The difference walls make...

So much is happening these days at Isthmus House and it's getting a little challenging to choose what to write about every week but I think it's time to talk about drywall!

We left this story a few weeks back by prepping for drywall. Electrical was capped off, floors taped and doors plasticed.

I took vacation so that I could hang around since I was working with a new crew. We'd said Thursday, which I took to mean 8am... and they'd apparently taken it to mean 4:45pm. Yes, they were over 8 hours late.

Not a great start but they came recommended by someone I'd worked with in the past and came in a whole $6000 under the next highest quote. Although I don't generally recommend taking the low quote, I'll do it once in a while when they come highly recommended.

When they did show up, they were fast.

The first room took less than an hour and the rest followed suit. I suppose that makes sense since sheetrock was created because plaster took too long to finish during the housing boom following the war.

To deal with my newly square opening's broken plaster, the drywall was doubled up. It's important that the drywall not have any room to bow and that every screw hits wood so that it can't pull out of the sheet on its own.

Once all of the drywall sheets were up, it was time for mud. Any screws that weren't fully embedded are pounded in with the hammer end of a spackle knife before being mudded over.

Add some pre-mudded tape to all of the seams (this crew used mud boxes or a little metal contraption that coats paper sheetrock tape in joint compound)...

 some drying time and a second coat...

 



 and we were ready for sanding!

Sanding is the real reason it's important to protect floors, doorways and duct work; the dust gets everywhere.

In case you don't believe me...

Sadly, it didn't occur to me to specify that the crew would clean up after themselves like most of my contractors and, naturally, we ran two days over schedule because of humidity slowing drying times. That translated to me traveling for work and The Roommate being left to clean up the mess.

Again, this is why you put down paper - it makes the job about a billion times faster.

She did a fantastic job and this is what I came home to - beautiful walls and clean floors!

Well, mostly...