We're In !

  

 

 

 

 

The joy of drywall.

 

We set October 17 as our move in date, after realizing  Oct. 1 would never happen,
and moved in we are...we'll our two cots, electric tea pot, one table and two chairs have moved in. But there is not going back for these two ex-1978 Shasta inhabitants. I now hate that little camper and must burn it. Later, we have other priorities.

Our current kitchen/dining table/office. Yes, Professor Jones this is the atmosphere
in which I write all those brilliant papers, you know, the ones with jelly on them.

Our current bedroom. Two cots side by side and a few quilts.
We call it home. Please note our fancy 1960 kids chairs as end tables.
 

Although dry walling was completed 4 days ago; we caved and hired a couple eager guys, none of the walls are yet painted. Just lollygagging around with midterms mostly. I have sucked up two tons of drywall dust though both into my shop vac and my lungs preparing for this painting task. So many color choices but sadly only so many color choices on clearance at Menards. Barney Purple at $5 a gallon is looking pretty good compared to Mediterranean Sea at $36 a gallon.



In the meantime I got started on the floors. Funny thing happened on the way to drywall euphoria. Neither Keith or I thought to tell the guys to cover the floors before putting on the drywall mud. I suppose they assumed the less than perfect looking boards to be a sub floor. I was at school that day and Keith was working for another farmer. Crap. We got tons of it on the floors. But with scrapers, water, optional profanity and shoulder muscles I was able to clean the salvaged wood Keith so hard to install. After a coat of water based polyurethane they are looking very doable indeed.


On top, the cleaned up floor boards
on bottom the drywall embedded ones.

Our bedroom floor with one coat (so far) of poly.

Yesterday our three amazing sons got to work on other projects. Colton installed out toilet ( OH HAPPY DAY !!! The late night trips to the outhouse were getting Brisk. It was just 29 degrees the other night) while Kyle did the copper pipes for the water softener and water heater. Jason helped with all the bathroom walls; we're putting cheap water proof Kemlite in for now.

No time to tile, winter is almost here, we'll do that in the spring when it's outdoor shower season again. And Colton ended the day helping us lay the drainage tile for the leach field to complete our septic system. We have a very long way to go yet but the end is in sight. Frankly we could not have done this without our three sons. We owe them so much. Thank you also to the daughter-in-laws who have tolerated loss of hubby time for our project.



Industrial garage chic. Copper pipes and Kemlite.

Sealed with Everything But a Kiss

A couple of days ago our second layer of insulation was completed in the Grain Bin House and we are so thrilled with the results! Even though the top portal of the grain bin is still open, and the peaked roof on the second floor is not insulated yet, the added insulation has made the entire grain bin nearly soundproof. With all the windows and the one door closed you can not hear the wind outside (so when the tornadoes come we are blissfully ignorant) and there is virtually no air movement inside at all. Fresh air is easily obtained by opening one of our 7 windows.



R2D2 and 3CPO were
responsible for the power
needed to blow the cellulose into the
wall frames

Cellulose Insulation

Before Honneger Insulation applied the cellulose insulation (which went over the bright green thin layer of closed cell insulation that was sprayed directly on the inside metal walls of the bin a few weeks ago) they sprayed the joints between the wood wall frames and the wavy inner wall of the metal grain bin with foam insulation.

Then they nailed up sections of plywood over the framing to hold the insulation in place and allow for tight packing of the material. They removed the plywood and covered the cellulose insulation with a fine netting to keep the cellulose secure until the drywall goes up.

Grey on left is packed in cellulose after plywood support is removed
and before netting is attached to hold it secure before drywall
is attached,

The troublesome peaked ceiling will be insulated AFTER the dry wall is applied. The guys had hoped the netting would be strong enough to hold the insulation up in the rafters as it did on the main floors but it was not.

Failed netting attempt in ceiling rafters of second floor

So, that area will be insulated by attaching the drywall and then blowing in the cellulose through the opening up at the top of the roof peak. What has been amazing about this whole process is how much each worker we hire has been so committed to doing this unique project well. Everyone is fascinated, or at least pretends to be, by the challenges of dealing with round walls and they have all worked hard to come up with the best solutions.

My husband of course, being the most committed and hardest worker of all.