If you haven't read Part 1 of this weekend's work, please do so because Part 1 is the reason this project took us all goddamn weekend. This part of the story takes place on Sunday.
At 8:30 AM I met my father at Home Depot to buy the drywall and supplies to finish off the interior wall. We loaded the drywall into my father's truck and covered it with a tarp (oh yeah did I mention it's still friggin raining). I threw the rest of the supplies into my truck and we took off to the house.
The first part of the mission was to build the wall out so we could attach the drywall. This had to be done because we have new studs (3.5 inches) alongside old studs (3.75 inches). Yes that's correct lumber is shrinking and today's 2x4s are not the same size as the 2x4s used in the original framing. While my father was building out the wall I got to work on using the world's worst home improvement supply, insulating foam in a can. Now this stuff should not be called "foam in a can" but rather "Shit in a can that you cannot get on anything of value because it will stick there forever and you will be left with a yellow mess". As I write this I still have a yellow, foamy stain on my right thumb. Without fail anytime I use this stuff something I own gets destroyed simply by coming in contact with this stuff. The biggest problem this time was making sure it does not get on the dog. I had to put Nikki in her crate because I know she would either rub up against the wet goo or try to eat it. Neither situation was something I felt like dealing with.
After the wall was built out we installed the new insulation. Using our elite planning skills we were able to fill the entire wall using exactly every square inch of a small roll of R-15 insulation. Once the installation was in we cut the first piece of drywall and got it in place. While my father got working on measuring the next piece, I used the ultra-cool drywall screw gun to screw the drywall to the studs.
When the second piece was cut and tacked to the wall my father had to leave so he left me in charge to finish the job. I've never done this before so I knew this was going to get interesting. Before screwing down the next piece of drywall I decided to measure and cut the piece that goes above the door. Believe it or not I was able to do this on the first try. The only tough part was hoding it in place while I got the first screw in but I got it done. I then went back and screwed everything into the studs. At this point we had a rough interior wall.
Before leaving my father gave me a brief overview of what to do once everything was in place. He explained how to apply the joint compound and the tape and how to fill in the corners. It all seemed so simple when he explained it. The piece he left out of course was how much of a mess you could make with the joint compound.
For the next hour and a half I worked on applying the joint compound to the screw holes, the corners, and the joints. Overall I don't think I did a bad job but I did make the biggest goddamn mess anyone has ever seen. My hands were totally covered with the joint compound. I also managed to get lots of it on the rug (Jess said it was OK because we're getting rid of the rug anyway) and once it got on the rug it got on my shoe which I used to track it over more of the rug. Once I realized my shoes were covered I took them off and worked in my socks which were soon covered as well. I also managed somehow to get a big glob of it on my shin (which quickly hardened and made my leg very uncomfortable) and big glob on my shorts which then spread like wildfire to other spots on my shorts, t-shirt, and arms. Along with myself and the rug I got joint compound on a chair, my hammer, the door handle, and the blinds on a window I wasn't even near. Amazingly though I didn't get any on my face or the dog. I must say the wall looks pretty good considering I've never done this before.
As this week goes on we are going to finish off the wall by sanding it then going through another messy joint compound application. Hopefully we'll have most of the wall done by next weekend.
To see pictures of this weekend's mess click
here.