Gosh, I am getting used to having the bedroom ceilings open! And they’re painted such a nice white! Should we keep it this way?!
Ha ha. No.
So the original plan was to try to be done with ALL attic work (removal, cleaning, damaged wood replacement, electrical, ductwork, lights, and so on) by yesterday so the drywall ceiling could be installed. But that didn’t happen. Things took longer and we ran in to a lot of extra damage – like this entire piece of drywall above our master bedroom sliding glass door that had to be removed because it was so stinky and soiled:
partially removed
fully removed and grumpy to find another gross spot, ha
We spent A LOT of extra time removing damaged wood we didn’t know would need to be replaced – a few joists, a few studs, etc. We’re happy we found the damage. We’d rather replace things that are so badly damaged than cover them with Kilz paint – which blocks seals and odors.
New studs
So back to the original plan. The construction workers were going to install the ceiling, then they were gonna spray Kilz all over the joists. But the more we thought about it, we decided we’d get better paint coverage if we painted with the ceiling down, and it would be nice to not have newly installed lights covered in Kilz. So we’re doing the painting. And hopefully we can get the lights and ductwork up by next Monday so they can install the ceiling then, but we’re not so sure we’ll get it all done. We may have to delay again.
People keep asking me if we had an inspection, or why wasn’t this caught during inspection, and did we know about this when we bought the house? We did know there were animals in the attic – we could see the holes in to the attic from outside. We did NOT know how bad the damage was until we had the attic insulation removed after we moved in and saw how soiled the drywall ceiling was from the top. There were stains on the bottom too, but they were faint. We suspect the bank had them covered up.
We’re not super mad. We’re happy to get it fixed now, and do it right. Doing it right just takes a loooong time. And we actually have a bit of a deadline, since the contracted work is FHA 203k funded. So, work work work work work.
Keep going guys…so close to being done (I think 🙂 )!!
Just a few more weeks!
I think there’s only so much that can be caught during an inspection, that you can’t find until you start doing work like this. So totally not surprised that you didn’t know how bad the damage was (and I watch enough HGTV to know that it’s ALWAYS worse than it appears once you start working on something!)
Do you need help painting? I love painting.
Exactly! You get it!
Thank you for offering! Right now we are spraying Kilz with an air paint sprayer (we’ll be done tonight) and we are getting a quote for the walls and ceiling but I will TOTALLY let you know if we end up doing it ourselves! Painting party! THANKS!
I just bought a paint sprayer too, so I can come help at the paint party!!!
Awesome! Which one did you get? We struggled a bit with the one we borrowed, but maybe it would be easier for spraying walls and not stuff over your head, or while you’re in an attic, lol.
When you find things that need replacing, like rotted out wood, do you have to make a trip each time to the hardware store? Or do you have supplies stockpiled when you start a major project like this? Seriously, I’m SO impressed that you two are getting all this done by yourselves!
There has definitely been a daily hardware store trip! But on Saturday am, Steven had a pretty good idea of all the wood he needed to replace and went and got a ton of it! 🙂 He also got wood for a cat walk we’re building in the attic (so it’s easier to move around once the insulation is in). The hardware trips are more like “shit! We ran out of XYZ.” LOL
Thanks! 🙂
I like a loft, but more of an intentional one, LOL. And I agree with Anne, there’s only so much an inspection would have caught, so every homeowner ends up discovering something wonky at some point.
Me too! Ha! This really makes me appreciate all the work that goes in to having exposed ceilings in work spaces!
You have a good hubby if you are working as team and still smiling!
Ha! That’s definitely a grimace! We’re both super stressed but we work decent together 🙂
I feel like you guys have basically built a whole new house at this point! I seriously love these project updates, though. I didn’t know I was so into home renovation, but I’m just fascinated by this whole process and all the work you guys are doing! I’m going to be selfishly disappointed when it’s all done! Haha. But very happy for you that you’ll have a nice home that doesn’t need any more crazy overhauls.
You may have mentioned this when you guys bought the place, but how long was your home empty before you guys moved in? The animal situation makes me curious, if the house was empty long enough that nature just started taking over, or if the previous owners weren’t aware/didn’t care to do anything about it.
We will have, in the second floor! What’s funny though, is that it will look exactly the same! HA! I am happy you find this interesting! 🙂 And we’ll have smaller projects after this, but I am requesting a break from it!
I think the house must have been empty about two years. And it was less nature taking over, and more the previous owners/bank not taking care of it – the holes left open in the attic invited animals in and then they destroyed both attics (we’ve done a lot of work in the over the garage, too!).