Electrical Progress

Yesterday I made some progress on the electrical work.  Where framing was a lot of hard labor I feel like electrical mostly involves buying more and more items from Lowe's - I had to spend another $60 there today on switches and plugs, these little things really add up.

The lighting plan calls for the current single switch at the bottom of the stairs to multiply by four.

Thus far I have the light cans up on the ceiling and the blue outlet boxes on the wall, hopefully tomorrow my uncle will teach me how to run wire.

The Most Important Wire

I spent most of today enjoying good food rather than working on the basement.  Pretty much the only work I did today was with my credit card at Lowes, buying recessed lights and other electrical supplies.

Breakfast was at The Toasted Oak with M's family, lunch was at Panera with my BBBS little sister D, and then for dinner I cooked up mushroom and chard ravioli.

After dinner I got M to string the first wire, a cat5 cable, through the ceiling (he is tall enough he doesn't even need a ladder).

Out With the Framing, In With the Electrical

I skipped swim practice and the gym tonight to finish* the framing.  I've gotten in the habit of working with my Uncle on Tuesday nights, but last night I had dinner with M and his co-worker Kimberly who recently got back from a three month stay in Japan...so, this week my Uncle is coming over on Thursday and I had to be ready.

This photo is like Where's Waldo, can you spot the change?  Finally all the boards to hang the ceiling drywall around the duct work are installed.

*The framing isn't completely finished because the wall on the left isn't flush with the corner, I thought I had it figured out but the geometry isn't making sense to me so I need a second opinion before I make any more mistakes on it.

Everything is cleaned up and ready for electrical.  I just need to pick up some electrical boxes and wire over lunch tomorrow.

What Did I Buy?

As I head off to Home Depot yet again I am calculating what I bought thus far...

100 22s
5lbs of Nails
3 lbs of Screws
2 lbs of Galvonized Nails
5 Screw bits
4 Drill bits
84 2x4 studs
9 Pressure Treated 2x4s2 Pressure Treated 2x6s
5 ft of Round duct
6 ft of Square duct
1 Roll of Foil Tape 
1 Box Sheet Metal Screws
9 Sheets of Foam Insulation
3 Cans of Great Stuff
2 Tubes of Caulk
1 5ft Door 

Driving Around Town

Lunch View

Good Morning Saltillo

Mexico

I'm in Mexico this week for work.  On the connecting flight from Huston I counted 42 men and only one other women - she was traveling with a baby and a Mexican passport. I used to like coming to Mexico for work and there used to be other women on the flight.

Exhausted

My hands are so tired they are hardly capable of typing. I woke up early this morning, cooked a Swiss chard and Camembert frittata for breakfast and then went to work on the basement.

This is how things looked at the end of the day, pretty messy!

Last night at put my curtains back up so I could work at night without feeling like I am on-stage.  The shiny thing between the curtains is the new duct work that took three frustrating hours to install. It was a job that I should have been patient enough to wait for help to complete.  The 5ft section hanging in the ceiling actually fell on my head at one point.  Another project today was insulation.  I removed the paper backing from the existing insulation (since it is not code to use in a basement) and installed a roll of insulation I had laying around.

Framing is, still, almost done.  I have a plan for finishing the remaining side of the door opening, just need to make another trip to Home Depot for more wood and screws.  As a reward for a day of hard work completed I made this desert.

Late Start

I got a late start this afternoon because I was having my hair color corrected this morning.  I had it done on Thursday and the color was a little bold / red for my taste, but it is good now.

Since I didn't get to the basement until the evening I didn't want to anger my neighbors my nailing so I decided to tackle cleaning the other half of the basement so I have space to use the table saw and my Christmas tree isn't getting covered in sawdust.

After I got tired of cleaning I started playing with this tool my uncle let me borrow.  Basically you point the laser at a surface and it reports the temperature.

Turns out that behind the insulation in the corner there was frost on the plywood, so I need want to get some foam insulation to fill the area.

Taking a break with my favorite construction snack, sweet potato fries.

Must Have

I have two requirements for the next place I live and at the top of the list is curbside recycling.  Since it got cold in the fall I have not been to the recycling center, but it got to the point that I could barely get in my car because the garage was filled with recyclables.  This photo doesn't do the amount of stuff I recycled today justice - the entire trunk and back seat are filled up to the roof.

Starting Back Up

It took four passes with my uncle's the power planer and enough wood shavings to fill the trash can, but the "stuck wall" is now in position and ready for me to attach.

After getting the "stuck wall" resolved we framed the wall around the furnace and almost finished one side of the door opening. I was mistaken about having space for a 6ft door, it looks like I actually have just the space for a 5ft door, one way or another that is what is going to come down the staircase

I have to go to Mexico next Monday for work, so my new goal for finishing framing is before I leave the country.

