Descending Ashtray

Wow, the difference a few sheets of drywall, 2 gallons of primer and 8 cans of paint can make.

I hired out the drywall job after talking with a lot of people, and I have to say, I’m glad I did. The folks at New Era Drywall in Portland were easy to work with, very friendly with Jasper, and very good at the job, much better than I could have done. In five short days, we went from bare studs to super smooth, paint-ready walls. It was fun to come home each day and see the progress that had been made, but no day was more amazing than the day they hung all the drywall … the space started to look finished!

After the final skim coat had been applied, priming was as easy as rolling on a coat over the whole surface. Because New Era had left the paper covering on the floor, and there wasn’t any trim up, it went very quickly, and I was able to do both the bedroom and the bathroom by myself in about 6 hours (spread over two nights).

Once I’d primed the space, New Era asked to come back one more time to take care of any scratches the primer revealed, and I was more than glad to let them do so, even though I didn’t see many errors while I was painting. Great attention to detail.

And then … color! We had a painting party on Saturday, and a crew of friends (thank you!) showed up to help us put on a few different colors. Most of the walls in the bedroom are a pebble grey color from Miller’s historic series, and one wall is a rusty orange. The ceiling is a warm, flat white. In the bathroom, we went with a robin’s egg blue color, with an eggshell white on the ceiling. Here’s a sneak peak at the room just before the final touch-up coat.

Flooring goes in tomorrow … we’re getting there!

I just realized I haven’t posted about the attic since framing was “complete.” Turns out, I was a bit wrong about “complete” as it applies to framing. You see, the city won’t sign off on framing until all the trades have been through: plumbing, HVAC and electrical, and in my case, electrical wasn’t yet done. The city is worried that an errant plumber or electrician might cut something structural when routing pipes or wires, and thus, framing is approved last. Still, the inspector was quite nice, pointing out on his (unnecessary) trip a few items I’d overlooked: fireblocking at the tub’s surface level, and the need for insulation in areas that would be hidden by installation of the tub.

I got the electrician in there, wrapped up the missing items I’d forgotten, and I was approved! Took a few weeks, but it was an extremely satisfying experience getting the work approved. I’d heard some horror stories about the whole experience, but the city has been extremely easy to work with, and very patient in answering my questions over the phone or in person.

Next step was insulation, which I also hired out (starting to see a trend yet?). In this case, we opted for something that isn’t very homeowner-friendly, spray-in expanding foam insulation. I looked into what it would cost to purchase the two-part mix, but as a consumer, you can’t really purchase the material for less than what it costs to have a contractor install it. Spray-in foam is nice for a number of reasons, namely its high R-value (6-7 R per inch of depth) and sealing ability. Because it expands as it cures, it fills any and all gaps or cracks in the building envelope, making the whole area airtight. It’s also incredibly fast to install – the contractor was in and out of the house in one day. It’s definitely more costly than the pink stuff (probably 3-4x the cost), but I feel really good about the decision. It made an immediate, noticeable impact on the temperature upstairs, as well as the sound quality (far quieter).

I interviewed several drywall contractors, and started to see firsthand evidence of the down economy. The first contractor initially quoted me $3500 for the job, then called three days later to drop the price $700 and “throw in painting.” The second contractor was $2200, and I eventually found someone through a friend that quoted me $1500. A pretty vast difference for the same job if you ask me. I had initially planned to install the drywall myself, but I’m running out friends’ goodwill. And the clock is starting to tick a little louder on Baby Selden. It’s pretty nice to leave for work in the morning and come home to see progress up there, though.

The drywallers started today, but I’ll wait to post photos until at least the first skim coat goes up (I put up the cement board you see here). It’s starting to look eerily like a finished space, and I don’t want to spoil the big reveal.

This is an amazing video. Hopefully after seeing this, one of the tool manufacturers will send this guy something safe to use. I really hope his daughter isn’t behind the blade’s path – looks like he’s crosscutting with the wood right against the fence, a great place to pinch it and have it kick back.