10.31.2017

 

Hard to believe it's Halloween - but hope it was a safe and fun one for everyone!  We don't get trick-or-treaters at the apartment but we got to see lots of ghosts and goblins on the way home!

Jim was hard at work this morning - he did the insulation around the doorframe in the wood shop and then attached the drywall that had just been leaning against this wall.  He also started stuffing some of the very tops of the walls with insulation - our next section to drywall in this room will be the opposite wall where the attic entry way is.  Jim wants to get that access door closed off before cold weather.

Speaking of that, he planed down some of the wood that he bought from the lumberyard.  It really looks nice - very clear pine.  He plans on using this wood for door jambs/frames.

He put up more corner bead in the kitchen...

Then in the afternoon, it was time for more drywall in the living room.  Jim had to take turn the power off and take apart receptacles before we could start.  We had to use 12' foot pieces here so they are definitely difficult to maneuver! 

But it's up in place and Jim is fastening it down...

Then the last piece on this wall section...

Jim had to put up a little soundproofing in this last cavity and then we got the first piece on this front wall up into place...

Switch box is all cut out and Jim is fastening...

Cutting out the door...

 

The living room is looking great!

 

 

Last piece of drywall for the day - this corner in the kitchen is the last remaining piece of 5/8" drywall for the outside walls!

 

High 49/Low 29



10.30.2017

 

We are so grateful that we didn't have any damage from the storm that was supposed to hit us so hard.  We had steady rain all day yesterday but it was never hard and caused no issues.  Well...except for the wind that blew the top of this tree down.

 

That may not have looked so bad until you see how close it was to the carriage house (it's the one on the left with the nest).  These are American Beech trees and they are very brittle.  The tops of these trees have died and Jim is afraid they could fall on the house at some point, which is why he took down the ones at the back of the house and there will be more coming down.

Now that our security light is in place, Jim was able to finish off the insulation in this corner - which involved moving some heavy tools first.

Then he worked back up in the stairwell - the baffles are now finished!  So now it's just a matter of the fiberglass insulation - great progress!

Jim first worked on drywall in the master bedroom - finishing off the small areas around the attic access.

Last piece next to the door...

Then he went back to work in the living room, finishing off all the screws on the piece he started yesterday.  Then he cut out the window...

Finishing the small piece of drywall next to the big window...

Then the last piece on the outside wall...

Cutting out the window...

The back wall is done - and check out that view!

First wall piece in the living room...

Fastening it...

All done...

Jim then got the next piece up in place, boxes cut and fasteners started. 

High 50/Low 38 - windy!

10.29.2017

As I write this before we go to church, so far the rain from the storm has been light although it's been raining steady all day.  The heavier stuff is probably on the way but the property was in great shape when we left.  But it was definitely an inside work day.

 

Jim did some work in the kitchen - here's our first piece of vertical corner bead.

 

Then we started working on the last outside wall - the living room.  Jim got the first piece up and then started on the piece above the window...

Cutting out the receptacle box on the next piece...

Jim had everything planned out so well for the drywall delivery.  We used up all the 5/8" drywall that we had in the apartment and had to bring up just 2 pieces to finish this wall.  We did it together because getting it up the stairs is a little tricky.

Cutting out the window...

Cutting the drywall in the wood shop before taking it upstairs...

Last piece up in place and boxes cut out.  Jim will finish the fastening tomorrow...

 

High 60/Low 48 - rainy

10.28.2017

Jim spent time this morning working on his drywall driver.  He determined it was the plug causing the issue, so he rebuilt a new plug and actually taped it to an extra extension cord.  The plug was always coming out of the extension cord so now he won't have to deal with that.  Wonderful that he was able to get it fixed - we sure still need it!

 

Speaking of fixing things, the hopefully-fixed Job Rocker came back in the mail today.  So far so good - and good thing, because Jim really missed it!

 

He did some more fiberglass insulation work in the stairwell...

 

Then he turned his attention to getting the fascia board on the stairwell.  This one gave him a few issues - it was a tight fit and had to be perfect with the front and the existing pieces.

All up in place and fastening...

Caulking the screw holes...

It looks like we're going to be right in the middle of this crazy storm that is supposed to hit New England Sunday and Monday, bringing lots of rain and flooding.  That prompted us to continue doing a little more outside work to help prevent as much erosion as possible.

First, we needed more dirt so Jim did some digging...

Then brought the dirt back to the corner. 

Grading it out...

Doing some hand shoveling around the house and the drain pipe...

We also filled in the gully left from the last rain with some rocks to try and keep things from eroding too much.

Bringing back more dirt...

Shoveling around the house...

It's amazing to see dirt up to the brick now - we've come a long way back here!

Jim scooping up some gravel from our piles...

And bringing it back to the newly-filled back area.

Hand shoveling of course...

Our next place to work was back in the front of the carriage house.  We really want a retaining wall of rocks in this area - it's prime for erosion because of the slope.  Jim shoveled gravel next to the house and among the rocks we have at the top of this area.

As well as at the bottom...

Then we went down to our big rock pile and picked out some big rocks to start building up the bottom area more.

The Bobcat helps but Jim did a lot of manual moving of these enormous rocks!

Putting rocks into place...

Jim had to get out the spud bar to help move some of these rocks.  He said he had a better appreciation of the Egyptians building the pyramids with no tools!

Getting a good base...

Next we have to fill in this area with more dirt and smaller rocks...

Grading is starting to match the lines of the brick on the house!

 

At the end of the day, Jim did a little more work in the back, bringing it to grade past the electric line!  Again, more rocks here.  Our plan is to put rocks against the house back here to help control water coming off the roof. 

 

High 65/Low 49