home office

home office, originally uploaded by Jrome.

Our attic conversion was nearing completion, but not fast enough for our lives. So we've moved the office upstairs, foregoing carpet, trim and full inspection. In a few months we'll have our carpenter come back and finish up the stairs and railings. For now, the space is bright, the office is set up, and Maddy and Jasper have their own rooms.

Drywall going in

stairs (framing), originally uploaded by Jrome.

Yesterday they hung the drywall, and today they finished up hanging it and started taping and mudding. Looks pretty darn good. So much brighter!

Insulation went in

IMG_4018.JPG, originally uploaded by Jrome.

Last week we had the insulation go in. With the baby coming to town any day now, I found myself really dreading the inspection. I don't know why exactly, but I just want it done. Obviously done right, but just done. I want it over. Well, the inspection went just fine. In and out. We'll have the windows at either end done tomorrow (or Tuesday if it rains) and the drywall crew will be hanging on Tuesday. 7 days later, the job should be done, taped and mudded, sanded. The whole 9 yards. Then paint and a carpet. Hopefully this will all be complete around Thanksgiving. Crazy? I dunno.

Then six months later we'll have our GC come back and do the finish carpentry, including the mission railings for the stairs and the maple treads. I'm debating trying to do it myself, but I don't know a single thing about stairs or railings, and doubt I have time to learn it at the moment.

More photos...

I'm 6' tall. The ceiling is about 7'3 at the peak. If I stay in the center (5' wide) I don't have to stoop. Since my desk will be up there, I'll spend most of my time sitting. Can't wait to see it done. Hmmm. When did I put on those glasses?

Hobbit hole to the storage area next to the stairs. With the wiring for a light hanging there.

Another view of the hobbit hole. We had the electrician run a light in there. Cozy.

Stairs to the attic

Stairs to the attic, originally uploaded by Jrome.

While I was away more progress was made on the attic. The framing is nearly done and ready for inspection. Our electrician is coming by Tuesday to complete his work. Then we're ready for the insulation and the drywall crew. This is really the first job that I've not done it all, but looking at what Tim has accomplished, I know I couldn't have done it as well or as quickly.

Here's the space from above.



Here's the stairs from above.



Here's looking back towards the stairs.

Beginning in the Attic

So this Labor Day weekend, Tom came by on his way to his cousin's welcome home from Iraq party in Buffalo, and we tore up the temporary attic flooring and pulled up all the insulation. The job would have been 10x easier if the fiberglass insulation wasn't over old Kimsul insulation. Probably laid down in the 50s, this stuff is crepe-paper backed and what looks like asphalt impregnated pulp paper loft. It distintegrates on contact. We eventually worked out a system of rolling it up..."like giant sushi." But it was still a mess and dirty hot work.

clipped from www.tias.com

We of course wore respirators. But when the dust began to fly, we set up my new air filtration unit which helped immensely. Nicole got this for my woodshop in the basement (which will be set up properly after this attic demo is complete) along with a dust collector. It will be a phenomenal system.

clipped from steelcitytoolworks.com

Finally, here are some shots of the progress:













How many bags of insulation did we scoop up and toss out? Hmmm. Labor Day weekend. Dump closed at noon. Missed the chance for a dump run. Damn. "Well, let's just stack it under the porch in case it rains..." Bringing down the property value one giant black bag at a time. I think there were a total of 30 bags. Not all of them fit on the tiny back porch.