes are cut out so it's time to see how it fits...

Using the lift to move it into position...

 

The hole for the ductwork was just about perfect but Jim brought the piece down just a bit and made some minute adjustments.

Everything is now perfect - he cut out one of the light boxes and fastened one end.

Then he was able to move the lift a bit, cut out the other light box, and put in the rest of the fasteners.

 

Then he got the next piece cut and in place!  My kitchen is looking great!

 

 

High 66/Low 38 - gorgeous!

 

9.27.2017

Another hot day - Mom & I stayed around the apartment mostly, but we did get Jim to take a lunch break and we headed to Hadley, the little city just north of us.  We had wanted to go to a restaurant that overlooked the waterfalls, but it was closed.  So instead we went to Mollie's Mason Jar, a good family restaurant.

Jim had worked all morning drilling holes in the stairwell rafters - he was very happy with the jig that he made and it made the job a bit easier.  He said he probably got 25 drilled!  You can see some in the picture...he has it all worked out so that the air can circulate into different cavities.

 

Then he continued making the bottom baffles and installing the other rafters.  He needs more rigid foam to isolate the ventilation holes, so that's another item on the list to get soon.

 

Now that the big job of the microwave vent is done, Jim can start working on the kitchen ceiling.  He first put the vapor barrier on the side wall...

 

Then cut the smaller holes for the lights and got the piece up into place.

Every morning, Jim says "It's time to go make the donuts" (after that old Dunkin' Donuts commercial!) before heading out.  So he took a picture of some of them - ha!  These are the cutouts from the light boxes.

The piece is all up, light boxes cut out and fastened - so exciting that he is working in the kitchen now!

High 85/Low 54

9.26.2017

It figures that we would have very warm temperatures when my mom is visiting.  We decided to beat the heat a bit and my mom and I took a drive to Vermont.  Unfortunately, the leaves weren't quite changing as much as we had hoped, but it's still a beautiful drive and we had a fun day.  Our main destination was to go to the King Arthur Baking Store...

 

We walked around the store and had lunch in their café before heading back.  We stopped in Quechee, Vermont, where there was a beautiful gorge.  We took a selfie that really didn't end up showing much of the gorge!

 

 

A better view from one side of the road...

...and the other.

We stopped at the property once we got back.  Poor Jim had no escape from the heat.  This was one of the hottest days we've had and since it's been hot for a few days, the carriage house had warmed up quite a bit inside.  And Jim had some of the worst jobs to do in the heat.

Check out all the insulation he got done in the stairwell!

And he took down all of the scaffolding that was in the back corner.  We'll have to build scaffolding in this area again once the furnace venting needs to be done but for now, we'll be able to do some grading and get this area filled in.  Another hard job in the heat.

He also got the fascia boards up on the side of the house.  Then he was able to figure out the dimensions for the last two pieces.  He got one cut but he was 3/4" short on having enough board for the other piece!  We'll need more trim board for around the stairwell but it was a little disappointing to be so close to finishing this section!

 

Jim also worked on the ductwork for the microwave vent.  The 6" stainless steel flange came in the mail yesterday, so he was able to put the two pieces of duct work together with the flange, screwed them together and used aluminum tape to seal everything.

Then he had to crawl up into the attic space (yes, on an incredible hot day!) and lower the ductwork into the kitchen.  Then he screwed the flange down to the floor of the attic so it's very secure.



 All of that work then enabled him to be able to do all the insulation around the ductwork and wiring and put the plastic vapor barrier in place.  What a huge accomplishment - we can now work on kitchen ceiling drywall!

 

These are the flanges for the dryer and bathroom vents that Jim will use to connect the ductwork to the vent outside.  He gave them a good coat of paint just to help with condensation issues.

 

 

 One of the next projects Jim has to do is to vent all the rafters in the stairwell, just as he did on the valley rafters in the apartment, by drilling big holes in the steel to allow for venting into the next cavity.  This is a ton of work and really difficult to keep the hole saw steady.  He came up with a jig to help...

It worked really well so he was able to get started on drilling some holes...

High 86/Low 60 - hot!

9.25.2017

Jim worked on lots of different fronts again today - he made fascia board for the wall.  He even moved all the extra shingle pieces to the metal shop because he won't need any more until he has to do the area around the furnace vent.  Crazy!

 



 

I painted the edges of the boards so they can dry and he can get them up tomorrow maybe.

 

 

He did quite a bit of work on the insulation in the stairwell, including figuring out how to make all the baffles and pieces for the roof.

 



 

I worked on stuffing the loose insulation in the track at the sides of the door frames.

 

We then moved the tower of scaffolding that Jim had underneath the window to the edge of the building so that he could work on the security light box.

Using the hole saw to drill through the trim board...

Putting the light box in place.  He also got it wired up so it will be ready to go.  We ordered 2 security lights for the front of the house to see if we liked them.  They seem really nice so Jim will order the other 2 for the back.

 

 Putting up the trim board underneath the rake...

 

 

 

High 87/Low 61