...and they're off! The sheetrocking has begun with a vengeance. And the place is an utter disaster area of sawdust, plywood scraps, insulation scraps, and inches of gypsum powder. Lots and lots of gypsum; in fact, I have not inhaled so much white powder since the 1980's!
Although I was excited to see the rooms finally become "articulated," I was also very, very nervous. I was nervous over whether I had forgotten any last-minute details- an electric box here and there, a light box here and there, a brace or two, etc. Then there was also the issue of timing. I am currently slated to have the Ardex flooring installation begun on February 1; however the taping/spackling contractor said he may not be finished with the first floor walls by then.
In the grand scheme, this is nothing to panic over; I could probably simply push the Ardex out a few days. But it's just bumming me out because I had built such a head of steam starting at the beginning of the year. By the end of February I wanted to have the place ready for the certificate of occupancy inspection. Perhaps I'm being a bit too ambitious. But then again, I've been patient for way too long. It's high time for me to indulge in my inner-bratdom.
Speaking of nerves, I was quite impressed by the courage displayed by some of the 'rockers. I knew that getting the very tip of the atrium 'rocked would be a tough job. But it was still difficult to watch them teetering on the skinniest of platforms constructed out of nothing but ladders and some hastily assembled scaffolding. It was quite a feat of engineering, to say the least! I just kept thinking to myself that if one of these guys falls, not only would he be banged up pretty badly (or worse!), he basically owns the house.
Anyway, Buddah willing, so far, so good.
5 comments:
I'm looking into some window options for our home in St. Paul, MN and the H window is one that we are interested in. I was wondering if you had yours with both anodized metal on the interior and exterior. or if those are the curtain wall system I'm seeing in your photos and the windows with wood trim are the H windows.
Ed, everything is looking great. except for those terrible Art Deco door letters. Please replace them with the Neutra-inspired metal letters from DWR ASAP!
http://dwr.com/search.cfm?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&Ntk=all&N=0&Ntt=neutra+house+numbers
ed, so did the rock finish? I'm anxious to see this flooring application.
btw, I think your "Art Deco door letters" are just fine. yes, the nuetra numbers are nice. but I see them on almost almost EVERY modern house. we gotta have some flexibility and variety.
I suspect the post was made by a frustrated DWR mngr
Hey! Glad to see you are making progress.
Ugh, the mess of drywall! Seems like yesterday for me and I'm still cleaning up dust. If it weren't for the milestone it seems to mark and the excitement one has over finally having walls, I'd say it's the worst part of building.
I had forgotten to check in since you flew the LM coop. (What a sad, sad wasteland that site has become.) I'm so glad to see that you are still sane enough to be able to blog :) It's looking seriously fab, baby.
I'm thinking of (actually, I started a long, long time ago and then gave up) migrating all my old stuff over to blogger. Did you do it post by post or is there a faster way that I don't know about?
Wow... I went offline for a few weeks while concentrating on the house as well as, you know, living, working, making money, etc. There is LOTS I need to add to the blog that I just haven't had the time (or energy) to do recently. But I will be doing a mega-post soon.
jhammond: You are seeing correctly! The H windows are wood on the inside and anodized aluminum on the outside. The curtain wall tubes are anodized aluminum both inside and outside. So far, I am totally in love with the H windows- I love the unique opening mechanisms and the performance. But the glass Nordic doors are a major pain in my arse! I can't get the buggers to lock- apparently it's a lot more complicated than simply turning a latch. It involves "espagnolettes." Still... it's all beautiful stuff.
Anonymous... thanks for your "constructive criticism." As the old saying goes, opinions are like assholes- everybody has one. That being said, my numbers are not quite Neutra and they're not quite Art Deco... I happen to love them. Also keep in mind that these numbers are a foot-tall, so I'll be darned if I could find them that big in metal.
Paul- The rock is almost finished... and I've even started some of the painting (especially in the atrium). The Ardex floors are in (pics to be posted soon), and they are gorgeous! And I agree about your comment about flexibility in design- the irony about modern is that the more we try to be "different," the more we tend to stick to the tried and true.
splatgirl- Nice to see you have found me here; welcome! The mess of drywall? I cannot begin to tell you... the Ardex contractor almost had a coniption when he saw all of the spackle and dust on the subfloor. He said that the substrate was "contaminated," and that the installation could not proceed. A few of us spent a day on our hands and knees scraping, mopping, vacuuming every last bit of that crud off of the floor. Ugh! Anyway, thanks for your encouragement... you have certainly been an inspiration with your DIY, take-charge attitude. I did have to cobble together my old blog entries from LiveModern... no shortcuts, unfortunately. It took a few hours, but it wasn't too arduous. I definitely would have liked to see your blog continue... I don't think I've seen the finished product yet.
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