More Sheetrock and Taping and Floating

It seems like with this project there is something that always needs to be tweaked.  A lot of this probably would have been ironed out in the very beginning if we'd had a set of professional.plans drawn up but because our GC has been doing this for a long time we felt very comfortable that he would be there to make suggestions along the way. And maybe he would have if he hadnt been so busy with all the houses hes doing.  It's also a good thing that we are not inexperienced when it comes to home building.  We have been able to correct things before they got to far along in the process and before they were too far along and we had to " live with the mistake".

This is in the guest bath and where the bathtub will go.  There should of been backer board put up here because there will be tile applied around the bathtub.  No idea why it wasnt done and now these sheets have to come down and backer board put up.  

This is in the living area where the wood burning stove goes.  There will be rock applied for a hearth for the wood burning stove to sit on and then up the wall to the roof top to protect the wall from the heat from the stove pipe.  We decided the easiest way to correct this was to just apply the backer board right over the sheetrock. It wont show as the rock will cover it all and we will get that much more fire protection.  

Work continues, and we have good weather conditions for the next couple of weeks.  Doors are still slated for mid January along with the 2 windows.  

Sheetrock and Tile

The insulation guy came back and finished up on Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon the sheetrock guys came.  They got a lot done for the short amount of time they were here.  Then they came back the next day and finished the job.  There are a couple of things that need to be changed.  They should have put " backer board or cement board" in several places but didnt.  That's what is used on the walls that will get tile or rock.  So for some reason they didnt do it on the tub surround.  The 2 water lines are there and a diagram of the tub was on the floor so I have no idea!  Where we will have the hearth for the wood burning stove and chimney they didnt put it and they didnt put it in the kitchen where my stove will be.  I have a restaurant stove and make a lot of bread that calls for temps in the 400 to 550 degree range.  It's just a safety precaution.  Our last home had a stainless steel  panel behind the stove but with the cost of everything escalating so rapidly it would be less expensive to do cement board and texture the wall like normal.  

So this is the great room ( kitchen/dining/living).  It feels really spacious and I am pleased that it stills feels that way even after the sheetrock has gone on.

A couple of days ago Bob and I ventured into town (Austin) to pick up all the tile for both bathrooms.  They called and said the whole order was together so we made the trip in.  Unfortunately the grout wasnt included with the order so will have to make another trip to get that.  But we have plenty of time to do that.  

Air Conditioning people are supposed to be out here this weekend to put in the boots for the vents.  They were supposed to do that before the sheetrockers came but like so many things on this job the cart has come before the horse.  It will just be harder on them but it's totally on the A/C guys so I dont feel sorry for them.  

Electricians were here and finished hooking up the connections from the meter to the house so there is electricity down at the house now.  EVERYONE will be very happy about that including me as I've wanted to take the shop vac down there and do a little cleaning.  

Taping and floating is next but they have to get the guys back to change out the sheetrock to backer board.

Color me Happy!

The spray foam insulation guy was supposed to show up on Monday morning but I received a text from the GC that the job he was working on was taking longer so he'd be here on Tuesday.  Tuesday by 10 a.m. I knew he wasn't gonna show...no idea what the excuse would be but I could just feel it.  I received a text from GC that foam guy had to take his child to the Dr because his wife could not get off work, he'd be here if it didnt take too long but I already knew that he wouldn't show.  

But he did show up this morning.

This is the trailer that houses the 55 gallon drums of liquid that becomes the foam.  If you've ever used that expandable foam in a can to seal a hole up its essentially the same thing but with more insulating power.

This is the inside of the trailer.  There are 2 different chemicals in each 55 gallon drum and they are fed through 2 hoses that eventually come together in a wand and when they combine you get the foam.  There are 2 types of foam, closed cell and open.   We are getting Open Cell and the walls will have 6 1/4 inches and 4" in the ceiling.  

Here's the wand that disperses the foam.

The tool in the upper portion of this picture is a shaving tool.  When the foam goes in between the studs it is sort of controlled chaos.  If you look behind the tool you see what the foam looks like.  They use that tool to take off the major bumps.  Then they use the tool in the picture  below to shave everything off even with the wall studs. 

Its like a long serrated knife and the picture below is what you are left with. 

The first day he got a little more than a third of the way through and today he got about a third more done.  And he will finish up tomorrow.

I am still shocked that almost all of these subs dont show up to work until 10 ish in the morning and they shut everything down around 3 and are gone completely by 4....if I can still put in an 8 hour day of working at almost 67 years of age they should certainly be able to do it...I'm left shaking my head.  

Also today the sheetrock arrived and if all goes well, they will start on Saturday, if not they should be here on Monday.  So color me a happy girl!

December 2, 2021

So we had a good week a couple of weeks ago and the plumber finished up his part for now.  The electricians finished up their part.  The A/C guys got their part done...for now.

Still no porches built.  Still no soffits and trim and no sign of the rock mason.....but someone was here and did this.

This is the floor protection in prep for the foam insulation.  

This was done in a couple of hours.  They still.have a bit more to do and the 2 pieces of tin on the roof need to be replaced before they can actually do the foam.  

The GC texted and said that he will be here on Saturday (shocked) along with guys who will build the porches and the sheetrock guy who will get his count on how much sheetrock he needs.  I will believe it when I see it...