Drywall.

Eighty sheets of drywall and 5000 screws is gonna get this job done. I will not be taping and mudding. I will leave that to the pros. I just hope that I can do a food job for them to make their part easier.

I have been drywalling this basement for a while now. In July my parents came down to help with the ceiling and I was able to get a lift from the folks that built our house. We were able to get most of the ceiling done that weekend with the exception of the hallway. That Sheetrock sat in the garage until about 2 months ago. Almost 80 sheets of 5/8" drywall. I finally moved it to the basement in late February and got started on the southwest bedroom. It is clear that I am a rookie looking at this room. The seams are pretty bad as well as the cut outs for the outlets. I guess that's fine as long as its hidden behind the tape and mud.

After finishing that bedroom I was unable to work downstairs because I tweaked my right shoulder hanging a 4x8 sheet horizontally against the ceiling by myself. I am a stubborn SOB and I sometimes refuse to admit when I need help. A 2x4 hammered to the studs is a great way to support the drywall while it is being screwed in.

I'm back at it. I love how I can save my progress on this blog and come back. Last weekend I finished the bathroom and I was able to finish the second bedroom today. All that is left is the hallway walls and the living room walls. I guess I say all but that is 1/3 of the basement.

The bathroom was pretty difficult for somebody and green as myself. There are a lot of angles in my house around the stairwell. This proved to be a pain in my butt, ass, glutinous maximus, or hind-quarters depending on what you like to call it. The nice thing is by now I am able to cut the sheets right the first time. There have been a few wasted sheets due to the fact that I am either going to quickly or not paying attention. Measure twice cut once is my favorite new motto.

Here are some panoramic pictures. Ant wait to show you the rest of the rooms when I finished.

These first two photos will either be Lily and Emmy's new bedrooms or an office and a guest room.  I love the way the girls fight but they still want to be roommates for now.  

This is a poor picture of the bathroom but this is just proof to myself that I got it done.  Rocking this room has so far been the most mentally challenging part of this entire project.

Fireplace.

I have finally been back at it in the basement. When summer ended last year I believed that I would get a lot of basement time in. Not a chance. There were weddings to attend and gatherings to gather at. Every weekend had an event. I am feeling pressure from somewhere, family or possibly internal, to get this basement done. I have a long way to go but progress is a step in the right directing am I correct? Many people have offed to help out and I am thankful for that. I have said in the past that this is very relaxing for me, even though at times I get frustrated, but if I ever need help I will be happy to ask those who would like to help when the time comes.

I installed a fireplace a few months ago and am now just getting to blogging about it. I do this not only for my family but this blog is a great way to look back at my progress.

Here are the details about the fireplace.

For Use with FMI 4" x 7" direct vent pipe only
15,400 - 22,000 btu - Natural Gas
42" x 36" x 21"
Ceramic Fiber Log Set, Optional Trim Kits
Rolled Louvered Front, Tempered Glass
Remote Control Ready - Remote Control sold separately
Blower - BK or BKT-M sold separately
NOT Approved for use in Canada
Conversion kit included
GWMS-2 Wall mount manual on/off switch kit sold separately
GWMT-1 Wall mount thermostat kit sold separately

Dimensions: 43"W x 36 1/8"H x 21"D
Ship Dim: 45.0 x 38.0 x 22.0
Shipping Weight: 175.0 lbs

Brand Name: Comfort Flame
Vendor: FMI

Menards had a 10% sale on fireplaces and all of the venting that was needed for the install. After purchasing the venting, the terminal (to be installed outside), the thermostat blower, caulking, and the treated particle board it added up. The stuff wasn't cheap and after finishing the project it would have been a lot easier to hire somebody to install it even though it would have been a little more costly but not that much more. A lesson for next time I guess.

This was a bugger to install. After hooking up the gas and the electricity the damn thing didn't work. The pilot light was functioning properly but the flame wouldn't last any longer than 2 minutes. I did some researched and decided that it was one of two things, either the venting was not properly sealing therefore not exhausting properly or the thermal coupler was not working, so I adjusted the venting and found that the elbow wasn't sealed. This however did not help. :( grrrr. I took the rest of the day off at this point.

When I woke up the next day I went directly downstairs with a can of air and gave the pilot assembly a blast and, all be damned, it worked. A coworker the next day told me that something as little as silk from a spider can cause issues. I must have had a dream during the night or I'm a genius. Another possibility is that I'm a typical ape of a man and got lucky, but I digress as usual. :)

Now we have a fireplace. The only thing that has to be done with it is connecting the switches and the blower.

BTW framing it was a breeze now that I am an expert framer.