remodeling for geeks

The New Temporary Workshop Episode 7

I managed to get some primer on the NTW the other day. The temp was in the high 60's.
I am using KILZ brand primer. Great stuff. It works best in the 70's, as in the 60's it has the consistency of sour creme. But then so do all paints.

Inside I have hung the pocket door, which I am going to cut open and install a dog door on the bottom and a piece of tempered glass salvaged from a shower removal. Putting up the NTW, turned the kitchen into a bit of a cave, so I need to get as much light into the house as I can. I am also making the trim on one side of the pocket door frame removable, so when I find or build the door I really want, I can install it.

For Christmas I received this. Oh yeah! This tops the list of christmas presents for sure. I love stained glass.

Now I just have to find the best place to put it. The windows in the casa are dual pane energy efficient units with one big drawback. The damn faux pane dividers inside. These are the standard here in arizona. I'd like to bitch slap the person who thought this was cool. I hated multi pane windows when I had to repair, refinish and paint them. Having them in the center of the window, makes it doubling maddening as replacing dual pane units are more expensive than the window in the first place.

Right now it is in my bathroom in the window.

The forecast calls for high 60's during the first part of the week. I hope so. Then I can get the outside painted, and finish the inside, and move my tools into the workshop. Start building cabinets for my DVD's and books. Then I can move down the hallway and work on getting my office setup, and the media room/movie theater finished.

Electric Box Drywall Repair

One of the common occurences in hanging drywall on a casual basis is cutting out for electric boxes and other holes you may need. Yes, you measured, you cut or sawed and you still missed the box.
Here is a box with the most common problems.
The upper left and lower right corners are damaged from the corners of the box breaking the drywall, when installing the sheet. The left and bottom of the cutout are too large and will not be covered by a standard cover plate. Yes you can use an oversize plate, but is the cost worth it?

The first order of business is to project the box and in this case the outlet. Bring out the blue tape. Carefully tape and cover the box/outlet so that you will not fill the box up with mud during the repair.

Second, remove any loose drywall and paper.

Now we prefill the holes with mud. Speed Set aka Hot Mud is the best solution, as you can put multiple coats on and the shrinkage is less. Regular Mud will work, but puts you on a 24 recoat cycle.

Next we tape and coat our opening. In this case I am using mesh tape. I am also feathering the mud.

Re coat as necessary, so that when you are sanding prior to painting, you are sanding everything. Feather your edges beyond the last coat so you end up with an 'invisible' repair.

Prime, Paint, screw down the outlet, attach the cover.

That is all there is to it. Happy Patching!

The New Temporary Workshop Episode 6

I have been otherwise engaged which puts this on the back burner. But I do have an Update.
Now that I have water and ice on tap with the refrigerator, and yes I rescued the silverware out of the drawer, I have been working on the workshop.
My son stopped by and gave me a hand hanging the ceilings in the workshop and the utility room.
I have been taping up a storm.
Installed and taped the cornerbeads and the L beads that I placed on the insides of the window sills and around the doors. This back wall is plywood so that I can hang anything anywhere. On the right side of the photo is the window that goes into the kitchen. The outlet box contains Cable, Phone and Network Cabling.

I placed the majority of my outlets 48" off the floor, as this is a workshop, and I am tired of bending over.

My soffit is still open as I still have a bit of wiring to do for the various switches.

The Utility Room which was originally going to be a 4x8' pad for the reefer and water heater is drywalled. I have a fresh air vent for the heater which is gas.

The reefer alcove was not a deep as the water heater opening, so I built an alcove on the back side for shelving for the rest of the crap that will end up in here.

The Refrigerator Adventure

As part of the New Temporary Workshop Project, one of my goals was to open up the wall and build an alcove to tuck my reefer into, opening up my kitchen. Having discovered that the PO left the original door in the opening and drywalled over it, I was ready to slash and burn.

My reefer is 36'' wide, and the concrete block finish was 36''. I had to blast the block away on the right, install a post and fill the area up to some semblance of square. I did this so that I could drywall the alcove. The other reason is that it allows me to insulate the walls in the utility room. I am also running a water line to use the ice maker.
I pulled the electric for the reefer from the outlet on the wall, which presented its own challenges in getting the romex through the walls.

I dropped the ceiling in the alcove so that the reefer will tuck in.

Cornerbead and a bunch of mud, the alcove is almost ready. Quick prime and paint, it is time to move the reefer.

It is a tight fit. The door hinges and the room I gave myself does not completely let me put the reefer in. Thats okay as I have a whole lot of room in my kitchen now.

Proving that I can't see the forest for the trees, here is a detail of the silverware drawer.

The funny thing here, is I showed photos of my progress to a friend, and the very first thing she asked was, does that drawer open?
I will be building new cabinets once I get the workshop done, so I am not worried about what's in the drawer.

The New Temporary Workshop Episode 5

Having gotten the tar paper up, my son came by and gave me a hand roofing the new workshop.

Just in time, as the rain arrived and pointed out two things.
1. A 1/4'' per foot drop is fine for driveways for water runoff, but is a disaster for shingle roofing.
2. Coffee Cans are real handy.

So I ended up re roofing.

Water runs off much better now.

Coffee Cans

One pound coffee cans are very useful around the casa for various projects from holding junk you don't have any other place for, to containers for paint doing trim.

In remodeling bathrooms, the closet drain, where the toilet sits is a big hole to accumulate dirt and scrap. But with a coffee can, you can make that problem minor.

Tucks right in, keeps trash out of your drain while you are working on your projects