On Hold

My plan to install a 6ft door between the finished and unfinished sections of the basement is on hold after I learned that the 6ft window I had hoped to bring it through only has one removable pane not two.  This is putting any further framing on hold.  I visited Home Depot this evening hoping they would have an idea, but the only suggestion they had was disassembling the frame to get it down the stairway and then reassembling it in the basement.

I am also in a holding pattern because after moving some junk that was in front of the existing framed wall I learned that it is not inline with the metal support pole. So it looks like I will be building this wall out another two inches to hide the pole in the wall.

This area is turning out to be more tricky than I expected, the duct work is also blocking the trusses so I'm not sure how I'll attach the top plate for the wall around the furnace. So much for thinking I was on schedule - now I'm into the tricky work.

On Schedule

Today M helped me install the drop down to go around the duct work.  I decided to go with option c and lower the ceiling over the entire width of the stairwell door.  There are still have some more pieces to fit in immediately next to the duct since I don't think the drywall can span the entire distance being lowered without additional support.

Also completed today was finishing up the end of the "stuck wall" and tearing out of the studs to make way for the HVAC vent I was convinced to reroute since you can't heat a basement from the ceiling.

I ran out of 2x4s, yet again, with just the short wall to hide the furnace remaining.

If I can stand to venture out for more wood while the temperatures are in the teens I should be able to finish up the framing tomorrow (less "stuck wall").

Resting

Yesterday I took the day off, I didn't get home from work until 8:00 and as I have mentioned before I am tying not to disturb my neighbors too much.  I just got home from work, I might be able to do a little bit of work before M comes over for dinner.

I am currently trying to decide what will look correct for going around the duct work that requires lowering the ceiling height.

I am leaning toward the last option because it will require less drywall work, but I need outside opinions.

Under the Window

I took last night off working on the basement so I could go to swim practice.  We are starting to cut music and choreograph our new routine - the music is Caravan Palace.

Yesterday over lunch I was able to fill in under the window.  I have been hesitant work too much or too loud after work for fear of making my neighbors unhappy, but my goal for tonight is to finish framing the top of the window.  I estimate everything to take three times as long as anticipated, but maybe I can finish the framing next Tuesday?  And start the electrical next week?

Stuck

On my lunch break I came home and set up a section of wall so that when my Uncle came over tonight things would progress quickly.

Even though I cut the studs 1/8 short, the wall is still too tall and is on hold until next Tuesday when Uncle can bring a punch power planer to know the nails in and locally trim a 1/16 inch off the top plate.

I really think my method of installing one stud at a time is better than building the whole wall in place.  No one likes toe nailing, but it is better than ending up with a wall that doesn't fit. Despite the setback I was able to install seven boards today and I only stopped because I didn't want to make my neighbors hate me.

With extra energy remaining I was able to finish the medicine cabinet!

I just need to touch up the paint where I market shelf heights, but my stuff is moved back in.

Back to Work

Work cuts into my framing and blogging time!  I pulled all the staples out of 30 2x4s over lunch and then installed three 2x4s after work.  I also went to the Pilates which further cut into my home improvement time.  Tomorrow my uncle is coming over again so hopefully we will make some more progress worth posting photos of.

The medicine cabinet in is also moving along slowly, it is now a painted square hole in the wall with shelve locations marked.  I just need to drill some holes and install the shelving.

Taking Shape

When I picked my uncle up from the airport today it was pretty easy to convince him to come check out the progress.  He also voulnteered to help and good things started to happen.

The saw was easily fixed and now I understand how to assemble electrical cords - a good future skill.  Next I was convinced to change framing methods and build the wall on the floor and then lift it into place.  This method isn't as accurate, but moves much more quickly.  This would have been even easier if we built the wall an 1/8 inch short and just shimmed it at the top, our wall was just the right height and took a lot of hammering to fit into place plumb and level.

With the new method we quickly ran out of studs so we used uncle's truck to pick up 30 2x4s three times as many as fit in my car, plus I didn't have to carry them into the basement alone.

Taking a break for dinner breakfast burrito...I still hope to secure the new wall with a few more screws, finish the medicine cabinet and make the gym stop missing me all before I have to head back to work on Monday.

Turning a Corner

There wasn't much progress today, I only put in 2 studs, but I have turned a corner.  I also finished the first pound box of screws and got things cleaned up.  I am picking my uncle up from the airport tomorrow morning so I want to make sure things are clean just in case he is willing to stop by and see the progress.

 

I did not attempt to fix the saw like I planned, maybe I'll feel more ambitious tomorrow.

Happy New Year

My tired hands needed a break. Happy New Year!