Progress Continues

Check this out, the shop is starting to look like a real room:

These shots are looking east (northeast above, southeast below).
Check out all the drywall! Troy has been able to actually get some of the ceiling done now that the lift is working. He got 5 (five!) sheets up last night after work, and some more this afternoon while he was waiting for me to come out.
I was out there to help hang another course of plastic. Troy was running out of room for drywall and he wanted to get the opening in the north wall covered so he could install the window. The last course only covered it half way so we had to do another. If he can get the window installed on Tuesday as planned, the shop will be completely secured. Another milestone!

Lest you think we are almost done, here is a view of the west end:
I had a happy thought when I realized that three more courses of plastic will get us to the west wall. Yeah! I can handle three more. Doing three of almost anything is definitely running down the homestretch. 3, 2, 1, done! Then I had a sad thought when I realized that didn't include the west wall itself. But then Optimistic Me retorted that the west wall will be easy because the ceiling will be done (no overhead work) and there are no obstructions on the wall at all. I was back to "Woo hoo! We can do it!"

Another thing I did today was paint a few more markers at the studs. I try to keep ahead of the plastic. The yellow can crapped out, so I went for a new colour. No more yellow to match (first choice), so I used white (second choice). Troy was dubious and justifiably so. It didn't show up very well, and with just a little wear and tear would not show up at all. So next up was a very look-at-me red. (Third's the charm.) It looks so good it makes the painting fun. I may have to redo all the yellow ones. Because, you know, they might not show up after a little wear either. :wink: That and, as everyone knows, everything looks better in red.

All for tonight. Think good work-hard thoughts for us,

christina

Rehabilitation for a Murderous Lift

Troy had the drywall lift put back together, but then when he went to use it he found out that the cables were twisted. They got in a real bind the first time he tried to use the lift. frustration set in

He then worked on it some more, taking it apart and reassembling it. Fortunately he only had to do the upper half which was easier than the bottom half. So if he had to screw up, he did it right. When he got it put back together (again) he found out that it was about one inch short for the ceiling. So now there are some 1x2s on top of the 2x4s that were already there. He also took the precaution of marking when to stop turning so he won't crank too hard and pop the cable ends off (again).

On Sunday, he did manage to use the lift to put up three sheets of drywall. Progress may now continue.

More Drywalling...with Excitement

Working in the shop has greatly improved since the temperatures have come up to about freezing. When I joined Troy today, the torpedo heater was going and things were positively toasty. Well, ok, my fingers were a little "heat challenged" but that improved as I started moving around a little more. (I guess that's a euphemism for working harder.)

Just in case any of you doubters remain, Troy insisted on capturing proof today that I do drywall.

Not that you can really tell that it's me. (Unless you're a really good study of my butt, and if you are, I don't really want to know about it, and you probably shouldn't admit to it.) You can admire my new workboots and toolbelt. (Not purple, but this one actually works.)

After putting in a few full sheets of drywall, I started to do some of the fiddly pieces we had to cut around the interior walls. One nice thing about this is that the pieces are generally sized so I can handle them on my own. And another is that I can learn some drywall skills out in the shop before I'm forced to "showcase" them in the house. Because right now, I'm slow...but sloppy. (To paraphrase a friend.)

While I was cutting those pieces Troy thought he would keep himself productive by continuing with the ceiling pieces. A one-man job with the drywall lift. For some background let me share that this is the same drywall lift that has attempted to kill Troy a couple times. And those of you with any sense of foreshadowing can now guess that it tried it again. First piece of drywall is headed up to the ceiling, Troy gets it right up at 12 feet, and SMASH, it hurtles down at Troy, but missed because he has learned to duck. There was some unladylike language but that's ok because Troy is not a lady.

This prompts Troy to "fix it good." So he spends the rest of the day going to buy parts, disassembling the lift, and trying to reassemble it with heavier-duty cables. It's not finished yet, but Troy is hopeful that it is in the last stages. This left me working alone in the shop. Yes, I have been promoted to unsupervised drywall work. Woo hoo...wonder if I'll get a raise? (More responsibility and all...)

We now have the walls half done, and the ceiling is still about a quarter done. But before we do any more, we'll have to hang some more plastic. Blah...

Good night from

-Slow...but sloppy.