Ok, let’s get this drywall
party started!
Look at all those walls, begging for "cover"!
7 am – Uhaul opens at 7 am so
I am the first one there. Yes, they have
a box truck and I have rented so many trucks from them, the rental process is
seamless. I am out the door in less than
10 minutes.
7:12 am – Starbucks, I love
you!
7:15 am – I arrive at the
store to pick up the drywall. My helpers
are showing up at 9 am so I want to give myself plenty of time in case
something goes wrong. It did. All the computers were down at the store and not accepting
ANY method of payment. My only choice
was to wait, and pace, with the rest of the we-need-to-get-to-work contractors.
8:30 am - I successfully backed the loaded 16 foot
long box truck down the long driveway and parked it next to the tiny house
without running into, or over, anything.
9 am – Helpers Arrive! Alyse brought her drywall tools and my new
friend Lisa brought hers as well. Lisa
has worked extensively with Habitat for Humanity hanging drywall so she knows
allllllll about this stuff.
Preparing to hang the first sheet!
9:10 am – Sigh of relief at
discovering I was surrounded by knowledgeable friends.
9:20 am – Sigh of frustration
when I realize that I’ll be lucky to get all the drywall hung today. There will not be time for mudding. That will be my personal project. Oh. Goodie. :o)~
The first sheet is DONE!
9:30 am – Need. More. Coffee.
10 am – We’re starting to
make progres and the first two sheets are up.
Alisa brought bright red lipstick for what I can now say is one of the
coolest construction shortcuts I have ever heard. If you run lipstick around the plug and
switch boxes, and press the drywall up against them, you can locate and then
cut out where they need to be, rather precisely, without having to
measure!
See!?
10:30 am – Reporter arrives, in
high heel dress shoes. (obviously not going to “help”. Darn)
11 am – Kitchen is done and
now, the hard part. We need to hang the
11 foot tall pieces and cut around the windows in the main living area. The loft-to-loft scafolding helps, but also
gets in the way.
The kitchen "view" of the box truck.
Noon – Reporter offers to go
get lunch. Yay! Sandwiches arrive soon thereafter. Break time.
Side note: It POURED DOWN RAIN ALL DAY! I was SO glad I came up with the box truck
idea. It certainly saved my sanity. The rental was $30 so I gotta’ say it was a
small price to pay for the peace of mind and logistical advantages it provided.
Alyse and Lisa, my two amazing helpers!
3 pm – Three out of four of the
long sheets are hung. Alyse heads home
to resume her mommy duties.
3:30 pm – After having helped
me finish up a few details, Lisa heads home too.
Drywall makes the whole place look so much bigger!
3:35 pm – Bloody Mary in
hand, I sat in the tiny house and marveled at the new “look.”
Since that day, for the past
few weeks, I have spent countless hours…….
1)
Finishing the hanging
of the drywall panels
2)
Applying three coats
of mud to every seam and screw hole (dry time between coats is 24 hours)
3)
Measuring, cutting,
and installing Magic Corners
4)
Applying primer
5)
Re-sanding and
mudding divits
6)
Selecting the paint
color
7)
Changing my mind
8)
Selecting another
color of paint
Admittedly these are NOT pretty seams.
Not yet anyways......
I am VERY glad I decided to learn how to hang and mud drywall. At times, the process of mudding has been therapeutic and I learned that mud is like cake mix; the smoooother the batch the better the results! I have learned that patience pays off when it comes to dry time. I have learned that primer is my friend and just when I thought I had "covered" all the rough spots, I found them with the help of direct light and white primer.
My walls are not perfect, but I'm OK with that. The overall look and feel of my house is pure me. And honestly, my tiny house is no more (or less) bumpy, or messy, or scarred, than the rest of me.
No comments:
Post a Comment