(Sep 29) Ceiling Almost Done

Came out with Sabrina and Kim this weekend. We finished securing the sheetrock that we threw up last week. Sabrina also helped me with some wiring as we changed out some 2 gang outlets for 4 and added a couple of outlets with USB adapters built in for the living room. We had a great meal of pancakes and fresh strawberries on Sunday morning. Sabrina took a couple of nice long walks and enjoyed sleeping in a bit. She was anxious to get to bed on Saturday night so the she "could fall asleep before we started snoring!" :)  Some of the wiring we worked on Sunday was shorting and we couldn't keep the generator running until we isolated that it was the kitchen that was overloading it. I was really glad that it wasn't the generator itself as it has been flawless so far. We ended up putting the isolation box over it most of the weekend and it made a big difference in the noise pollution. I took the HVAC blower we had and set it right in front of the opening at one side. It was blowing a gale force wind into the box and tons of exhaust air right back out the other side. We decided we would build a bigger box that was completely enclosed and thicker on sound proofing. The trick is getting enough ventilation that it can get fresh air and not overheat. I really liked a video I saw of a nearly silent box that a guy built for his. I'll see if I can find it again and post a link. We headed back at noon on Sunday so that we could get some housework done and rest a bit. Sabrina also hoped to see Triston but that didn't work out. I was very sad to drop her off at her mother's as we hadn't seen her all week but still thankful she spent the time with us.  All in all it was a really good weekend.

Kitchen fixtures in and wired. 

Also got some the rest of the shower walls installed. Great to have a functional shower finally!

(Sep 22) Lift 'em up, boys!

Kim proved to be the smarter member of this team again this week. She STRONGLY suggested that we rent a drywall lift for our task of covering the ceiling with sheetrock. I didn't see a problem with lifting 50 lb sheets over our heads while standing on ladders while trying to load and use a drill to secure them to steel beams 11 feet up over the floor. So, I humored her and we rented the lift from Rental Stop in Arlington and headed out. Wow! Turns out the $31 rental (for the whole weekend) was invaluable. She was dead on. We had enough trouble getting things into place and attached without the burden of trying to hold the sheets up over our heads with one arm. I'm making notes - "Listen to Kim more often!" We got everything except the loft covered in the two days we were out here with it and could not have done this much work in 3 weekends without it. I'm also glad I grabbed a 2nd box of screws while we were at Hooten's on Saturday as we went through the 1st box quickly. The last couple of sheets, we just tacked up into place. There was no time on Sunday to finish placing all of the screws necessary. We can finish those up next trip.