Ceilings and more

After getting past my electrical inspection, and hatching the birdies 🙂   I pressed forward with putting the strapping on the bottom of the trusses for installing drywall for the ceilings.   The sequence will be to install strapping, install and tape the ceiling drywall, spray the polyurethane foam in the ceiling.    Then and/or at the same time the stucco lathe and plastic mesh will be installed on the outer wall, and the first coat of stucco sprayed and troweled to seal in the insulation and protect it from the sun.

As of Saturday night , May 29, I have finished all the ceilings in the house proper, except for the master bath.  I have delayed that, since I have to install the framing for the shower wall in that bathroom, as well as in the  workshop bathroom.  Pictures of progress below.

May 29, Looking south through the kitchen area, strapping complete.

Master Bedroom, strapping complete.

Guest bedroom, strapping complete.

Looking East through the great room to the kitchen area, strapping complete.

Entry hall and half bath, strapping complete.

Mechanical room, strapping complete, frame for attic access door.

By Friday June 4, I had finished the strapping on the ceiling of the garage, and the master bathroom as well as building the partition walls for the showers in the two bathrooms. I set out to spend the day in London to get stucco lath, and cement board for the shower walls, but was waved down by the plumbers as I pulled out of the driveway. It turned out they had a few hours that had come free, so they were ready to put in my water lines for all the sinks, toilets, etc. so I turned back and we defined what needed to be done before I headed off. Pictures below of the status by the weekend.

Manifold and water feeds in the mechanical room.

Water lines in half-bath wall from mechanical room feeding toilet, vanity and washer on the far side of the wall.

Looking at the plumbing complete in the laundry closet.

Water delivered to the kitchen sink.

Looking into the shower stall in the master bath.

Water feeds for toilet and bidet.

Water feeds for vanity/sink in master bath.

Water lines in 3-pc bath in garage/workshop.

Shower stall in workshop bathroom.

Ceiling strapping complete garage/workshop.

Workshop bathroom ceiling strapping and exhaust fan.

I have been trimming the “love handles” from the foam on the outer walls in preparation for attaching the stucco lath and mesh so it will be relatively flat for the stucco application. This also involved trimming away the overspray around the window frames, so the lathe can be cleanly attached to the frame for rigid support. Pictures below of the results of my efforts

June 14, Windows and walls on south house face foam trimmed for stucco mesh.

West face of house foam trimmed and ready.

North face of house foam ready for stucco mesh.

South face of garage/workshop ready for stucco lath.

Now I set out to get a professional to do my drywall installation and finishing, since this is necessary before I can get the ceiling insulation layer in place. The recommended tradesman, was so busy, that early August was the first space in his schedule, so I set about getting some other alternatives. I settled on a young man Adam Kaufman, who is just beginning to establish himself on his own. He and an helper arrived on Wednesday morning to with the intent to install all the ceiling panels of drywall. I had made cross-border trip to Michigan on Tuesday, to bring back 34 4×12 sheets of drywall for the job. Nearly accomplished the task, but a couple more hours on Monday morning will have the ceiling panels complete. Pictures below of the progress.

Getting ready to put a 4x12 sheet of drywall on the ceiling.

Adam and assistant putting 4x12 sheet on ceiling of Master Bedroom.

Most of drywall on ceiling in great room and kitchen/dining area, looking to the west end.

Most of drywall on ceiling in great room and kitchen/dining area, looking to the east end.

Drywall on ceiling of workshop.

As the drywall guys were putting up the ceilings, I was beavering away at putting stucco mesh on the outer walls of the garage workshop. When the ceiling drywall was nearly complete, I called the Foam guys again to complete my insulation. They arrived on June 22 and told me they had to come on two separate days, because the exothermic reaction of the foam curing won’t let them safely spray the whole 4 inches in one shot. They had a tale of another foam sprayer who set a house on fire by spraying the foam too thick too fast. Anyway they did 2 inches on all the ceilings and left with a promise they would be back about a week into in July, since the spray technician was taking a vacation. Actually 2 days later they showed up to finish the job because they had a postponement on another project that wasn’t ready for foam yet, so it was all done on June 25.

South face of garage, stucco mesh in place,

Southeast end of garage stucco mesh.

West wall of garage stucco mesh done.

Foam guys, Pete feeding the hose up to Rick who is spraying the ceiling first coat.

Looking from dining area into great room past the pantry.

Garage bay ceiling in place, opening for the loft stairs.

With the foam spraying complete, I continued on finishing the stucco mesh on the garage, and made another cross-border excursion to purchase kitchen cabinets, more drywall compound, cement board to finish shower stalls, drywall primer, and stumbled on a bargain for a my garage door.

July 1, North wall of garage, stucco mesh finished.

East wall of garage stucco mesh done.

Stucco mesh up close.

The staples I make by bending galvanized #12 wire, to fasten mesh to the foam.

As we entered July, the drywall finishing progressed steadily, and I set about making up batches of stucco and bagging them in preparation for stucco application. Adam suggested I prime the surfaces in house, so he could check and fix any significant imperfections. He also noted that the primer stops the yellowing that can happen to drywall compound if left uncoated for a while, so after using up my available portland cement and preparing 43 mixer loads of dry stucco mix, I decided to concentrate on getting the primer coat on everything. I had purchased 10 gallons of primer, knowing I would need at least that much, and it was enough to do everything except the drywall in the top of the the solar chimney in the house and nothing in the garage. So, more paint!

July 13, East wall of kitchen primer coat finished.

Ceiling and West wall of great room, primer done.

View from great room to kitchen over divider island.

View from great room down hallway to bedrooms and master bath, primer done.

Looking diagonally across master bedroom to walk-in closet, primer done.

Looking into master bath, primer done.

Looking from dining room through kitchen to laundry nook.

Tags: interior framing, Plumbing